Greetings from the STEAM Lab!
Kindergarten will begin coding. We will begin by using CodeMonkey, an online platform that teaches real coding languages. Students will learn block-based and text-based coding through an engaging game-like environment.
First Graders will continue focusing on the Home Row Keys. This two-hand typing approach will be applied to a new platform, Dance Mat Typing, where students will work at their own pace to further their typing skills.
Second Graders will be learning different formatting techniques on the chromebooks. They will be sizing, changing colors, choosing fonts, underling, bolding, and using italics while navigating a Google Doc.
Third Graders are continuing their Stop Motion Animation designs on chromebooks. They picked their background and are working on copying and pasting characters, duplicating slides and moving their characters to achieve the animation.
Fourth Graders are continuing creating and coding board games. In teams, students decided on their game concept and the purpose of the game. They answered questions like, what is the player of the game trying to achieve while playing? Who are the characters, what are the obstacles, and what are the commands, or codes, that the player uses to win the game? Using poster board and duct tape, students started to create a grid of their 3-D game. Students will then write lines of codes while they play.
Fifth Graders are continuing their Technology unit. Students began creating a personal Coat of Arms crest using the computer program Tinkercad. Tinkercad is a 3D modeling program that uses and combines shapes to create designs. Students sketched and planned their crest to include personal attributes and started constructing it on Tinkercad. The crest will be 3D printed at the end of the project.
News from the Art Room - By Ms. Obermaier
Happy holidays from the Art Room!
We have been wrapping up projects this month! Fifth grade completed their beautiful birch
tree mixed media project that they worked so hard on! Grades K-4, learned about Norman Rockwell’s narrative artwork and had some fun making their own drawings that tell a story.
The challenge: You must include a snowman. - The students were very creative putting their snowman on the beach, on a poster, or as an ornament on a Christmas tree!
Next up, self portraits!!
I wish everyone a wonderful break and look forward to the new year with your children!
