Laker Innovators

Six-grade science students were challenged to demonstrate their learning for an authentic audience. This could be a park ranger, a younger class of students or a group of their peers. Their learning goal was  “I can describe the causes and effects of climate change.” After thoughtful research and a chosen audience, students were able to choose a technology tool that best met their needs to demonstrate their learning. From computer coded animations, to multimedia videos to mock news casts, these student-led projects demonstrated not only their science knowledge, but creativity and technology skills.  All the projects were shared with Mr. Grams through the students' iPads and Google Drive. Below are some examples: Animation coded using Scratch programming: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/embed/144705551/?autostart=false  (click to start) Student News Broadcast using iMovie App: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8k-QUxegDNTX1JNUWtpcVZPUm8/view?usp=sharing ...

Check out the awesome work of these 7th grade Spanish students. They not only showcased their learning of romance languages though iMovie on their school iPads, but their teamwork, organization and thorough planning is apparent in this quality video. 

Check out this great project created by our 1st graders! Students combined procedure writing and math while using their iPads to create videos, document their learning through pictures and ate lots of apple along the way! Awesome use of technology to engage and visually demonstrate their learning.

Our kindergarten students are natural researchers. Their curiosity abounds and they probably ask "why" more than any other grade level (as their teachers can surely attest). The project we are highlighting in this post is a student-driven research project from the students in Mrs. Turner's Kindergarten class. This project was a collaboration with our librarian, Mrs. Besselsen. The students first suggested a variety of topics they were interested in researching. Mrs. Turner helped them narrow down the topics into six groups and helped the students form specific questions they had about each topic. Mrs. Besselsen helped them research both digital and hard copy resources to work to answer their questions about their chosen topics. In the final step, the students each wrote and illustrated a page on their research topic. Mrs. Besselsen recorded the students reading their research summary sentences and put the videos together in an iMovie. The class hosted a presentation of ...

For the May teacher spotlight we are celebrating the first grade team - Ms. Kinder, Mrs. Budd and Mrs. Schichtel! These teachers have been working on integrating STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) skills with literacy in their STEM fairy tale projects. In the project highlighted below, the classes first read and discussed the fairy tale "Billy Goats Gruff". Then the students were tasked with working in teams to design and build a bridge that could carry the weight of a toy goat attached to a magnet. The students worked in teams to first design a plan for their bridge. They then built their bridges using mini-marshmallows and toothpicks. The students had to work together, listen to each other, test their theories, tweak their designs and document the process with their iPads. The students then put the videos and photos together in iMovie and added text and music. These presentations were shared with the class so the students could see each others designs. In wat...