TAG Arcade

Over the last few weeks, the fifth grade has been learning more and more about computer and game code, and they are getting ready to show it off! Each student has coded an original game that will be displayed during the TAG arcade in the upcoming weeks. Students are building booths for their games and using iMovie to create advertisements for their games. Throughout the next week, I will post these commercials as they are completed.

Here is the first ad for Dumb Unicorns by Cooper R.

More information on time and date of arcade to come!

Design Thinking - Digging Deeper

After students (and teachers) took a week to Sharpen the Saw on spring break, I decided we would all benefit from going back to the beginning basics of design thinking. As you may remember, students started the school year learning more about human centered design. Human centered design takes a step away from the old thinking of, "If I want this, other people must too!"

While this may be true to an extent, it is important to have the consumer in mind as well. Learning how to interview others, ask the right questions, and synthesize this information is an important step that will help the students, not only in design, but also in learning to make inferences and amalgamate information in other aspects of their lives.

To set up this session of design thinking, we started by brainstorming objects we use in our everyday lives that could use an improvement. Pencils, backpacks, whiteboards, steering wheels, and a variety of others were brought up. In the end, third grade choose to redesign the ideal backpack, fourth choose a toothbrush (pretty interesting ideas are happening!), and fifth grade choose to design tabletop games.

Students have interviewed others in the class, interviewed again, come up with five radical ideas, shared and captured feedback, and are now coming up with their final designs. I can't wait to see what new and improved object these amazing students come up with!

Studios: Part 2

The remaining real estate trailers have been uploaded! Enjoy this creative 5th grade work!

The Studio: Part 1

Over the last month, the 5th grade has been working on a STEM unit entitled The Studio. The unit is a combination of applied math, engineering, design, 3D art, language and creativity. We started by imagining...If I had my own personal space (a studio!) and could make it into anything I wanted...what would that be?

Beginning with blue prints and scale models, the students built and designed their own space from the ground up. It took quite a bit of logic, visual-spatial ability, and creativity to complete these spaces! After the basic frame was built, the creativity came into play. We soon had spaces ranging from barns and sheds, to gold plated solar panel homes and art studios!

Each student also filled out their own "Studio Cost Summary", in which they determined the cost of supplies and labor, then decided on a reasonable price for their space. Did they think their small studios would fetch that price in a fair market? Would it be worth mass production, or did the labor costs outweigh a reasonable price?

Finally, they converted their findings to a large scale; life sized real estate listings! Student flyers and studios will be on display in TAG room hallway during conferences, so please stop by and see what we've been up to.

Below are three iMovie real estate listings. The remaining four will be uploaded in the next couple of days, so check back!

Week of Code

The week of October 19-25 is Digital Citizenship Week in the United States, and what better way to celebrate, than to expose the students to one of the most important parts of future digital literacy...code.

I will be the first to admit that I am far from a coding genius. But just because I'm not an expert, doesn't mean I can't help them find their way in such an important part of future jobs.

“If you close your eyes and think about the world 10 years from now, it will be completely different,” Vedati said.

We are preparing students for jobs that don't even exist yet, and many (most!) of those jobs will include some sort of coding ability.

 As stated earlier, this week is a nationwide Digital Citizenship Week, but in our room, it is all about code. Welcome to the Clarke TAG Week of Code!

First through fifth grades have been using age appropriate coding apps (Daisy the Dinosaur, Scratch Jr., Hopscotch) to learn more about what is behind those video games they play. Below is an example of one of our beginning lessons.

Graphic from IPAD 4 School

The students found out quickly that it takes several commands to make one little square. Wow! Imagine all the code behind an entire game...

If time allows, ask your fourth or fifth grader to show you their "house" or "square" in Hopscotch during conferences....but make sure to look at the code behind it too!

Fifth Grade Learning Projects

John Reynoldson and Mikaela Cowley put together a trailer to share some of our learning style projects. Enjoy!

First Two Weeks in Pictures

Our TAG theme this year is simple: Experiment. Fail. Learn. Repeat.  Sometimes gifted students have a really tough time when they do not get something right away, but failure is part of the learning process. We are digging deeper this year. We are pushing our brains to think. The truth is, the great minds of the world learned from many failed attempts before their accomplishments marked them as part of our history. As long as we learn from the ideas that didn't work and don't give up, we are being the best we can be!

First graders challenging their problem solving skills using Q-bitz.

K'NEX challenge: What are the key components of a good helmet? If it doesn't work the first time, what could you change or tweak?

"My Gifted Self" - This web-quest is forcing the students to learn more about their own learning styles and intelligence types. Each student will then present what they have learned about themselves through a choice chart project. We have students making books, building a word filled Lego building, composing songs, and many other projects.