The Grade 4/5 classes have been doing an integrated study of Chinese immigration. One learning station included creating makerspace structures based on Chinese architecture. The kids were so engaged. They loved it! It looks like there are a few designers, carpenters, and contractors in this group. :)
"Loose parts" are natural or found objects that can be used to spark creativity in children or offer visual representations of their thinking and learning. These can be things like buttons, sticks, shells keys, straws, Lego, etc. In January, there was an Innovative Learning evening held at RSS, which included all the SD23 Rutland zone schools. Mr. Sieben, Mrs. Kurio, Mrs. K. Ito, Ms. Den Ouden, and a group of students and parents were representing Ellison Elementary. There was a lot of interest in our scribblebots, spinbots, and the light box. We had a lot of fun and it was amazing to see all the cool things that other schools in our district are doing!
These boys are in Gr. 4/5 and are learning to sketchnote. It is alternate way of representing your learning through drawing and focusing on key points rather than writing a paragraph or summary. It's ideal for a visual learner and creative thinker. Once, these boys have mastered the technique, they will teach their classmates how to do it. Look how proud they are of their creations!
These Gr. 2/3 students from Mrs. Bingham's class are learning to code with Mr.s Kurio. You can download the app Scratch Jr. to try this at home too. Tutorials can be found at:
www.scratchjr.org/learn/interface www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcYq5WstN1g Sometimes, in education, we talk about "building 21st Century Skills." However, building is a time-honoured tradition, as old as civilization itself. Think of all the amazing man-made structures throughout the world and history ... the pyramids of Egypt, Machu Picchu in Peru, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. These boys has so much fun imagining, designing, and making unique creations with Lego, Lincoln Logs, Brain Flakes, K'nex, and Straws & Connectors. Check out their magnificent building skills!
These Grade 2 (!) students are learning to code by using tech toys such as Bee Bots, Ozobots, and Awbie. We are grateful for the district ADST grant and PAC funds for supporting this venture at Ellison. Also, a huge thank you goes out to Mrs. Kurio for ordering these materials, taking the time to learn how to use them, teaching the coding lessons to our students, and redesigning the look and purpose of the library.
Bee-Bot is an exciting little robot designed for use by young children. This colorful, easy-to-operate, and friendly little robot is a perfect tool for teaching counting, sequencing, estimation, problem-solving, and just having fun!
Sturdy construction and colorful design entice children to put Bee-Bot through its paces. Directional keys are used to enter up to 40 commands which send Bee-Bot forward, back, left, and right. Pressing the green GO button starts Bee-Bot on its way. Bee-Bot blinks and beeps at the conclusion of each command to allow children to follow Bee-Bot through the program they have entered and then confirms its completion with lights and sound. Children want to use Bee-Bot over and over and are inspired to enter ever more creative and complex command sequences. Check out the house of sticks made by the second little pig, the three bears' cottage, and bear dens. We're learning about making cool stuff, but we're also learning about not giving up and trying different strategies when things aren't working the way we imagined.
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