First grade Weather Stations

First graders are learning about different types of weather and the special instruments meteorologists, like thermometers, weather vanes, and rain gauges.

4th grade Flood Prevention project

4th graders are continuing work on their inventions to help prevent flooding in residential areas. They have finished the structures that will be used in testing and now working on their inventions using the materials presented to them.

Cain's Arcade

CBHS Co-STEMM Lab and Knowledge Tree are hosting our area's first Cain's Arcade. To learn more about Cain's Arcade, click the link below. http://cainesarcade.com/

Day of Play/Cardboard Challenge: 

Saturday, Nov. 3rd at CBHS from 9am - 11am for exhibitors and 

open to the public from 11am - Noon. 

$2 donation is for St. Jude. 

 Set up is on Friday, Nov. 2nd from 3:30pm - 8pm
(The dates on the flyer are incorrect; the days are correct.)

All games must be made of cardboard. Students will make their games at home, but you can email me at annmarie.ghio@sascolts.org for information about signing up. 

Here is a link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U

Origami and Paper-Making

Third and fourth graders learned about the math behind origami. They practiced making origami cups, boats, and dogs. They even learned how to make a fortune teller and use it as a fun study guide.

The third grade continued their lesson with the learning about the science of paper-making. They constructed a deckle for their mold and produced hand-made paper, adding real flower petals, grass, and leaves. They also learned how other types of paper are made (hint: elephants and marble). Ask them about it! 

Next week both classes will go on a field trip to the Japanese Festival.

(Sorry — I forgot to take picture of the students making origami.) 

How was your day? Asking the right questions

As educators -- yes, you included -- we ask lots of questions. We have certain expectations for those answers, but the end results from our children are not always what we want.

If you're like me, every afternoon I asked my children about school. Does this conversation sound familiar?

Me:  "How was school?"
My children: "Fine." 
Me: "What did you learn today?"
My children: "Nothing."

Formulating the right question is just as important as the answers we expect.  Details!

Believe it or not, teachers put effort into the questions we ask, because we expect effort in the answer.
We don't always want a yes or no or a one word answer. We're looking for evidence, which can come in the form of a compound sentence; we're looking for the how or the why to elicit the most from your child. It also gives us an indication of what they understand.

So back to my daily questions to my children. I quickly learned that my children were not detailed oriented when it came to this afternoon conversation, and that was my fault. I didn't set the expectation, because my questions didn't demand a detailed answers. So, I quit asking how was school and started asking for specifics. Sometimes I don't even ask questions.

I admit, it was a rough start, but I set the expectation that I wanted details. I was relentless. Sometimes I even expected them to show me.

So here's our new conversation:

Me: "What are you studying in AP Chem?"
My daughter: "We're learning stoichiometry."
Me: "Wow! What the heck is that?"
My daughter: (don't ask me to repeat what she said! It's way over my head).
Me: "Fascinating. Show me what you're working on in math."
My daughter: (again, don't ask me, but I was glad to see she knew what she was talking about)


So next time you want to know how your child's day was or what they are learning, formulate the right question or statements.

Here are some examples:

Tell me one fact your learned today in history.
Show me what you're learning in math.
What story/novel are you reading in reading? What is it about?  Who is the main character?
If you had to pick one lesson or answer to do over today, what would it be? Why?
What was the most exciting thing you learned today? (or boring - sometimes they want to vent)
Rate your science class on a scale of 1 -10? Why?

Good luck. I know parenting is hard and time-consuming, but your child deserves to have these questions asked...and your deserve the answers.

Read to Me!

Students who aren’t reading yet can still participate in the League of Million Word Readers. Any child or adult can read to the student. Please email me the student’s name, HR, title of the book(s), and the word count (you can Google it).

How does STREAM help my child?

Ball Delivery system

Third graders presevered as they collaborated to design and build a device to get the ball in the bucket. After building, testing, and then making adjustments, the teams had one minute to get as many balls in the bucket as possible.

It was a tough challenge. Afterwards, we reflected on what we could have done differently to improve.