Zippy Clippy!

5th grade enrichment students recently enjoyed creating an invention made from one paper clip and other classroom materials.  Here are some pictures of their process and/or products:

4th Nine Weeks Goals

4th and 5th graders did a great job completing their independent goals for the last nine weeks.  I posted some pictures and videos from their presentations on Schoology that you can view.  If your child's project is not posted, it is probably because it was mainly done on Google Apps or they have the actual product with them so please ask your child to share it with you if they have not already done so. :)

Thanks for a great year, everyone!  Have a wonderful summer!

Consulting the Experts

In 4th grade, we ended the year with a study of photography.  We learned about various elements of photography and all completed a photography portfolio.  As a part of this unit, we enjoyed visits from Mac Logue and Paul Crawford.  Mr. Logue and Mr. Crawford both use photography in their advertising jobs.  We enjoyed viewing some of their excellent photos and receiving some good tips from them!

Mr. Logue and 4A

Mr. Crawford and 4B

Third Place!!!

Our year-long Celebrate Science journey came to a spectacular end yesterday at the awards ceremony.  Our prototype on eyes and vision problems won third place!  We were quite excited about this accomplishment, especially considering the fact that there were twenty schools participating in the competition.  After the awards ceremony, we enjoyed a delicious lunch and then had fun touring the McWane Center again.  Here are a few pictures from the special day, and look for more photos on Schoology soon!  (Special thanks to Elizabeth Peters for taking several of the whole-class shots.)

More on Schoology...

Since parents now have access to Schoology as well as students, I will sometimes post photos on there instead of on the blog.  Feel free to login to Schoology and go to the "enrichment" course your child is enrolled in and browse around to see media albums and other activities we have been doing.  This link takes you directly to the Homewood Schoology page.  You can go there now to see pictures of the 4th graders and their Chinese junk boats and a few photos related to our Celebrate Science/McWane Center project in 5th grade.

Water for South Sudan

5th grade enrichment students recently finished the book A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park.  It is based on the incredible true story of Salva Dut, one of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan.  Today, Salva leads a non-profit organization that raises money to build wells for the people of South Sudan so that they will not have to drink contaminated water.  Many of the students in our class have been inspired by Salva's story and want to help raise money for this worthy cause.  To learn more about this organization and how to help, visit http://www.waterforsouthsudan.org/.

Chinese New Year

In 4th grade enrichment, we are studying China and had fun celebrating Chinese New Year a few weeks ago.  The students solved some mathematical riddles related to the Chinese Zodiac, practiced using chopsticks, and created "Dancing Lions."