1st Grade

We are using the Junior Great Books read aloud stories from Volume 1 of the Sun Series. We have completed our reading of ";The Black Hen's Egg,"; a French folktale as told by Natalie Savage Carlson. Our next story will be ";The Mouse and the Wizard,"; a Hindu fable as told by Lucia Turnbull.

2nd Grade

During the month of September the second grade students are studying the brain. They have learned the 3 main parts of the brain, cerebrum, cerebellum and brain stem, and the important functions of each part.

During the month of October the students have been reading Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braillewritten by Russell Freedman. Louis Braille was only 3 years old when he lost his eyesight. He was born January 4, 1809 in Couprvray France. When he was only 15 years old Louis Braille invented the alphabet of raised dots for use by the blind.

Please be sure to ask your student to tell you what they can recall of the story so far. We have not yet read about Braill's actual invention of the dot system. The children will also be shown a book that is written entirely in Braille.

Following this the children will be challenged to think of ideas they might imagine would be abl to help people who have some type of disability. This will be the lead in to our long term group project, ExploraVision (see www.exploravision.com.) 

3rd-5th Grades

From September to December the students will be working on ExploraVision. Please see www.exploravision.com for details. In the month of September they are being challenged to work together in small groups of 3-4 and brainstorm creative ideas for the focus of their projects.

As of October 12, the students have been diligently working in their groups on their respective projects for ExploraVision. To date, most groups have decided upon the title of their project and drawn the name/logo. They have also drawn an outside view of their idea. Additionally, they have been writing their group idea of the future use of their technology.

In preparation to write the History, Present state of their project/technology and Consequences, we have been gathering and reading several different pieces of information. This week, the students are viewing short, animated videos available from www.brainpop.com, on topics related to their specific idea. What is nice about this videos is that they technically accurate yet written at a level that allows even younger children to glean some information. At the end of the video, their is a simple 10 question quiz that allows students to assess what they heard in the video. I am encouraging the children to view the videos a second time and take notes. These notes will become part of the writing they have to do for the overall project.

3rd Grade ExploraVision Project Topics:

";Helping Helmet"; - for assisting those with autism and/or those who are blind and/or deaf (viewed brief video on autism)

"S.S.P. Super Smart Pill"; - to prevent people from taking the wrong medicine and eventually be a delivery system for killing cancer cells and perhaps being able to breathe underwater. (viewed brief video on nanotechnology.

4th Grade ExploraVision Project Topics:

"I Shoe"; - a shoe that will be powered by solar cells, contain a thin, flexible battery, and will be able to be used to power small electronic devices such as cell phones or cameras. (videos include topics of solar energy, batteries, possibly electricity - the list is growing!)

"BCA Mouth Piece"; - a bacteria destroying mouthpiece. (videos include topics of nanotechnology, bacteria, antibiotics, with the list still being developed)

"O.F.M.S. - Optic Fiber Medicine Shooter"; - a medical device that will use futuristic fiber optics and lasers to deliver life saving medicine and treatment to sick people. (videos include lasers, nanotechnology, cancer, with the list still being developed)

The final project has not yet been given a name. The concept involves development of special plants, grown repidly using the nutrient found deep in volcanoes. (videos include plant growth, seeds, fertilizers, volcanoes)

5th Grade ExploraVision Project Topics:

"Plaque-Away"; - a mouthpiece that will eliminate plaque and other bacteria. No videos viewed to date

"HBC"; - a special glove that will help people with dyslexia by translating, spelling, pronouncing words to help the person learn. No videos viewed to date

"BBM"; - a product that will fix a person's damaged retina using a special sticky substance made from artificial spider silk and tube worm chiton, called ";twilk."; No videos viewed to date