Maker Space at Macul

One day we went to COBO Hall for a huge expo about technology. It was called MACUL. We were there to talk about Scratch and Tinkercad. 3,000 to 4,000 people came to see what we do in our 3rd grade class. Tons of technology experts came to learn how to use Scratch and Tinkercad. We used the awesome chromebooks we have in our class.

Madden showed a 2nd grade teacher how to make an insect on Tinkercad. Eliana showed a lot of people her video on Scratch. Brandon showed his video game to some people and they all loved his game. Zoe showed people how to use Tinkercad. We had so much fun and we had such a great. We want to go there and present again and again!

By Madden & Eliana

Scratch Pad Project

We love to do coding! In scratch we have been working on games. We have scratch pad to learn some moves for the sprite to do before we get to our final project of creating our own video game. Two of the moves is talking with a sprite and changing the color of the sprite.

In scratch you can do many things. You can also make the sprite spin in a bunch of circles. You can change the background and the sprite. We all love scratch! We love it because it is really fun! You can make it do almost anything you want and you can even make it sing opera! So that is why scratch ROCKS!!!

By Hannah and Masah

Surveys

Our class is working on collecting data to organize and analyze.  If you would please take a few minutes to answer our surveys, we'd really appreciate it!

There are three surveys and each has three questions.

Survey About Sports

Survey About Hobbies

Survey About Travel

Thank you!

Personal Narratives

Kahoot!

By Masah and Madden

This is us playing Kahoot. Kahoot is a game you play with a partner and you try to answer math, reading, and spelling questions as quick you can. To play, you have to log in to the game from anything that gets you on the internet. There is this music that plays while you wait. 

To answer questions, the question shows up on the big screen, and there are four shapes on the bottom. Each shape is a different answer. You read the board for what each shape means, and then press the shape you think is the right answer. There's music that plays while you're thinking, too!

It is so much fun to play Kahoot! It is like a competition with everyone, and you see how well you are doing. The places are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th and it also says who you are behind. This is Kahoot!

Osmo

Osmo is a fun educational iPad game. We have done Osmo words and tangrams in class. Osmo words helps you with your spelling skills. Osmo Tangrams helps you with your shapes and puzzle skills. For Osmo Words, there are little letter tiles that you need to turn into fun words. You see a picture on the screen and have to slide the letters into the playing area before your partner. Your goal is to spell the word on the screen. It isn't as easy as it sounds! For Osmo Tangrams you turn shapes into great creations.

Osmo is a great way to build learning skills. Zoe said that "Osmo is fun for kids because of the different things they have to play with."  According to Masah, "It teaches you a lot of skills and it helps you think better and how to think faster, especially when you're playing words!"  Visit their website to see Osmo.  Buy Osmo because its a fun way to learn.  Have fun playing Osmo words and tangrams!!!!!!!                                                

By Madden and Eli

Please take our Surveys!

In math, we are exploring different kinds of graphs.  After our bird banding field trip, we created two different graphs based on the information the Nature Center collects every year during bird banding.  Then we decided to create our own graphs, but we needed information to do that!  We got into small groups and picked a topic.  Then we wrote five survey questions about that topic.  Please take our surveys, as we are going to use the information to create and analyze our own graphs!

 

Favorite Singers - created by Ella, Izzy, and Brigette

 

Feelings Survey - created by Riley, Chloe, and Jules

 

TV Survey - created by Cole, Jack, and Liam

 

Sports Survey - created by Blake, Sam, and Daniel

 

Favorite TV Characters - created by Panteli, Miles, and Ian

 

Cartoon Character Survey - created by Jaya, Parker, and Nick

 

Favorite Activities - created by Jordan, Meghan, and Kennedy

 

Brands - created by Jacob, Grant, and Ryan

 

 

Please note that we are asking for location and age but we are NOT collecting names.  We want to see how far across the world people take our surveys, and how old people are who are taking it!

 

Thank you!!

MaKeyMaKey!

Our first chance to play with the MaKeyMaKey!  We got to play a piano
that was found online and it was so neat!

After everyone got their chance with the piano, we tried to play PacMan!

Then we started experimenting with complete circuits, to see what we
could connect to the MaKeyMakey!

Where We Are in Place and Time

Hour of Code!

Then we did a little all together.

We started as a class watching an
introduction video during lunch.

The Hour of Code is all about learning how to code a computer. That means we learned how to tell the computer what to do. We played coding games. One of the games was Angry Birds. We had to get the bird to the pig. We all enjoyed that game!

Then it switched to plants vs. Zombies where it got a little harder. We had to get the zombie to the sunflower to win. There were all different command blocks you had to use to get the zombie to the sunflower. In between the levels, every five or so, were videos to teach you how to use the command blocks. There was 20 levels. Once you finished all 20 you got to do whatever you wanted. There were some games like light bot and hop scotch. Some people, if they wanted, they could use scratch. Scratch was fun but challenging to figure out how to use. We all had fun learning how to code!

By Meghan and Grant

Google Earth

Thinkers on Google Earth looking at the Titanic.

Google Earth is a program where you can look at the different parts of the earth. You can look at the earth, or even go into outer space! You can see parts of the earth from every angle! Google Earth is a fun and easy way to get directions, or see countries, states, cities, and more. You can even see stars in Google Earth!

You can type in any place in the world. Say you typed in the White House. You could follow the roads and see the front of the White House, or even see the inside of the White House! If you type in Titanic, you can even go under water and see where it sunk! There is so much you can do with Google Earth!

Getting step-by-step directions.

By Brigette and Nick

Going from the Cider Mill to Conant.

Two Thinkers enjoying Google Earth.

A Thinker looking at the stars!

Talking Turkeys Part 3

Cole's Einstein

Meghan's Santa

Parker's Batman

Blake's Football Star

Isabelle's Artist

Jaya's Indian Girl

Talking Turkeys Part 2

Kennedy's Santa

Liam's Ninja

Riley's iPhone

Sam's Thor

Zainab's Hula Dancer

Ella's Farmer

Talking Turkeys Part 1

Brigette's Baby

For a writing activity about persuasion, we did an activity about turkeys who were trying to disguise themselves so they wouldn't get eaten for Thanksgiving. Panteli loves Sam's because it was really realistic. Riley likes Chloe's because it is very unique and fun.

We didn't just make turkeys, we also made them talk! We wrote a script to put on a site called Blabberize. We said what we wrote on the script, and then it looks like the turkey was talking! Luckily, none of these turkeys got eaten!

By Panteli and Riley

Chloe's Porcupine

Daniel's Biker

Grant's Rock Star

Jack's Santa

Jules' Scottish Lad

Summer Learning Fun!

I'm pretty sure that the Thinkers are enjoying their summers (at least from the pictures I've seen floating around!  10 Thinkers in one dunktank?!) and so is their teacher!

It's been a wonderful summer, relaxing with Sparky, taking lots of walks, and rubbing my knuckles raw.  Well, maybe that last part wasn't so wonderful, but the new tiles in my kitchen and bathroom look amazing!  Renovating my house was pretty fun, though I don't intend to pick up grout any time soon!

Anyway, while the Thinkers are relaxing, their teacher is LEARNING!  Today kicks off the official back-to-school mentality, as I have three technology in education presentations in the next 48 hours.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still savoring summertime.... yet.... I'm getting excited about all the new learning adventures that await this fall!

Check out my presentations HERE!

 Enjoy the last few weeks of summer!

Smiles,

Ms. Diem