Spring Break Reading

Always trying to find interesting books for kids and to keep abreast of what is new and exciting in the book world, I have a few good books to recommend.  I just finished reading these books over spring break...

 Nerd Camp is great if you are a gifted student or if you have a gifted child because it is about this boy who goes away to a summer gifted camp called The Summer Centre for Gifted Enrichment SCGE (I would love to be at this camp!).  The main character, Gabe, wants to impress his new soon to be step-brother, Zack, who is a 'cool kid' - not into reading or science or school.  Gabe starts to test his hypothesis  "Am I a nerd who only has nerdy adventures?" at camp.   I loved this book...it was fun and gifted kids will be able to relate to the characters.

Being adopted myself, I could absolutely relate to this book!  I had tears at the end because no matter where you come from, it is the parents who raise and love you that are "your real parents"! This book is about a Korean boy, raised by Italian parents, and his quest to find out who he is.  I loved the characters and felt the author did a great job showing the difficulty of wanting to protect your child but also support your child in their quest to find their identity!  I think all adopted children, adults, and parents who adopt should read this book.

Fun stuff...a good adventure story about a blended family being stranded on a deserted island.  This is the first in a series.  Not heavy reading, but good survival material.

I was just introduced to this mystery series, and I think it is fun because it deals with cooking, mysteries, and history.  The first book takes place in Vancouver, which is a great hook for students in this city.  I just finished the first book, "Neil Flambe and the Marco Polo Murders" and I am going to read the second, "Neil Flambe and Aztec Abduction" and third, "Neil Flambe and Crusader's Curse". 

Happy Reading!

The Write Stuff

Right before spring break, I had the opportunity to work with a wonderful group of writers in grades 4 and 5.  I am always looking for resources to help make writing more accessible to children, as well as to inspire those young authors who love to write.  I was recommended this fantastic resource:

This book is created by this great organization called "826 National", which is actually a store/writing centre in San Francisco, with other chapters in Brooklyn, L.A., Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Ann Arbor, and Washington DC!

Basically, the goal of these centres is to be "a vibrant setting for rigorous educational activities. Connecting students with local authors, artists, and college students while providing a space that is whimsical and fun proved to be an excellent model for achieving results, and this idea was replicated in seven additional cities." 

The centre has created this great resource called Don't Forget to Write, which I purchased at Kidsbooks this past week.  The Youtube video is great to watch! 

I would love to create one of these centres in Vancouver...I think I need to go on a fieldtrip to Seattle to visit one of these centres in action!

Easter Updates

Happy Easter!  The weather is absolutely stunning in Vancouver this Good Friday and I hope everyone is enjoying the balmy and sunny weather.

We have had the last two weeks off, and it has been great to spend time with  family and to get on top of my work!  Here are a few updates from the Challenge Centre so that you are in the loop with what is going on:

1.  I am finishing reports/certificates for the following programs and schools should have these by the following week:  Debating Gr. 6, Engineering Gr. 5/6, The Write Stuff Gr. 4/5, and Creative Think Tank Gr. 3.  Thank you schools and parents for waiting for these reports....I know they have been a long time coming, but I finally got to them!

2.  The following programs are coming up in April:  

• Mind Your Math Gr. 4/5 is being held on April 3,4,10,11th (this next week)

• Engineering Gr.3/4 runs April 8,9,15,16th

• Book Club Group 1 meets Wednesday April 17th

• Animalia Gr. 3/4 runs April 22, 23, 29, 30th

• Book Club Group 2 meets Wednesday April 24th

It is looking to be an extremely busy month!!!

3.  Invitations for Programs:

I am still sorting out invitations for programs.  The following program invitations will be sent out over the next few weeks:

• Design Your Own Universe May 6,7, and 8th
• Fairy Tale Adventures May 27, 28, and 29th
• Gizmos and Gadgets June 3, 4, and 5th NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATE

4.  Gizmos and Gadgets Change of Date:

Gizmos and Gadgets was originally to be held May 13, 14, 15th; however, I am moving that to the first week of June (June 3, 4, 5th)  due to scheduling conflicts.

5.  Planning for the End of the Year:

One of my goals this year was to lessen the paperwork for all; what I want to do is to get information back to schools, in June, detailing:

a.  for each school:  students serviced at the challenge centre this year, and students that did not receive a placement.  

• For example, if Green elementary submitted 8 referrals this year and 3 students were placed in a program, and 5 did not receive a program, then I will give this information back to the school. 
• Then, the school can decide for next year....perhaps one of the five who did not receive a spot really needs that service, so their priority will be to look at those 5 whom did not receive a program.  
• I have the paperwork for all 8 students, and I do not need the school to have to fill out new applications on their behalf again...basically they can submit the name back to me.

b.  Instead of schools having to resubmit forms, I want to keep the forms on file, and the schools, with their updated list from me, can tell me:

•  if they want that child to be considered for programs the next year
• or choose another student that was not accepted 
• or send in new forms for another student 

If this sounds confusing, do not worry; we will be sending out information that clearly explains the new process for next year.  This information will be coming out in May so that schools are clear what needs to be done for the 2013-2014 school year.

If you have any questions, please email me at:

mwiesinger@vsb.bc.ca

Happy Easter!

Resources for Teaching Engineering

Teachers always need resources....in putting together the unit on engineering, I had to look far and wide to find information and resources. Here are a few places to start to get some great information:


1.  This is a great site for getting girls involved in engineering:
  www.teachingengineering.org


2.  This is a great place to get lesson plans for teaching; there is lots of info so you need time to sort through:
   www.teachengineering.org

3.  This is a great site created by PBS...there are activities students can do online and there is lots of information:

PBS Building Big

4.  National Academy of Engineering has wonderful information and in particular, I began the unit of study looking at the "great engineering achievements" which was a good introduction for the students:

www.engineeringchallenges.org


5.  I wanted to link the learning we did in the program with the bigger world, so I found some great Youtube videos entitled: How can science save the world?  This was a contest whereby students had to submit video entries how science can make the world a better place.  Periodically, throughout the program, I showed the students.  It was fantastic to see work created by students!  Just go to the jump and click on any of the video submissions.

If you have any resources or ideas, please let me know.  I am working with grade 3/4 students on the same unit in a few weeks, so I am looking for materials that are more age appropriate for the younger age group.

Final Engineering Projects

Don't you just love it....students at work...sharing ideas and projects..the best learning ever!!

 Loved this final project....makes me want to go to Paris and show my own kids this fantastic structure!!!

 For the final project, the students were given the following criteria:  Design and build a strong, sturdy original structure that serves a particular purpose, and meets these criteria and specifications:

• your structure must be a stationary building that serves a useful purpose
• the structure may serve either a practical or a fanciful function ( for example, it may be the eighth great wonder of the world or an underwater house that can be lived in year round)
• your structure must be freestanding

When you are finished building you must present your structure to the class.  You must:

• name your structure and explain its purpose
• explain how you dealt with areas of tension and compression
• show evidence of a least 3 engineering techniques
• proved reasons for your choice of materials
• tell ow your estimate of "needed materials" compares with the amount of materials actually used.

Whew!  The students had all morning to build their structures, and presented them in the afternoon.

We used materials that I could round up in class, and if students wanted to bring in other materials, they were allowed to do so.  I provided the glue guns, although only a few students wanted to use them (I allowed them to use the glue guns only under supervision and if they were familiar with them; otherwise I wouldn't let kids use them....they can easily burn themselves).

 I provided the following materials:  

• skewers (be careful with these so that the students do not make weapons with them....most of the students were okay with this but sometimes you get that student who is a weapon fanatic and wants to make something dangerous)
• straws, popsicle sticks, cardboard, boxes, foam core, styrofoam
• glue:  white glue and paste
• all types of tape:  masking, electrical, duct tape, scotch tape
• coloured paper of all sorts and textured paper
• tin foil, saran wrap, plastic baggies, coloured tissue paper and clear paper
• playing cards, poster board, modelling clay, pipe-cleaners
• boxes

Below this student created a stadium...

Here we have about three projects put together...a tower with a bridge, a robot car, 

Here's a house with a retractable roof....

H

All were original and creative....thank you Engineering students!  You did a great job and you should be proud of your efforts!

More Engineering

Here we had the students build towers using spaghetti and marshmallows...it was really difficult; this team used gum drops to hold the pieces together which was far more successful; the marshmallows work well when working with toothpicks, but with spaghetti (the longer lengths) they did not hold together so well.

 I got this group to use straws in this challenge to see if it worked any better ...
sort of!

And onto the newspaper challenge....build a chair using newspaper and tape; the chair must be able to hold the weight of a student!

Many different designs were discussed...

This group got the idea of the triangle to strengthen their chair...

 Like the design of this one...think it will hold up?

 As I mentioned before...the room was a disaster after each day...one needs to build in a great clean up plan before beginning to unleash the engineers in the classroom!