MOST POPULAR VIDEOS

• 2:45 Week 8 of 2022-23| 5th-8th Grade Science

  This week's slideshow highlights: one of our 8th graders sharing his dancing skills, thus bringing some humor to our Science class as he renditions for Decatur's Got Talent; several pics of students showing leadership by sharing their Science Notebooks as all classes spent time this week analyzing and interpreting data, as well as arguing from evidence, which are both important NGSS Science & Engineering Practices; 7th grade did a lab exploring the function of the cell membrane and there a a few photos of 7th graders getting right down to exploring with some new compound light and digital microscopes; 6th grade analyzed Geologic data sets from global GPS stations to investigate how the Earth's surface changes slowly but steadily in various locations around the globe, and how that information can impact the decision of the best locations to store nuclear wastes; 5th grade went from investigating the phenomena of Earth's Moon's phases, to exploring data sets of how Earth's amount of daylight changes throughout the year, as well as the angle of the sun, which sets the stage for further investigations as to why the seasons change in places like Chicago but not everywhere on Earth; as the Autumn season sets in, winter will be not far behind so 8th grade spent some Science class time outside this week learning about Newton's Laws of Motion as they continued exploring Forces and Motion; and last but not least, the presentation ends with some photos of 5th grade observing the live feedings of our fish from our Lake Michigan ecosystem, and the smiles on our students' faces are priceless! Thank you for checking in with us this week:)

  Uploaded Oct 15, 2022 by Gerard Kovach
• 4:16 Weeks 27 & 28 of 2022-23|5th-8th Grade Science

  This week's slideshow highlights: pics of our 5 Decatur JHS students who each made it to CPS Citywide STEM Fair (Congratulations to 8th graders Francesca and Lucy and 7th graders Clare, Elliot, and Sienna who represented Decatur with grace), and then Elliot, Sienna, and Francesca, who each are advancing onto IL State STEM Fair, which will be held at SIU Carbondale in late April); pics of 8th grade exploring their new SEPUP unit on Waves; 5th graders wrapped up their unit on "Weather & Climate" and will move into exploring "Energy"; and 7th graders continued exploring genetics as part of their SEPUP unit on "Reproduction" along with pics of them gearing up for next week's JHS March Madness by working together to create table top basketball hoops.

  Uploaded Mar 26, 2023 by Gerard Kovach
• 00:12 Writing Personal Narratives

  Students in 102 spent time this week revisitng their writing from last week. This time, they added sensory details and used their Editor's markings to gave 3 suggestions to a buddy. They have a good thing going!

  Uploaded Sep 16, 2022 by LeiAnna Carrasco
• 1:49 Makerspace: Oct 7-11

  This week, students have begun to develop presentations that they will be sharing with in class. Most groups in 3rd-6th grade are choosing to use Google Slides - allowing them to collaborate with all members in their groups. For students in K-2, we'll be reviewing iPad expectations and begin experimenting with presenting using a web-based program called Padlet: a digital pin board that allows students to post their responses (written, photos and even audio recordings) without logging in.

  Uploaded Oct 12, 2019
• 2:02 Makerspace: Sep 30 - Oct 4

  As more and more classes have begun to build their towers, I am amazed at the level of determination students have - even after their designs have fallen apart! One group's tower fell apart with only *six* minutes left to go in the challenge. While it's difficult to have your work fall apart in when you've worked so hard, this team restarted immediately and ultimately had the highest tower in their class! It's also interesting to see which groups use another teams model once theirs falls apart. While some students have called this 'cheating', we know as engineers we often replicate others' ideas in order to make our own designs. After all, if no one had borrowed the Wright brothers' invention for building the world's first successful airplane, we wouldn't have the airplanes we have today!

  Uploaded Oct 05, 2019
• 00:23 Partner work - using past, present and future verbs
  Uploaded Jan 25, 2020
• 00:11 Seeing the World Through Numbers

  Students worked in pair to read a text called, Seeing the World Through Numbers. They were challenged to visualize each number from the book's illustrations. For example, the number 128 can be visualized as 128 ft, 128 centimeter 12 millimeters..etc Without these forms of measurements, scientist would have no context for understanding the world.

  Uploaded Dec 03, 2021 by LeiAnna Carrasco
• 3:26 Week 11 of 2022-23| 5th-8th Grade Science

  This week's slideshow highlights: Students having FUN working in their homeroom teams participating in our annual Oktoberfest community builder; 8th graders exploring Newton's Laws of Motion to explain their observations of observations of colliding objects and relating that to designing safer vehicles; 6th graders sharing their analysis of the Earth's interior; 5th graders explored patterns while analyzing data and interpreting data on how the angle of the sun impacts the amount of daylight at various times of the year; and a special visit to our Science classroom by Ms. Carrasco's first graders as our 7th graders loved showing them around the lab, including show and tell of our class lizard, Curtiss, our Lake Michigan aquatic ecosystem and tadpole tank, and even viewing small aquatic Planaria under our digital microscope; lastly, Ms. Mendoza and I were so proud of our Decatur First Lego League Robotics Team as they participated in a Saturday scrimmage at Whitney Young High School to gear up for our Regional Tournament in December! Thanks for checking in with us this week:)

  Uploaded Nov 06, 2022 by Gerard Kovach
• 00:16 3rd Grade Animals Traits Activity Featured

  Students explored a series of animal cards (think baseball card like) and analyzed the similarities and differences between traits of different organisms.

  Uploaded Oct 02, 2022 by Ryan Cherry
• 00:49 4th Grade Responding to Text Practice

  4th graders work hard in groups to respond to text dependent prompts and then help provide constructive criticism to their classmates to help improve their responses!

  Uploaded Oct 05, 2019 by Katherine Cooper