We have one more meeting of our 2nd and 3rd grade enrichment clusters before our Showcase on March 8, 2013. Take a look at what our 2nd and 3rd graders are producing and learning. VERY impressive!
Take a Look Inside 2nd and 3rd grade enrichment clusters...
Continuing to develop the whole child....
Friday, February 22, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
The Journey Continues
This morning, I had the pleasure of touring eight Laurel Mountain parents around our 2nd and 3rd grade enrichment clusters. I find it exciting and fun to be able to share the unbelievable work of our students and teachers. The parents can feel the energy and witness the learning taking place during the students' journeys in the various enrichment clusters. It makes me very proud to say that I am a Laurel Mountain Lion. Thank you to the parents who spent part of their morning with me.
If you were not able to make the tour (or even if you were), please check out the video for an overview of what has been going on in our 2nd and 3rd grade enrichment clusters.
Continuing to develop the whole child...
If you were not able to make the tour (or even if you were), please check out the video for an overview of what has been going on in our 2nd and 3rd grade enrichment clusters.
Continuing to develop the whole child...
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
It's a Go!
2nd and 3rd grade Enrichment Cluster Summaries
Just Dessert: The “Just Dessert” enrichment cluster had our first gathering on Friday, January 11th. We spent time sharing our favorite desserts to eat and make. Also, as all good bakers know there are special supplies needed to help make your baking experience a success. One of those items is an apron. We ended our cluster on Friday decorating our very own aprons and looking through dessert cookbooks. Next time we meet we’ll have some fun “hands on” experience making Italian cookies. Happy baking!!!
Pet Lovers Group: We had 2 special visitors for our first cluster meeting. We met Cyndi and her Great Dane, Logan, from the Austin Dog Alliance. Logan was huge and very friendly. We learned that he is a Therapy Dog and goes to the hospital to work with kids. He also loves to hear children read books! The Pet Lovers are eager to make cards for Logan next week. They also want to make dog treats for Logan and his friends! Several Pet Lovers asked if they could bring in their own pets to share with the group. Parents, be on the lookout for a sign up sheet to bring your pet to school J
LEGO Engineers: We had a wonderful first meeting as LEGO Engineers. We discussed the correct names for the LEGO pieces and practiced building and programming an alligator in order to learn and review how to use the sensor in our builds. Our experienced engineers did an excellent job of explaining and modeling proper building and programming techniques for those that have less experience with the WeDo kits. Next week, we will build and program a bird in order to learn and review how to use the tilt device. We will also discuss and make a plan for what all we want to experience for the remainder of our meetings.
LME’s Ornithologists: We are so fortunate to be ornithologists at LME. Not every school has a preserve in their backyard. In the next several weeks, we will be using the preserve as our classroom to do several field studies. Why? Well, that’s where all the birds are. Our goals will be to identify all the native birds and study their behaviors, spend lots of quiet mornings bird watching, make different types of bird feeders to place in the preserve, observe to learn which birds like which feeders and experiment with different types of seeds. We are so excited and ready to spread our wings in the cluster.
Creative Cuisine: In Creative Cuisine, we shared our individual cooking histories and goals. Then we dove right into the art of cooking by making Swedish meatballs. Student groups worked together with the measuring, chopping, mixing, and frying this recipe required, and they created a truly delicious dish!
Lions, and Tigers, and Bears...Oh My!: In “Lions, and Tigers, and Bears...Oh My!” students learned a new theatre game called "Slap Pass" using their names and different types of animals. They also experienced three separate fables and discussed the qualities of the characters in each. Finally, students played "Shape, Face, Walk, Talk," which required them to take on the posture, facial expression, walk, and sounds of different animals. Each student interpreted the animals in their own unique way while moving around the room to music.
Hey, hey, hey! It’s clay, clay, clay!: The “Clay, Clay, Clay” enrichment cluster changed its name to “Hey, hey, hey! It’s clay, clay, clay!”. Students talked about the things they wanted to make. Some students would like to donate a pot to the Round Rock Empty bowl project. We watched two reading rainbow videos about Pueblo people in New Mexico mixing clay and forming pots, and another about a Hawaiian artist that demonstrated how to throw pottery on the potter's wheel. Then students began making their first pots using the pinch pot technique. They learned they can make many different things using this technique.
Global Crafts Workshop: As an introduction, in the “Global Crafts Workshop” we learned about various aspects of the culture of the Netherlands and the importance of windmills in their culture. The Netherlands is so closely associated with windmills, that it's often the first fact people recall about the country. The Dutch built windmills for many centuries. Historically, windmills in Holland served many purposes including grinding grain for food and sawing logs for building, but draining the wetlands was most important. After this introduction, students made their own windmill craft using their new knowledge of Dutch culture.
We also discussed future culture and craft exploration and a potential authentic audience for our crafts. In the next two meetings students will explore various cultures and make an associated craft. After these introductory meetings, students will determine the future course of the cluster and decide on the places and cultures they would like to learn more about and the products they would like to create.
Life in the Ocean: During our first enrichment cluster meeting we had a great time watching videos about whales, octopus, coral reefs and some cool deep, deep ocean life! Next week we will be having a live video conference with Texas State Aquarium so we wrote down some questions we wanted to ask. We even came up with some cool ideas for our end product we will share at the Showcase in March.
Caring Crafters: The “Caring Crafters” began our enrichment cluster with an introduction into what crafting means and how crafting for a cause can be different than other artistic endeavors. We shared our past crafting experiences and brainstormed possible service outlets and products that could address a variety of needs in both our local and global communities. We started making heart-shaped sachets, sewn with felt and stuffed with rice and cinnamon, to be given to a loved one as our first craft. We look forward to spending the next several weeks “paying it forward” by combining our desire to serve others with our creative spirits.
LME Computer Institute: Our enrichment had a very successful meeting. We started things off with a discussion about how much computers are part of our daily lives. Next, we moved on to an interactive history of computers, seeing their humble beginnings and how they have changed over the years.
I mentioned that today's newest gadgets will seem like ancient history in just a few short years and to illustrate the point, I showed a video of modern kids attempting to interact with early 1980's technology like a tape deck and vintage personal computer. It was an eye-opener for many of them! We also opened some modern computers, looked inside and examined how the individual parts are assembled and work together. Finally, we predicted what computers will look like in the future and sketched out our thoughts. Topics of interest for future meetings included making games, typing / keyboard shortcuts, how to make a computer from parts, how computers work, how to fix computers, and creating web pages. We're going to be busy exploring the world of COMPUTERS!
Stop Motion Animation: In “Stop Motion Animation”, we discussed what Stop Motion Animation is. Some students shared their experiences creating this type of movie. We watched many examples of industry made movies and commercial using stop motion. Then we went to the website http://www.artechcamps.com/gallery/stop-motion-animation to watch several student made movies. Many different materials were used like LEGOs, clay, paper, and whiteboards. Cluster students already have ideas of what they want to use. We are looking forward to creating our movies.
Scratch The Surface: We welcomed the group and did a demonstration of what the Scratch program can do. After the demonstration, each student went to their own computer to try out some programming step by step with Mrs. Kaplan. After each student completed the set program, they got a chance to make one of their own. The students picked up the programming codes easily and were able to be creative to design their own animations. With some more practice, the students will be designing their own games in no time.
Magnum Opus:During our first enrichment cluster meeting, we learned about the famous painter Paul Klee. Mrs. Markle read a book titled The Cat and the Bird. We then analyzed Paul Klee’s painting titled Cat and Bird. We realized that Klee drew the bird in the middle of the cat’s forehead because the bird is literally on the cat’s mind. Klee’s palette is also calm ranging from tawny to rose with areas of bluish green. We then drew our very own version of Cat and Bird. We will add oil pastels to our drawings next cluster meeting.
Help Save the Animals!: In our first cluster the children were excited to share the animals they wanted to help save. Some were interested in all animals! In order to help them narrow down their topic we watched videos about endangered animals. As the children decided on which animal they wanted to research, they made clay figures of their animal and searched picture books to help them find out more. They also created a background drawing of their animals habitat. Next week we will take a walk through the preserve to discover the importance of protecting an animal’s habitat.
Game Masters: In the “Game Masters” enrichment cluster this Friday, we talked about the history of some of our modern board games. We played several board games, and began talking about what our cluster product might be. This week we will play some dice and card games.
Monday, January 7, 2013
THANK YOU!!!
Yamila Aburto, LME and presenter to Mrs. A. Lee’s kindergarten class on Mexico and Mexican customs.
Ed Bailey, LME parent and presenter to Game-agination, a 4th and 5th grade enrichment cluster.
William Burch, Volunteer/Outreach Coordinator for the Travis County Balcones Canyonlands Preserve and presenter to WILD WILD Wildlife Cluster, a 4th and 5th grade enrichment cluster.
Lori Carr, Primal Pet Food Representative and presenter to Treats for Tweets and Puppies and Pals, a 4th and 5th grade enrichment cluster.
Eric Deal, LME parent and helper with Webmaster Workshop, a 4th and 5th grade enrichment cluster. Also, Mr. Deal sorted the 2nd and 3rd grade students into their enrichment clusters.
Nicole Groote, LME parent and presenter to Ms. Schuster’s 3rd grade class on Sinterklaas and St. Nicholas Day.
Mason McCullough, Mrs. McCullough’s son and helper with Are Robots Taking Over?, a 4th and 5th grade enrichment cluster.
Roopa Mucherla, LME parent and presenter to LME Ambassador Society, a 4th and 5th grade enrichment cluster.
Jenny Shepherd, LME parent and helper with Webmaster Workshop, a 4th and 5th grade enrichment cluster.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
4th and 5th grade Enrichment Cluster Showcase
The journey of our 4th and 5th graders in their enrichment clusters culminated on Friday, December 14, 2012 at our Enrichment Cluster Showcase. This was an opportunity for our students to show their parents and our community what they had accomplished over the past eight weeks. Their products and services were very impressive, as you can witness below.
Continuing to develop the whole child...
Products from the Clay Cluster.
NXT Robots From "Are Robots Taking Over the World?"
Are they????
A city from the future from "Future Thinks".
Another model city from "Future Thinks".
"PowerPoint Productions"
"PowerPoint Productions"
Assorted products from "Printing Imagination Station".
More screen printing products.
"Monsters and Myths"
QR Codes created for animals and plants in the RRISD Preserve.
Treasure Hunt that was created for the Preserve.
Another example of a QR code that was created by students.
And one more...
Not your Ordinary Crafting Products.
Cartoons and comic strips.
"Stop Motion Animation" Product.
Another example.
Websites created by our Webmasters.
"Global Food Expedition" Cookbooks.
"LME Computer Institute" Products.
LME Friendship Ambassador's Welcome Kits.
More parts of the Welcome Kits.
Creating dog treats.
And horse treats.
"Wildlife Cluster" display.
A model of an endangered animal's habitat.
Information about the Black Rhino, another endangered species.
Playing games created by students using "Scratch".
"Sports Fitness Cluster" Field Day information.
Another screen printing product.
And another...
One more...
Final example, so creative and all created by our students!
Monday, December 17, 2012
4th and 5th grade Enrichment Cluster Summaries
Friday, December 7 was the eighth and final meeting of our 4th and 5th grade enrichment clusters. Below are the summaries that explain what the enrichment clusters accomplished during their journey.
Printing Imagination Station
The Printing Imagination Station E-Cluster is a hands-on creative way to print your own personalized design. In our e-cluster, we learned about the different ways people first printed books and other important papers. Screen printing is one way to print multiple copies. There are two different ways to print using screens, permanent paint, and our own creative design. The class created, got messy, and in the end created a design that was printed on t-shirts, tote bags, or an apron. The students were engaged, creative, and worked collaboratively during this e-cluster. Special thanks to Mrs. Andrea Loomis, a parent volunteer, for being the “third” set of hands in this e-cluster.
Not Your Average Arts and Crafts
In "Not Your Average Arts and Crafts" cluster, we have had lots of fun making bold and unique arts and crafts. From Lions, to snow globes, to melting crayons, we have created beautiful pieces of art. From using pom-poms to recycled objects, we have had lots and lots of fun creating not your average arts and crafts! We have used so many creative items to make never before seen arts and crafts. It takes a lot of glue and scissors, but it's all worth it!
The Global Food Expedition
The Global Food Expedition experienced cooking and tasting dessert-like recipes from all over the world. We made crepes from France, eirkuchen from Germany, mango mochi from Hong Kong, Irish brown bread from Ireland, tiramisu from Italy, Mexican wedding cookies from Mexico, and pumpkin pie from the United States. In addition to cooking and eating these delicious global foods, we also practiced foundational cooking skills such as appropriately using electric beaters, whipping cream, measuring dry and wet ingredients, breaking eggs, and safely baking items. The students discussed some of the best ways to share their knowledge of global foods in the same ways that professionals might. We decided to create a cookbook with the various recipes we cooked throughout our cluster. Each page of the cookbook shows the ingredients and directions, photos of the final product, and has interesting facts about the country of origin.
LME Computer Institute
The LME Computer Institute has had a very productive 8 weeks. We kicked things off with a group discussion where we determined student interests. Using that information, we started out with the basics of how a computer works, opening up a few to look inside at the various parts and how they all operate together. We also briefly looked at keyboarding and the history of computers. Our cluster members then sketched predictions of what computers might look like in the future.
Our cluster was honored to have two guest speakers. First was Laurel Mountain dad Eric Deal, who spoke about computer architecture including dissecting a hard drive. He also walked us through the mental process of using programming to solve a real-world problem. Second was Laurel Mountain community member David Swofford, who discussed Austin’s vibrant technology history and the amazing things going on right now. He also spoke about careers available in technology and highlighted trends in PC, mobile and social gaming.
Each child selected a product that they wanted to create based on their own interests, and we hope you enjoy the fruits of their labor at the Enrichment Showcase!
Sports Fitness
Fitness is fun!! This semester we played six different sports out of the thirty-six Olympic sports played this past summer. We also learned a new game....Quidditch (yes...from Harry Potter). Will Quidditch be a future Olympic sports? We sure hope so. Special thanks to the three University of Texas Quidditch players that spent time with us. Learning to play Quidditch was a highlight of the clusters for many players.
Stop Motion Animation
The “Stop Motion Animation” enrichment cluster worked in groups of two to three students. They planned a scenario, developed characters, plot, and background before gathering materials to create their scene. Each group drew up a story board complete with details about their characters and background. Then they created the background with cardboard boxes, construction paper, and paint. The characters they created were either built with LEGOs or clay. Each member of the group chose their job responsibilities such as; producer, set design, camera operator, film editor, or production engineer. Next, they set up their scene and took digital still shots with small movements in between. Most groups took 100-300 pictures that they then uploaded to Windows Movie Maker. Some groups added voice-overs using Audacity while others used paper speech bubbles in their digital shots. Their final movies were approximately 10-15 seconds long ranging in topic from "The Great Pumpkin" to "Spaceman"
Cartoon Workshop
The “Cartoon Workshop” enrichment cluster had eight fantastic weeks of cartooning fun. We got to try our hands at character development, story boarding, animation and we even made our own comic books. All of our comic books have different themes and ideas that are all our own. We explored the ideas of our characters and plot to come up with awesome original cartoons that we can't wait to share.
Monsters and Mysteries
We spent the first two meetings talking about monsters--what makes something a monster?--and defining mysteries. We looked at photos and videos of “famous” monsters, including Bigfoot, Yeti, the Loch Ness monster, and Frankenstein’s Monster. The kids generated a list of all the other monsters they had heard of. Each student wrote the monster’s name on a Post-It note and we posted them on the board. We had over 75 monsters! The kids shared information about “their monsters.”
The next five meetings were spent creating monsters. We talked about how each monster needed an origin story. Each student developed a story idea that featured his/her monster as the main character. The last meeting was spent finishing up our monsters and sharing them with the class. We look forward to sharing our monsters!
Future Think
Our future thinkers created societies they believe might be in the future. One of the groups created a Utopian society, while two other groups created societies that were trying to achieve utopia. A lot of fun was had creating these future worlds!
Webmaster Workshop
In the “Webmaster Workshop” enrichment cluster our students explored the how, what and why of web design and learned what a Webmaster does. They worked in teams of two to design, build and publish their own websites. The websites created are intended to be reference sites for other elementary aged students who are interested in video games, mythology, gemstones, animals and other interesting research topics. They even had the opportunity to visit the game creation cluster and have posted links to the games created by these students on their own websites, providing real-world connections between enrichment clusters.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: The seQRet treasure hunt
Over the past eight weeks, “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: The seQRet treasure hunt” has used existing student-created research, photos and other resources to develop a series of "treasure hunts" through the Outdoor Learning Lab (aka: The Preserve). Treasure seekers use smart-technology to scan QR-Codes and read through research and collect artifacts. At the end of each Hunt, the treasure seeker has a set of letters they must unscramble to solve the mystery.
Are Robots are Taking Over?
In the "Are Robots are Taking Over?" enrichment cluster students planned and built robots to help with problems around the school such as hallway monitoring and trash collection. Students gained experience in design and programming using LEGO NTX Mindstorm systems, as well as teamwork and problem solving. Visits from the Westwood Robotics and Round Rock Robotics teams helped to inspire and instruct our members throughout our cluster.
LME Ambassador Society
The LME Ambassador Society had a fun experience working together on products that will serve our community both this year and in the future. We set our purpose during the second week: to craft a plan and product design for welcoming new students and families to Laurel Mountain. We brainstormed ideas for products and services, and ended up dividing into two group; one group who wanted to create a welcome kit for new students and one group who wanted to make a photo book in Microsoft Publisher.
Photo books: The students in this group were interested in taking pictures and using technology to create a sustainable product for new families. They used school maps and a staff directory to figure out who/what to include in the photo book, then divided this list to take pictures of sites and people at Laurel Mountain. Students used netbook laptops to transfer pictures from the digital cameras to the computer, and resized pictures into a Microsoft Publisher book. Each page required a text box explanation of who/what was on the page.
Welcome kits: The 4th and 5th graders in this group discussed ideas for things they could include as a gift for our new students. They had a mixture of interests in this crafty group, so some students worked on making friendship bracelets, some worked on making bottle-cap fortunes (including fortunes, such as “You will make many good friends.”), while others worked to make origami boxes to hold the fortunes and bracelets and complete the kit. They were able to create enough welcome kits for all new students to Laurel Mountain this year, and will be distributing these to new students on 12/17/12 and 12/18/12.
During the last cluster meeting, we had a guest speaker share her experiences as a Guest Relations Manager at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, India. She spoke of the concierge services and coordination that goes into hosting guests in luxury hotels, as well as how she became interested in hotel services and guest relations. We are excited to share our products and enthusiasm at the Enrichment Cluster Showcase on Friday, December 14!
POWERpoint Cluster
Each student worked toward creating a PowerPoint about them self as they explored various options that are available using the software. They become skilled at adding unique transitions between the slides, adding graphics and pictures and evaluating the characteristics of a quality presentation. It was rewarding to watch students become facilitators as they assisted other members when problems arose or gave feedback regarding editing and ways to improve the presentation. Good job students!
Game-agination
In the last eight weeks we have learned to combine lines of code to make our sprites move across the page, disappear and change color. We have learned how to create backgrounds and move our sprites across the backgrounds. We are well on our way to being game designers. We have also helped out others in our clusters that were having difficulty "debugging code". We are "Scratchers!"
Wild Wild Wildlife Cluster
We started our enrichment cluster by making bird feeders made from suet and peanut butter. We actually mixed and made the suet ourselves. Then some of us took the bird feeders home and hung them in trees with wire cut from coat hangers. The other bird feeders were distributed and hung in trees in the preserve by Mr. Hance and his class.
Our second cluster meeting focused on the different professions that involve working with wildlife. We talked a lot about scientists and scientific inquiry. One of the tools that scientists use is observation. We learned about strict and deduced observations and then went on a scavenger hunt in the preserve to observe ourselves. We then classified the observations we made into strict or deduced observations.
Our third cluster, we spent learning about bird watching. We then went outside and did some watching of our own.
We spent our next cluster meeting with Will Burch from Travis County Parks. He manages the Balcones Preserve. He took us into the preserve and taught us about native Texas plants and animals.
The other cluster meetings we spent time learning about biodiversity and then created a graph to show how many organisms live in each small part of our Earth. The graphing posed some higher level mathematical thinking for the children.
Our last cluster meeting, Mr. Burch returned. He taught us about endangered species in Texas. We had a lively discussion and played a habitat game to help us learn why animals become threatened and then endangered.
Endangered Texas Animals Cluster
The “Endangered Texas Animal” enrichment cluster enjoyed learning from community experts as well as online resources. We also saw live specimens of several Texas endangered reptiles. Among the species we saw were the snapping turtle and the American alligator. We also had an endangered species expert from the Williamson County Museum teach us about the golden cheeked Warbler, the black capped Vireo and the Georgetown salamander. Our final guest was an environmental biologist whom is studying the Georgetown Salamander. We learned how scientists name new species and how animal populations are surveyed and monitored annually. The cluster participants took all this new information and research and choose animal species to research. The products the Laurel Mountain researchers made were 3-D exhibits, power points, photo story presentations and posters.
Creative Clay Creations
Students in the “Creative Clay Creations” enrichment cluster used real life ceramic techniques to make pottery and sculptures with clay. Techniques such as slab, coil, pinch pot and the potter’s wheel enabled them to create a wide variety of work. After creations dried and were fired in the kiln, students glazed their work. Some students decided to donate their work to the Round Rock Empty Bowl Project which will take place in the spring. Their work will be sold and the money will be used to buy food for the Round Rock Food Pantry. These students created QR codes for their work. The QR Code will take parents to a website that has pictures from the cluster and student work.
Treats for the Tweets and Puppies & Pals
We made nutritional treats for dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs, rabbits, and even horses! Making these was easy, sticky, and lots of FUN! Although some of the treats were smelly & sticky, we still enjoyed ourselves. At our last meeting we decided to make “healthy human” treats. Yummy! We all thought the cluster was awesome!
Printing Imagination Station
The Printing Imagination Station E-Cluster is a hands-on creative way to print your own personalized design. In our e-cluster, we learned about the different ways people first printed books and other important papers. Screen printing is one way to print multiple copies. There are two different ways to print using screens, permanent paint, and our own creative design. The class created, got messy, and in the end created a design that was printed on t-shirts, tote bags, or an apron. The students were engaged, creative, and worked collaboratively during this e-cluster. Special thanks to Mrs. Andrea Loomis, a parent volunteer, for being the “third” set of hands in this e-cluster.
Not Your Average Arts and Crafts
In "Not Your Average Arts and Crafts" cluster, we have had lots of fun making bold and unique arts and crafts. From Lions, to snow globes, to melting crayons, we have created beautiful pieces of art. From using pom-poms to recycled objects, we have had lots and lots of fun creating not your average arts and crafts! We have used so many creative items to make never before seen arts and crafts. It takes a lot of glue and scissors, but it's all worth it!
The Global Food Expedition
The Global Food Expedition experienced cooking and tasting dessert-like recipes from all over the world. We made crepes from France, eirkuchen from Germany, mango mochi from Hong Kong, Irish brown bread from Ireland, tiramisu from Italy, Mexican wedding cookies from Mexico, and pumpkin pie from the United States. In addition to cooking and eating these delicious global foods, we also practiced foundational cooking skills such as appropriately using electric beaters, whipping cream, measuring dry and wet ingredients, breaking eggs, and safely baking items. The students discussed some of the best ways to share their knowledge of global foods in the same ways that professionals might. We decided to create a cookbook with the various recipes we cooked throughout our cluster. Each page of the cookbook shows the ingredients and directions, photos of the final product, and has interesting facts about the country of origin.
LME Computer Institute
The LME Computer Institute has had a very productive 8 weeks. We kicked things off with a group discussion where we determined student interests. Using that information, we started out with the basics of how a computer works, opening up a few to look inside at the various parts and how they all operate together. We also briefly looked at keyboarding and the history of computers. Our cluster members then sketched predictions of what computers might look like in the future.
Our cluster was honored to have two guest speakers. First was Laurel Mountain dad Eric Deal, who spoke about computer architecture including dissecting a hard drive. He also walked us through the mental process of using programming to solve a real-world problem. Second was Laurel Mountain community member David Swofford, who discussed Austin’s vibrant technology history and the amazing things going on right now. He also spoke about careers available in technology and highlighted trends in PC, mobile and social gaming.
Each child selected a product that they wanted to create based on their own interests, and we hope you enjoy the fruits of their labor at the Enrichment Showcase!
Sports Fitness
Fitness is fun!! This semester we played six different sports out of the thirty-six Olympic sports played this past summer. We also learned a new game....Quidditch (yes...from Harry Potter). Will Quidditch be a future Olympic sports? We sure hope so. Special thanks to the three University of Texas Quidditch players that spent time with us. Learning to play Quidditch was a highlight of the clusters for many players.
Stop Motion Animation
The “Stop Motion Animation” enrichment cluster worked in groups of two to three students. They planned a scenario, developed characters, plot, and background before gathering materials to create their scene. Each group drew up a story board complete with details about their characters and background. Then they created the background with cardboard boxes, construction paper, and paint. The characters they created were either built with LEGOs or clay. Each member of the group chose their job responsibilities such as; producer, set design, camera operator, film editor, or production engineer. Next, they set up their scene and took digital still shots with small movements in between. Most groups took 100-300 pictures that they then uploaded to Windows Movie Maker. Some groups added voice-overs using Audacity while others used paper speech bubbles in their digital shots. Their final movies were approximately 10-15 seconds long ranging in topic from "The Great Pumpkin" to "Spaceman"
Cartoon Workshop
The “Cartoon Workshop” enrichment cluster had eight fantastic weeks of cartooning fun. We got to try our hands at character development, story boarding, animation and we even made our own comic books. All of our comic books have different themes and ideas that are all our own. We explored the ideas of our characters and plot to come up with awesome original cartoons that we can't wait to share.
Monsters and Mysteries
We spent the first two meetings talking about monsters--what makes something a monster?--and defining mysteries. We looked at photos and videos of “famous” monsters, including Bigfoot, Yeti, the Loch Ness monster, and Frankenstein’s Monster. The kids generated a list of all the other monsters they had heard of. Each student wrote the monster’s name on a Post-It note and we posted them on the board. We had over 75 monsters! The kids shared information about “their monsters.”
The next five meetings were spent creating monsters. We talked about how each monster needed an origin story. Each student developed a story idea that featured his/her monster as the main character. The last meeting was spent finishing up our monsters and sharing them with the class. We look forward to sharing our monsters!
Future Think
Our future thinkers created societies they believe might be in the future. One of the groups created a Utopian society, while two other groups created societies that were trying to achieve utopia. A lot of fun was had creating these future worlds!
Webmaster Workshop
In the “Webmaster Workshop” enrichment cluster our students explored the how, what and why of web design and learned what a Webmaster does. They worked in teams of two to design, build and publish their own websites. The websites created are intended to be reference sites for other elementary aged students who are interested in video games, mythology, gemstones, animals and other interesting research topics. They even had the opportunity to visit the game creation cluster and have posted links to the games created by these students on their own websites, providing real-world connections between enrichment clusters.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: The seQRet treasure hunt
Over the past eight weeks, “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: The seQRet treasure hunt” has used existing student-created research, photos and other resources to develop a series of "treasure hunts" through the Outdoor Learning Lab (aka: The Preserve). Treasure seekers use smart-technology to scan QR-Codes and read through research and collect artifacts. At the end of each Hunt, the treasure seeker has a set of letters they must unscramble to solve the mystery.
Are Robots are Taking Over?
In the "Are Robots are Taking Over?" enrichment cluster students planned and built robots to help with problems around the school such as hallway monitoring and trash collection. Students gained experience in design and programming using LEGO NTX Mindstorm systems, as well as teamwork and problem solving. Visits from the Westwood Robotics and Round Rock Robotics teams helped to inspire and instruct our members throughout our cluster.
LME Ambassador Society
The LME Ambassador Society had a fun experience working together on products that will serve our community both this year and in the future. We set our purpose during the second week: to craft a plan and product design for welcoming new students and families to Laurel Mountain. We brainstormed ideas for products and services, and ended up dividing into two group; one group who wanted to create a welcome kit for new students and one group who wanted to make a photo book in Microsoft Publisher.
Photo books: The students in this group were interested in taking pictures and using technology to create a sustainable product for new families. They used school maps and a staff directory to figure out who/what to include in the photo book, then divided this list to take pictures of sites and people at Laurel Mountain. Students used netbook laptops to transfer pictures from the digital cameras to the computer, and resized pictures into a Microsoft Publisher book. Each page required a text box explanation of who/what was on the page.
Welcome kits: The 4th and 5th graders in this group discussed ideas for things they could include as a gift for our new students. They had a mixture of interests in this crafty group, so some students worked on making friendship bracelets, some worked on making bottle-cap fortunes (including fortunes, such as “You will make many good friends.”), while others worked to make origami boxes to hold the fortunes and bracelets and complete the kit. They were able to create enough welcome kits for all new students to Laurel Mountain this year, and will be distributing these to new students on 12/17/12 and 12/18/12.
During the last cluster meeting, we had a guest speaker share her experiences as a Guest Relations Manager at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, India. She spoke of the concierge services and coordination that goes into hosting guests in luxury hotels, as well as how she became interested in hotel services and guest relations. We are excited to share our products and enthusiasm at the Enrichment Cluster Showcase on Friday, December 14!
POWERpoint Cluster
Each student worked toward creating a PowerPoint about them self as they explored various options that are available using the software. They become skilled at adding unique transitions between the slides, adding graphics and pictures and evaluating the characteristics of a quality presentation. It was rewarding to watch students become facilitators as they assisted other members when problems arose or gave feedback regarding editing and ways to improve the presentation. Good job students!
Game-agination
In the last eight weeks we have learned to combine lines of code to make our sprites move across the page, disappear and change color. We have learned how to create backgrounds and move our sprites across the backgrounds. We are well on our way to being game designers. We have also helped out others in our clusters that were having difficulty "debugging code". We are "Scratchers!"
Wild Wild Wildlife Cluster
We started our enrichment cluster by making bird feeders made from suet and peanut butter. We actually mixed and made the suet ourselves. Then some of us took the bird feeders home and hung them in trees with wire cut from coat hangers. The other bird feeders were distributed and hung in trees in the preserve by Mr. Hance and his class.
Our second cluster meeting focused on the different professions that involve working with wildlife. We talked a lot about scientists and scientific inquiry. One of the tools that scientists use is observation. We learned about strict and deduced observations and then went on a scavenger hunt in the preserve to observe ourselves. We then classified the observations we made into strict or deduced observations.
Our third cluster, we spent learning about bird watching. We then went outside and did some watching of our own.
We spent our next cluster meeting with Will Burch from Travis County Parks. He manages the Balcones Preserve. He took us into the preserve and taught us about native Texas plants and animals.
The other cluster meetings we spent time learning about biodiversity and then created a graph to show how many organisms live in each small part of our Earth. The graphing posed some higher level mathematical thinking for the children.
Our last cluster meeting, Mr. Burch returned. He taught us about endangered species in Texas. We had a lively discussion and played a habitat game to help us learn why animals become threatened and then endangered.
Endangered Texas Animals Cluster
The “Endangered Texas Animal” enrichment cluster enjoyed learning from community experts as well as online resources. We also saw live specimens of several Texas endangered reptiles. Among the species we saw were the snapping turtle and the American alligator. We also had an endangered species expert from the Williamson County Museum teach us about the golden cheeked Warbler, the black capped Vireo and the Georgetown salamander. Our final guest was an environmental biologist whom is studying the Georgetown Salamander. We learned how scientists name new species and how animal populations are surveyed and monitored annually. The cluster participants took all this new information and research and choose animal species to research. The products the Laurel Mountain researchers made were 3-D exhibits, power points, photo story presentations and posters.
Creative Clay Creations
Students in the “Creative Clay Creations” enrichment cluster used real life ceramic techniques to make pottery and sculptures with clay. Techniques such as slab, coil, pinch pot and the potter’s wheel enabled them to create a wide variety of work. After creations dried and were fired in the kiln, students glazed their work. Some students decided to donate their work to the Round Rock Empty Bowl Project which will take place in the spring. Their work will be sold and the money will be used to buy food for the Round Rock Food Pantry. These students created QR codes for their work. The QR Code will take parents to a website that has pictures from the cluster and student work.
Treats for the Tweets and Puppies & Pals
We made nutritional treats for dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs, rabbits, and even horses! Making these was easy, sticky, and lots of FUN! Although some of the treats were smelly & sticky, we still enjoyed ourselves. At our last meeting we decided to make “healthy human” treats. Yummy! We all thought the cluster was awesome!
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