GATE goes to Kappler

On March 20th, the 5th grade GATE students went on a field trip to tour Kappler in Guntersville. Kappler is a company that designs and produces protective garments for companies around the world. While touring the facility and research/development lab, students talked with and learned from professionals from many careers fields: a research scientist with a background in cell and molecular biology, a chemical engineer, a mechanical engineer with an aerospace background, a project development engineer and a industrial engineer. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Kappler and are so thankful they welcomed us! 

NorthEast Regional Tech Fair - March 13, 2015

The Evans Elementary Technology Team competed in the NorthEast Regional Technology Competition at the Agri-Business Center in Rainsville on Friday, March 13, 2015. The EES technology team has 21 members in 5th and 6th grade. Fifteen projects were entered in five categories: General Applications, Video Production, Multimedia, Website Design and Computer Programming. Some projects were individual projects while some were created by teams of two or three.  All of our students did an outstanding job creating and presenting their projects. Evans Elementary brought home 7 medals winning 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. 1st and 2nd place will advance to the state competition on April 25th at Calhoun Community College in Decatur.

EES Winners

1st place- Video production- The Dental Show- Ben Thompson, Kris Kirby, Tristan Golden
1st place- Website- The 7 Wonders of the Ancient World- Ty Murphy
1st place- IT Test- Emilie Adams
2nd place- General Applications- Truly Emilie- Emilie Adams
2nd place- IT Test- Daniel Pall
3rd place- Multimedia- History of NASA-Trent Roberson
3rd place- General Applications- Softball- Kayla Harris

Evans Technology Team

Blackout Poetry, Africa and skyscrapers, oh my!

 Students use newspapers to create a blackout poem. Blackout poetry is a type of free verse poetry that focuses on rearranging words to create a different meaning. Everyone enjoyed putting their creative spin on each poem. They all did a wonderful job!

 Last week, we spent some time researching famous skyscrapers around the world. After each student completed their research, they depicted their skyscraper on black paper in order to create a skyline in our hallway. Did you know the tallest skyscraper in the world is located in Dubai and is called the Burj Khalifa. It stands 2,484 feet. Wow! Ask your student about the skyscraper they researched. :)

Last Thursday, some of our 5th grade GATE students had the opportunity to participate in a "Google Hangout/Youtube" with a research scientist from Africa. He taught us about the grasslands and savannas located in Kenya, Africa. He also taught us about eco-tourism and how it is important to the livelihood of their country. He shared with us that desertification is currently taking place in Africa and explained to us ways in which they are trying to reverse this process. After our chat, Dr. Sims came in to share about his trip to Africa this past summer. He talked to us about Maasai Warriors and their role in African. He also showed the students some Maasai Warrior weapons. He shared some Swahili (one of the languages spoken in Africa) with us as well. We learned so much about the African culture. 

2015 Smokey Bear & Woodsy Owl Poster Contest Winners

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and the National Garden Clubs, Inc., gave our 5th grade GATE students the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of wildlife prevention and basic environmental conservation principles through original drawings of Smokey Bear or Woodsy Owl. They all did a magnificent job! Below you will see pictures of our winners. Their posters will go on to participate in the state poster contest. 

 1st Place Winner

2nd Place Winner

3rd Place Winner

New Technology Fun!

   Our classroom is now equipped with a new doorbell thanks to littleBits and a little help from our 5th grade GATE students. Operation Doorbell is now complete and in working order. These kiddos have enjoyed this so much. We even have our own doorbell "password". It is top secret! :) 

We have adopted some new technology into our classroom. Meet Ollie, our new "class pet". Ollie can do all kinds of neat things. We control Ollie with an app on our iPad. We hope you enjoy these fun videos! Dr. Sims and Officer Morgan were good sports! No one was injured during these demonstrations. :)

 Meet Osmo. Osmo is also controlled with our iPad. Osmo is a gaming system that allows our students to play 3 hands-on games. These games include pattern building with tangrams (Tangram), problem solving with drawing instruments (Newton) and vocabulary and word building with letter tiles (Words). In the picture below, students are playing Newton, the problem solving game.

A lot of lately...

So many great things have happened in the last couple of weeks! Enjoy the updates below! 

On the Friday before we got out for Thanksgiving break, Mrs. Adams and I decorated the Central Office Christmas tree with many beautiful ornaments our sweet kiddos made. They all did such a great job!

Click the link below to check out some footage from our Mystery Skypes. During a Mystery Skype students ask yes/no questions to determine where the other class is located. We use all kinds of resources to help us locate them. Mystery Skypes are an engaging way to familiarize students with World Geography. They have a great time connecting with classes all around the world. Ask your student which states they have Mystery Skyped with. :)

--------->   Mystery Skype Footage   <---------

Our classes have also gotten the opportunity to Skype with professionals from Microsoft. Yesterday, 5th grade Skyped with Bryan Saftler a creative technology for Microsoft out Seattle, Washington. He is such a neat guy! He shared with us so many great aspects of his job. He talked about Xbox, Bing, Google and all types of technology our students use everyday. He also took feedback from our students about problems they have experienced with Mircrosoft products. He said he would make sure to let his team know! After our Skype, we discussed facts about Albertville. We told him that Albertville was the fire hydrant capitol of the world and that many fire hydrants are made right here in our city. Well, he proved us right, he took a picture of a fire hydrant right outside his office building. 

And guess what?!..It said Albertville on it! We were amazed! 

                                    

Skype with New Zealand

The students requested that I post footage of today's Skype with New Zealand. Well, the teacher from New Zealand recorded the WHOLE thing. We learned so many neat aspects of their culture and country. So neat! Technology is amazing! Ask your student what all they learned from today's Skype. 

Click here to watch -----> Skype with New Zealand