Lewis and Clark Learns

So, we are rapidly coming to the end of the 2015-2016 school year.  What a year it has been!  My older kids are wrapping up Genius Hour projects.  Younger kiddos are finishing up inquiry projects, and in between we are creating games and marble mazes.  Check out some of our projects below... Keva Planks, Kindergarten, and Animal Habitats Genius Hour Projects

Following An Inquiry Process Background Information Question & Search Design Create Share Reflect Combine 2 insects and select each insects' cool tools to create an interesting new Super Bug! Results Below...

TinkerCad Tutorials for 5th grade. 1st graders working on their insect inquiry at the standing desks...a little difficult for one!  4th graders mastering stop-motion. Allie, our resident Floors expert helps the 4th grade boys get going. 5th grade boys done checking out so they are settled in with a good book! Our interior windows get a makeover.

Marble Mazes This kiddo lost his very first tooth! Battle of The Brains planning. Catapults Inventor Inquiry 3 Billy Goats Gruff bridges. 5th grade MakerKid's Club Action at the (LFL) Little Free Library. Magnetic Poetry Rock Wonder Center

I wonder what is going through his brain as he looks at the model of a brain?

The 2014-2015 school year has come and gone so it is time to reflect on the year to appreciate what was successful and to determine what needs to be improved upon for next year.   Here we go... THE YEAR IN NUMBERS (thanks Mrs. Haynes for your EPIC attention to data) Page Turner Book Club: 1,759 student attendees MakerKid's Club: 354 student attendees Storytelling Club: 552 student attendees Total Mark Twain Quizzes Taken: 697 Total KC3 Quizzes Taken: 537 Total Above and Beyond Readers:  40 Total Materials Circulated: 53,304 Total Number of Classes Taught: 1,056 Lewis and Clark Learns Blog Visits: 5,022 LMC Webpage Visits:  14, 967 HIGHLIGHTS Securing a grant to bring a MakerSpace to our library and watching the excitement and learning occur daily. Setting up a production room and watching what was created because of it. Kindergarten learning through the inquiry process. Curiosity Club for first and second grade (Jr. Genius Hour) ...

My kindergarten kiddos are ending the year with a great learning experience that included inquiry, note-taking, and making.  The idea came from Lori Riedel, the teacher librarian at Warren Hills Elementary here in Liberty.   We didn't just jump into this research project.  We worked up to it throughout the year by working on several small inquiry projects such as researching as classes to identify an unidentified animal skeleton we had found in a dusty old closet. Each student adopted a beanie baby animal to measure, weigh, label, and use as a spring board for questioning. Utilizing PebbleGo, my little researchers set out to answer their questions and some basic background information as well.  Following the research portion of their learning, the kids set out to build a habitat for their animal based on what they had learned.   My kiddos learned so much from this project.   How great researchers record their learning. What to do when they ...

Our Week Students setting goals, tracking their learning, and reflecting on their progress.  We are driven, passionate, collaborative learners.  I can't ask for anything more!   Costumes and props for a play:   This group is collaborating to write a script, determine casting, and they will soon be learning how to shoot a quality video and edit their work.  They will need to schedule time in our new production room as it is ALWAYS in use! Crochet: This student is   starting small and working up to a bigger project.  Many of our students who are working on "yarn arts" are helping one another, consulting how-to books, and viewing videos to learn the stitches.  Tinkering:   Whew!  This one is keeping me busy trying to figure out how to best manage this particular passion.  Next year, I will definitely be modifying how tinkering will run in the MakerSpace. Squishy Circuits:   Squishy circuits have prov...

This year, our students spent much for their time answering essential questions. Some of them included... •Which astronaut made the biggest impact on the Space Program? •What president would you add to Mount Rushmore? •What makes someone a hero? •What natural disaster effects the earth surface and people the most? •What country would you want to live in if you did not live in the United States? Below are some photos that find us researching, learning, collaborating, making decisions based on gathered information, learning new technology to work smarter not harder, and presenting what has been learned.