3D Design and More for First Grade Second Semester

Wales First Graders have experienced a lot of growth in their digital literacy skills second semester.  Students not only have used the computers to practice math and reading skills, they also have discovered educational tools using our library digital Makerspace links.   With regular visits to the lab, students have been introduced to proper technique for Keyboarding the Home Row, narrated an animated nonfiction slide show using PowToon, built virtual Lego creations using Build it With Chrome, and made a 3-Dimensional design to accompany their Realistic Fiction writing.  The links they have been using in class are free and open for use throughout the year.  

Here is a link to the library page with summer reading resources: https://sites.google.com/a/kmsd.edu/wales/summer-reading.  There are many great ways to keep your child reading and growing over the summer.

Sample 3D Designs:

Puppies

Pool, bus, ipod, & house.

Couch, basketball court, bike, & houses.

Cellphone, pompon, cat.

Basketball hoops, girls, & dog.

Cat, tiger face, skateboard.

Binoculars, rain clouds, golf flag, dressing room with girl.

Digital Badging takes a Village 

Wales Elementary fifth grade educators have taken a new approach to help empower students to take charge of their own learning and to acknowledge student strengths in what’s being referred to as “digital badging.” These badges build upon Wales Elementary’s aim to develop students as independent

Online digital badges, like those earned in Girl/Boy Scouts, are earned once a student is ready to demonstrate understanding in areas such as touch keyboarding, USA geography knowledge, argument essays, math fractions computation, and Guidance Career Skills ePortfolio.  

There are other badges offered as incentive to get students to explore themselves as learners. They may earn a badge for developing a personalized learning plan, analyzing themselves as a kinesthetic, audio or visual learner. In addition, students are able to earn a badge when she or he demonstrates higher order thinking innovations using a newly implemented Makerspace.  

“This new approach is a good fit to Kettle Moraine School District’s vision of personalized learning,” said Library Media Specialist Stephanie Wieczorek. “Allowing students freedom in choice and voice in their learning path gives them great motivation in developing learners of today.  Evidence is clear in the satisfaction on a student’s face when they work hard to achieve a learning goal set with the variety of badges.”  

Implementing the digital badges has been a collaborative approach since the onset. Students focus specifically on improving independent learning skills four times a week for a half hour at a time called Achieve. Three supervisors (Candice Cullen, Laura Kirley and Stephanie Wieczorek) collaborate to guide and monitor student progress. The language arts teacher, Laurel Hopkins, checks the Argument Essay badge.  The school guidance counselor, Kim Osborn, monitors the online career readiness ePortfolios badge.  The math teachers, Debra Culhane and Cari Racine, check the Pizza fraction computation proficiency.  All teachers involved maintain high expectations for evidence of student competencies and motivate students to push themselves to a new potential as a learner.

If they are not actively obtaining a badge, students read articles and complete quizzes in an online tool called Newsela. They also practice math through classroom applications like Front Row and Ten Marks.  In addition, they read or listen to school library books through Overdrive to summarize and offer their opinion.

Wieczorek said the success of digital badging is attributed to the village of teachers and support staff that demonstrate daily the love of learning and help students achieve new heights.

Introducing: Makerspace at Wales Elementary and KM Explore

"Makerspace" is a designated area in our building to support creativity, problem solving innovation, and extensions of learning.  It will not be a “play” place, but a flexible “tinkering” space where classes can grow and develop big ideas.  A space for students to maximize their creative genius!

To foster the Wales’ Growth Mindset Model, Makerspace will promote experimenting, building, taking risks, making mistakes and learning as you go.   Student generated ideas will incorporate science, technology, engineering, arts, and math in a project based atmosphere.

Our Makerspace lab is located in the Dragons Den. It will be available for all students in Wales and KM Explore. Students will be accessing Makerspace during learning times designated by their classroom teacher. In the future, we will send out communications asking for supply donations for the space.

We are looking forward to this exciting new learning opportunity for your child!