Hour of Code

I realize this is a week late, but I wanted to make sure it got mentioned.

All last week, students in all grade levels (K-5) did coding activities with a huge culminating activity where parents got to come to the school and code with their children.  This was all in effort to increase the awareness of Hour of Code.

The Hour of Code is a global movement to reach billions to introduce them to computer science. It’s designed to show that anyone can code and learn the basics. The hope is that by starting early, students will have a foundation to be successful with 21^st century skills.  It also helps to nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity.

Our students loved the activities, but I think they loved showing their parents even more.  They were so excited to teach their parents what they had been learning all week. We even had the Perot Tech Truck here to show parents and students various activities. You can see some of the activities in the pictures.  If you wish to learn more about the Hour of Code, you can visit www.code.org.

Holiday: Christmas

Well, here we are at another holiday. I was originally planning on reading these stories next week, but with Science and History Fair, Winter Parties and Early Release, it didn’t leave much time for reading a story.

I decided to include all grade levels because I don’t get as many opportunities to just read a story to 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th. It really touched my heart when a 5^th grade student told me that he “remembers when I used to read to them when they were just little kids.” Out of the mouth of babes, right?

I read How Do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas? by Jane Yolen to Kindergarten. They really loved seeing all of the unique dinosaurs in the story. I read The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore to First Grade. Since I had read ‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving to them, we discussed the similarities between the two stories. For Second Grade, I read Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O’Connor. The kids loved seeing how fancy her house becomes at Christmas time.

I read One Snowy Night by M. Cristina Butler to Third Grade. It’s a wonderful story of sharing and taking care of your friends. For Fourth Grade I read Snow Bunny’s Christmas Wish by Rebecca Harry. This story’s message is to act from your heart and wishes really do come true. And finally, I read Merry Un Christmas by Mike Reiss to Fifth Grade. The students really enjoyed the concept of Christmas 364 days out of the year. It was definitely a funny story!

      

This will be the last holiday for a while, so I’d like to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!