The fourth grade has been learning about the power of MINDSETS. Students learned about fixed mindsets, in which you see intelligence as unchanging, and growth mindsets, in which you see intelligence as something that can change. Persevering at challenging work does, in fact, lead to physical changes in the brain. In Ms. Echevarria’s classroom, lessons centered around a series of videos developed jointly by Carol Dweck’s PERTS Lab at Stanford University and the ClassDojo’s staff. Among the titles in the series were the following: A Secret About the Brain, The Magic of Mistakes, The Power of Yet, and The Word of Neurons. The Power of Yet video focuses students on the language they use when they encounter challenges at school. Instead of saying “I can’t do this,” students learn to say “I can’t do this- yet.” In so doing, they are developing a “growth mindset” that will be useful throughout their lives. The comic project was designed to allow students to show what they had learned about the power of the word “yet.”

Jameson

Magdalene

Sarah

Jackson B

Jackson A

Francesca

Hayden

Liam

Henry

Toler

Skyler

Maddie

Nathan

Isabel

Noel

Levi

Zoe

The students in Lisa Echevarria’s class have been learning about the US regions. As a culminating project, they worked in small groups to create a WLES newscast using iMovie. Their informative, creative and fun movies about the regions are below:

West Region –

west region from Karin Gravina on Vimeo.

Northeast –

northeast from Karin Gravina on Vimeo.

Southeast –

southeast from Karin Gravina on Vimeo.

Southwest –

southwest region from Karin Gravina on Vimeo.

Midwest –

midwest from Karin Gravina on Vimeo.

As part of their first grade unit, Alissa Alteri Shea’s students studied black bears, polar bears, panda bears and brown bears learning about their features, habitats, and eating habits. Students were divided into groups to become experts on one bear. Each student created a KidPix fact page about their particular bear which was then made into a movie. Excellent job, Grade 1!

Brown Bears

Brown Bear from Karin Gravina on Vimeo.

Panda Bears

Pandas from Karin Gravina on Vimeo.

Polar Bears

Polar Bears from Karin Gravina on Vimeo.

Black Bears

Black Bears from Karin Gravina on Vimeo.

Students in Alyson Bull’s class were challenged to create earth science books for a third grade audience. Working in teams, the students researched their topics, created original illustrations and designed books using Comic Life to appeal to their third grade audience. Before their books could be published, each group had to present their books to an expert in the publishing field: Craig Cohen, Executive Publisher at PowerHouse Books. Their final books are available below the photo gallery.

**Click on the box on the bottom right of each book, it will open to a full page spread.

The Adventures of Pangaea

The Amazing Adventures of Dov

The Pebbles of Granite Falls

Princess Sasha and the Seasons

The Wonder of Glaciers

Tracey Supple’s third grade class has been reading and researching biographies of famous people. Using Pages, the students created a one page synopsis of their person’s life. Click on each image to see it full sized.

Amanda King’s kindergarten class learned all about the Chinese New Year – traditions, celebrations, food, and the zodiac. They created a book of facts using the KidPix drawing program. The images were then used to create a movie. Always a fun project!

Chinese New Year from Karin Gravina on Vimeo.