I welcome you to the start of a new school year!! We are excited to provide the most exciting elective course, Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) and your child will enjoy the lifelong experience of this academic instruction. I have listed below the information you will need to help make this year a great success! This course will cover four main topics adhering to the course of Science Technology Engineering and Math; Communication, Architecture, Sensory and Visual Dependence. In addition to this, I will post weekly pictures of the students' lego projects so that way you will be able to keep track of their interactive learning opportunities in fun-filled classroom.
Course Objectives:
Communication, these units provide opportunities to experience and practice communication skills. Activities require students to follow instructions, communicate with precision, and use technology to communicate with semaphore and braille systems. The terminology introduced includes nomenclature specific communication.
Mathematics, these units provide a study of different manipulative-based concepts in mathematics such as geometry and statistics. Students experiment with probability, create tables, and learn the intricacies of applying Pi. The terminology introduced is specific to mathematics.
Physics, these units provide opportunities for students to experiment with different types of motion and forces including Newton's Laws of motion, the work formula, and the effects of friction. Students will examine and relate scientific topics to the world around them.
Grading Summary: Students will be allowed to demonstrate how well they are making sense of the material in many ways. Below is my grading summary. Participation Participation in class is key to success. This allows me to see how well the students are grasping the concepts verbally. Journal Entries Students will be expected to take notes over material and power point watched during this course. They will be asked to complete journal entries over material covered. Quiz/Tests Students will be given tests or quizzes periodically to assess how well they are retaining and grasping the material that has been covered. Projects Students will be asked to portray knowledge acquired in course – They will be asked to build this in a lego project. Grades: A : 90 – 100% B : 80 – 89% C : 70 – 79% F: 50-69%
Photo Gallery (1st Quarter) Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8 (Final Week)
First week of 2nd quarter
In this lesson, the students were introduced with the concept of tactile communication understanding various aspects of communication systems being used by people with disabilities such as blindness and visual representations to assist their daily lives. The students enjoyed learning how to use braille and blindfold with guidance. We wrapped up the lesson with social skills led by Elena Furmansky and Rachel Harris.
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 1- 3rd Quarter Welcome back students! Happy New Year and we will start with 3rd quarter class roster. We enjoyed learning interesting things about visual activities designed for blind people. We wrapped up with a fun activity led by Elena Furmansky
Week 2- 3rd Quarter The students just had their first big project which mainly focused on the architecture of the Eiffel Tower and learned about their history of building an Eiffel Tower. We also had a fun activity led by Elena Furmansky which presented on the topic of understanding emotions based on situations.
Week 3-4 Hour of Code and Hieroglyphics and Eiffel Tower activities
Week 5 Semaphore and Tallest Tower Activity
Week 6 Pagoda Tower
Week 7 Finalizing Pagoda Tower Project
Week 8 Building a castle with fortresses.
Week 9 Building individual projects of their own preferences.
Week 10 March 5th-9th As of this week, the students were able to catch up with fun individual projects entering their final week of the 3rd quarter. The students are looking forward to having a restful spring break.
Week 1 March 19th-23rd Welcome to the first week of the 4th quarter period. The students enjoyed learning how to build road signs and engaged in a fun activity led by Elena Furmansky.
Week 2 March 26th-30th The students had an opportunity to work on road signs to represent the meanings when traveling on the roads.
Week 3 April 2nd-6th The students had an opportunity to build Eiffel Tower, the famous structure in Paris, France. The students came up with a creative idea of building the Eiffel Towers.
Week 4 April 9th-13th The students embarked into the new unit building the tallest tower and they are halfway from completion. They enjoyed designing the towers making sure that it is safe and sturdy to build.
Week 5 April 16th-20th The students competed for the strongest tower ever built so we tested out the completion. Congratulations to Max Ponton and Jason Alford for building the strongest tower.
Week 6 April 23rd-27th The students had an opportunity to build the Pagoda Tower which is well known in various countries of Asia. Elena also came in on Friday to set up the fun activity, ping pong ball tossing.
Week 7 April 30th-May 4th The students decided to add a new project, designing social media logos and it was successful.
Week 8 May 7th-11th The students decided to pick any kind of lego activity that they would like to work on. The students enjoyed the free time as well. Sorry there are no pictures taken at this time.
Week 9 May 14th-18th The students decided to work on 3-D animals as part of their final project. Sorry there are no pictures taken at this time.
Week 10 May 21st-25th The students had an opportunity to watch an educational movie that focuses on social skills. Sorry there are no pictures taken at this time.