MOST POPULAR VIDEOS

• 2:24 As we begin the year 2021

  Please check out this video which highlights ways we are continually working to strengthen our classroom community so that each student has multiple ways of sharing their own voice, ideas, and questions about science with the class despite the extra challenges of remote learning! I am so amazed by our Decatur students' resilience during these challenging times of this ongoing pandemic!
  
  We also continue to work on strengthening classroom community by celebrating at the end of each week with some fun trivia games such as Kahoot and Gimkit, both of which could easily be played at home for some added family fun!

  Uploaded Feb 19, 2021 by Gerard Kovach
• 6:50 3rd Grade - Week 2 - Days 1 and 2

  Please watch this instructional video that goes along with the tasks for days 1 and 2.

  Uploaded Mar 23, 2020
• 2:07 Week 5: Sept. 27-Oct. 1

  This slideshow has some pics of this week's Science classes: 8th grade learning about genetics and using a coin tossing model to show how traits are passed from parents to offspring; 7th grade learning microscopy skills by viewing unicellular organisms such as bacteria and amoebas with our compound light and digital microscopes; and one of our classroom herpetologists helping to clean the lizard's home ecosystem and a student holding one of the lizards with a lizard hat made by another student :)
  
  Thank you for checking in this week!

  Uploaded Oct 02, 2021 by Gerard Kovach
• 1:48 Weeks 1-3 of Science Class

  In weeks 1-2, the class spent time "Building Community" by each student creating and presenting their own "Getting to Know You Presentations". I presented first so students could get to know me as a new teacher to Decatur, and then students took turns presenting to the class. Community Building is essential as students will be expected to work in smaller teams from time to time this year in Science class, not to mention, scientists and engineers work in teams in the real world! The "Getting to Know You Presentations" were also a fun way to learn more about and celebrate the rich cultural diversity within our classroom and our Decatur Community!
  Starting in week 2, students were introduced to their Scholastic Science World Magazine online accounts. We read some articles together, and students learned how to analyze and interpret the articles through writing in a format known as "3-2-1", where they state 3 important things learned, 2 questions that come to their minds, and then take their own curiosity/inquiry further by researching one of their 2 questions, sharing what they learned from that research, and also sharing the link/resource to their research. These are practices scientists and engineers do everyday, especially when working in international teams like scientists from around the world collaborating on finding a vaccine for Coronavirus.
  Lastly, in week 3 we began watching together the documentary film, "The History of the World in 2 Hours". By viewing the film together, students are able to see how we will be exploring Science this year from many different lenses, or disciplines, such as biology, chemistry, astronomy, physics, earth science, and engineering. The film also highlights important Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Disciplinary Core Ideas that all middle school students investigate deeper in Science class.

  Uploaded Sep 27, 2020 by Gerard Kovach
• 2:24 Back from Winter Break and Ready for 2021!

  Please check out this video which highlights ways we are continually working to strengthen our classroom community so that each student has multiple ways of sharing their own voice, ideas, and questions about science with the class despite the extra challenges of remote learning! I am so amazed by our Decatur students' resilience during these challenging times of this ongoing pandemic!
  
  We also continue to work on strengthening classroom community by celebrating at the end of each week with some fun trivia games such as Kahoot and Gimkit, both of which could easily be played at home for some added family fun!

  Uploaded Mar 03, 2021 by Gerard Kovach
• 00:39 Creating a nonstandard measuring unit

  Students created nonstandard measuring units using items around the house, let's see what they came up with...

  Uploaded May 08, 2020
• 2:18 Day 2 of Decatur Classical Summer CSI STEM Camp

  Today the students: did a quick getting to know you activity to learn more about each other and build community; They then were introduced to the crime scene, where the cookies were stolen and the culprit left a coded note cut out of newspaper clippings. The note was in Spanish so the students had to translate the note first which they learned that the cookies are being held ransom by the cookie bandit. They later learned who the 5 primary suspects are: Ms. Mirna and Ms. Marta, out amazing Decatur custodians, as well as Ms. Negron and Ms. Martino, our super administrative team, and last but not least, Ms. Degand! They read together biographies of each of the 5 suspects to look for possible clues. They ended the day conducting thorough documentation of the overall crime scene, which also contained envelopes, with lipstick on them, as well as a white powdery substance. The slideshow also includes a couple of nice group photos of our campers all wearing their camp T-shirts. Thank you for checking in with us:)

  Uploaded Jul 11, 2024 by Gerard Kovach
• 00:45 Makerspace Sept. 3-13

  During these past two weeks of school, we focused on building our community in Makerspace and getting comfortable with brainstorming new ideas. Students had an opportunity to tinker with material including gems, cork, cups, rocks, pom poms and foam pieces. They chose to work independently, with a partner or their entire whole table. This activity also served as a refresher on how to work/treat materials, how to respect each other at our tables and cleaning procedures.
  
  The creativity with materials was quite impressive. Very few projects were ever truly alike. Students imagined pom poms representing different types of food and creating a sandwich, using the foam pieces as the bun. Others used gems as garden paths, mazes and even water drops in a cup. Even towers made of cups were varied, both in size, shape and decor. Some students stayed limited to table and others chose build from the ground up!

  Uploaded Sep 14, 2019
• 5:54 Relate Addition and Multiplication
  Uploaded Sep 25, 2020 by Katie Andorka
• 3:57 Solve Problems With Area

  What strategies can you use to solve area problems?

  Uploaded Oct 24, 2020 by Katie Andorka