MOST RECENT VIDEOS

• 00:18 Week 5 in the music classroom!

  This week 5th grade students played the drumset for the first time! We played the backbeat with 3 people, 2 people, and sometimes by ourselves! We made connections between our complementary rhythm projects and the complementary rhythms produced in the backbeat. You can see 4th grade students composing with fruit pictures as they explore 16th note rhythms. You can also see some K students exploring high and low and short and long sounds with manipulatives!

  Uploaded Oct 08, 2019 by Cate Schmittle
• 00:19 Results of an acid test on an unknown mineral

  Students were given an unknown mineral and they designed and conducted an investigation that looked into 5 different mineral properties including testing the reaction with acid.

  Uploaded Oct 07, 2019 by Ryan Cherry
• 00:21 Second Grade Jazz Class Featured

  Our second graders are learning the basic Jazz vocabulary skills in dance class. We have had a great time building onto the skills we already know from Ballet class and learning new skills like jazz drag, pirouettes, and grande jetes!

  Uploaded Oct 07, 2019 by Chelsea Branch
• 2:02 Makerspace: Sep 30 - Oct 4

  As more and more classes have begun to build their towers, I am amazed at the level of determination students have - even after their designs have fallen apart! One group's tower fell apart with only *six* minutes left to go in the challenge. While it's difficult to have your work fall apart in when you've worked so hard, this team restarted immediately and ultimately had the highest tower in their class! It's also interesting to see which groups use another teams model once theirs falls apart. While some students have called this 'cheating', we know as engineers we often replicate others' ideas in order to make our own designs. After all, if no one had borrowed the Wright brothers' invention for building the world's first successful airplane, we wouldn't have the airplanes we have today!

  Uploaded Oct 05, 2019
• 00:49 4th Grade Responding to Text Practice

  4th graders work hard in groups to respond to text dependent prompts and then help provide constructive criticism to their classmates to help improve their responses!

  Uploaded Oct 05, 2019 by Katherine Cooper
• 00:35 What are Decatur students up to in the music room?

  This week you can see pictures of 5th graders improvising on the djembe, 6th graders creating arrangements, and 6th graders working on technology projects!

  Uploaded Sep 27, 2019 by Cate Schmittle
• 00:50 Makerspace: Sep. 20-27

  Students continue to strengthen their team-building skills by creating the highest tower they can using a maximum of 100 index cards and no more than 24 in. of tape. Students are surprised at first with how limited they are with their materials but soon realize that they often do not need to use all of the materials they are given. Students' perseverance has amazed me while they continue to rebuild even if their structure has fallen apart.

  Uploaded Sep 26, 2019
• 00:33 Makerspace - Sep 16-20

  This week, students reviewed the Engineering Design Process in class. The process includes the following stages: Ask, Explore, Model, Evaluate and Explain. 6th graders began applying this process to a design challenge to build the largest freestanding tower using only 100 index cards, 24 in. of tape and 20 min to build. Students in grades K-5 will also get an opportunity to build the tower; length of time for the project will vary by grade level.

  Uploaded Sep 19, 2019
• 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
• 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