Quail Run Elementary GEM

After reading “Rosie Revere Engineer” by Andrea Beaty, 1st & 2nd grade engineers were challenged to adapt a cane for a character named Great-Great Aunt Rose. She needs her cane, but wants to carry her tools around too. Students thought of so many adaptations that would allow her to do both. Ideas included tool bags, secret buttons, baskets/bags, charging devices, etc. I’m always impressed by the level of creativity these students demonstrate!

4th graders finished their archaeology dig today! They worked in small groups and were assigned roles as a digger, detailer, or recorder. They took turns with these duties so they had a chance to experience them all. This experience helped them understand how difficult it can be for an archaeological to successfully search for and dig up artifacts without breaking them!

5th grade GEM students were thrilled to receive their first letters from pen pals in Switzerland today. Do you remember participating in a pen pal program while you were in grade school? If so, do you remember the excitement of building connections through letter-writing and the suspense from having to wait for a reply? Witnessing my students' energy and enthusiasm was the highlight of my day. I’ve never seen these students so excited to write in my life! One student stated, “I was so into this, that the whole world just faded away!”

These 4th graders, or shall I say paleontologists, have been hard at work. Last week they participated in an archaeology simulation. Students found some well preserved fossils and had to collaborate with their team, along with other paleontologists, to identify the species. They had a lot of fun and learned that this job isn’t as easy as it may seem!