Welcome to the STEM Lab!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, fun-filled summer. As many of you know, I spent a month in the United Kingdom with my family traveling to many of its historic sites and museums. We had a great time, learned a great deal, and enjoyed some cooler weather as well. Our trip was made possible by the organization Fund for Teachers which makes grants to teachers across the country to participate in self designed professional development. Their generosity allowed us to spend 2 weeks working on an archaeological dig in the city of York. Archaeology is the study of human artifacts. We were digging in the yard of a church that was built in the mid 12th century. The experience gave me several great lesson ideas for the coming year. You can read about our amazing trip on our blog.

Speaking of the coming year, after 4 years in 3rd grade, I have moved out of Sinclair's 100 Acre Woods and into the science lab. This year, the lab will have a STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) focus. I am busily planning for an exciting year of programming, building, and creating. We'll also be getting into some archaeology, which incorporates a great many scientific skills and also draws in the fields of history and the arts.

We will begin, however, with an introduction to computer science through Code.org. Students will learn the basic vocabulary and concepts of computer programming through an online course and a series of "unplugged" activities. Students will also be introduced to Scratch, a programming language developed at MIT that is similar to the system used in the Code.org courses.

Later in the year, we will explore building structures and simple machines. Students will follow a design process to construct, test, and redesign their solutions to various building challenges. Creativity and collaboration will be essential!

Having learned to code and to construct, it will be time to put these skill sets together. We will do this using the amazing Lego WeDo kit. These kits and the associated software guide students through building increasingly complex machines and programming their behavior. The video below is just a teaser that uses a motor and and motion sensor to construct a Venus flytrap.

I am looking forward to a great year. Parents, I hope you will check the blog often to check on the work we are doing in the STEM Lab at Sinclair. Feel free to contact me if you ever have any questions.

Happy summer!

I hope everyone is having a great summer.

I am in Ireland for the moment, but tomorrow we move on to Cardiff in Wales. We have had a great time here and learned so much. You can follow along on our blog: HERE!

Three More Days, Then Summer

I hope that everyone has managed to remain safe and dry above the water that swamped the city overnight. I am looking forward to seeing my students back tomorrow for the final 3 days of the year.

I want to thank everyone for your generous gifts during Teacher Appreciation Week. I am truly touched and extremely grateful. Thank you, parents for your support this year. It has been a genuine pleasure to work with your children this year. Students, thank you for all of your hard work this year. It is my business to challenge you, and you have all risen to the occasion in remarkable fashion.

Class, I wish you all a restful summer, and I encourage you to take some time to visit Houston's museums and parks. Above all, make sure that you keep reading. You, as a group, have earned more AR points than any class I have ever taught, including my 5th grades. If you do nothing else this summer, read some books, and tell me about them in August.

I also invite you to follow along with my summer trip. My wife (also a teacher) and I won a grant to travel to the United Kingdom to study archaeology. The highlight of this trip will be 2 weeks in York working on an excavation in the heart of the city. We will learn about the science of archaeology and use what we learn to plan lessons for our future classes. In addition to York, we are going to Dublin, Cardiff, Bath, Stonehenge, London, Hadrian's Wall, Edinburgh, and the Orkney Islands. You can keep up with us via Twitter https://twitter.com/bquentin3 and on our blog http://luckybearfamily.blogspot.com/ . Our blog has entries from old trips we have taken if you are in the mood for some extended reading. While we are traveling, I welcome your questions, either through my email, bquentin@houstonisd.org or through Twitter. Responses are guaranteed!

Thank you all, again for everything this year. You have been a wonderful group of people to work with. Have a safe and happy summer!

Into the Home Stretch

Coming up:

1. Next week, the students will be taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Please be sure that your child arrives at school on time and is well rested. We will start testing promptly at 8:15.
2. Because of the Iowa testing, there is no math homework next week. However, the reading log and spelling will go ahead as usual.
3. Also, we will begin working on the 3rd GT Expo project next week, so be on the lookout for information about that as well. The Expo will be on May 26, probably in the afternoon, but I have not yet confirmed the time.
4. Our third grade awards ceremony is scheduled for May 21, at 1:45. I hope you will be able to join us.

STAAR Time!

At long last, the STAAR test is nearly upon us. Students will take the math portion on Tuesday the 21st and the reading portion the following day. There will be no math homework for the week. However, students will be expected to keep a reading log as usual and there will be spelling words to study. Please do all you can to have your child at school by 7:45 on Tuesday and Wednesday as we are hoping to start by 8:15.

As for the actual test, students have 4 hours and they have been encouraged ad nauseam to use that time to check and recheck their work. It is also my expectation that they support all of their answers with calculations on paper (not in their heads) or evidence from the text. Please make it clear to them that this is your expectation as well. Every student in the class is ready for these tests. They are going to do an amazing job!

Reminders for this week

1. Monday and Tuesday are STAAR testing days for 4th and 5th grade. No visitors allowed, even for lunch.
2. We will be taking practice STAAR tests on Monday and Tuesday. I will communicate these results to you as soon as I can.
3. There is homework this week, as usual.
4. No school Friday. There is school on Monday, however, which marks the beginning of the final 2 weeks of preparation before our real STAAR tests.

News for the 4th and final nine weeks

Yikes! That last grading period just flew by.

As we enter the final quarter of the school year, our attention turns towards a comprehensive review of all the concepts that we have covered this year. The STAAR test is just 4 weeks away, so the next month will contain important test preparation activities. Please do all you can to have your child at school all day, every day as we prepare for them to do their best on the STAAR test. Next Monday and Tuesday we will have a STAAR practice test. Like we did during the DLA in January, we will create test day conditions. The results of this practice test will be communicated to you as soon as possible and I will use the data to personalize review activities to specific student needs.

In the links to the right, you will find the spelling lists and homework schedule for the remainder of the year. The students received these on Monday.

For the next two weeks in each subject, we will be working on the following:

1. Reading- biography and autobiography
2. Language arts- summary writing, proofreading, and editing
3. Math- liquid volume, capacity, weight, and mass; then, data analysis
4. Science- plant and animal life cycles
5. Social studies- review of map skills and geography

The first week of May will include IOWA testing. This is the test that HISD has chosen to replace the Stanford 10 test that students have been taking for several years. More information will follow.

Towards the end of the year, we will host the 3rd and final GT Expo of the year. I will let you know when we are ready to begin work on those projects.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.