APRIL SMITH'S S.T.E.M. CLASS

“Truly wonderful the mind of a child is.”

~ Master Yoda ~

Welcome to Mrs. Smith's STEM Galaxy Website!

Hello STEM Galaxy Kids & Families!

Excuse the mess! Mrs. Smith's STEM Galaxy Website is always under construction to make it better and better. Please check the home page weekly for updates!

LEARNING IN OUR STEM GALAXY

In STEM Lab, students learn by participating in Live Action Role Play (LARP). Live Action Role Play is a learning experience in which students learn by portraying a character in a pretend world. In this class, our pretend world is the Star Wars Universe and each student is a character who lives and works in the Star Wars Universe. Students are divided into groups and assigned a Star Wars planet. They become immersed in the LARP as they learn about the government, environment, economies, infrastructure, and societies of the Star Wars planet in which they are assigned. By understanding these components, they have accomplished the first step in the Engineering Design Process, empathy.

Empathy is the ability to understand what others feel and see things from their point of view. With empathy, students are ready to portray the characters on their planets, because they understand the needs and wants of their planet's people. Every lesson requires the students to become a STEM professional on their planet who has been given a mission, a problem to solve, or a job to do by their planet's leaders. To do this, they must perform an aspect of a real STEM profession and evaluate how politics, the environment, economics, and culture impact their work.

I am overjoyed to have your students in my STEM Galaxy this year! I hope they come home excited about all the things they learn!

Announcements

WELCOME TO THE NEW STEM GALAXY!

I am excited to announce we have a huge, new STEM Lab room this year! Thanks to the Trussville City Schools MUSH grants, the CBS One Class at a Time Grant, the AMSTI Robotics grants, and donations we have purchased new and exciting learning materials that have transformed our STEM Lab! Now, Mrs. Tyner has provided us with a brand new room for us to store and actively engage with these new materials! I am beyond excited for our kids! Watch the video below for a tour of our new STEM Galaxy!

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

Students, remember to wear your, "Star Wars" on your STEM Lab Day so that you can press the buttons on Darth Vader and the Storm Trooper at the end of class! Remember, it must be something with Star Wars logos, items, or characters and it must be in dress code. No toys or hats. Some examples are shirts, socks, shoes, jewelry, rubber bracelets, watches, or bows. Girls can wear their hair in Princess Leia or Rey styles. Examples are below! I can't wait to see you all decked out in your "Star Wars!"

Princess Leia Hair

Rey Hair

TYPING SKILLS

Please encourage your student to work on their typing skills by practicing in the Typing Club Program. They know they can access it on their Clever Dashboards. This is especially important for 2nd - 5th graders who will be required to type on the ACAP test in April.
Each month, the student in each grade level with the highest words per minute and accuracy will be recognized in the morning announcements and have their name posted on the Hyperdrive Typist Board outside of the STEM Lab.
At the end of the year, the top three typists in each grade level will receive a medal on awards day!

STEM CERTIFICATION

Last year we went through a rigorous application process and earned our National STEM Certification through Cognia. Cahaba Elementary is proud to announce that we are now a STEM Certified School! Click on the link below to see our STEM Certification Website.

Cahaba Elementary School STEM Certification Website

STAY TUNED FOR PICTURES OF YOUR KIDS IN ACTION

I will begin posting pictures of your kids participating in our STEM Galaxy LARP!
Check out the clips below of your kids' reactions to the new STEM Lab!
Check back soon for more pics!

AUGUST Learning

This month, students in all grade levels participated in our first unit of study, "Establishing the Galactic Government." This is what I lovingly call, "the most boring unit," but it establishes the foundation for everything else they will learn in STEM. Below are the content and skills we covered in each grade level.

KINDERGARTEN

Students learned our STEM Galaxy Constitution, procedures, and behavior economy.
Students learned what STEM stands for and skills they will use in STEM lab, like investigating, experimenting, engineering, and using technology and math.
Students learned how to be a responsible digital citizen when they are online.
Students learned we keep our computer passwords private.
Students learned how to enter their passwords into their Chromebooks to go online.
Students are currently working in a program called Typing Club to identify letters and numbers on the keyboard and how to use right and left hands when typing.

1st GRADE

Students learned our STEM Galaxy Constitution, procedures, and behavior economy.
Students learned about different types of technology we use everyday and identified parts of a computer.
Students learned how to be a responsible digital citizen when they are online.
Students learned ways to stay safe online.
Students learned how to enter their usernames and passwords into their Chromebooks to go online.
Student are currently working in a program called Typing Club to reach a typing goal of 10 words per minute with at least a 90% accuracy rate.

2nd GRADE

Students learned our STEM Galaxy Constitution, procedures, and behavior economy.
Students learned about the input and output components of a computer.
Students learned about digital identity and the difference in personal and private information.
Students learned ways to stay safe online.
Students learned digital ownership and giving credit to authors of digital content.
Student are currently working in a program called Typing Club to reach a typing goal of 15 words per minute with at least a 90% accuracy rate.

3rd GRADE

Students learned our STEM Galaxy Constitution, procedures, and behavior economy.
Students learned about digital identity and digital footprints.
Students learned to identify people involved in cyberbullying and the types of cyberbullying.
Students learned what to do if they are being cyberbullied or they have seen someone being cyberbullied.
Students learned ways specific ways to stay safe online.
Student are currently working in a program called Typing Club to reach a typing goal of 20 words per minute with at least a 90% accuracy rate.

4th GRADE

Students learned our STEM Galaxy Constitution, procedures, and behavior economy.
Students learned about different types of computer networks and how they work.
Students learned how the world wide web and internet work.
Students learned about cybersecurity and how encryption works in keeping our online information safe.
Students learned the difference in unethical and illegal cyberbullying and what to do if they or someone they know is bullied.
Student are currently working in a program called Typing Club to reach a typing goal of 25 words per minute with at least a 90% accuracy rate.

5th GRADE

Students learned our STEM Galaxy Constitution, procedures, and behavior economy.
Students learned how social media outlets and web advertisers collect people's personal information.
Students learned how social media outlets and web advertisers use people's personal information to target them with information and advertisements.
Students evaluated the pros and cons of web tracking.
Students learned about first party and thirty party cookies and how to limit web tracking.
Students evaluated current tracking laws and defended whether or not there should be more provisions or laws to protect people online.
Student are currently working in a program called Typing Club to reach a typing goal of 30 words per minute with at least a 90% accuracy rate.

WISH LIST

All STEM classes would be so grateful to receive any of the items on our wish list! Thank you!

Boxes of 24 Crayons
Copy Paper
Black Card Stock
Pencils
Highlighters

CONTACT ME

Need to contact me? Click on the Contact Button to the left to send me a message or use the Contact Me Tab at the top of the page.