BrainPOP & BrainPOP Jr.

1st and 2nd graders are already utilizing BrainPOP at home!

We’re happy to inform you that BrainPOP is now part of your children’s curriculum! Roosevelt School’s teachers and PTO have come together to purchase a subscription to this award-winning web-delivered resource, enhancing children’s engagement in the classroom.  A special thank you Roosevelt’s Classroom Teachers, the PTO, and the Track-a-Thon for bringing Brain POP back to Roosevelt!

BrainPOP creates animated, curriculum-based content that supports educators and engages students. Hundreds of topics within Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Technology, Arts & Music and Health are all brought to life through short, animated movies and related interactive quizzes and features.  BrainPOP Español provides BrainPOP content in Spanish.  All content is aligned to and searchable by state standards.

BrainPOP Jr. provides educational movies for K-3 learners and addresses a wide range of grade-appropriate topics.  Each animated topic has a movie, leveled quizzes, games, activities, and lesson ideas that develop critical thinking and inquiry skills. All content is read aloud so young students can browse the site on their own.  Because BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. are delivered entirely online, there’s nothing to install or download. You can use BrainPOP resources with PCs, Macs, projectors, and interactive whiteboards. Getting started is easy by using the step-by step Getting Started Guide. There is also a free app you can download to use Brain POP & Brain POP Jr. on your iphone, iPad, etc.

Your child’s subscription to BrainPOP will remain active for the school year, 24 hours a day, in which time they will have full access to all the movies, quizzes, and interactive resources both at home and at school. Questions? Feel free to contact BrainPOP at 866.542.7246 or e-mail me and I’ll be happy to help you.

Connected Classroom Hangout: Danny the Champion the World with Lucy Dahl

I'm posting a little bit earlier this week to share a very cool activity that just took place at Roosevelt School.  Today, Mrs. Filipiak's 3rd grade classroom had a very unique opportunity.   Before Thanksgiving, they were sent copies of the book, Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl.  Over Thanksgiving Break the third grade students read the book and when they returned, submitted questions in preparation for today's Connected Classroom Hangout with Lucy Dahl, Roald Dahl's daughter, and with Elizabeth Findley who works with Matilda, the Musical, on Broadway.  It was a BEYOND amazing experience for the students who personally got to interact with both Lucy in Los Angeles and Elizabeth in New York.   Lucy had some amazing information to share about her father and the kids and adults involved learned a lot!    Some students even were able to make some very unique and interesting connections with Roald Dahl.   As a big "Oprah type" surprise at the end, the students received the book, Matilda, as a thanks for participating gift.  They were beyond thrilled. Check out the video of the entire experience in the YouTube Video below.  Thank you to +Matilda The Musical Broadway and +Connor Swenson for such an amazing opportunity!   

Samples of Success: Room 312's Survival "Handbook"

Currently, Mr. Mulvihill's 5th grade class is in the middle of their rotation of using the Chromebooks as well as just finished reading the novel, My Side of the Mountain.   Mr. Mulvihill has traditionally read this novel with his 5th grade class and has had the students keep track of different plants and animals that are used as a means of survival, while reading the novel.   This year, with the Chromebooks at Room 312's fingertips, they were were able to take this survival study a bit further.  In collaborating with myself, the Instructional Technology Coach, and Ms. Diekman, we were able to come up with an awesome project ot take their findings a step further.  Ms. Diekman, our wonderful Library Information Specialist, worked with Room 312 showing them how to research and take notes on the different survival items that were in the novel they read. After completing the research with Ms. D, then I went into his classroom to teach the kids how to use Google Sites.  As a class, collaborating on research and collaborating on creating a website, you can see how their hard work has transformed into a wonderful working website.  Please click here to view the website.

This project was a great way to meet many of our National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) while deepening the student's understanding of how different plants and animals can be used for

survival.   In addition to meeting the NETS standards for students, this activity also met a variety of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.6 With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.

Mr. Mulvihill's class did an amazing job on this assignment, and their website looks amazing!   I hope you enjoy reading their hard work and seeing an excellent sample of success from our 5th graders!