ELP Mo. Valley

The 2nd grade ELP group began the year with the folktale "John Henry" and discussed how John had a problem......he could break the rocks faster than the machine BUT the demolished rocks couldn't be cleared away faster enough...SO, engineers design a process or product to solve a problem or meet a need..... Below are a few photos showing how we have brainstormed solutions, revised our plans using feedback from others, tested the ideas and begun the creation of a solution with the resources we have available. A very special thanks to Mrs. Jenny Stessman, our Instructional Strategist, for co-teaching and helping our students develop even stronger questions, strategies and products.  Our problem and the original creations/solutions What is an Engineer? "Thank you, Mrs. Stessman" for helping us rethink our thinking! With COLLABORATION we can create amazingly strong solutions! Below are standards in Mathematical Practice/Reaso...

The 3rd Grade ELP group has begun its first service learning project.  Students are creating informational posters letting the MV Elementary students know we are collecting pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House charities.  The pop tabs collected will be sent to a recycling station where, based on the overall weight, money will be donated to the local Ronald McDonald House.  We have currently collected 957,000 pop tabs and they have set a new goal of 1,000,000! The following standards are being addressed through this service learning project:  3.L.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. 3.W.4 With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. The Ronald McDonald House charities serve in the following ways:  Providing stability and resources for families everywhere Helping a sick chil...

The 4th Grade ELP students are delving into a STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) project to begin our year.  The students collaborated in small groups to create a series of mazes for their robotic mouse to maneuver.  Students utilized basic coding/programming skills to move their mouse from the start to the finish.  Our next step will be to write the coding script for one of their mazes, then exchange the scripts.  Another small group will use the coding script to see if they can program their mouse to follow the steps.   In the future, the 4th ELP group will be meeting in the computer lab with a coding program (code.org) where we will build on their basic programming skills.