Leaders ensure that all stakeholders have ongoing opportunities to access information and learn about STEM implementation.

Gaga pit 

5th Grade Students have the opportunity to attend a 2 night 3 day science camp experience every year. The students learn so many science standards during this time, but they also have a little downtime during the day. One activity they enjoyed playing was GAGABALL! Teachers and students had never heard of the game and didn't know the rules. Students caught on quickly and wanted to play every opportunity that was given. When we came back from our field trip students kept saying they wished we had a GAGABALL Court at Sierra Verde. A group of 5th Grade boys problem solved and came up with a plan to get a GAGABALL Court installed. The boys researched the cost, supplies, location, maintenance, and promoted a fundraiser to raise $2000! The students made videos to put onto announcements showing the rules and safety of playing GAGABALL. Once the Court arrived we had to put it all together. The families and the 5th Grade boys did all the labor putting this GAGABALL Court together.  It was a true collaborative effort that is a reflection of their hard work and effort to reach their goal.  The GAGABALL Court is always full of students playing and enjoying the game!

Reindeer Catapults

December STEAM Day 2022 was filled with excitement as 3rd graders engaged in the Engineer Design Process with Steve Watson and  Brian Hoffner building reindeer catapults.  The Maricopa Superintendent’s team joined the 3rd grade teachers to lead students through teambuilding and problem solving challenges. 

Here was Mr. Hoffner’s lesson plan …… 

• (5min) Introduce the students to the “Reindeer bus” probably through the time lapse video and present the challenge:

  • What is the best way to build a machine that can feed an 18,000lb Reindeer?

  • Sub-challenge: Which class can build the best machines to feed an 18,000lb reindeer?

• break into small groups of 4

  • Each student in the group will have an assigned role (Artist/Designer, Recorder, Materials manager, Builder)

• (10min) The students will read an article to learn more about how to take care of a reindeer

  • I have a short article that I am modifying to match approved Lexile and Catile levels for the students to read.

  • We can reinforce close reading skills (chunking and metacognitive markers) to have the students learn about taking care of a Reindeer

• (25min) The students will draw/color a picture of a reindeer and animate it using Chatterpix (kids version) to share a message about what the reindeer needs to eat

  • Chatterpix kids should be available as a free download on Google Play and work on Chromebooks. Can one of you please look into this and let me know.

  • Bonus- I read in Mrs. McDonald’s weekly email that you are working on multiplication/division for 9s so I am hoping to create a math problem that the students have to solve that would reinforce this skill. Example: Reindeers are large mammals that typically eat 9lbs of leaves and grass for every 100lbs they weigh. If our Reindeer weighs 18,000lbs. How much would it have to eat? *This problem is not intended for them to be able to solve. We will need a teacher in each class to solve this and show the answer to the class. My goal is to have them create Reindeer feeders (aka catapults) that launch food (marshmallows) into a Reindeer bucket. Each marshmallow that lands in the target will represent 9lbs of food. My goal will be for each group to multiply their number of marshmallows landed x9 to see how much food they provided the Reindeer.

• (15min) Next the students will be guided, using the engineering design process to build a catapult that will help feed the reindeer.

  • Basic materials are popsicle sticks (10 per group), rubber bands (6 per group) , plastic spoons (1 per group), tape

• (10min) Finally the classes will come outside for the Feed the Reindeer Competition

  • Each class will have their own bucket that they are launching at to see which group can provide the most food for their reindeer.

  • Each group will have different colored marshmallows to use creating the challenge of who gets the most in their bucket

Superintendent Watson brought a big blow up reindeer and large catapult to demonstrate a bigger launch.  Students were engaged from beginning to end, reading the article- learning more about reindeers, coloring the reindeer pictures and using Chatterpix to make them talk, designing and constructing the catapults, and testing the catapults.

SV Drama Program

The Sierra Verde drama program is an integral part of the campus climate.  It has been around since 2002.  The tech crew is the heart and soul of each production. The students work on set design, building and painting.  The backdrops and bi-folds are created by the students.  They also learn how to run the sound system, lighting (stage lights and spot lights) and microphones.  Students apply for positions are the start of each season.  We have a stage and prop team, set sketching and painting team and a courtesy team.  Students learn the ins and outs of a stage production and run the entire show themselves.  Students also learn the art of “makeup-ing” and costuming to make sure each character is portrayed correctly.  The stage and prop team learn how to change each scene in a quick and efficient manor, making sure each actor has the props needed for a given scene.  They use an iPad and sound board for music and microphones and can fade each scene in and out.  The light board in connected to audio system so that the students can use full lighting or dim.  They are responsible for knowing what “phase” of light to use for each scene as well.  The drama program runs smoothly because of our tech crew.

SV Viper Pit Morning Announcements

Our student-led Morning Announcements are the backbone of our campus. The students start each day with our 8th grade announcement crew. Our announcements kept our campus connected when Covid hit and we were all on lockdown. Our announcements became the gold standard throughout our district and around the state in terms of what student-led announcements could become. As the late great Jim Valvano said "If you laugh, you think and you cry. That is a full day." That is what our announcements try to do each and every day.