News Features
Mrs. Russell's Friends
April 2025
Finalizing Our Amazing Year!
Mrs. Russell's Friends
April 2025
Finalizing Our Amazing Year!
KINDERGARTEN
Students have been exploring games and building with various objects as they review and practice the creative thinking tools: fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. They learn about teamwork, being flexible thinkers and how to tackle new challenges.
Asking Key Questions to
Make Inferences
Playdough Challenges
1ST GRADE
Students extended their self simile project by writing a book of similes about their family members. They composed their own figurative language about their parents, siblings and pets. They typed their stories and created their own digital images to complete the book. Students also reflected on their 1st grade year in GT and wrote about how they can use their strengths to change the world.
Family Simile Example Page
Family Simile Example Page
2ND GRADE
Students spent time reflecting on their Caine's Arcade project. They counted the tickets their games earned after a day of arcade playing. They also had to total the amount of income earned to see how their game contributed to the success of the arcade. Finally, they completed the challenge of measuring their game prototypes in three dimenstions. Students created a blueprint that can be used to build the game they designed again in the future.
Measuring Arcade Game Dimensions
Measuring Arcade Game Dimensions
3RD GRADE
Students presented their mystery boxes that represent a person from the world of STEM. Each box held lots of clues including: fun facts, curious questions, 3D artifacts, family members, the field of study, century of birth, famous inventions/discoveries and many other visual images. GT friends played the job of detective and did an excellent job using the tips offered by these 3rd graders to guess the correct person.
Mystery Box
Who in the world could this be?
4TH GRADE
Students have been working hard to complete the Rube Goldberg Machine building challege. Students have incorporated simple machines, a variety of materials, and multiple steps to try and successfully complete a pathway to pop a balloon. They have considered the perfect amount of force, the best angles, the correct speed, and the exact maneuvers needed to complete the courses created. The amount of patience and determination each team has displayed is admirable. Learning from many failures is becoming an invaluable life lesson as well!
Rube Goldberg
Chain Reaction Machine
Rube Goldberg
Chain Reaction Machine
5TH GRADE
Students are developing their own ideas for future inventions by "debugging" items in their everyday life that they feel have a problem, need improvement or could make life better if they were reinvented is some way. Watch out world, there may be some new patents and Shark Tank adventurers coming your way!
A New Pen
A New App