Tech Gadgets Arrive in G.A.T.E.!

Want to make a teacher feel like a ROCK STAR?  Let her use these awesome tech gadgets in class!  I can honestly say I felt like a "COOL TEACHER" for at least one day!  The students and I have been anxiously awaiting our tech gadgets....and WOW!  They are fun!  Third grade G.A.T.E. students have had the chance to experience Ollie and Sphero (iPad controlled robots of fun), Osmo (REALLY COOL iPad learning games with tangrams, word puzzles and science controlled pinball!), and elementary engineering kits called Little Bits.  Whew...it was a couple of whirlwind days in GATE, but, oh boy, it was fun!

These girls are learning about math, technology, problem solving...and having a great time!  Osmo is a great interactive way to manipulate these shapes into tangram puzzles.  The Osmo has a mirror that somehow magically works with the camera on the iPad to project every move on the iPad.  FUN!!

Little Bits engineering kits...

A few of our students made a doorbell and attached it outside our classroom!  

If you come visit our class, please ring our doorbell! 

(How super cool is that!?)

Other groups made flashlights, electric spinners, fans, and more!

Ollie and Sphero

We are learning how to control these robots with our iPads.  

They have some crazy dance moves and stunts as they jump the ramps!

We've had a blast with our new IQ Fit games, too.  They aren't robotic or electronic, but are great THINKING puzzles for problem solving and are FUN, too!

I LOVE being a gifted teacher!  I am learning new things about technology each day!

Taste of Albertville

G.A.T.E. students shared a little creativity with the city of Albertville.  Our city will be hosting the Taste of Albertville event on Thursday, February 26th from 5:00 - 7:30 p.m. at the Crossroads Mall.  Organizers of the event asked if our students could create art with a "food" theme.  Our art will be on display for silent auction or door prizes.  Part of the proceeds of this event go to Meals on Wheels in Albertville.  If you visit this event, please look for our G.A.T.E. "food art!"

This color collage of cupcakes is really cute, isn't it!?

All G.A.T.E. students created a cupcake from "pretty papers."  These were made into two pieces of art:  the one above for the Taste of Albertville event and one that will stay at AES.

I love it!

Yukina, 3rd grade, created the art above and Ava, 3rd grade, created the art below using a bunch of CELERY to paint the flowers and OKRA to paint the stems and leaves.  

Fourth grader, Lily, created this HUGE HAMBURGER collage.  Yum!

Michele, 3rd grade, created the fruit bowl above using oranges, limes, and okra as paintbrushes.  This precious torn paper watermelon was created by Sam, 3rd grade.

All of this art will be on display at the Taste of Albertville!  Hope to see you there!

Taste Test...Yum!

G.A.T.E. has been a little "tasty" lately!  Our students participated in a TASTE TEST (yum!) for a new product that might be offered in lunchrooms across our state of Alabama.  Mrs. Kristin Taylor who works in our central office in the Child Nutrition Program visited each of my G.A.T.E. classes a few weeks ago.

She brought two different types of cereal/granola type bars for the students to taste.  Each student who wanted to participate tried a bite of the bar and voted either a SMILEY FACE for "YES!" or a "THUMBS DOWN" for "No".  The students had a great time trying something new and voting their opinion.  We learned that all lunchrooms in Alabama order food items from a bid list.  The items we sampled might be on a bid list for the future, but not served now in our lunchrooms.  The students and I found it interesting to learn how lunchrooms buy in HUGE QUANTITIES and how they order grocery supplies.  This was a fun taste test, but also a great learning experience for our students to see the "big picture" of our whole school system's food program.  Thank you, Mrs. Taylor, for including us in this taste test!

Reindeer Art

These cute little reindeer are visiting our class right now!  Thanks to the generosity and artistic talent of Mr. Terry Morrow, 4th grade group 1 had the opportunity to have a painting class where he taught us how to paint a reindeer. I love how the personalities of the kids really came out even though they all had the same directions!  

We are fortunate that Courtney will share her grandfather with our class!

Please enjoy this slideshow of this class painting their version of a Christmas reindeer!  

Click below to view.

Origami Class

Monday, December 8th was another great day in GATE!  Our special friends came back to class to share more about their country of Japan.  Makiko, Nami, Sanae, and Akemi shared with students the secrets to folding paper into beautiful shapes.

Our 3rd grade GATE students folded Santa Stars, Wreaths, and Candy Canes just in time for the holidays.  Students were engaged with this hands on listening and learning lesson to create such beautiful ornaments.  They were so excited to take them home the same day to share with their families.  I hope each of these ornaments will find a special place on each Christmas tree and will be a wonderful reminder of these ladies and our GATE class.

The picture at the top of the post is showcasing our Santa Stars!  The photo below shows our colorful wreaths.

Akemi Suzuki is an official Kimono Master. She studied for 18 months to become a Kimono Master.  She brought a beautiful Japanese Kimono for me to wear in class on Monday.  There is a specific process to putting on a Kimono.  She even brought the special socks to wear with sandals and brought beautiful gold sandals and a purse, too!  Thank you, Akemi, for bringing your kimono to class. I loved it!

Please enjoy this slideshow of our 3rd grade GATE students making origami ornaments.  Click below to play the video.

Sushi, anyone? Yes, please!

We rolled SUSHI in GATE today!  Thanks to some generous, talented ladies, our GATE 4th graders had the rare opportunity to learn about sushi and roll their own in class!  Mrs. Makiko Jones (Ken's mom), Nami Hamai (Yukina's mom), Sanae Mikawa, and Sache Yoneyama presented information about the popular Japanese food and how to make it.

Sushi means "vinegar rice."  The ladies shared that sushi was usually served for special occasions like holidays, weddings, or other special occasions.  Many different foods can be used in preparing sushi:  rice, seaweed, vegetables, fish, seafood, and even foods like BBQ!  We made traditional sushi (Nori seaweed on the outside) and we also made "inside out" sushi (rice on the outside, Nori on the inside).  Students could choose to use crabmeat, cucumbers, and eggs if they wanted to use those for their fillings.

Students also learned how to use chopsticks!  Mrs. Jones works Toke Sushi & Thai Grill in Guntersville (1906 Gunter Avenue, Guntersville, AL).  Toke provided each student with his/her very own chopsticks.  Thank you to the restaurant for supporting this lesson!  We learned that sushi can be eaten with chopsticks or with your fingers.  Students used a bamboo mat to roll their sushi.

Enjoy this slideshow of the students being "Sushi Chefs" today in GATE!  Also, a huge thanks to the sweet ladies who spent their morning with us!

Trash to Treasure Ornaments

What could YOU make out of an old DVD?  Our GATE students are so creative!  I love their unique ideas!  I have been saving old DVDs that didn't work for years.  I KNEW there would be a good use for them!  We have recycled these old trash DVDs into works of art!

Each GATE student had two weeks to work with their families to create something unique.  Some are Christmas-y...some are funny....some decorative...I love each one of them!  Personalities of the students shine when they are able to create something with basically no rules!   The only rule for this project was to use the old DVD they were given.  They could add to it, cut it, paint it, glue on it...they did all of that and more!  Look at our colorful bulletin board outside our classroom!

If you look closely you will see a minion, fish, reindeer, and animals!

Check out the peppermint, dinosaur, decorative ornaments...and even a Christmas turkey!

4th grade slideshow

3rd grade slideshow