It is hard to believe that December just started and it is almost time for Christmas break! Where does the time go??? Tomorrow will be the last time we meet this year :) We will wrap up our Road Trip Adventure. Students have been averaging two stops per day. Hopefully those who had a final destination in mind will be able to get there! We will also be filling out second quarter progress reports tomorrow. These will be sent home with their second quarter report card, January 5th. I would appreciate it if you would sign the bottom and return it!

I hope each of you have a wonderful Christmas and wish you a Happy New Year!

I can't believe it is already December!!! With the way our schedule falls, we will only meet two more times before Christmas break! During these two classes we will continue our road trip. I think the kiddos are really enjoying this experience. They are getting more familiar with using a laptop and exploring some places they would really like to visit. Perhaps they can help plan your next vacation! :) Below is the map of where everyone has traveled so far! It may be hard to see, but their first initial is on each sticker.

Today we continue on our road trip! Last Friday everyone "visited" St. Louis, then they were able to choose their next destination. Today I'm guessing they will finish up at their current destination and be able to visit two more places.

Thank you to everyone who has completed the survey I sent our last week. If you have not had a chance to complete yet, I would really appreciate if you could get that done. I want to be able to provide you with the most important information about High Flyers in a way that is convenient for you! Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Pics from Table Top Mini Golf!

Tomorrow we start our new unit- Road Trip Adventure! Road Trip Adventure is a virtual adventure where we will practice different forms of writing, geography skills, computer and internet skills, math, public speaking, creativity, and art! Students will "travel" to tourist attractions via the internet, read about, map, and write a summary about the attraction, and then complete a written, artistic, or creative response. We will be tracking their travel on a US map. Our first destination we will travel to together- St. Louis Arch! Then students will travel on their own adventure and document it along the way.

Tomorrow is the day we have been anxiously waiting for...we get to try our everyone's golf hole! I will be taking both groups in the morning so that they get to try everyone's hole. They will be taking score as they play. When we have completed play, each student will find their mean score and then we will find the mean of their hole using everyone's scores. We will wrap up this unit with a reflection and scoring their project with the rubric. Each student will score their own project and then I will score it as well.

Originally the unit planned next was another STEM unit- The Studio, but I believe it will take a while to complete. With there only being four more times we meet before Christmas break (crazy, huh?!?!?) I have changed things around and we will be doing the Road Trip Adventure unit next. More details next week!

Today is a 'wrap-up" day. There are still a few who have some touch ups to make on their table top mini golf holes. Those will be completed today. Then next week we will get to try out everyone's hole! We will each have score cards to keep track on and then we will find our total and mean of everyone's score and individual hole. I will be taking both groups together for this activity! Happy Halloween!

Yesterday I had to stay at home with a sick child, so High Flyers will meet Monday, October 19!

The table top mini golf holes are coming along quite nicely! Most of the kiddos were able to get their "course"covered and some worked on the obstacles as well. We will be meeting tomorrow (October 15) due to the early out on Friday. I will try to post some pictures of their progress!

Parent/Teacher Conferences- If you would like to stop by during conferences, feel free to. I do not have a schedule in place. Although I will be unavailable from 7-8pm Tuesday evening. Parents who want to drop by can! I will have a progress report to share with you. If you do not have time to stop by, I will send the progress report home with your child.

Tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for! We start BUILDING!!! I'm unsure how much we will get accomplished. I'm guessing the building process will take 2-3 class times.

Due to the early out next Friday (10/16) we will be having High Flyers on that Thursday (10/15).

Don't forget to send the supplies to build with tomorrow!

Sorry for the delay in updates! I have been involved in meetings the end of last week and the beginning of this week. Today we are continuing our table top mini golf unit. We will be making a trial version out of card stock and tape, discussing Newton's Law of Motion. We will be able to test out our putters we made last class! Then we will revisit scale and decide what scale our table top mini golf hole should be. Then if there is time, we will each draft our own mini golf hole!

Last Friday we started our first unit! We learned/reviewed about finding area using our hand as our example. Than we transformed our hands to 1:4 scale. (Which was pretty tricky! ) We practiced with other pictures by copying line drawings box by box.

This week we will apply an understanding of physics concepts to putters and construct a miniature putter based on a rubric. If time allows we will construct a trial version of a table-top mini-golf hole and demonstrate how Newton's Laws of Motion apply to it.

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! We didn't end up having High Flyers last week due to the Homecoming Parade. This week we will begin our first unit titled "Table Top Mini Golf- From Putt Putt to Pebble Beach. In this unit students will design and construct a playable table-top sized miniature golf course using the engineering design process. In our first lesson, students will learn the main questions and challenges in a unit overview and then transform a model of their hand to a 1:4 scale.

 Thanks to everyone who stopped by during Open House last night! This year our schedule is different than last year. Instead of meeting two days a week for 90 minutes each, this year we are meeting on Fridays for 3 hours each. The third graders will come in the morning from 8:10-11:10, and 4th, 5th, and 6th graders will come from 11:55-2:55. If you have any question throughout the year, please don't hesitate to email me. My email address is kpartridge@midbuchanan.k12.mo.us. I am looking forward to another great year in High Flyers!

Our year has gone by so quickly! Tuesday will be our last day in High Flyers. Upon the kids request, I will be providing nachos for everyone. They can bring something to eat to share with the group. We will be eating lunch together  in my room.

On Friday I sent home a parent survey. Please fill that out and return it ASAP. I want to use that information to help guide my instruction for next year, so I would really appreciate your input!

The students will also be filling out a survey tomorrow!

Have a wonderful summer break!

Well, we are down to our last few days. Friday, everyone will be presenting their Passion Projects. Parents are welcome to join us. We will begin at 10:00 in my classroom. I know there is a conflict with the 6th grade boys. They will join us when they are done. I hope to see you there!

Next Tuesday, May 19 will be our day in High Flyers. Again I will have everyone and we will have a little celebration for the end of the year. We will be eating lunch in my room. I will provide the main entree. If your child would like to bring something to share with the group, that would be great!

Passion Projects are coming along nicely! With MAP testing going on right now it is hit and miss as to who can work on it. I'm hoping to have them wrapped up in a week or two. Once they are close to being completed I will choose a date as to when they will present their projects. Parents are welcome to come and listen to their presentations. I will combine both groups for the presentations.

Wow, it has been a while since I have been on here. I apologize for that! I hope everyone had a wonderful spring break!

A few weeks ago we build models of skyscrapers and found their scale size to the actual buildings.

Last week we started our final project, The Passion Project. The Passion Project allows students to choose a topic they are passion about, create essential questions about their topic, research, and present their final project. They have a choice board for their presentation. I love seeing the variety of topics and the eagerness to learn about topics! Students will be presenting to all the gifted students.

Our hoops and launchers were a success! I was going to start the next unit today, but since the h.s. boys are going to State for basketball and there is no school Thursday and Friday I decided to hold off a week. Today and tomorrow we are working on origami.

I hope to see you at Columbia! GO DRAGONS!

The t-shirt project is complete. Each part of the process is displayed in the hall.Hopefully you have, or will get a chance to see it.

Last week we started our next project, The Collapsible Hoop and launcher Game. We were able to finish the hoops last week. This week we are constructing the launcher. Most of this project is being built out of Popsicle sticks. After they are built we are going to try them out by launching marshmallows and attempting to get them into the hoops! Should be entertaining!

We are finally getting to start our t-shirts today! With snow days and meetings it has been crazy lately!

Everyone finished their three designs two weeks ago. We had other classes vote for which shirt they would buy first, second, and third. Then they graphed the survey results. Now we are making the shirt that the students voted to buy first. After the t-shirts are complete, students will come up with prices to 'sell' their shirt design. They will have to justify the pricing based on the survey, logic, and understanding of economics.

This week we will be designing three different t-shirts, then survey their peers about the designs. The one design that gets the most votes will then be put on an actual t-shirt. Students will need to bring a blank t-shirt and supplies to create their winning shirt design to class next Tuesday, January 20(3-5 grade) or Thursday, January 22 (6th grade).

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful break!

Quote of the Week- "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still remain the ability of function." -F. Scott Fitzgerald

We are going to continue working on the 'Going Commercial' unit. Tomorrow we will look at Primary Sources, specifically Buster Brown advertisements. We will focus on the key message about shoes the Brown Shoe Company's advertisements project throughout the decades.