GRADING POLICY

Students will receive a weekly effort and participation grade in addition to any grades on projects or quizzes. I recognize the work students do on a weekly basis, not just the final product after multiple classes. Students in Kindergarten-grade 2 are graded according to a 4,3,2,1 rubric. Numerical grades are given for grades 3-8. Grades will be published on the report card twice annually, at the end of the 2^nd and 4^th quarters.

OPEN LAB

The lab will be open daily from 7:30-8:00 am as well as after school until 3:30 Monday-Wednesday. Students in grades 3-5 will also be able to use the lab in lieu of recess Mondays and Wednesdays. The lab is open for any student needing access to a computer for work in ANY of their classes.

STEM INFORMATION

Students in the middle school have been working hard in STEM class. 8^th graders spent the first half of the year building robots with Lego Robotics kits and then completing various programming tasks. We had a competition January 29^th and the winners received certificates to Stewarts for make your own ice cream sundaes. Congratulations to our winners Isaiah and Tony! They will spend the 2^nd half of the year learning coding features and then taking apart desktop and laptop computers, learning about the internal hardware, and putting them back together.

7^th graders will begin learning to use the use the Robotics software after putting their robots together. They spent the 1^st half of the year doing many various activities including designing and building prototypes for cell phones as well as structures that would withstand high winds from hurricanes.

6^th graders finished a large project planning and designing underground structures to relocate residents of a fictional state due to an impending asteroid disaster. They had to consider factors such as available rock type, structural considerations such as fault lines and water supply, transportation of residents across the state to the caverns, and planning for the residency of 1 million people.

5^th graders have done many smaller projects leading up to their current large project. After finishing activities relating to sound and pitch, students are now working with their partners to design a future city. Once they are done designing, taking into account the various elements necessary, they will construct their cities out of recycled materials and then present them to the class with explanations as to why they made those choices.

We are having a great first year in STEM. Groups change throughout the year so students have the opportunity to work with many different students, all with various learning styles and ideas.

SUPPLIES

Students in preschool-grade 4 should have a pair of headphones for technology class. Please put them in a Ziploc bag, labeled with your child’s name and grade. Students will use them on a regular basis in technology class, as well as for Mathletics in grades 1-4, as they use the lab weekly with their teachers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

GRADING POLICY