Halloween Makerspace Week in the STEAM Center

This week in the Library STEAM Center we explore our 1st Makerspace week of the school year, and there is a buzz of excitement in the air!  We have been preparing for this week with introductions to STEAM activities since the beginning of the school year.  The students were so excited to explore these stations, using their innovative, critical thinking and problem solving skills.  When we participate in Makerspace weeks, we hit all areas of STEAM.  This week our theme was Halloween with the following stations:

• S = Science, with computer science stations featuring Ozobots and OSMOs
• T = Technology, with iPads using our OSMO games
• E = Engineering, with our Lego Wall challenge, building with Keva Planks and Brain Flakes, and our ever popular Creation Station
• A = Art, with Osmo Masterpiece, Osmo Monster, and the Creation Station
• M = Math/Media, with Osmo Numbers and we never go without checking out our Library books each week

Let Their Imaginations Grow!

The week of October 22 - 26 brought such excitement about new books!  It was our Scholastic Fall Book Fair event, which took over our Library STEAM Center for the week in such a great way!  The theme for this season's event was The Enchanted Forest where students can let their imaginations grow with new books.  The students enjoyed two days of previews before a 3-day sales event took place, ending with our amazing school family event, The Monster Mash.

While the book fair was going on, we still had our regular Library STEAM classes on the stage.  We spent this time reviewing and learning about a wonderful resource available to our students, TumbleBook!  This is an online library of books that our students can enjoy.  "TumbleBooks are animated, talking picture books which teach kids the joy of reading in a format they'll love. TumbleBook Library takes existing picture books, adding animation, sound, music and narration to produce an electronic picture book. You can read it, or have it read to you."  Your child can enjoy this resource at home as well.  It is available on our Hornung Media Center website by following this link...https://hornungmediacenter.weebly.com/tumblebook.html.  Have them show you this great resource at home!

Connecting Literacy with Engineering

This week in the Library STEAM Center, all of our students JK-4th grade made connections with pumpkin stories and engineered models based on those stories. 

JK, K & 1st graders connected the "5 Little Pumpkins", discussing beginning, middle, and end of the story by engineering fences and seeing if they can fit 5 little pumpkins in a row on top of their fence.  If it didn't work, they reflected on their design and redesigned it.

Our 2nd, 3rd & 4th graders connected "The Runaway Pumpkin", discussing beginning, middle, and end of the story by engineering hills or ramps with a barrier at the bottom to stop their pumpkin.  If the barrier didn't stop the pumpkin, they reflected on their design and redesigned it.

Throughout the process, students worked with the engineering design process by understanding these steps:

1. Define the Problem
2. Plan Solutions
3. Make a Model
4. Test the Model
5. Reflect and Redesign

We are Thinkers and Tinkers in the Hornung Library STEAM Center!

We Are Internet Awesome with Google!

This week in the Hornung Library STEAM Center we continued learning how to be good Digital Citizens with Google's new curriculum called "Be Internet Awesome".  Here is a letter from us to our Parents...

Dear Parents,

When our kids are young, we do our best to help them get the most out of the Internet while
protecting them from the risks and downsides of the online world. As children mature into
teenhood, our role shifts to helping them learn to make their own safe and thoughtful
decisions as they navigate their digital lives. At Hornung Elementary School, we believe
in partnering with parents and preparing our 1st-4th grade students to:

• Think critically and evaluate websites, email, and other content online.

• Protect themselves from online threats, including bullying and scams.

• Get smart about sharing: what, when, how, and with whom.

• Be kind and respectful toward other people online, including respecting their privacy.

• Ask for help with tricky situations from a parent or other trusted adult.

This year, these efforts will include Be Internet Awesome, a multifaceted program designed
to teach kids the skills they need to be safe and smart online. One of the resources, Interland,
is a browser-based game that makes learning these skills interactive and fun – just like the
Internet itself. Developed by Google in partnership with educators, researchers, and
online-safety experts at iKeepSafe.org, Be Internet Awesome provides fun, age-appropriate
learning experiences built around five foundational lessons:

• Share with Care

• Donʼt Fall for Fake

• Secure Your Secrets

• Itʼs Cool to Be Kind

• When in Doubt, Talk It Out Smart

Safe technology usage can enable students to help drive their own learning and help our
school function better. We believe the Be Internet Awesome program will mark an important
step toward our goal of ensuring all our students at Hornung are learning, exploring, and
staying safe online, both inside and outside school walls. We invite you to check out the
resources for families that are available at g.co/BeInternetAwesome. We encourage you to
ask your student about what activities they are participating in and continue the conversation
at home – and who knows, you just might pick up a few privacy and security tricks yourself!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Richards

October Is So Exciting, It’s Frightful!

October brings new curriculum, engaging hands-on lessons, and the importance of keeping our kids safe online with Digital Citizenship!  This week, Hornung students were introduced to Digital Citizenship, where they learned:

•  to only go on pre approved sites from teachers or parents

• to keep their private information to themselves (don't give out full names, addresses, phone numbers, etc

• to not talk to strangers online.  They should only have their friends and family online with them.

• to stand up to cyber-bulling, and to be kind to everyone.

In addition to these lessons, they have hands-on activities to reinforce the material taught.  This week, students make Digital Citizen People out of pipe cleaners.  Their job was to take this character home, and put it by their home devices, so that they can help them remember to stay safe online.

If your child plays video games online, help them to stay safe by checking their "Friend" list often.

Starting Out The Year Right

We did it...it's a new year, and a chance to start out on the right foot.  We spent the beginning of the school year getting students logged into their classroom devices with orientations on how to take care of the equipment properly.  We are very fortunate to have access to these top of the line devices, and it's important to make sure that we are taking care of them throughout the school year.

The next few weeks were spent on Library orientations.  We spent some time reminding our veteran students how to take care of books, going over our Library rules, and playing some fun scavenger hunt type games to learn where different resources are located around the Library.  New students were introduced to our Library, our book care rules, introduced to checkout procedures, and we showed them how to find books around our Library.

We also celebrated International Dot Day with all of our students.  They learned the importance of creating our own mark in this world.  There were several activities surrounding Dot Day for them to participate in.  It was an engaging lesson.

September was a very engaging and important month for the Library STEAM Center!