Workout Wednesdays the Favorite Day of the Week at PP

P.E. at Paine Primary is an active, engaging, fun place to be! It is obvious that the students love Workout Wednesday. Who wouldn't? The activities were many and varied. Students could choose where to begin and who they would like to play with. The coaches calmly and thoroughly explained the activities to the students. A small group of students got to play in the fitness arcade.

Fourth Graders Share Their Learning about Electricity

TCS fourth graders study electricity each year as a part of their science curriculum.  Students learn to build circuits, and they light up creatively designed houses and buildings with light bulbs that are powered through the circuits they create.  They share their new learning through presentations to parents and other students throughout PP and PI.

Field Trip Opportunities at Birmingham Botanical Gardens

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens will offer FREE Discovery Field Trips this January and February.  Garden Gates gives students hands-on opportunities to dissect a flower and plant seeds as they become junior horticulturists.  Each student takes their own plantings back to school to grow.  They can also visit the Tropical Rain Forest to discover that some of their favorite foods come from plants.

To schedule, contact Education Program Coordinator Ellen Hardy @ 205.414.3953 or @ ehardy@bbgardens.org.  For more information, visit www.bbgardens.org/fieldtrips.

Helping Parents Understand How Students Are Learning Math

Math instruction today is different from what most of today's parents experienced in the past.  In order to provide parents with information on current instructional approaches and strategies, Paine Intermediate has begun offering Math Academy for Parents once a month. Parents have two sessions to choose from:  a morning session from 9:00-10:00 a.m. and an evening session from 5:00-6:00 p.m.  Sessions will focus on what students are currently learning in their classrooms.  The first half-hour of the session will include overall information, and they will break into groups by grade level for the second half-hour.

The first Parent Math Academy was held on December 11.  The general group session focused on the importance of the area model in developing conceptual understanding.  The breakout segments were:
·        3rd grade - Multiplication Fact Fluency
·        4th Grade - Long Division
·        5th Grade - Multiplying Fractions.

The school has also created a Math Blog for Parents.  paineintmath.blogspot.com.  It includes instructional videos by grade level.  Throughout the year, math teachers will be creating and adding short video segments on various strategies being taught in the classroom.  These videos can be utilized by both parents and students.

The goal of  Parent Math Blog and Parent Math Academy is to provide parents with important information and a better understanding of the concepts and strategies being taught in the math classroom today.  Questions may be emailed to Lisa.Lothspeich@trussvillecityschools.com, Math Instructional Coach.

Hour of Code at Paine Intermediate

Software and technology are everywhere - in our computers, in our pockets, in our cars, and used in banking, communications, entertainment, transportation, and science. But very few kids are learning how to actually create technology - games, apps and programs. Even fewer US schools teach computer science. Women are underrepresented in this field, and so are African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Computer science is foundational for every student, whether they want to pursue a career in software, or to be a more well rounded citizen in the 21st century. Every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science. It helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. By starting early, students will have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path. 

Fifth Graders Problem Solve in the Coding Club at PI

Beginning December 4th, each student at Paine Intermediate will begin learning more about computer science, and the world of computer coding by participating in the Hour of Code, the largest learning campaign in history. In one hour, students (and teachers) can learn that computer science is fun, easy, and accessible at all ages. The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics. This global movement is reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. The grassroots campaign goal is for tens of millions of students to try an Hour of Code during December 8-14, 2014, in celebration of Computer Science Education Week. By the end of the eight day computer specials rotation in Lauren Long’s class, every student at PI will have started to complete a basic coding course. To learn more about computer coding, visit code.org.

Reading, Thinking, Listening, Talking, and Writing

Students in Mrs. Higginbotham's fourth grade class were 100% engaged in challenging and interesting non-fiction text today.  Students first silently read articles on Minecraft and Lego Bricks. Their purpose for reading was to compare and contrast the histories of these two toys. Students then partnered up and took turns reading both articles aloud a second time. They then were asked to locate text evidence to answer questions that the partners asked each other. Together, the partners completed a compare and contrast chart. To culminate, the students wrote a response in their journals, citing ways that the two toys are similar and different. They were expected to write two well-organized paragraphs, using evidence from each article.

Mrs. Higginbotham is a master at creating lessons that provide opportunities for reading, thinking, discussing, and writing. The lesson provided for independent work, as well as collaboration.  

Students reread the articles aloud after reading them independently.

Students use oral language to ask and answer questions about the text.

Mrs. Higginbotham encourages students as they read challenging non-fiction.

Creative Lesson from HTMS

Take a look at the creative activity from Morgan Cruit's 7th grade Language Arts class.  

Three Words Video – in a group, come up with a three word statement that explains what you believe the theme is for the book, Wonder. Display it for the camera in a creative way.  This was the culminating activity for the students' study of Wonder.  

Here is the final product. Enjoy! J https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C81gf0H8Yf0&feature=youtu.be