Happenings This School Year (20-21SY)

We have been having some fun in the Computer Lab this school year. Below are a couple of pictures of the different grade levels in the lab.  1st Grade is working on learning how to block code different puzzles. 3rd Grade is working on a Google Earth project, and 5th Grade is designing and building a game board.  

Welcome Back to the New School Year!

 Hello all,

Welcome back to the new school year.  I am excited for this year, and some of the changes to my curriculum and the schedule.

I realize that the Hybrid model of teaching brings different challenges and struggles. If you are struggling with any remote work please feel free to email me, or bring in your questions on the next in-school learning day. I will be using the same Learning Platform that the homeroom teacher is using to share out any instructions and/or lessons. I hope that this will aliviate some struggles that might arise with Remote learning.

Remote Learning Information

Hello All,

For this time of Remote Learning, I am using a Remote Learning Schedule document, and FCE-Links Units to share my lessons.

For communications to students and families, I am using the Specials Team Communication Document that is getting sent out daily by Robyn Riches. This is a live document that we are all updating regularly.
My section of this document will give you the link to the Remote Learning Schedule for each grade level to follow.  The actual Units will have links and instructional videos for students to follow.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns
cdtownsend@dcsdk12.org

Beginning of the School Year Top Typist

In our 3rd thru 6th Grade we set a baseline for their typing speed at the beginning of the school year. We do a mid-year and end-of-year check to celebrate improvement. Some of the older students are working on finger placement instead of only concentrating on speed. Below are the top typist for each grade level for our beginning of the school year data.

Early Spring Project

Sixth Grade is working on creating a StopMotion Video. The classes are still in the creating phase of the project, but should start recording in the next week or so. I cannot wait to see how their videos turn out!

FCE was one of 10 schools in Douglas County to receive a Gill Foundation Robotics Kit. MindSpark Learning has teamed up with DCSD to support our district in promoting Computer Science learning for Elementary Schools. We are so excited to explore and develop exciting learning opportunities for our students.

Specials Expedition Logos

During the Specials Expedition the students are asked to create a logo for their Dance group that will represent their group. Everyone in the group creates a logo and then pitches their design to the group. One of the group's logo design is then chosen to represent their group. We discuss hidden meanings and different design principles that are used when working in this field. We had some pretty creative logo designs created this year.

The Latest Happenings in Technology

Catching up on What's Been Happening in Technology....

Kindergarten has been working in an iPad app called Educreations. This app allows them to take a picture of their work and then record themselves explaining their thinking. Our first time using this tool we described features of our Monsters. The next time we talked about the 5 food groups - foods we like in these groups.

Click Here for link to Video

Click Here for link to Video

1st Grade used powerpoint to create a book. We used the book Press Here by Herve Tullet as a mentor text. The students were introduced to a couple of tech skills: text box, typing, creating shapes, copy and pasting, and how to manipulate the shapes size and color. Below are a couple of examples of some Books created: The students needed to create a storyboard before they worked on powerpoint to create their book, and unfortunately we had to print in B&W, so we missed the colors they added. There were so many amazing books created.

Student 1 Example

Student 2 Example


2nd Grade made paper airplanes as part of an unplugged coding activity to relate the concept of Algorithms back to everyday activities. The had to follow the directions given by their partner to create their airplanes. It was lots of fun getting to see them fly!

4th Grade worked on a Unit called My Ozobot's Travels: They worked in groups of 4-5 students to create a story about traveling and visiting interesting places in the United States for their Ozobot. Students worked on research, geography, collaboration, and coding a robot skills.