2A Highlights 1/30

Henry: I liked art, PE, and recess. I liked weaving. I want to add going to Alta Plaza.
Connor M.: I liked recess, free choice in PE, and I missed a lot of other stuff being sick.
Connor B.: I liked art and watching Bill Nye! I also liked recess and PE.
Caspar: I liked recess, PE, art, and Tim and Alice. I liked playing basketball at Alta Plaza!
Conrad: I liked holding Alice’s leash at the park, making our sheep, weaving, watching Bill Nye, and the pulley experiment.
William: I liked art, recess, PE, and Tim and Alice to play basketball.
Van: I didn’t do much since I was sick. I liked music, PE, recess, and weaving.
Kenzo: I was only here today, but I liked Morning Meeting, math, and recess.
Finn: I liked Tim and Alice, art, and science with the iPads.
Elliot: I liked being Boy of the Week, learning choice, and all our recesses.
Will: I liked PE, recess, music, and math.
Liam: I liked Tim and Alice, art, science, and Bill Nye.
Alex: I liked recess with my friends, art, Bill Nye, and missing school yesterday. I also liked meeting Tim and Alice. It was really silly when Alice kept jumping at me.
Tanish: I liked Tim and Alice coming to the park, recess, and most of all art!
Asher: I liked art, Bill Nye, and recess!
Rohan: I liked coming back! I liked recess, pulleys with Mr. D., music, PE, math, snack, and everything. I want to add playing basketball at recess and making the zodiac sheep!
Clyde: I liked making the sheep and most of all the park with Tim and Alice!
Kekoa: I liked science, Alice and Tim, recess, Bill Nye, and art. I also liked making sheep!
Axel: I liked everything! I really liked the party at Alta Plaza.
Owen: I liked playing basketball with Tim, meeting Alice, weaving in art, recess, and making the sheep for the zodiac!
Boden: I liked recess! I liked football.
Trey: I liked PE, recess and playing kickball, art, Bill Nye, making the zodiac sheep, and weaving in art.

We missed you Frederick!

Spark Truck Visits Town

Today, we had the thrill of spending the day with Stanford d.school's Spark Truck. Second graders toured the Spark Truck in the morning, learning about the high and low tech tinkering tools on board: 3D printers, laser cutters, vinyl cutters, hand tools, craft materials, and more. They were particularly impressed with the freshly laser cut cardboard Spark Trucks they took back to class as a souvenir. As Jackson noted, "They even smelled burned!" observing the connection to their laser production. The visit certainly sparked their imagination and curiosity before embarking on their afternoon challenge.

Did you know we have our own 3D printer in the Upper School STEM lab?

Bipartisan tinkerer

Laser cut Spark Truck!

In the afternoon, they rolled up their sleeves to tackle their own design challenge. They created Vibrobots, a signature Spark Truck activity that's been done with hundreds of kids of all ages across the country. It follows a design sequence of brainstorm, prototype, test, share, and storytell with a strong tinkering element. This iteration had a Town-specific tilt: teachers crafted it to connect to our curriculum. In the midst of studying Chinatown and simple machines, the boys brainstormed zodiac animals and machines to mashup together as zodiac transformers. Their creatures ran the gamut: a monkey wrecking ball, pig dumptruck, snake laser cutter, ox tank, dragon airplane, and even a bouncing bunny bicycle. They got technical tinkering with circuits to build a battery operated motor to make their creature vibrate. Not only did they have to learn how to make them function, but they had to control them and connect them to their creature. Then, using a range of low tech craft materials, they created their creatures. Upon creation, they shared names, stories, and traits about their vibrobots. Who knew the tiger rocket is actually quite shy and that's why he likes to blast off? The activity was capped off in classic 8 year old boy fashion: battle bots! They pitted their vibrobots against each other to see which one would "push" the other off the table. You can imagine the squeals!

If you want to make your own vibrobots at home, check out the lesson in the Spark Truck collection on Instructables.

Vibrobots

Vibrobots

Telling stories about their creatures

Tinkering

2A Highlights 1/23

Clyde- I liked writing to President Obama, art and visiting the Spark truck.
Will S – I liked Ms. Colgate, STEM lab, visiting the Spark truck and recess. I also liked weaving in art.
Caspar – I liked art and science and recess.
Alex – I liked the Spark truck.
Tanish – I liked building the cars with the wheel and axle and recess.
Axel – I liked everything – mostly the wheel and axle lab with Mr. D.
Van – I liked finishing A Bear Called Paddington, recess, and free choice in PE. I also liked weaving in art class.
Boden – I liked looking at the Spark truck, free choice at PE, and recess.
Elliot – I liked when we got to see the laser cutter on the Spark truck.
Frederick – I liked art, lunch, recess and snack.
Liam – I liked art, music, and the Spark truck and PE. I also liked finishing A Bear Called Paddington.
Owen – I liked free choice in PE, seeing the Spark truck, lunch, art and weaving and recess.
Asher – I liked the Spark truck and the laser cutter inside of it, and I liked recess playing paper football with my friends and I liked free choice in PE.
Trey – I liked seeing the Spark truck and all the things inside and recess, lunch and art and I liked doing more of the writing about our informational books. I also liked PE.
Henry – I liked writing, recess, free choice at PE and art.
Connor M – I liked weaving in art, the spark, truck, recess, image of the day, finishing A Bear Called Paddington and everything else!
William – I liked art, recess, PE, and the Spark truck.
Conrad – I liked the Spark truck, finishing my weaving in art and I liked free choice in PE. I also liked finishing A Bear Called Paddington and reading group.
Kenzo – I liked everything, especially the Spark truck and playing with my friends at recess.

We missed you Rohan, Finn, Kekoa and Connor B.!

2A Highlights, 1/9

Caspar: I liked science, recess, and art.
Will: I liked science, recess, and art. I liked the OK Go simple machines video.
Clyde: I liked the OK Go simple machines video and weaving in art.
Liam: I liked art and Image of the Day.
Axel: I liked everything, especially the Ok Go simple machines video.
Connor B.: I liked art, building simple machines and the video! I also liked recess.
Elliot: I liked the simple machines video.
Connor M.: I liked the tech lab! We did the tinkering game. I especially liked the Ok Go simple machines video. I want to add my 3 page long Winter Break News and the assembly and learning about Destiny Quest in library. I liked science, art, and recess!
Conrad: I liked the simple machines video, hearing the a capella concert, music, and the game on the computers at tech lab. I liked Chinatown too!
Trey: I liked art, recess, and tech lab when we did the fun game. I liked the simple machines music video today. I also liked learning about simple machines and Chinatown and drawing for the mailbox. I want to add the assembly.
Tanish: I liked the video about simple machines and learning about Chinatown.
William: I liked art, recess, tech lab, and writing my book about San Francisco.
Finn: I liked art, assembly, tech lab, PE, and spelling. I will like learning choice.
Alex: I liked the video this morning (the simple machine thingamadoo), the assembly, math, and playing with my friends.
Boden: I liked the simple machines music video with the paintball, music, and weaving in art!
Owen: I liked the OK Go simple machines video, tech lab, recess, weaving in art, PE, and assembly for Shades of Yale.
Asher: I liked the Shades of Yale assembly, simple machines in tech lab, and I loved the video this morning!
Henry: I liked recess, PE, and art.
Kekoa: I liked the Image of the Day, tech lab, recess, and the assembly and art.
Van: I liked recess, the video this morning, and PE.
Kenzo: I liked everything and especially our video this morning!
Frederick: I liked the simple machines video, art, and science.

We missed you Rohan!

2B Highlights: 1/9/15

Jarett: writers workshop and tech time
James: shades of Yale assembly and weaving in art
Jake: shades of Yale singers and art
Dylan: weaving in art
Taraan: Simple machines and Chinatown
Cyrus: Simple Machines and Lachlan's B.O.W.
Dyon: Yale singers and Lachlan's B.O.W.
Phil: Reading Group
Ryder: shades of Yale singers and weaving
Asher: spelling and weaving in art
Mikhail: Shades of Yale singers and Lachlan's b.o.w.
Cole: the acapella group and reading group
Ollie: seeing my teachers and friends again!
Alex: touching touching the bunny fur in Art
John: Shades of Yale singers and Chinatown
Soren: Lachlan's B.O.W.
Will: is that I'm finally back at school today!
Adrian: lunch and Ms. Colgate
Webb: weaving in art and Shades of Yale singers
Jackson: weaving in art and Lachlan's B.O.W.
Lachlan: my B.O.W. and assembly
Theo:  weaving in art and Shades of Yale singers
Jay: shades of Yale singers and weaving in art