Ms. Kate's 21st Century Classroom

This blog was created by Kate Klein (Ms. Kate), for her students and the families of The Charles Sumner School, Boston, MA. We will use this blog in class and at home to explore, share, and create the world we want.

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Super Stars (Constellations): Crash Course Kids #31.1

The Sumner Family STEAM Night is February 27th! We will be exploring the night sky. I will be posting resources for our families to start exploring on their own. Check out these free apps for your smartphone:

NASA

SimpleMoon

Keep looking up!

Here is a YouTube playlist: Moon and Stars https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBYUXRLc_UH-ZTSV1vs6ffUOVl7LsjW7t

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This Tiny Device will Open Worlds for My Students!, a project from Ms. Klein

My students need to see their work, texts, real objects and models of teacher expectations projected. Being able to share with a whole class, in a large format promotes understanding and use of academic language. Our school has 600 students who are all hungry for learning. They come to school ready to share from all different cultures. In spite of their many differences, from race, ethnicity, learning...

Please support my Donor's Choose so our classrooms can use the projectors we have. Many of our adapters ("dongles") have already broken, leaving classrooms unable to use this amazing tool. Even $5 dollars moves us closer replace and upgrade this missing piece. Thank you! Ms. Kate

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The Sumner has simplified our Tech Acceptable Use Policy so that it will be more accessable to all of our students.

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To celebrate our Random Act of Kindness today, we created collaborative slide show about family traditions.

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💖SHORTCUT REMINDERS 💖 Use them. Love them. If you are on an Apple computer, replace CTRL with COMMAND (next to the space bar)

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Writing using evidence is a focus at @SumnerBPS. I was fortunate to work with Ms. Reynolds on Friday to develop a writng template, checklist, and tabletop checklist for our 5th graders. Ms. Reynolds was looking for a template that students could ingrain in their minds, so they would be prepared for standardized tests, but also, one that ties the evidence back to the claim. The template will be customized and used in assignments posted on her Google Classroom. She is such a superstart. It takes a long time to learn how to write, a lot of practice. This a great support. Her students are already using it with success. I am grateful she asked me to work on this! I can't wait to watch the students' growth!

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After 2nd grade prep for our 3rd Annual Sumner Cardboard Challenge, I am so excited for this Saturday's big event! Hope to see you there!

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As we are getting ready for our 3rd Annual Sumner Cardboard Challenge, it is great looking back at our 1st Cardboard Challenge!

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What feels fair? Often our students feel that "Equality" is fair, not understanding that everyone has different needs. The more we create a world using Universal Design (UD), the more "Equity" is built in, the more people have access, the more we allow for others' needs. Sumner's 3rd, 4th and 5th grades are working on a UD Acceptable Use Policy. Can't wait to share it with you. The kids are coming up with some great ideas. Image from: Bridging Diversity http://cltoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Bridging-Diversity-Summer-2016.pdf

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So Excited for this years Cardboard Challenge! If you would like to help, please check out our Amazon Wishlist of items for the challenge Cardboard Challenge Wishlist Link: http://amzn.com/w/29UIEQBHD029U

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Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) en Español.

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For privacy and security, change these iOS 10 settings right now

Before you do anything on your new iPhone or iPad, you should lock it down. This is how you do it.

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This Acceptable Use Policy is being sent home. Please discuss it with your family and sign it, with your gaurdian/parent. These rules apply for computers and phones. Personal cell phones should NOT be used at school, during the school day. I am looking forward to a respectful, safe, and fun year. -Ms. Kate

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Our 5th grade last year created this movie to help everyone understand Sumner's Acceptable Use Policy.

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Here is the image of my students calculating approximately how long @okgo had to stay in the air for each full take of Inside Out + Upside Down.

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OK GO CURRICULUM At the end of the school year, I do an extensive review to make sure our students are ready for their next year. Of course this takes the form of watching many OKGO videos. While doing this, students are showing me they can: Sign in to their account• Go to their Google Classroom• Read the instructions • Open the assignment• Toggle between tags• Pull important information out of websites• Write about the text• Think critically about the text• Turn in their assignments• Log out of their account•

Here we are figuring out approximately how long the band had to stay in the air to go through one take of the video.

Thank you @okgo for making such amazing videos in behind the scenes sites/videos. Consider my students' collective minds blown.

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So fun testing out seed bomb recipe from Garden Girl TV (http://www.gardengirltv.com/how-to-make-seed-balls.html). We will be making these at our family STEAM night on 6/16/16 at The Boston Nature Center.

So simple. Just mix: 5 parts dry clay 3 parts compost 1 part native wildflower seeds- pollinator attractors

1-2 parts water (so it is sticky, not muddy)

Mix Roll into balls Let dry 24-48 hours

Toss in gardens and empty lots.

Watch the beautiful transformation!

Cue Joni Mitchell : https://youtu.be/xWwUJH70ubM

Note: Learn more about the seeds I used-https://www.botanicalinterests.com/products/flowers/pollinators