Argumentative Essay - Two Points of View

"What hopes and fears did Americans have about the arrival of new immigrants into our country in the 1900's compared to the hopes and fears that are evident in today's current events over immigration? 

Sixth graders have been asking this essential question and using their technology skills to help them research the problems and communicate the answers they have found into an argumentative essay that shows two points of view. They used a gaming program that immersed them into a historical setting as a fourteen year old, Jewish girl who emigrated from Russia in 1903.  The game promoted the idea that assuming the roll of a peer from that time period would develop a more personal and meaningful connection with history.

http://www.mission-us.org

Another website, zoomin.edc.org, was used to help guide the writing process.  Students were given original documents from the beginning of the 20th century and then guided through the evidence found in them that supported different points of view.

Finally, students summarized current news articles over the travel ban and compared the reasoning behind the ban to the hopes and fears that present day Americans have. 

Student Presenters at Student Technology Conference

The Marshall sixth graders have been invited to present at the Greenbush Technology Conference on March 10th.  They will share a program that they worked on this fall called EcoMUVE.  Their responsibility will be to give a presentation/demonstration to other teachers and students from around the area on how this program works and the connection it has to our outcome standards for science.

Tinker Cad Snowmen - 3D Designs

As an extension to the Math project sixth graders completed over the book, "The Biggest Snowman Ever", students designed their own snowmen in TinkerCAD.   The computer assisted design software allowed students to use measurement tools to determine the diameter of each circular section of their snowman.  Once the diameters were established, students created a spreadsheet to display the radius, area, and circumference.  These measurements were computed using appropriate algorithms.  Another spreadsheet was formatted to show the materials necessary to actually build the snowman. Math skills were reinforced at the same time students learned how to format a spreadsheet and create a three dimensional design.

Third Graders Join Sixth Graders for an Hour of Code

In December, sixth and third grade students joined forces to tackle coding puzzles during the Hour of Code.  After the puzzles were completed successfully, students received a certificate and celebrated with cookies and lemonade!