Grant's March Update

Dear Friends, Family, & Readers:

I felt like sharing some of the things that have gone on at school during March.  As usually I will let the pictures talk and describe them below.  I don't have a whole lot to say except that I am ready to move on from Saipan and enjoy being next to family for a change.  I will definitely miss my students and the exploration I have been able to do on Saipan, but it is time.  If you have time to pray during your day you can pray for my wife and I to find jobs in the states and be awarded enough money to attend grad school.  I hope you enjoy the pictures and their explanations.  The two major things that have happened are Science Fair and Merit Party for 3rd Quarter.   
     Merit Party is something our school does to celebrate the achievements of students who have done well in all aspects of school life among the junior high students.  In the past, merit to be a part of this party was only based on GPA score. This year we changed the qualifications for participation.  This was done because the argument was made that some students who always meet the GPA criteria were behaving poorly and did not merit being at the party and that students who did poorly had nothing to look forward and would never get to go.  I totally agree with this argument.  This year the criteria are as follows: 1. Students must not have an F in any classes 2. Students must improve their GPA from the previous quarter (we wants students to strive, not be satisfied with the status quo) 3. Once students have been weeded out through this selection process the students must pass a vote among teachers.  If the majority of teachers agree that a student is not improving behaviorally that student will not be able to attend the party.  This allows teachers to stand together in support of one another and teach the student that they must behave for every teacher regardless of their subject interest.
     Remember to click on the pictures to see an enlarged version of the photo. Enjoy!

A cool experiment in one of the elementary rooms.  The lemons had copper pennies inserted into them and were attached to + and - adapters.  The adapters were then connected to a very small red light.

A view from the second floor of our elementary building showing the immense popularity and undertaking the science fair is for everyone involved.  It is truly an event to see.

Some of my goofy sixth graders on the elementary side.

A group of sixth grade girls posing for a picture that evening as they head to chapel for the announcement of the winners.

Some of my eighth graders checking out the various rooms and their projects.

To the left a first grader talks with a kindergartener about their class project involving a large diorama of the past as it were with dinosaurs.  To the right outside the picture frame there was a large volcano, possible doom for the dinosaurs.

One of our teachers, Alison, as she finishes judging a project for the scientific method.

Our science teacher, Jake, giving the finishing touches to his scoring of a project.

Another of our many interesting science fair projects. CSI anyone?

Pastor Greg Dickerman of Saipan Community Church with our overall eighth grade winner Dylan.

Me and my co-worker Ms. Nierras with our six students who were able to attend merit party.

The students on the hike down the trail. An eighth grader in the back seems to be too cool for pictures haha

A picture of one of our 7th graders going down the rope to the bottom of the hill.  I was glad that the students got to go as none of them had been to Bird Island Beach and rarely do they get the chance to go on hikes such as this.  Ms. Nierras and I were proud of their willingness to try something new and then to swim in the water.

The group of us with Bird Island in the background as we hopped up onto a coral  or volcanic rock.

The group after having swum at the beach and eating snacks.  I had a great time enjoying our adventure away from school and those who had to do clean up of garbage and random exercises.

Saipan time is also Guam Time:

Science Fair!

Science Fair is always a busy time of the year but it is so rewarding to see the children learn while being able to participate in a hands on project. This year I used the same idea that I used last year, just with a few changes. I split my class into three groups so that way there would be variety among the projects and so the students could all learn about different types of habitats. This year my three habitat groups were: Ocean, Safari, and Rainforest. Every student was responsible for creating their own animal habitat out of a shoebox. We also learned about the habitats in our science curriculum. The cut outs and idea came from http://www.firstpalette.com/ .

The first step in the process of making the habitat shoe box diorama is painting:
The Ocean painted in blue, the Safari painted in yellow, and the Rainforest painted in green.

The Safari group painting at once. Yes it was organized chaos!

A student painting her box.

A student painting her box.


The next step is to wait until the paint dries before starting the next part. From there you color and cut out the animals and surroundings. Then you cut out stands(I used cardstock and note cards for this part) and then glue the animal/surroundings to the stand and then glue it inside the box. 

The rainforest group working!

A student placing her animals.

A student cutting and gluing the pieces together,

The next step was the crowd's favorite part of the process. With the help of our teacher aide, I took our class to the beach (which is right next to the school) and they were able to grab materials to add to their habitats. If they were in the Safari group they could grab sand and rocks, the Rainforest group- leaves, twigs, and anything green or brown, and the Ocean group could grab seashells and lots of sand.
It was so fun to see them get into their project and nobody ended up in the water!

Students walking along the beach looking for materials.

Students gathering materials.

A beautiful morning!






Then the last few steps are to have the students add their materials to their habitats, double check their work and then they are finished.
Here are pics of the final products:

A student with his Ocean habitat.

The Ocean Group.

The Rain Forest Group.

The Safari Group.

Here are pics from the night of the Science Fair:

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! The kids worked hard on their projects and had a lot of fun in the process. I am glad they learned a lot through this experience. Now I am getting them ready for the Young Writers Showcase next month! I just can't believe it is already the 4th quarter!
-Kara-

Science Fair

On March 3rd our school hosted its annual Science Fair. As a first grade teacher I had to come up with a project for my entire class to participate in to showcase what they had learned. My students favorite chapter was over animals and their habitats. So I divided my class into three groups- Ocean, Forest, and Desert. Each student had to make a shoebox diorama about the group they were in. So first came the painting which was a messy ordeal but they lvoed it. From there they had the backgrounds and animals to color, cut, and glue/stand up. The next step was going to the playground and then beach to get materials that can be found in that habitiat to add to their diorama. I had a helper with me and I was so nervous that some kid would jump into the ocean but they were so into what they were doing they were on their best behavior. So they gathered seashells, rocks, sand, sticks, and grass to add to their boxes. From there they added the final touches of what they had found to their boxes and they were finished. This whole process took about 3 weeks. The entire school was a part of the Science Fair night and 3-8th grade were judged and they earned prizes if they were the winners. On the night of the science fair Grant and I helped tally up all the points for the other grades to help determine the winner along with the other teachers. From there I had to go to my room to be able to greet the parents and families who came to visit. It was basically a large open house so people were coming in and out of the room constantly. By this time in the year I know all of the parents and it was great to see how excited they were to see what their child had done. There were also parents from other grades seeing what my class had done. I had a slideshow of all the pictures I had taken this year and the parents really enjoyed seeing what the kids have been doing in class this year. Grant was able to walk around and visit all the rooms and take pictures of the night. He was a great support to me and came in to check on me ever so often. :) It was a long long day but it was worth it to see the final product and to be able to showcase their learning. The best part of the project is they did it all by themselves and I want to teach them to be more independent everyday. Overall it was a great time for everyone!