Hour of Code Continues at Gattis

Hour of Code continues, everyone is getting in on the action at Gattis. Even our Principal, Mrs. Lucas can code! Check her out as she joins Mrs. Duckworth's second graders in the library learing to code with Kodable and Lightbot apps. Kodable you can play from your computer, ipad or android.

Link: There is a link off the Student Resources Page called: CODE to make access easy at school or home. This takes you to code.org, a site with lots of online coding games that the levels build. Great to have students use on chromebooks, laptops, or computers or other devices that are internet enabled.

Hour of Code in Library

This Week is Computer Science Education Week, December 7-13. There is a movement nationwide to get students to try one hour of code. It’s much easier than it sounds!  

History of Hour of Code: More than 100 million students have tried an Hour of Code. Last year, every Apple Store in the world hosted an Hour of Code and even President Obama wrote his first line of code as part of the campaign. This year, let's make it even bigger. I’m asking you to join in for the Hour of Code 2015. Please get involved with an Hour of Code event during Computer Science Education Week, December 7-13.

 Link: There is a link off the Student Resources Page called: CODE to make access easy at school or home. This takes you to code.org, a site with lots of online coding games that the levels build. Great to have students use on chromebooks, laptops, lab or BYOD.

Coding in the Library:  In the Library this week and next ALL of the Gattis Students will have a chance to code!  Here are some of our Kinder students coding first think this morning with Kodable. If they can do it, you can do it!

Apps to try: If you have an ipad

·         Kodable

·         Daisy the Dinosaur

·         Run Marco! (in Spanish too)

·         Lightbot

Digital Graphic Art Logos

In Mrs. Scalan's Art classes 5th graders collaborated in groups and came up with an existing product such as skateboard, guitar, t-shirt, etc, and then decided upon an overall theme for their product design. They learned about logo design and then created their own logo in the Google Chrome App "Sumo Paint". Also, students are to think of a slogan to accompany their logo which connects to their chosen theme. Their final assignment is to create their own individual design for their group's chosen product. Their design must fit within their group's chosen theme. 

Google Classroom at Gattis

Ms. Carlson is one of several of our Gattis teachers that is trying Google Classroom with her students. It's a way that students can safely get links to documents, post individual or group assignments, answer questions and more. Files are automatically sorted in student Google Drive folders.  Since RRISD is a Google Apps for Education district this application is available for our teachers to use. Ask your student if they have tried Google Classroom. Here are some of the second graders in action!

Lit & Tech in 2nd Grade

Gattis Elementary Second Grade Team supporting 4th grade grammar skills.  We use Jeff Anderson approach daily using literature and technology. Students are engaged and enjoy doing their lessons on a daily bases.

Digital Citizenship Week Oct. 19-23

Digital Citizenship Week October 19-23

All around the world and throughout RRISD students, teachers and families are celebrating Digital Citizenship Week.  We encourage families to “Have the Talk” with their students. We want our students to be responsible, respectful and safe citizens in the digital world.  Visit Common Sense Media for resources and ideas on how you can promote Digital Citizenship at home.

​See the RRISD Digital Citizenship Site for more.

Monday:  "Stay Safe Online"
What does it mean to be a good digital citizen?  Keep online experiences safe and secure. 

Tuesday:  "It's Hip to be Aware"
Be aware that everywhere you go online, everything you post leaves a trail.  It's called your digital footprint. 

Wednesday:  "Stand up to Cyberbullying"
Treat people the way we want to be treated. This day is Unity Day. Wear Orange to show your stand against bullying online or in person.

Thursday:  "Give Credit Where Credit is Due"
Just because you found it on the internet, doesn't mean you can use it. Copyright laws protect creative work.  

Friday:  "Balance is Best!"
A healthy balance between technology and other activities is key. Be with the ones you're with!

ABCya Math = Happy 1st Grade

Mrs. Weimann's class explored ABCya's Numbers activities online at http://www.abcya.com/first_grade_computers.htm#numbers-cat  Students work on laptops in the classroom and were able to select a numbers activity to work on. After you get a certain amount right you get a "bonus game" one student told me.  Several students were very excited to show me how well they could solve the math problems. Great thing about abcya.com is that students can choose their grade level, then the subject and then a more specific topic.

Reading Books on an iPad

Mrs. Carter taught PreK students how to navigate to BookFlix on the iPads and have the iPad read to them!  Students were very excited to pick their own book and it is an awesome example of how tablets are way more than just games, they can be educational especially with the right Teacher or Librarian.

Google Cardboard at Gattis for a Day

On October 7th students in Grades 2, 3 and 5 were able to take virtual field trips without leaving the school.  Google came to Gattis for today and brought Google Cardboard and phones for 2 classes of students to explore with. Teachers and students were able to pilot a new program called Google Expeditions that hasn't been released to the public yet. Through the Google Cardboard lenses students were able to visit, Australia, Antarctica, Mount Rushmore, Great Barrier Reef, Wave Rock and many more destinations. Teachers were able to utilize these field trips to teach their students key points that relate back to their curriculum.  Here are some of the students in action.

Kinder at Spanish Playground

Mrs. Negron’s Dual Language Kinder classroom has been visiting the online Spanish Playground at http://www.spanishplayground.net/  to learn and practice a variety of skills. Students successfully navigate the school website to Mrs. Negron’s website and are able to open the playground themselves. Here are a few of her students in action!

Google Apps for Students

Here at Gattis we are a Google Apps for Education (GAFE) campus and district.  This week a few third grade classes got started with their Google Accounts. We logged into google accounts, opened and deleted an email and composed and email and sent it. Students learned how to navigate to Google Apps and signing in and out of our Google Accounts before logging off the machine. Students are not able to email other students, but they can collaborate on documents and presentations.

Augmented Reality

Happy International Dot Day! As a way to celebrate in our Next Generation Library at Gattis this week, students in Kinder, First and Second Grade classes are having an opportunity to create colorful dots then watch them come to life using an Augmented Reality iPad app called Quiver. If you want to try this app at home, download pages at QuiverVision.com 

Tuesday, September 15, is Dot Day. This day celebrates the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. In the book, a special art teacher encourages a student to be creative and "make your mark". Students have been creating dot art during their art classes, and they have been reading Peter H. Reynolds books in the library.

More information on Dot Day can be found here:

http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/get-started

Gattis connects with class in Seoul, Korea

안녕하세요! That's hello in Korean. Did you know that Miss Hintz, our Instructional Technology Specialist used to work in Seoul, Korea?  She still has friends there an a 5th grade class at Seoul Foreign School  is connecting with Mr. Brillhart's 5th Grade Tag class here at Gattis. So far we have created an Edmodo  online classroom and are are getting to know each other! We plan on sharing poetry and collaborating over the coming weeks.

Google Docs Collaboration

Grade One students have Google Apps for Education Accounts now! Effective Spring 2015. Mrs. Slavin's class had a blast collaborating on Google Docs and watching each other type.

2nd Grade Forecasts Weather

As part of the 2nd Grade Science unit on Weather, students have been forecasting weather on our local broadcast each morning for a month.  They did a fabulous job! At the end of the unit our local KVUE weather team visited Gattis and talked with them about what it's like to be a meteorologist outside of Gattis!

Check out the KVUE News Video clip here. 

El día de los niños/El día de los libros

Would you like Kevin Cosner, Betty White, Haylie Duff or other celebrities to read to you? You can at
http://www.storylineonline.net.  In celebration of El día de los niños/El día de los libros here at Gattis several classes had celebrities read to them via the computer. 

Ms. Silva's Kinder Class

Kevin Costner reading to Ms. Buckles's 5th Graders

Student Paper 2nd Edition

Gattis grade 3-5 students who are members of the Writing Club are working on creating Student Newspapers. The second edition is out! They worked hard for months to collaborate on this product. A digital PDF copy can be found in the April eFolder

Enjoy the online version here.

Mystery Hangout Strikes Again!

Ms. Zahm's class in 2nd Grade did a Mystery Hangout today and tried to figure out where the other class was located with Yes and No questions.  Both classes were able to use their maps and narrow down the location of the other class! Great use of technology as we used Google Hangouts to connect! Well done! 

Mystery Number

Ms. Carlson's class tried a Mystery Number Hangout.  The mystery number is guessing a number between 1 -100.  You use yes or no questions.   

For example:

•  Is your number greater than 50?   
• Is there a 5 in the ones place?
• Is it a 2 digit number?    

It helps to have a 100 chart so students can cross off numbers as you go.   For older grades, they could use larger numbers, but the hosts should probably set up the perimeters prior to the call.   

Ms. Calrson's class being mysterious!

Ms. Staten takes Pinterest to a new Level!

Gattis Elementary School art teacher Donna Staten has been named to the “20 to Watch” list of educators by the National School Board Association for the 2014-2015 school year, becoming the only art teacher in history to receive the honor.

Staten received the award March 16 at the Consortium for School Networking conference as a result of her work with social media in the classroom, especially Pinterest and Twitter to curate lesson plans and examples of artwork. 

Click Here to read more about the article published on RRISD's main website.

Mystery Hangout

Students in Mrs. Carlson's 2nd Grade class conducted a Mystery Hangout today! Through webcams and microphones they were able to see and talk with another class in a "Mystery" location.  Students created and took turns asking yes/no questions to each other. Through the questions they eliminated possible destination on their maps until they guessed correctly where each other were!

Gattis Celebrates Pi Day

Everyone loves pie!  Mr. Brillhart really loves Pi!  His class celebrated March 14, 2015 with a Pi day Gattis style!  They were even featured on the RRISD Webpage at https://roundrockisd.org/gattis-celebrates-pi-day/

Hutto Teachers visit Gattis

Today we had a Technology Coordinator, a few Principals and an Administrator from HUTTO ISD visit Gattis Elementary.  They wanted to see Technology in Action, and boy did they!  From Kinder students navigating to research websites independently to first graders doing a group activity with their projector and computer in the classroom.  In our Next Gen Classroom they were able to see TAG Students working on a project in Google Apps on their Chromebooks.  Thanks to all of the teachers who were open to our visitors checking you out. They were so very very impressed!