Students at Kingsburg Elementary School utilized heart rate monitors to track and collect their effort during physical activity using the Heart Zone WASP system. The benefits of such a system was to collect individual fitness data to promote objective learning through a data driven platform. This type of system encouraged communication between the teacher, parent and the student in an effort to improve the student’s fitness and learning, while incorporating the parents into promoting a healthy lifestyle support team.
Poetry Luau Night at Jackson Elementary in Selma Unified was a success! Close to 100 family members attended and celebrated the love of poetry. Students wore matching t-shirts that they designed and read poetry to their families with incredible confidence. Everyone enjoyed desserts, lemonade, and signed autographs. The evening was recorded and a movie is being made for the students to take home as an end of the year gift. Not only was the love of reading instilled and confidence built, but most importantly it was an event for the whole family to enjoy.
The Riverdale High School FFA installed a Smart Greenhouse Remote Monitoring System to maintain a controlled temperature and moisture level within the greenhouse environment. Extreme temperature and moisture levels can kill plants within hours. Students planned, budgeted, ordered, and assembled components.
Students in the Migrant Program at Parlier High School were able to participate in two, two-hour events that were science related. The students who participated had a wonderful time learning about science and engineering practices through the art of making. Students made various projects such as bots, motor cars, and rockets. The activities that the students participated in allowed them to collaborate and work in teams. Students would get competitive and wanted to be as creative as they could be.
Students at Pacific Union Elementary had a chance to explore bridge building first hand with the K'nex bridge building kits. They selected a bridge to build and then had to work in groups of 5 to build it. Each group chose a different style of bridge to build and really enjoyed the experience. Through trial and error they were able to complete their bridges. Let’s Cross That Bridge After We Build It! was a STEM project that encompassed multiple curriculums and provided an opportunity for students to work collaboratively in the classroom in a way they enjoyed.
Students who may fall, spill, or have a personal hygiene issue at Monroe Elementary will be served with an on-site washer and dryer to help promote and maintain proper hygiene that leads to good health and attendance. This will alleviate the stress on families to provide clothing or leave work to pick up their children. Additionally, having an on-site way to clean school-issued athletic uniforms will prevent loss of these costly items and will assist in maintaining items in good condition.
Orange Cove High students were able to purchase both tools and materials to build this years Deep Space Robot. The objective of the game was to create a robot that was able to shoot dodge balls into rocket ships and collect panels to place on cargo ships, and our robot was successful in doing both. Students learned how to work together to build a robot, create a business plan, plan out the steps in accomplishing the objective, and a finance plan that included a cost analysis of the materials used to create the robot.
Adding STEAM to the Library involved creating an environment that is not only for exploring and research, but to also equip students with 21st century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication and STEAM - science, technology, engineering, art and math. Creating Makerspaces in the library for the students to use during free library time and available for teachers to use with their class greatly improved the library’s functionality. The Makerspace included a permanent Lego wall, Legos pieces, a station, and movable Lego boards.
A University High classroom was transformed into a place where students can hang out during lunch and after school. Listening stations are extremely beneficial for students in today’s ever-changing learning environment, making it possible for them to learn from audio devices that play a variety of files and formats. The listening center includes a record player and stereo that will be used with classic vinyl records and cassette tapes as a way of exposing students to some of the lost or forgotten forms of audio media.
Students attending a center-based Special Education Program administered by the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools utilized robotics technology with programmable voice output capabilities with a Dash robot package. The robotic technology served as the students’ voice when the student is verbally prompted to respond to comprehension-check questions during classroom and community-based instruction. The classroom lessons using the district-adopted curriculum are linked to the content of the California State Standards.
Students at Dawson Elementary in Coalinga were able to go through a variety of activities in the new MakerSpace including Legos and Ozobots. Children worked in small groups collaborating on building important messages on the Lego Wall. This project included message development, design, measurement and construction of the Lego Message Board. Students created stories with Lego story kits, then transferred them into writing with a final class presentation. Students also began learning the beauty of art through coding with Ozobots.
The Super STEM Buddies project at West Fresno Elementary encouraged students to participate in more STEM-based projects. Using STEM kits, students solved projects using a buddy system. They were given challenging situations and they had to explore different avenues of solving them. Super STEM Buddies taught students the value of perseverance and teamwork and it was a great way for sixth graders to develop leadership skills.
Students at Westside Elementary benefitted from experiential learning lessons using a green screen and historical era costumes. These materials were used to incorporate artistic elements of drama, the tableau, within the social studies curriculum. Through the implementation of this project students increased their overall understanding of history through active engagement with the content material. Students were required to choose the background image, determine the speech for the character to say in the speech bubble, and figure out what poses would convey the historical event.
Fowler High School updated their shade house frame structure by purchasing a new shade cloth covering, pea gravel on the ground, and concrete walkways. Projects and activities that can be conducted in the shade house include hardening-off greenhouse grown plant and cuttings material, plant-based science research projects, fertilizer, light, and growth regulators trials.
The goal of Fitness for Students Trauma project at Clark Intermediate was to improve the academic success for students experiencing trauma through physical education. With the use of heart rate monitors, students were empowered and engaged using technology in a fun and interactive way to manage their own health and fitness and decrease negative behavioral incidents in the classroom.
Sixth grade students at Clay Joint Elementary School learned about principles and concepts related to flight. They researched WWII gliders, designed and built their own gliders, and competed in a glider competition. Students collaborated through a series of hands-on steps that helped to improve their problem-solving and critical thinking skills, while integrating the Engineering Design Process which allowed students to creatively explore STEM through design. First, they collaborated to design a prototype glider.
The After Dark: Breaking the Chains of Human Trafficking project was a one year, community awareness, multidisciplinary project incorporating U.S. History, Visual and Performing Arts, Video Production, and ELA. The first semester focused on researching the various aspects of human trafficking using the anchor text “Sold” by Patricia McCormick. The first visual arts project was writing and illustrating a graphic novel book that tells the story of how young people are groomed into human trafficking.