Thursday, April 30, 2015

Cisco Tour

Today our winning "Future City" Team traveled to Cisco to present their project via Telepresence to other 5th & 6th grade groups in California, Georgia, Virginia and Mexico City! While at Cisco, they toured the facility and learned about various types of technology from the engineers and design teams.  The Cisco employees talked to the students about the importance of staying in school, the importance of teamwork & collaboration, and never giving up! WAY TO GO RIDERS! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF HOW WELL THEY REPRESENTED TEXAS & ROUND ROCK ISD! 



Monday, April 20, 2015

Online Geoboards

Mrs. Rivera's Class -Kindergarten Dual Language
Math: Shapes 
Kindergarteners are using - http://www.mathplayground.com/geoboard.html to create 2D shapes.



Friday, April 17, 2015

Kindergarten learn about Japan via Skype



Mrs. Rivera's Class - Kindergarten Dual Language - Using Technology - Skype.  
The students learned about friends living in Japan.  It was morning in Austin around 8:30 a.m., but 10:30 p.m. at night in Japan.  Mrs. Rivera's friends, Mrs. Kathy Sandoval and her high school son, Daniel, living in Tokyo, Japan, took their laptops over to the windows to see the night skyline of Tokyo and listen to the sounds at night there.


Each kindergarten student came up to the microphone and asked a question.  They learned how to say, good morning, goodbye and hello and count to 3 in Japanese.  Then Daniel, also taught them Chinese for one, two, and three.  They were saying it in 4 languages, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and English!


The coolest thing that happened was when our principal, Mrs. Sara Nelson, came in and went to the microphone and camera and asked Daniel what grade was his favorite, and of course he said 4th grade because Mrs. Nelson was his teacher at Canyon Creek Elementary!  Check out the selfie, Mrs. Nelson took with her student via Skype!



K.13 Science, technology, and society. The student understands ways technology is used in the home and school and how technology affects people's lives. 

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Independent Study "Passion" Projects

TAG students have just finished another ISP; this was their Passion Project.  Students in 2nd grade and older began writing their three research questions on a Google Doc and filled in their notes in bullets as they researched to find their answers. They used the online site: Easybib.com to cite their sources.  They created a presentation of their findings in Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Prezi.  They researched a career of someone who'd know about their topic on the website and found key words to describe that person's job. Then they may a Wordle of the career words.  They also researched a career mentor and sent that person an email of interview questions about the job.  Finally, they students made a 3-D product related to their research and created a visual display on a trifold board. Five students, one per grade, represented Purple Sage at the District ISP event at McNeil High School on Tuesday, April 7th, and 28 students will have their projects on display at our Gallery Night on Monday, April 28th, from 6:00-6:30 p.m.


City of the Future



The 5th grade students at Purple Sage Elementary teamed up with Cisco, Inc. to create a "City of the Future." The first phase of the project started in December. Cisco employees pitched the idea of working on a semester long project to create a City of the Future. Through their pitch, the employees took the students back in time through a presentation of how technology has evolved.


Shortly after, the teams of students began drafting ideas on paper. Cisco employees mentored them through this process by opening up the students eyes to how technology is used around the world. The students ideas were limitless.


In February, with the help of Home Depot, the students began crafting their ideas into 3-Dimensional models while continuing to research how technology makes our everyday lives easier. The Cisco mentors visited the students twice a month to help them create their ideas into reality.


Through March, the students continued crafting and painting to complete their models. Our Cisco mentors, visited the students through this process encouraging their ideas while watching projects evolve through many stages. The mentors also encouraged collaboration and teamwork.


At the end of March through the beginning of April, the teams of students collaborated through Google Docs to create an essay explaining their city, the technology in their City, the role that technology plays in everyday lives, and the roles the students played in their city. The essay required the students to think about the future, what type of career they would like to pursue, and explain how technology would play a role in their chosen career.


The last phase of the project, the students utilized the IPads from the "next Generation Digital Classroom" to create digital presentations through Google Slides, IMovie and/or Telestory.


On Friday, April 10th the 12 teams presented their final projects (model, essay and digital presentation) to a panel of 7 Cisco judges.

On April 30th, the winning team will take their project to Cisco to present via Telepresence to other winning teams located in Virginia, Georgia, California, and Mexico City.

And the WINNERS are: Drum Roll Please...
in THIRD PLACE:
In SECOND PLACE:
 In FIRST PLACE:

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Be Safe

PBIS Be Safe Powtoons

Click the link to watch our PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Support) Assembly for our students. We follow the 3 Bees:  Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible.  Monthly we meet as a school community and focus on one of our 3 Bees.  This past month was BE SAFE.  Ms. Thornburg, our office specialist, was quite creative to go online and create a Powtoon Presentation.  Watch and Learn (and ENJOY!)