Category: Elementary News
Third grade trip to Roberson Museum postponed
The third grade field trip to the Roberson Museum and Science Center on Thursday, Dec. 13 has been postponed. The elementary school will reschedule the trip after the New Year. Information about a snow date will be sent home to parents once it is available.
LCSD to host Camp Invention for K-6 students Aug. 19-23
Register by March 22 for $25 off the registration price!
Camp Invention, a summer enrichment program offered at schools nationwide, will be held for Liberty students in grades K-6 on Aug. 19-23, 2019 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Liberty High School.
Unmask your child’s creativity this summer in Camp Invention’s new program, Supercharged, where children build confidence, learn to collaborate and transform their wild imaginations into epic creations.
The program will feature hands-on activities to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning; building resourcefulness and problem-solving skills; and encourages entrepreneurship.
Campers will learn creative problem-solving skills while coding and programming futuristic robots, uncovering ancient fossils, designing high-tech superhero gadgets and exploring radio frequencies.
Liberty Elementary School teacher and MakerSpace facilitator Mrs. Tamika Terry will lead this action-packed program featuring exhilarating, hands-on STEM activities teaching campers to question, explore, break through obstacles and embrace failure!
Each day in this five-day long camp will focus on four modules and their coordinating projects:
CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
Children team up to rebuild ships and design underwater equipment in Deep Sea Mystery.
STEM APPLICATION
In DIY Orbot, participants explore circuit boards, motors and gears as they design a remote-control bot to take on obstacles from sports to dance.
INNOVATION
Children collaborate with inventor superheroes and take on the role of engineers, fabricators and innovators to conquer villains in Innovation Force.
CONFIDENCE
Kids become successful entrepreneurs in Farm Tech, as they code bots to turn a polluted wasteland into a money-making machine and create devices to save animals.
There is an opportunity for students in grade 7-9 to take part in the camp’s Leaders-in-Training (LIT) program. LITs will gain mentoring and collaboration skills while helping guide campers throughout the week!
A $25 dollar discount is available to those who register before March 22 and use the promo code “INNOVATE25”
Register and find the promotion that’s right for you at this link or by calling 800-968-4332.
Printable gift certificates are available for those who want to give the gift of Camp Invention this holiday season. If you’d like a gift certificate please e-mail tterry@libertyk12.org or apagano@libertyk12.org
There will be a bus evacuation drill on Dec. 19
On Wednesday, Dec. 19, our bus drivers will hold an evacuation drill during afternoon dismissal. The drill will take place at the high school and should only last a few minutes. All students will be asked to exit the bus through the front and line up on the sidewalk until they are asked to re-enter. We’d like all parents and guardians to be aware just in case their child(ren) arrive a few minutes late to their bus stop on Dec. 19.
Making spirits bright: 29 families served at toy drive
Nothing embodies the holiday spirit at Liberty Elementary School more than seeing children get toys that may be the only gifts they receive this winter.
As it does each year, the teachers and staff at Liberty are stepping forward, one toy at a time, to make sure each child in need has at least one toy to unwrap.
During its holiday toy drive on Dec. 4, the teachers and staff at Liberty Elementary School helped put new quality toys under the tree for nearly 30 families.
The elementary school will continue to collect new and unwrapped toys for children through Dec. 14. Toys can be left with a child’s teacher or at the main office of the elementary school.
Elementary students learn the basics of coding
When many of us were growing up, the only language we learned at school was a foreign one. Now, students are also learning a digital language: Code.
Liberty Elementary School students are learning the basics of coding through a 21st century curriculum and online tools such as Swift Playgrounds, an iPad app that teaches the fundamentals of coding in a way so simple even the youngest of learners can grasp it.
Third-grade students from Mrs. Houghtaling’s class went quiet as they entered directional commands into form a complete sentence in Code. Pretty soon, they had no problem instructing Byte (the app’s animated character) using basic coding commands. Cheers erupted – as well as a request to keep playing the app during recess!
Students personalize learning with letter to BrainPOP
As they wrapped up their curriculum unit on the Iroquois Confederacy, students from Ms. Kaitlyn Melcher’s fourth-grade class were motivated to provide feedback to the BrainPOP scriptwriters in regards to their video lesson on the Iroquois.
BrainPOP is an educational website known for its informative and interactive videos across all learning subjects, explained Ms. Melcher, who often uses their videos as an “introductory kick-off” to a lesson.
After watching the video and working their way through the complete curriculum – a blend of modern and traditional teaching materials – students identified some holes that could be filled by BrainPOP.
Their general consensus? While the video was informative, there was information they gleaned from other resources like text and discussion.
Not only does it show that [the students] retained the information, it demonstrates that their new knowledge empowered them to provide feedback to BrainPOP,” said Ms. Melcher. “What’s more, their letters resulted in tangible feedback: the scriptwriters from BrainPOP are going to take their suggestions under advisement when they edit the script next year.”
Like Ms. Melcher, teachers district-wide are working their way through the SAMR Model.
Developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, the SAMR Model aims to guide teachers in integrating technology into their classrooms. It consists of four steps: Substitution (S), Augmentation (A), Modification (M), and Redefinition (R). As a district, our goal is have every classroom reach the redefinition stage, where both educators and students have personalized their experiences with technology to enhance teaching and learning.
For more information about SAMR, press play on the video below: SAMR in 120 seconds.
The Makers Club is resourceful and kind
The Makers Club is an after-school program for fourth graders that meets on Tuesdays (for making) and Thursdays (for coding.) Two students from each fourth-grade class are selected to participate in ten sessions based on their interest and availability. After the ten sessions are completed, another round of students will selected to participate.
Club members are currently weaving book bags using t-shirt scraps that were donated to the school. Once complete, the bags will be donated to the school’s lending library so that students can easily carry their books.
Meet Santa at the Elks Holiday Party Dec. 8
The Liberty Elks Lodge Children’s Holiday Party will take place Saturday, Dec. 8 from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. Children between the ages of 1-10 are invited to take a photo with Santa, enjoy lunch and leave with some gifts to take home. This event is free and gets busy fast!
View scenes from the LES veterans assembly
On Thursday, Nov. 9 Liberty Elementary School students and staff gathered to honor and thank local community veterans.
Students greeted each veteran as they entered through an honorary arch of flags and made their way to the gymnasium.
Students at Liberty Elementary School always look forward to Veterans Day because it gives them a chance to say “thank you” to our local veterans through praise and introduction, songs, letters and donations, explained elementary school Principal Jackie Harris.
During the assembly, principal explained that it has been a school goal to demonstrate more patriotism and as such, every class sings patriotic songs such as this one after saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each school day.
And that’s not all, she continued. Students apply the service that veterans have provided to their classroom responsibilities and expectations.
“Veterans are their role models.”
Students and teachers lined the gymnasium floor waving flags, singing songs, shaking hands and thanking the men and women for their service.
Pre-k classes cancelled Nov. 29 (half-day at LES)
The Liberty Elementary School will be operating on a half day schedule on Friday, Nov. 29 for parent-teacher conferences. Please note that a.m. and p.m. pre-k classes will be closed on this day.