Franklin Discovery Engage

Note to Parents- On June 17th we will be doing some outdoor water activities in STEM, and the kids will probably be getting wet for our "under the sea" theme. Please have them dress in clothes that are ok to get wet, or a little dirty. Thanks!

STEM Rec Challenges May 6-10, 2019 Greek Week Music The Greek God Apollo and the Nine Muses. We will talk about poems and write our own! They can have text or just instruments. Come and have fun! Social Studies Game of the Month. Skip Bo- the ultimate sequencing card game. Engineering and Technology Snap Circuits. Bringing back a student favorite! Science Density.  Greek week we'll be discussing one of ancient Greece's most famous scientific minds, Archimedes of Syracuse. Archimedes made many significant contributions during his life including his discoveries on buoyancy and density known today as Archimedes principle.

Chalk the School Miss Lonnie did such a beautiful job on her Franklin Fox! The students loved adding their own pieces of art the our mural. 

STEM Rec Challenges April 29- May 3 The sun is starting to come put more and the temps are rising. STEMRec spends quiet a bit of time outside. Please remind your children to put sunscreen on before and during school. Drama Open Scenes. Older grades will be doing short open scenes. These are scenes in which the dialogue is sparse and teaches actors to make specific choices in order to inform the dialogue. Dramatic skills include objective, tactic, reaction, story and character creation, and cooperation. Rain Forest Animals. Younger grades will get to explore the different levels of the rain forest/play structure by acting out different animals found in the rain forest. They will learn about making specific movement choices as we discuss each animal. What would these animals say to each other if they could speak? What would each animal want? What possible conflicts would they have with each other? How would you resolve this conflict? Literacy What Makes Me Sp...

STEM Rec Challenges April 22- 26, 2019 Art and Social Studies Chalk Around the School. We are going to be doing a project we have dubbed "Chalk Around the School". It is like Chalk the Block except here at Franklin Discovery. This project has a little bit of History and a little bit of Art. Come by and learn about chalking outside (weather permitting). Literacy Reading Party. Literacy this week is going to relax a bit for our annual reading party. Students will have a chance to come to literacy this week and just relax and focus on reading. We will do a group reading activity to start, similar to guided reading, called Popcorn Reading. The students will then be set free to read and relax for a bit of independent reading time at the end. Engineering and Technology Planes.  We will be talking about the different things that effect flight. From this new knowledge we will construct our own plane. The goal will be to have it fly straight for fifteen feet. If we do no...

STEM Rec Challenges April 15-19, 2019 *Our discovery garden is in need of E gg Carton Flats , the kind that come in the 5 dozen egg packs. If you have some please bring them to the front desk or the Fox Dot Store. Thank you! Music Gustav Holst's 'The Planets’ . Following our exploration in space this last week we will be listening to classical music inspired by our Solar System. We will be creating art while we listen to the music, “How does this music inspire you? What do you think the planet looks like?” Literacy Musical Writing Chairs. Things are going to get really silly in literacy this week because students are going to be playing a pretty wacky writing game. We'll be playing musical chairs, but with a literacy twist! So whether you like musical chairs or writing, come check it out! Social Studies Mayan culture. We will learn about jade masks, the alphabet and astronomy. Come build a Mayan Temple. Engineering and Technology Kid Friendly Sear...

STEM Rec Challenges Enjoy Your Spring Break April 1- 5! April 8-12, 2019 Drama Pantomime. Drama will be learning all about pantomiming! We are going to play lots of fun pantomime games, like pretending to walk on the moon and getting out of the box. It will be lots of fun! Literacy The Great Space Debate.   To celebrate Yuri's Night, literacy will be talking about different space topics and controversies around space exploration. Students will get to help set up a debate and argue a different point of view of their choosing. So come learn about space (because it's amazing). Pick a side, let's have fun debating and see who wins! Social Studies Space Race. We will be learning about the space race and the moon landing. Could you be an astronaut? Let’s try some of their training. Engineering and Technology Game of the Month: Slap Jack and Egyptian War. Slapjack, also known as Slaps, is a simple standard-deck card game, generally played among childr...

STEM Rec Challenges March 25-29, 2019 Art Steampunk. We are going to be talking about an art form called steampunk that started in the 19th century.  We are going to make simple steampunk style transportation. This project will use mixed media paint, markers, jewels, etc. Literacy Animal Party.   This week, literacy will be having an animal party with informational texts! Students will have a variety of books to choose from about all different types of animals. They will choose an animal they wish to learn more about and then study and read about it using the informational text provided. They'll use their fabulous art skills and create an animal example that has some of their favorite information and facts the students learned.Social Studies 80s and 90s. What was life was like in the 80s and 90s? how culture has changed over time? How do past eras have affect today? All of these answers and more at Social Studies this week. Engineering and Technology Windmill. F...

STEM Rec Challenges March 18-22, 2019 Fine Arts Shadow Puppets. Over at the art station this week we will be doing art, music, drama, social studies, literacy, and even a bit of engineering. We will have a week long unit on shadow puppets. We will learn about the Chinese tradition of shadow puppets and we will make our own. We will analyze the music that accompanies the puppetry and experiment with making similar music from household items and student created instruments. In pairs, we make up short scenes and lyrics to go along with our puppetry. Then we will be sharing our scenes behind a sheet with lights to get the full shadow puppet effect. Students who come to this station must be committed and able to come for the entire week in order to get challenge credit. If you are in field trips, plan on choosing a different challenge. Literacy Choose Your Own Adventure. This week, literacy is in the hands of the students. We will be talking about opinions and reasons. Our less...

STEM Rec Challenges March 11 - 15, 2019 Art Perspective Drawing. Perspective is a drawing technique that shows objects in 3-D on a flat piece of paper or canvas. The trick: using lines that recede to express a sense of distance. Perspective conveys depth and space. Drawing in one-point perspective seems complicated if you’ve never done it before. But if you know the rules, it's a snap. Students will be practicing these rules. Social Studies The Berlin Wall . Social Studies will present an introduction to the Cold War and the Berlin Wall. Students will learn about pilot Gail Halvorsen, born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and how he brought a sweet note to Operation Vittles, the United States military operation to bring food to the citizens of West Berlin. Of his own volition, he launched the adorably named Operation Little Vittles to bring candy and hope to the children of the blockaded city.  Engineering  Dinosaur Launchers. For this activity, students will be given...

STEM Rec Challenges March 5 - 8, 2019 Reminder : School is closed on Monday, March 4 for a professional development day.  Dr. Seuss Week Drama Dr. Seuss Skits. In drama we will be doing an improv game where the students will be given a short skit of a Dr. Seuss story which they will perform it in front of the group. Then they will be given random objects and will have to switch out it with an original object from the script. It will be a hilarious and fun exercise! Social Studies The Lorax.  Students will be discussing what we can do to be responsible stewards of our earth. We will fill out a worksheet on what we can do and students can draw what animal or plant they would like to see taken care of on the back. Engineering  Dr. Seuss Characters. Students will designing and making their very own Dr. Seuss inspired characters. Literacy There's a Wocket in My Pocket! Dr. Seuss is one of the most well-known children's book authors in the world. ...

STEM Rec Challenges February 25 - March 1, 2019 Literacy  Spelling Bee.  We will continue practicing our spelling words with new fun games like Sparkle and Splash Man. Remember, our school spelling bee will be next Thursday, February 28, at 1:30 . Families are welcome! Science  Meteorology.  How do meteorologists predict the weather? They use several different tools to measure atmospheric conditions and create educated guesses about future weather.  Students will learn about these different tools and make predictions of their own.  Engineering  Water Filters. Clean water is not available in all parts of the world. Many people live with polluted water that is unhealthy to drink. Civil, environmental, materials and mechanical engineers all contribute to developing technologies and systems to purify unclean water. Engineering will be building water filters and testing different materials to see which will filter the best. Math Target...

STEM Rec Challenges February 19-22nd, 2019 Drama Ghost Election. In an effort to help our country through these hard times, a ghost election is being held this February at Franklin Discovery Academy.  The candidates are George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  Find out more about these presidents as you prepare for our ghost presidential puppet debate.  Who should the students of Franklin Discovery Academy vote for and why? In this two day unit, come make a talking heads puppet and participate as either Washington or Lincoln in a puppet presidential debate. Literacy Spelling Bee . With the upcoming spelling bee, of February 28th literacy is going into full spelling fun mode! Join us as we play a variety of different spelling games this week like "You Try, I Try" and spelling charades! Come test your skills and at the very least, have a ton of fun learning and practicing old and new words! Social Studies Home Front . During World War II the men went off to wa...

STEM Rec Challenges February 11 - 15, 2019 Science  Clouds and Weather. This is the first week of the sciences table's weather unit. Students will learn to identify different types of clouds and what they do. They will also learn the causes of precipitation. Technology  Coding. Students will be building the layout of a game, creating the art and animating a character to play in the game using Bloxels. Bloxels is a hands-on platform for kids to build, collaborate, and tell stories through video game creation. Thank you to the Trueblood family for donating this fun program. Art Watercolor .   Art will be working on some watercolor Valentine's Day art.  Give your watercolor art piece to your favorite Valentine or you can use it to decorate your room. Literacy Don't Eat Pete! Students will learn new vocabulary words by reading a fun book. They will reinforce the new vocabulary by playing a fun game called “Don’t Eat Pete”! Social Studies Ruby ...

STEM Rec Challenges February 4 - 8, 2019 Yarn Needed  Students have started crocheting in STEM and we are in need of yarn.  If you have any extra, please consider donating it to the school. This week STEM is traveling to China to celebrate Chinese New Year! Art Year of the Pig. The Chinese zodiac is a classification scheme that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle. Students will learn about the different animals that represent each year. This is the year of the pig and in art we will be drawing one. Social Studies The Lion Dance is a form of traditional Chinese dance performed on joyous festivals, such as Chinese New Year. Students will learn the history behind this dance and other Chinese folklore. Technology  Chinese Checkers - Game of the Month. Chinese checkers is a simple, entertaining game that is both mentally challenging and easy to learn. The star-shaped board consists of a 61...

STEM Rec Challenges January 28 - February 1, 2019 Shout out to a couple of awesome parents at Franklin Discovery.   Deirdre Davis , thank you for purchasing materials for STEM.  Remember, any $10 purchase is counted as one volunteer hour.  Tiffany Rogers & Alicia Hawks , thank you for leading after school clubs. After school clubs in STEM run from 3:15 - 4:00. Clubs change every term so the commitment would be about 6 weeks.  As a parent you could work with a small group of students to teach them a new skill or craft.  We would especially love to have some STEM related clubs. Some of the past clubs we have offered are: drama, dance, chess, science, art, ASL, snap circuits, coding and sports to name a few. What are your talents? Come and share them with the children. Social Studies All That Jazz! Students will explore the origins and evolution of jazz and how it has influenced our culture.  They will then play a rousing game of musi...

STEM Rec Challenges January 22 - 25, 2019 No School - Monday, January 21 Martin Luther King Jr Day “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Social Studies Martin Luther King Jr. Students will listen to clips of Martin Luther King Jr’s famous I Have a Dream speech and then make a unity mural to remind us that in standing together, we can accomplish a lot. "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." --Helen Keller Science  Inheritance. What does it mean when we say we are related to someone? This week we'll learn about how chromosomes are passed between generations. How many chromosomes do you share with your siblings? How many would you share with a cousin? Technology  Coding Unit. Week three of the coding unit continues by introducing the students to code.org, a programmed designed to teach students how to code. Art Alma Woodsey Thomas .  A role model for women ...

STEM Rec Challenges January 14 - 18, 2019 Science  Instructions for Life.   All life on earth has something in common: deoxyribonucleic acid. That's DNA. All living things use DNA to store their genetic information; like a recipe book for their bodies. This week we'll learn about DNA as a language and how our cells read it. Math Math War .  A card game where each player gets dealt half the deck and the cards are put face down in a stack in front of the players. Both players turn their top card face up at the same time. The person with the higher card wins that draw. A little twist, our game will include lots of addition for students to practice their basic math skills. Art Shading and contrast. In art this week we are going to design our own snowmen using charcoals as the medium. By exploring the degrees of color available in this weeks project, we will also learn the principle of shading and contrast Literacy Punctuation Panther. ...

STEM Rec Challenges January 7 - 11, 2019 Art Game of the month:  Sleeping Queens. Rise and shine! The Pancake Queen, the Ladybug Queen, and ten of their closest friends have fallen under a sleeping spell and it's your job to wake them up. Come and play a FDA favorite invented by a six year old child. Science  Crime scene prints.   As humans touch surfaces throughout the day they may leave behind copies of their fingerprints. This can be useful during crime scene investigations as it helps detectives identify people who were present at the crime scene. We'll discuss the different types of prints that can be left behind and practice matching crime scene prints to a group of suspects. Literacy  Capitalization. Capital letters are incredibly important. Literacy will be reviewing the rules for using capitals: the first letter of a sentence, a proper noun, or a proper adjective. The names of the days of the week and the names of the months are also capit...