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We opened our first letters from our pen pals yesterday! Letters were sitting in bins on my desk for a few weeks as we waited for them all to trickle in – when students saw “Opening Letters” on our agenda for the day there was a huge cheer in each class. Students addressed their envelopes, …
by Johanna Parker 
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) are all areas students need to be proficient in so they can be productive, inventive 21st century citizens. As a small, rural school our resources are limited and we have very little funding – using Donors Choose helps us get what we need so that our kids can perform …
by Johanna Parker 
This year, our scholars started learning about the STEM field. We first learned what it stands for: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. We then learned about several really cool STEM jobs that fascinated the students such as tennis shoe engineer, sports statistics analyst, and veterinarian. We then explored the question: “Who currently holds STEM jobs …
by Carly Goldberg 
One of my big goals going into my 2nd year of teaching was to include more problem based learning, labs, and projects in the classroom. Over the past few months we’ve done some awesome projects and PBLs that the kids and myself are so very proud of. As our culminating activity during our Force and …
by Johanna Parker 
In our community, Roseland, only 2% of students graduate from a 4-year university. Our mission at Chicago Collegiate Charter School is that 100% of our students will graduate from college within 6 years of high school graduation. Achieving our mission is going to take tremendous amounts of hard work put in by the students, families, …
by Carly Goldberg 
It just so happened that all the letters came in right before our winter break, so we spend our last few days of school opening and writing back letters! Students asked for weeks after we sent off our first letters if their letters had come in yet – they were (and are) very excited to …
by Johanna Parker 
When we first started Letters to a Pre-Scientist during the 2010-2011 school year, we had just over 100 committed scientists volunteering as pen pals. The scientists represented about 10 US states and were ready to take on the challenges of our inaugural year. Word quickly spread among fellow scientists, which has allowed for our program …
by Macon Lowman 
The month of October brought many fun activities for the young scientists at Chicago Collegiate Charter School. They finished up their Scientific Method Unit (they rocked the Unit test), started new units on the Earth and the Earth’s systems, and went on a field trip to the University of Chicago where they went inside college …
by Carly Goldberg 
Today’s post was written by Ms. Parker, who teaches 5th grade pre-scientists in Halifax, NC. It’s October! I can hardly believe a month of school has already passed. As a second-year teacher, this school year has been so much better than last year. We’ve already done two labs and quite a few problem-based learning activities. …
by Lucy 
As we approach the middle of September we are finishing up the matching of scientists with prescientists, and are ecstatic to enter our fourth year with this program! As this my first year on board outside the classroom, I find myself reflecting about the impact this program had for the students I taught, and the …
by Lucy 
This June marked middle school graduation for my first class of 6th graders. For those of you that have been with our program from the start, this means your first pen pal is now headed off to high school! We met these children when they were fresh out of elementary school; they were overwhelmed at …
by Macon Lowman 
My students are working hard to learn the DEAL design process within our forces and motion unit. As a STEM middle school, we focus on teaching kids the engineering design process in all classes! Below is a picture of our take on the design process: My classes completed the marshmallow challenge a few weeks …
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