Battle of the Books

5th Grade students from West Elementary have been reading a lot of books this year.  Recently, six students made the trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa to compete in the annual Battle of the Books competition.  This state competition had 38 teams from all over the state battling it out to see which team had the best comprehension of the selected books.  Of the 37 books, 95 questions were given to the group to answer.  West Elementary students finished the competition by placing 3rd in the state.  All of us here at West Elementary are proud of their hard work, CONGRATS kids!

5th Graders Using Wind Power

5th Grade students spent some time recently harnessing the wind to power their model cars.  They learned a lot using the Scientific Method to test and change their designs to extend their trial runs.  After testing their cars they would modify and test them again to see if their adjustments helped their total distance.  Not only did the area of the sail make a difference but the total mass of their car made a large difference too.  They did a fantastic job, all students reached the goal of traveling 10 feet and a few car traveled over 30 feet!

West Elementary National Winners

West Elementary TAG students have participated in the Noetic Math Learning Contest for many years.  Each year the students of Independence show their best and compete against students from all over the country.  Students are given 25 math problems at and above their grade level to solve in 40 minutes or less.  

This year West Elementary had 4 National Honor Roll winners, meaning they placed in the top 5% of all test takers in the nation.  This is quite an accomplishment for these young boys and girl.  

CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS kids!!!

Let's build a rocket

Students in 3rd grade have been using the Scientific model to build and test their paper rockets.  They have learned that there is a fine balance between too much weight and too little weight when designing their models.   A lot of testing and tinkering going on to build that one great flyer!

Student challenges

Students have been busy with various challenges this winter.

Here, students try to create boats that will hold pennies.  Buoyancy was a topic that seemed easy until they put their boats to the test.  Once they sink, the amount of pennies are recorded and they go back to redesigning the boat.  Straws, tape and tinfoil are the only materials being used.

Math Olympiad Problem of the Month

Challenge Accepted

Students have been working with the Scientific Method to problem solve in small groups.  They began with some basic materials and were challenged to build a tower.  Many different designs were tried, some failed, some succeeded.  All students were pushed to another level of communication and solving problems as they appeared in this real-time activity.

Elementary Battle of the Books

Below are the titles for the annual contest at the Elementary level:

Author	Title
Cynthia Lord	A Handful of Stars
Lois Lowry	All About Sam
Barbara Robinson	The Best School Year Ever
Christopher Paul Curtis	Bud, Not Buddy*
Patricia C Wrede	Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles #01)
Cynthia Chapman Willis	Dog Gone
Deborah Wiles	Each Little Bird That Sings
Cece Bell	El Deafo
J.K. Rowling	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Hope Solo	Hope Solo: My Story (Young Readers' Edition)
Katherine Hannigan	Ida B: ... And Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World
Bruce Coville	Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher: A Magic Shop Book
Bill O'Reilly	Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever
Dan Gutman	Million Dollar Shot
Barbara Cooney	Miss Rumphius
Ivy Ruckman	Night of the Twisters
Milly Lee	Nim and the War Effort
John R. Erickson	Original Adventure of Hank the Cowdog
Sharon M. Draper	Out of My Mind
Beverly Cleary	Ralph S. Mouse
Kate Klise	Regarding the Fountain
Sharon Creech	Ruby Holler
Cynthia Lord	Rules
Patricia MacLachlan	Sarah, Plain and Tall 30th Anniversary Edition
Betty G. Birney	Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs
Maria McSwigan	Snow Treasure
Sam Angus	Soldier Dog
Wilson Rawls	Summer of the Monkeys
John Grandits	Technically, It's Not My Fault: Concrete Poems
Kay Moore	The Great Bicycle Experiment: The Army's Historic Black Bicycle Corps, 1896-97
Elizabeth George Speare	The Sign of the Beaver
Natalie Babbitt	Tuck Everlasting
Betsy Cromer Byars	Wanted...Mud Blossom
Grace Lin	Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
R. J. Palacio	Wonder
A. LaFaye	Worth

*Title is available as an eBook through AEA 267 student MackinVIA accounts.