From the Sahara to the Serengeti

Cedar Valley 6th Graders are taking a deeper look into Africa with the PBS webquest AFRICA. With this use of technology, these sixth graders are able to experience Africa in a more authentic way. Students use the webquest as a base to compare and contrast different regions.By looking at the traditions, the music, the food, and folklore of the people, and by studying the animals and vegetation that are in each area, students can better understand the impact on the overall culture.

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue....

Our 6th grade poets will dazzle you....



The 6th Grade ELA team is using technology as they focus on poetry. They started the unit off with a Figurative Language Webquest. They also incorporated the new online textbook companion--Pearson's SuccessNet Plus-- to help understand components of writing and figurative language.


After spending time learning about poems and figurative language, the equipped sixth grade classes dove into the library and searched for examples of specific types of poems to use as they created a Poem Book. To top it all off, the students authored several original poems to include in their books.

Erasing The R Word

Ms. Barker's Leadership classes made a bold statement as they presented to the entire student body during long lunches on March 7. They used a combination of technology skills as they prepared and presented.

Previously in the semester Ms. Barker's classes did Public Service Announcements (PSA) to send out to the student body about bullying. They used flip cams to capture (scripted) bullying incidents on tape and then what reactions should be. They brought some of these same videos and skits into their presentation to the student body.

They also partnered with Ms. Biven and some of the Partners in PE to put a CeVMS face to the cause. Take a look at the compilation that they made and showed to the entire student body.



During the presentation, students captured the performances on stage and the reactions of the audience members on tape. They haven't had time to edit it down, but hopefully, when they do, I can share that with you as well.

The Leadership students gave a charge to the student body asking them to take a stand and be the voice for someone who is unable or unwilling to speak for themselves.

You can join them and take the plegde to "Erase the R Word" too by going to http://www.sotx.org/ for more information.

This is how you do it...

If you've ever had trouble figuring out how to do something, look no further! Ms. Settemeyer's sixth grade class has you covered.

They incorporated several pieces of technology into one fantastic assignment! But it all begins with the how-to paper. Students were encouraged to explore Screencast-o-matic.com during the February 1st Digital Learning Day

Here are two that helped us out:

(In the video above, the student used Screencast-0-matic.com and voki.com to create their how-to)

(In the video above, the student used Screencast-0-matic.com and Prezi.com to create their how-to)

Not all of the students used Screencast-o-matic.com. Others chose a topic that required more physical demonstrations and used different personal devices and video editing software packages to create their how-tos.

Comercial Español

Ms. Ruiz de Chavez's class is at it again as they use FlipCams to practice their conversational Spanish skills.

Check out one of the submitted commercials. Would you take them up on their offer?

Cedar Valley is in the News for DLD!

Check it out!

Cedar Valley was featured in the Round Rock Leader for our participation in Digital Learning Day.

Read the article here.

Cedar Valley Goes Digital: DLD

Cedar Valley teachers accepted the challenge that Principal Matt Groff presented to them: check it out, sign up, get involved, and go digital. During the February 1st Digital Learning Day (DLD), students were given more opportunities than usual to learn using technology.

During DLD, teachers at CeVMS included many activities that incorporated a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) philosophy and also used all the available computer resources on campus (computer labs, laptop carts, tablet devices—just to name a few). Polleverywhere.com was used to ask student opinions on poets in ELA classrooms, and students were allowed to use their cell phones to access the polls. Students in math classes used Khanacademy.com to practice concepts and skills; while other students across the hall were using Screencast-O-matic to create their own versions of how-to presentations. Teachers in social studies classes facilitated projects where students used Microsoft Office products as a workflow to complete tasks needed to present information. Students also were guided to focus on online databases and library resources that are available to them through the Districts’ Library Services. In science classes, students were allowed to explore cycles and systems through a district-provided online subscription to Explore Learning. Digital Learning Day helped teachers and students recognize that a bridge needs to exist between the technology skills needed to excel in our society and those skills that students have as digital natives. It is our job as teachers to help focus these native skills into the ability to use the technology toy as a tool for education.

Check out what happened in our classrooms: