Throughout the school year, 3rd-6th grade students in Granite School District are encouraged to read as many books as they can from these lists.
Students who read at least five of the books by January will be able to create teams and compete in school level competitions.
Once schools have completed their competitions, their top two 5th-6th teams will then be invited to compete in a district-wide competition during the spring of 2018. Keep Reading
On April 13, 2017, over 50 student teams from 18 different elementary schools in Granite School District converged on Gearld Wright Elementary for the first annual Granite District Battle of the Books competition. Student teams went head-to-head in this “Family Feud”-style game, in which their knowledge of the 15 books on the official 2016-2017 reading lists was put to the test.
We congratulate all of the students who read and participated in the battles, whether in their school or at the district competition. We thank all of the media clerks, teachers, administrators, parent volunteers, and others who tirelessly supported this program and inspired our students to find excitement in reading.
Check out the winners of our 2016-2017 competitions!
2017 Battle of the Books 3rd-4th Grade Bracket
2017 Battle of the Books 5th-6th Grade Bracket
Any who are interested in learning how their school can participate in next year’s Battle of the Books program are invited to one of two informational meetings which will be held on Friday, May 12, 2017, at your choice of 12:00-12:30 PM and 2:00-2:30 PM. These meetings will be held at the Educational Technology Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) at 5300 West Cherrywood Lane, West Valley City, UT 84120.
If you have any questions about Battle of the Books, please contact Nikki Gregerson, District Elementary Library Supervisor in the Educational Technology department.
Teresa Bruin, one of our district educational technology team leaders, recently brought Chromebooks to kindergarten classes at Hunter Elementary for students to try. The goal was to see how easily the young students could work with the Chromebooks in various hardware configurations (touch screen, trackpad, large mouse, or small mouse.) She recorded this rough video, which shows just how quickly the kindergartners learned to use the devices and how excited they were about their success.
April 13, 2017 | Thursday | 5:00 PM
Gearld Wright Elementary School
6760 West 3100 South, West Valley City, UT 84128
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It's been a day full of fun and robots. Thanks @EdTechGSD #fll #gsdedtech pic.twitter.com/rgC4BNwALE
— Joell Wilkins (@JoellWilkins) January 28, 2017
Granite School District welcomed 28 FIRST LEGO League teams to the 3rd GSD sponsored qualifying tournament on Saturday January 28th at Granger High School. Students participated in robot games, showed off their ability to work collaboratively on a problem, explained to engineers how they designed and built their robot, and presented a solution in the form of a product or service to enhance the relationship between animals and humans.
Winning trophies were: Keep Reading
On January 28, 2017, student teams from schools throughout Granite School District will compete in our annual FIRST LEGO League Qualifying Tournament at Granger High School. Twenty-five elementary and junior high schools are fielding thirty teams for this tournament.
From the FIRST website,
FIRST LEGO League . . . immerses kids in real-world science and technology challenges. Teams of kids ages 9 to 14 are challenged to design their own solution to current scientific problems, then build LEGO robots that perform autonomous “missions.” In the process, they develop valuable life skills and discover exciting career possibilities in science and technology. They even discover that they, too, can make positive contributions to society.
Karen Tinsley, school technology specialist at Stansbury Elementary and coach of a FIRST LEGO League team, recorded the Robot Game in action at a recent scrimmage at her school, shared above. Keep Reading
Jayanne Unander is the school technology specialist at Pleasant Green Elementary. In this spotlight video we see her introducing Ozobots to students in the school’s coding club. For this activity students use tablet apps such as OzoGroove and OzoDraw to interact with the ozobots, learning fundamentals of computer coding in the process.
In addition to her work with students and teachers at Pleasant Green Elementary, Jayanne is also a developer and trainer in our district’s Educational Technology Endorsement Program.
Spotlight Creator: Kristen Johnson, Granite District Educational Technology Specialist
Students at Farnsworth Elementary and Woodstock Elementary recently tried out computer programming by participating in Hour of Code activities. In this video a few of these students share their work and their thoughts about the coding activities with Joell Wilkins, school technology specialist.
Hour of Code is a worldwide initiative to introduce young people to the basics of coding and computer science through 1-hour coding activities. These activities are especially promoted during Computer Science Education Week (December 5-11, 2016) but can be done at any time throughout the year. If you are interested in hosting an Hour of Code event, these how-to guides provide assistance for activities ranging from school-wide events to at-home family coding activities.
Because of the overwhelming variety of beginning coding activities available at Code.org, Ms. Wilkins selected a few of the activities and curated them in a clickable slideshow for her students, from which they could choose a grade appropriate activity.
If you host a coding activity please share it with us! You can leave a comment below or share pictures via social media including Twitter or Instagram, using the hashtags #gsdedtech and #HourOfCode.
Spotlight video created by Joell Wilkins, School Technology Specialist at Farnsworth Elementary and Woodstock Elementary.
The Granite School District FIRST LEGO League qualifying tournament was held on January 16, 2016 at Granger High School. Granite School District’s Educational Technology Department sponsors 30 teams in the First Lego League. We had a tremendous amount of fun, and learned a lot this year!
The students were excited to see approximately 500 parents attend to watch their LEGO Robots compete. In addition to competing in the robot games, the teams also explained their robot designs, presented an innovative product to address the issue of Trash, and solved a problem as a team during judging sessions.
Brad Butcher is the Library Media Educational Technology Specialist (LMETS) at Evergreen Jr. High School in Millcreek, Utah. Mr. Butcher fills his library with reading promotions, author visits, and other activities created for and by his students. He has an active Student Library Advisory Board (SLAB); you will hear from several of them in this video. Bringing in national and local authors for school visits he has catalyzed an exciting reading culture in his school. He is also an educational technology wizard, helping and training teachers and students throughout the school in technology tools and resources. Mr. Butcher is an incredible asset to his school and to the team of library and technology specialists throughout the district.
Spotlight Creator: Cindy Moyle, District Media Supervisor, Granite School District
