Harry Potter Book Club This year at Vails Gate, Ms. Gilligan and Ms. Espinoza decided to start a Harry Potter Book Club for fourth- and fifth-grade students. Acceptance Letters were delivered “by owl” to their classrooms. On Book Club mornings, the students come in at 7:30 am to enjoy some breakfast treats and hot chocolate together while discussing what they have read. They take part in Harry Potter themed activities such as wand making, bookmark creation and “Hogwarts House Selection.” They end each session by gathering on the rug together to begin the next section of reading – and some have even started reading together at lunch! The book club gives the opportunity for students to make new friends and interact socially with each other. We’ve really seen a lot of them come out of their shells. It’s been such a great time for everyone involved! The reader engagement and excitement has been so contagious!
Student Testimonials
Yazlyn: “I joined the Harry Potter Book Club because I didn’t know anything about Harry Potter and I wanted to learn about it.”
Suleyka: “I like to read and I don’t know anything about Harry Potter so I want to learn.”
Phoenix and Memphis: “We joined because we like to read and wanted to be with other kids in school who are reading the Harry Potter books.”
Robotics Club
Vails Gate STEAM Academy has a KOOV Robotics Club for our third- and fourth-grade students. This club offers students an opportunity to have fun and learn some basic programming and robotics. We use KOOV by Sony robotics kits and an online app to guide the students through the programming and building process. Students follow the app to learn to use the components of the kits in order to build robots and code their working robots. Problem solving and critical/logical thinking skills are emphasized, while also collaborating in small groups. So far, they have built a working police car with a light and buzzer and one group has moved on to build a robotic duck. Just watching these students problem solve and persevere is incredible!
Student Testimonials
Juliet: “I’m proud to be a part of the Robotics club because I get to learn how to code and it’s a lot of fun! I learn a lot of new things about robotics.”
Logan: “I learn how to code and build robotic cars and animals. It’s a lot of fun!”
