6th Grade Projects

Bianca's sixth-grade class has been very much project-based and they do a lot of fun and different activities, working as teams as well as on their own. Bianca's in the pm set (which means she goes to school 1/2 hour later than the am set and leaves a 1/2 hour later). It's mainly so there are enough computers in the classroom for all the kids to use. But I like this arrangement for pick up and taking to school (not nearly as crowded), and also Bianca is able to practice her music in the morning without having to wake up at 5am as she did last year. Most kids don't want pm, but we love it. In Bianca's class, she is one of ten girls who are pm. This same group of ten girls were teamed together in Lego League and have really become quite good friends. They've done a lot of extra work on their project at each other's houses and have put in a lot of time and effort.

I'm so glad Bianca has a built-in group of friends for next year, when she's off to the big middle school. I was a little concerned about this as she had to make all new friends since our move, so I'm so glad she's meshed so well with these girls. The name of their team was the Beat Bots and they came up with these cute matching outfits (which remind me a little of Rainbow Brite dolls from my childhood) with rainbow suspenders and leg warmers and these retro headphones. They came up with quite a few chants and songs to sing while they were competing with the robot they programmed to do tasks. Bianca even sewed their team flag (it's sort of hidden in the back of the group picture), but it really was cute. I guess since girls and engineering and programming don't always go together, an all-girl team like Bianca's got a lot of attention at last weekend's state Lego League championship. They didn't win or go on to nationals, but they won the "inspiration" award and they had so much fun in the meantime. I'm relieved all the extra meetings are over.

Some of Bianca's team (the Beat Bots) with her teacher in the back

Their team was highlighted in several newspaper articles as well as on television. Here are a couple photos I "borrowed" from ksl of the girls singing their spirited chants!

On to the next project, Natural Curiosity Fair...