East Elementary GT Podcast

John Malloy

This is a podcast produced by the Gifted & Talented students at East Elementary, highlighting topics that we are currently studying. More information about our weather unit can be found at the following link: https://malloyclass.weebly.com/east-weather-unit.html

Episodes

  1. East Elementary Rocket Podcast - 2/6/26

    FEB 6

    East Elementary Rocket Podcast - 2/6/26

    Viking Rockets: We Pressed the Button!  A Gifted & Talented Rocketry Reflection CALLA: Hi everyone! I’m Calla, and today… we finally launched our Viking rockets! CORVIN: And I’m Corvin, and by launched, she means they went WHOOSH into the sky and did not explode the school. CALLA: Which is always a good goal. CORVIN: For weeks—and I mean every single Friday—we learned about rockets. Rocket parts, rocket engines, rocket noses… CALLA: And Earth’s atmosphere! Like the troposphere, where we live, and the stratosphere, where weather balloons hang out like, “What’s up?” CORVIN: We also learned about the design process, which is a fancy way of saying: build it, fix it, rebuild it, and don’t glue your fingers together. CALLA: Launch day finally arrived, and everyone carefully slid their rocket onto the guide pole. CORVIN: Carefully. Like… EXTREMELY carefully. CALLA: Because if you break it on launch day, your heart breaks a little too. CORVIN:  Mr. Malloy helped connect the ignition wires to the engines at the bottom of our rockets. CALLA: Those engines were small… CORVIN: …but mighty. Like angry, thumb-sized dragons. CALLA: Once everyone was behind the 15-foot audience boundary— CORVIN:  Safety first! We like our eyebrows! CALLA: —we did a countdown. CALLA & CORVIN (together): 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… BLAST OFF! CORVIN: Each student got to press the ignition button, and the rockets shot up over East Elementary! CALLA: Other classrooms watched from behind their windows like, “Is that a bird? Is that a plane?”  CORVIN: Nope. It’s a Viking rocket made by third graders. CALLA: At the very top of the rocket’s flight, the nose cone popped off— CORVIN: —and out came the bright orange streamer! CALLA: The streamer helped us track where our rockets landed. CORVIN: And by “track,” she means “run after it like explorers on a mission.” CALLA: We traveled to recover our rockets and held them proudly like real space engineers. CORVIN: It was a fun, exciting, and educational day full of science, space, and countdowns. CALLA: And the best part?  CORVIN: They actually worked! CALLA & CORVIN (together): Thanks for listening—and keep looking up! 🚀 https://malloyclass.weebly.com/peterson-squid-study.html

    3 min
  2. East Rocket Podcast - 1/30/26

    JAN 30

    East Rocket Podcast - 1/30/26

    🎧 East Elementary Gifted & Talented Podcast  Rocketry Unit – Launch Week (Almost!) Calla: Hi everyone! Welcome back to the East Elementary Gifted and Talented Podcast! Corvin: I’m Corvin— Calla: —and I’m Calla! And this week, we have been working on our Rocketry Unit! Corvin: We were really excited this week because we thought we were going to launch our Estes Viking rockets! Calla: We designed our rockets, built them, and got everything ready… Corvin: …but then Kodiak weather happened. 🌧️ Calla: It rained a lot, so we had to cancel our first rocket launch day. Corvin: That was disappointing—but rockets have to be safe, just like real space launches. Calla: So now we’re keeping our fingers crossed 🤞 for a possible launch next Friday! Corvin: When it’s launch day, Mr. Malloy will set up the launch pad at center field on our playground. Calla: Just like a real rocket launch, we’ll have an audience standing safely far away—  Corvin: —but still close enough to get an awesome view! Calla: And guess what? We get to press the ignition button for our own rocket launches! Corvin: That’s right! Three… two… one… 🚀 Calla: We’re also going to record the launch and slow down the video. Corvin: That way, we can watch and talk about each stage of the rocket launch. Calla: Like lift-off, flying up, and coming back down! Corvin: So now we’re hoping for clear skies next week. Calla: Thanks for listening to our Rocketry update! Corvin: We’ll see you next time— Both: —on the East Elementary Gifted & Talented Podcast! https://malloyclass.weebly.com/peterson-squid-study.html

    3 min
  3. JAN 23

    East Rocket Podcast - 1/23/26

    🎙️ Gifted & Talented Rocketry Podcast Calla: Hello families and friends! Welcome to our Gifted and Talented Rocketry Podcast! Corvin: We’re Calla and Corvin, and today we’re excited to tell you all about what we’ve been learning in our rocketry unit! 🚀 Last Week’s Learning Calla: Last week, we became rocket designers! We drew drafts of our model rockets and made big decisions. Corvin: We chose how many fins our rockets would have, where the fins would go, and what style they would be. Just like real engineers! Calla: We also started building. We put together the nose cone and added a payload—one tiny satellite that will travel inside our rocket. Corvin: Then we glued on the fins, making sure they were straight and strong so our rockets will fly smoothly. 🌍 This Week’s Learning Calla: This week, we started class by learning about our solar system. Corvin: We used a cool model with a bright sun light and planets that orbit around it. We practiced naming all the planets in order! Calla: After that, we went back to building our rockets. We glued in the engine block inside the rocket tube. Corvin: The engine block makes a bump inside the rocket so the engine has something to push against when it ignites. Calla: Next, we glued in the shock cord. This is super important! Corvin: The shock cord keeps the rocket tube connected to the nose cone when it pops open at the highest point of the launch. Calla: Finally, we added our bright orange recovery streamer. Corvin: The streamer does two jobs. It slows the rocket down as it falls back to Earth and helps us spot it in the sky. 🔥 Special Rocket Demonstration Calla: We also had a special surprise this week! Corvin: Mr. Malloy brought in the real launch pad and ignition materials for a demonstration launch. Calla: He used a rocket that a Gifted and Talented student designed two years ago. Corvin: We learned important launch safety rules, watched the setup, and then— He launched the rocket! 🚀 What’s Next? Calla: Now we’re working hard to finish building our own rockets. Corvin: We can’t wait for our launch window in February or March, when we’ll finally get to launch them ourselves! Calla: Thanks for listening to our Rocketry Podcast! Corvin: Keep looking up—and keep exploring! Together: Bye! 🚀✨ https://malloyclass.weebly.com/peterson-squid-study.html

    3 min

About

This is a podcast produced by the Gifted & Talented students at East Elementary, highlighting topics that we are currently studying. More information about our weather unit can be found at the following link: https://malloyclass.weebly.com/east-weather-unit.html