Friday, December 17, 2010

4th Grade - The word of the day was Allude. Allude means to refer to casually or indirectly and sounds like Rude. The pilgrim of the day was Walt Disney. When others were telling him it wouldn't work, Walt Disney kept right on working. His project cost $1.5 during the Great Depression, but it was an overnight success. That little project was the first full length animated film called Snow White. This group did Plexers for the warm-up activity. Plexers are common phrases put into word pictures. The affective lesson had students focusing on eight issues (procrastination, perfectionism, isolation, risk-taking, motivation, potential, leadership, and stress). Students were to write a quote for each issue as if they were a politician. They were then to tell who were some humorous people that they admired. We then reviewed the density experiment we did last week. Students then had 30 minutes to build their cooperative creature that we will be sharing with other Edmond Enrichment program groups.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Zigzag. Zigzag means a series of turns in different directions that nevertheless proceed in a general direction and sounds like Tag. The pilgrims of the day were the Smith Brothers. One day a peddler walked into James Smith's restaurant and ordered a meal. When it came time to pay for the meal, he offered James Smith the recipe for a cough candy. James took the recipe and paid the man $5. James Smith made up the candy, put it into envelopes and had his two sons, William and Andrew, sell it door to door. The candy was a success. This group also did the Plexers for the warm-up activity. The affective lesson focused on childhood rules, sharing and telling the truth. We then finished considering water density. Students spent time gathering information for the ExploraVision project before heading back to their classes for a special holiday activity.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

3rd Grade - The word of the day was Ligature. Ligature means bonds used to tie or bind. The pilgrim of the day was Whoppi Goldberg. Whoppi dropped out of school in the 9th grade, then got involved in drugs. She realized that she was going down the wrong path and checked into a rehab center. Whoppi then decided she wanted to act and did odd jobs to support herself. One of her jobs was a make-up artist for a funeral home. A producer finally noticed her. She now is a spokesperson for the war on drugs. During the trip to Crystal Pond Woods, students were given an opportunity to use their divergent thinking skills in order to solve a problem. They were given three sheets of construction paper and approximately 36 inches of tape. Students were to build a structure that would hold a set of encyclopedias. These students were only able to come up with structures that could hold one encyclopedia. Therefore, their homework over the break is to think of some more ideas and bring them back to school with them. Students then listened to the rest of Abel's Island and watched the video of the book. When we return from Winter Break, we will do one final activity surrounding that book.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Zigzag. Zigzag means a series of turns in different directions that nevertheless proceed in a general direction and sounds like Tag. The pilgrims of the day were the Smith Brothers. One day a peddler walked into James Smith's restaurant and ordered a meal. When it came time to pay for the meal, he offered James Smith the recipe for a cough candy. James took the recipe and paid the man $5. James Smith made up the candy, put it into envelopes and had his two sons, William and Andrew, sell it door to door. The candy was a success. This group also did the Plexers for the warm-up activity. The affective lesson focused on childhood rules, sharing and telling the truth. We then finished considering water density. Students spent time gathering information for the ExploraVision project before heading back to their classes for the holiday celebrations.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

1st and 2nd Grade - As students entered the room today, they finished their pledges to family, friends, school and the environment. They were then given a noun, a verb and some "spare" parts. The students were to come up with an invention using the noun and verb together. They were then to use the spare parts and build their invention. After listening to another chapter from Abel's Island, we demonstrated and discussed why Abel didn't want to build a fire in his log shelter that was sealed up against the wind.

3rd Grade - The word of the day was Ligature. Ligature means bonds used to tie or bind. The pilgrim of the day was Whoppi Goldberg. Whoppi dropped out of school in the 9th grade, then got involved in drugs. She realized that she was going down the wrong path and checked into a rehab center. Whoppi then decided she wanted to act and did odd jobs to support herself. One of her jobs was a make-up artist for a funeral home. A producer finally noticed her. She now is a spokesperson for the war on drugs. During the trip to Crystal Pond Woods, students were given an opportunity to use their divergent thinking skills in order to solve a problem. They were given three sheets of construction paper and approximately 36 inches of tape. Students were to build a structure that would hold a set of encyclopedias. One team put together a structure that held 17 encyclopedias! Students then listened to the rest of Abel's Island and watched the video of the book. When we return from Winter Break, we will do one final activity surrounding that book.

4th Grade - The word of the day was Allude. Allude means to refer to casually or indirectly and sounds like Rude. The pilgrim of the day was Walt Disney. When others were telling him it wouldn't work, Walt Disney kept right on working. His project cost $1.5 during the Great Depression, but it was an overnight success. That little project was the first full length animated film called Snow White. The affective lesson had students focusing on eight issues (procrastination, perfectionism, isolation, risk-taking, motivation, potential, leadership, and stress). Students were to write a quote for each issue as if they were a politician. They were then to tell who were some humorous people that they admired. We then reviewed the density experiment we did last week. Students then had 30 minutes to build their cooperative creature that we will be sharing with other Edmond Enrichment program groups.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

1st and 2nd Grade - The word of the day was Pulchritude. Pulchritude means beauty. The pilgrim of the day was Harriet Tubman. Born a slave, Harriet Ross grew up dreaming to be free. At age 25, she married John Tubman, a free black man. She was able to obtain her freedom through the Underground Railroad and spent the next 11 years helping 300 runaway slaves make it to freedom. During the Civil War, she served the Union army in many capacities, but the government refused to pay her. She returned to her home riding in a baggage car. Our warm-up puzzle today was a Plexer. Plexers are common phrases put into word pictures. The affective lesson focused on the understanding that successful people demonstrate caring. Students looked up the definitions of different words of the Pledge Allegiance to the United States flag. They then developed their own pledges they could keep toward family, friends, school and the environment.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Zigzag. Zigzag means a series of turns in different directions that nevertheless proceed in a general direction and sounds like Tag. The pilgrims of the day were the Smith Brothers. One day a peddler walked into James Smith's restaurant and ordered a meal. When it came time to pay for the meal, he offered James Smith the recipe for a cough candy. James took the recipe and paid the man $5. James Smith made up the candy, put it into envelopes and had his two sons, William and Andrew, sell it door to door. The candy was a success. This group also did the Plexers for the warm-up activity. The affective lesson focused on childhood rules, sharing and telling the truth. We then finished considering water density. The rest of the afternoon was spent gathering information for the ExploraVision project.

Monday, December 13, 2010

4th Grade - The word of the day was Allude. Allude means to refer to casually or indirectly and sounds like Rude. The pilgrim of the day was Walt Disney. When everyone around him was saying it wouldn't work, Walt Disney said, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible." The masterpiece he was working on was called Snow White. It won an Academy Award. Our affective lesson focused on eight traits of people (procrastination, perfectionism, isolation, risk-taking, motivation, potential, leadership and stress. Today, students were to define those terms by developing a saying for each person that would act out those traits. Students then spent 30 minutes building their creature. They are very good. When we get back from Winter Break, students will write up the directions on how to build it and send it to another school. We then reviewed the water density experiment we tried to do last week.

Friday, December 10, 2010

4th Grade - The word of the day was Expunge. Expunge means to remove; to delete; to erase and sounds like sponge. The pilgrim of the day was Roberto Clemente. Not only was Roberto Clemente a great baseball player, he was a humanitarian as well. After an earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua, Roberto went to take relief supplies to the victims. Unfortunately, shortly after take-off his plane crashed. The Baseball Writers of America elected him to the Baseball Hall of Fame waiving the 5 year retirement requirement. The warm-up activity was Stories with Holes which the students figured out pretty quickly. The affective lesson was spent talking about internal security systems that people put in place when they feel threatened or in danger. For the SOS project, students watched an experiment that demonstrated cold water is denser than warm water. The Exploration lesson had students design a creature they would like to build for the cooperative creature project.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Avert. Avert means to ward off; to turn away, to keep from happening and sounds like Hurt. The pilgrim of the day was Ada Lovelace. Ada's father was the famous poet Lord Byron, but her mother wanted Ada to learn math and science. Ada loved these subjects. As an adult she met a man named Mr. Babbage who had an idea for a calculating engine. Ada wrote up a plan for how the idea could work. Thus in 1843 a woman designed the first computer program. The students also quickly figured out the Stories with Holes problem. What a way to use those problem solving techniques, kids! The affective lesson had students focusing on their different roles and then thinking about the different attributes it takes to do that role. Students developed a calendar and goals to complete the ExploraVision project. They then spent some time researching history and current technology of the project they want to design. We ended the day with an experiment about water density for the SOS study.

Thursday, December 8, 2010

3rd Grade - The word of the day was Rapacious. Rapacious means raptor-like, preying on others. The pilgrim of the day was George Gershwin. As a child, George hated music. He thought hands were for fighting. After meeting a violinist, George became fascinated with music. By the age of 17, he was composing and selling his own songs. At the age of 26 his symphony Rhapsody in Blue was performed by an orchestra. The warm-up activity was Stories with Holes. It didn't take them long to figure out the situation-way to go! The trip to Crystal Pond Woods had students focusing on Divergent Thinking. Students were given an answer and had to come up with the questions. In our Discoveries study, we did an experiment to determine why Abel of Abel's Island did not build a fire in his log shelter. Students were then given some items and some specific criteria to get from one area to another. They had a great time trying to solve this problem.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Avert. Avert means to ward off; to turn away, to keep from happening and sounds like Hurt. The pilgrim of the day was Ada Lovelace. Ada's father was the famous poet Lord Byron, but her mother wanted Ada to learn math and science. Ada loved these subjects. As an adult she met a man named Mr. Babbage who had an idea for a calculating engine. Ada wrote up a plan for how the idea could work. Thus in 1843 a woman designed the first computer program. The students also quickly figured out the Stories with Holes problem. They even had time before lunch to do a second problem. Way to use those problem solving techniques, kids! The affective lesson had students focusing on their different roles and then thinking about the different attributes it takes to do that role. Students developed a calendar and goals to complete the ExploraVision project. They then spent some time researching history and current technology of the project they want to design. We ended the day with an experiment about water density for the SOS study.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

1st and 2nd Grade - Students finished working on their Courage shields. The trip to Crystal Pond Woods had us focusing on Divergent Thinking again. Students were given 4 cards with words and a story starter. They were to finish the story starter including the 4 words in the rest of the story.



3rd Grade - This morning was a little short as students wanted to watch the 5th grade music program. The word of the day was Rapacious. Rapacious means raptor-like, preying on others. The pilgrim of the day was George Gershwin. As a young boy, George Gershwin thought music was for sissies and hands were for fighting. After meeting a violinist, George became fascinated with music. His father bought a piano for George's brother, but George claimed it for himself practicing every spare minute. By the age of 26, George had written Rhapsody in Blue and had it performed.Our trip to Crystal Pond Woods also had students working on Divergent Thinking. The students were given an answer and had to think of a question that would go with the answer. After listening to another chapter from Abel's Island, students watched an experiment and discussed the reason Abel did not build a fire in his log house.



4th Grade - The word of the day was Expunge. Expunge means to remove; to delete; to erase and sounds like sponge. The pilgrim of the day was Roberto Clemente. Not only was Roberto Clemente a great baseball player, he was a humanitarian as well. After an earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua, Roberto went to take relief supplies to the victims. Unfortunately, shortly after take-off his plane crashed. The Baseball Writers of America elected him to the Baseball Hall of Fame waiving the 5 year retirement requirement. The affective lesson was spent talking about internal security systems that people put in place when they feel threatened or in danger. For the SOS project, students watched an experiment that demonstrated cold water is denser than warm water. The Exploration lesson had students design a creature they would like to build for the cooperative creature project.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

1st and 2nd Grade - The word of the day was Ponderous. Ponderous means heavy and massive. The pilgrim of the day was John Quincy Adams. President John Quincy Adams enjoyed swimming. When the weather was warm, President Adams would walk to the river, take off his clothes and dive in. A reporter that had been trying unsuccessfully to get an interview with him, caught him one morning in the river. She sat on his clothes until she got her interview. Our warm-up activity was called Stories with Holes. With only 4 questions, these students determined the answer to the problem. Congratulations! In our affective lessons today, we discussed that courage is a necessary trait of successful people. Tomorrow we will draw shields of a couragous act.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Avert. Avert means to ward off; to turn away; to keep from happening and sounds like hurt. The pilgrim of the day was Ada Lovelace. Ada was the daughter of poet Lord Byron. Her mother wanted her to study math and science. While trying to invent a calculating machine with Mr. Babbage in 1843, she actually wrote the first computer program.
These students also completed the Stories with Holes problem in less than 10 questions. Way to go! Our affective lesson had us focus on one of the many "hats" we wear. Students were to focus on one of their activities, design a hat, and write on the hat character traits of that activity. For our SOS project, we completed an experiment that demonstrated warm and cold water density. We then set up a schedule/goal sheet for the Exploravision project. Unfortunately, we also learned that we are already behind schedule and will have to work extra hard over the next couple of weeks.

Monday, December 6, 2010

4th Grade - The word of the day was Expunge. Expunge means to remove; to delete; to erase and sounds like Sponge. The pilgrim of the day was Roberto Clemente. Although he was very successful as a Pittsburgh Pirate, Roberto Clemente spent his time between seasons helping others. He was on his way to deliver relief supplies to Managua, Nicaragua when his plane crashed. The Baseball Writers of American immediately elected Roberto Clemente to the Baseball Hall of Fame waiving the requirement that a player must be retired for five years. The warm-up activity was a Stories with Holes problem. Students then learned about defense mechanisms for the affective lesson. To begin our cooperative creature project, students viewed the materials available to make the project. They were then to draw the creature and describe what materials they would use to build it. Students then took a vote of the one they would like to build and share with the other schools. The SOS project was to do an experiment and watch how warm water interacts with cold water. We will finish that experiement next week.

Friday, December 3, 2010

My apologies for not posting this earlier, the computer system at school wasn't allowing Internet access on Friday. Here is what happened:


4th Grade - The word of the day was Encroach. Encroach means to intrude gradually upon the rights of another; to trespass and sounds like Roach. The pilgrim of the day was George Washington. The people of the United States, after winning the Revolutionary War, wanted to make George Washington king. George Washington told the people that they had just gained their independence from one king, they didn't need another. The people then made him the first president under the Constitution. Our warm-up activity today was called "Surprise in the Middle." This was an exercise in following directions and creativity. The students were given a series of directions and were to follow the directions as they drew a picture. Thinking about time was the focus of our affective lesson. Students were to work backwards from a project they had completed successfully to find out what made that project work. Once they knew how that project worked, they could set goals for their next project. There were a few items to finish up from our last class for the SOS project on ocean currents. As an introduction to our Creature Project that we will be doing with three other elementary schools in Edmond, the students had one person in their group get directions from another student to build a poster. The "runner" then came back to the group and the group put the picture together.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Aghast. Aghast means shocked; frightened; terrified; taken back and sounds like Ghost. The pilgrim of the day was John Muir. John Muir loved tinkering and designing, but he was also a practical, hardworking man. While working in a factory a piece of metal filing left him temporarily blind. When he regained his eyesight, he decided what he really wanted to do was explore nature. We can thank John Muir for founding our National Park system. The warm-up activity was called, "Surprise in the Middle." This was an exercise in following directions and creativity. Without having the directions repeated, and no erasing, students were to listen and produce a picture based on verbal directions. Since this was also an exercise in creativity, the students were given time to elaborate on their designs as well as fix anything they thought they messed up on. Students then focused on their choices as part of their affective thinking lesson. The students also worked some more on their Deficient, Abundant, and Perfect Numbers and completed their Flotsam and Jetsam page from last week. The students were quickly introduced to the Exploravision Contest that we will begin working on next week.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

3rd Grade - The word of the day was Sedulous. Sedulous means industrious. The pilgrim of the day was Harrison Ford. When Harrison isn't rescuing people on the silver screen, he has his own "air force" and volunteers with the Mountain Rescuers. The warm-up activity was called, "Surprise in the Middle." This was an exercise in following directions and creativity. Without having the directions repeated, and no erasing, students were to listen and produce a picture based on verbal directions. Since this was also an exercise in creativity, the students were given time to elaborate on their designs as well as fix anything they thought they messed up on. The trip to Crystal Pond Woods had us building "chain reaction contraptions." Sometimes it is fun to take something easy and find a more creative, elaborate way of accomplishing the same task. Students then listened to two more chapters from Abel's Island and discussed Civilized and Primitive.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Aghast. Aghast means shocked; frightened; terrified; taken back and sounds like Ghost. The pilgrim of the day was John Muir. John Muir loved tinkering and designing, but he was also a practical, hardworking man. While working in a factory a piece of metal filing left him temporarily blind. When he regained his eyesight, he decided what he really wanted to do was explore nature. We can thank John Muir for founding our National Park system. The warm-up activity was called, "Surprise in the Middle." This was an exercise in following directions and creativity. Without having the directions repeated, and no erasing, students were to listen and produce a picture based on verbal directions. Since this was also an exercise in creativity, the students were given time to elaborate on their designs as well as fix anything they thought they messed up on. Students then focused on their choices as part of their affective thinking lesson. The students also worked some more on their Deficient, Abundant, and Perfect Numbers and completed their Flotsam and Jetsam page from last week. The students were quickly introduced to the Exploravision Contest that we will begin working on next week.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

1st and 2nd Grade - On Wednesday, we finished our pictures about ourselves. The trip to Crystal Pond Woods was an encounter with our friend Max the Magician. Max told a story with a tangram. A tangram is a square made up of 7 shapes. The students were to put the shapes from the tangram into different animal shapes.

3rd Grade - The word of the day was Sedulous. Sedulous means industrious. The pilgrim of the day was Harrison Ford. When Harrison isn't rescuing people on the silver screen, he has his own "air force" and volunteers with the Mountain Rescuers. The trip to Crystal Pond Woods had us building "chain reaction contraptions." Sometimes it is fun to take something easy and find a more creative, elaborate way of accomplishing the same task. Students then listened to two more chapters from Abel's Island and discussed Civilized and Primitive.

4th Grade - The word of the day was Encroach. Encroach means to intrude gradually upon the rights of another; to trespass and sounds like roach.The pilgrim of the day was George Washington. After the defeat of the British during the Revolutionary War, the people wanted to make George Washington king of the United States. George Washington said they had just won a war to get out from under one king, they didn't need another. He told the people they needed a new form of government and he was elected our first president under the Constitution. The affective lesson had students focusing on past projects, what made those projects successful, and how can that success be transferred to another project. That was a great introduction to the Creature Project we will be doing with students from Angie Debo, Russell Dougherty and Sunset. Students need to bring clean recycled materials, especially cardboard tubes.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

1st and 2nd Grade - The word of the day was Predilection. Predilection means a preference for something. The pilgrim of the day was Emily Geiger. Emily was the daughter of a farmer during the Revolutionary War. General Greene led the army in the south and was camped on the Greene farm. General Greene needed to get a message to General Sumter who was in the north. Emily volunteered to carry the note under the guise of visiting relatives. When she was stopped by the Brittish to be searched, she read and swallowed the note as the soldier was looking for a woman to search Emily. The next day, she quoted the note to General Sumter. The warm-up activity of the day was called "Surprise in the Middle." This is an exercise in creativity as well as following directions. Students are told that the directions are only given once and they can't erase. If they are paying attention to the directions, they will get the desired results. If they don't follow the directions, they are given a few minutes to turn their drawing into the desired result through creativity. The affective lesson started out with a story called "Don't Laugh at Me." The students were then to draw a picture of themselves with a heading on the paper called, "It's okay..."

5th Grade - Due to a meeting I had to attend, this class was canceled for the day. We will resume our regular schedule next week.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Welcome Back to school! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Break.

4th Grade - The word of the day was Encroach. Encroach means to intrude gradually upon the rights of another; to trespass and sounds like Roach. The pilgrim of the day was George Washington. The people of the United States, after winning the Revolutionary War, wanted to make George Washington king. George Washington told the people that they had just gained their independence from one king, they didn't need another. The people then made him the first president under the Constitution. Our warm-up activity today was called "Surprise in the Middle." This was an exercise in following directions and creativity. The students were given a series of directions and were to follow the directions as they drew a picture. Thinking about time was the focus of our affective lesson. Students were to work backwards from a project they had completed successfully to find out what made that project work. Once they knew how that project worked, they could set goals for their next project. There were a few items to finish up from our last class for the SOS project on ocean currents. As an introduction to our Creature Project that we will be doing with three other elementary schools in Edmond, the students had one person in their group get directions from another student to build a poster. The "runner" then came back to the group and the group put the picture together.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

1st and 2nd Grade - The first and second graders were having special activities today in their classrooms. We will resume our regular schedule next week.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Aghast. Aghast means shocked; frightened; terrified; taken back and sounds like Ghost. The pilgrim of the day was John Muir. John Muir loved tinkering and designing, but he was also a practical, hardworking man. While working in a factory a piece of metal filing left him temporarily blind. When he regained his eyesight, he decided what he really wanted to do was explore nature. We can thank John Muir for founding our National Park system. Students then focused on their choices as part of their affective thinking lesson. The students also worked some more on their Deficient, Abundant, and Perfect Numbers and completed their Flotsam and Jetsam page from last week. The students were quickly introduced to the Exploravision Contest that we will begin working diligently on after Thanksgiving Break.

Enjoy the Thanksgiving Break! We will see you again bright and early Monday morning, November 29, 2010.

Monday, November 22, 2010

4th Grade - The word of the day was Aghast. Aghast means shocked; frightened; terrified; taken back and sounds like Ghost. The pilgrim of the day was John Muir. John Muir was instrumental in founding our National Park system. The students finally figured out the mystery object from last week. It was a miner's birdcage. Before electricity, miners would send canaries into the mines to check for poisonous gases. If the birds came out alive, the mine was safe to go into for work. We also worked a puzzle called "What in the World." These are close up views of items with a clue. By reading the clue and looking at the picture, students are to determine each item. We then read information about Amelia Earhart and wrote a newspaper article about what we think happened to her.

Friday, November 19, 2010

4th Grade - The word of the day was Aqueduct. Aqueduct means a large pipe or conduit for carrying water from a distant location and sounds like "aqua duck." The pilgrim of the day was Mary Cassatt. Despite the fact that she was a woman living in the mid 19th century, Mary persevered to become "America's Great Impressionist." We also played 20 Questions. Students figured out what the bird cage was used for detecting gasses in mines. The affective lesson focused on confidence and insecurity. Students were looking at their strengths (electric outlets) and weaknesses (dimmer switches) to see how they cope with those attributes in different circumstances. Our Exploration lesson had us studying the scientific method just as Alfred Wegener did with his theory of continental drift. The SOS project had students learning about flotsam and jetsam. Flotsam is anything that falls off a ship accidentally. Jetsam is anything that is tossed from a ship. Students then traced the currents some flotsam would have taken to get from one place to another.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Fervor. Fervor (FUR vur) means ardor; zeal; earnestness and sounds like Fever. The inventor of the day was John Pemberton. During the age of Medicine Man Shows, John Pemberton had developed a tonic called "French Wine of Coca." It contained wine, the drug cocaine, and caffeine. When alcohol was banned in Atlanta, GA, John removed the wine from the list of ingredients and added sugar and oils from several fruits. He eventually sold the recipe and it was resold two more times. Asa Chandler was the last person to purchase the recipe. He put bubbles in the drink, removed the cocaine and named the mix Coca-Cola. The affective lesson was about things we learn as we grow and how those things affect us. We then worked on Deficient, Abundant, and Perfect numbers from the 5th grade Everyday Math curriculum. The focus for today was to get the proper factors of the numbers from 1 to 50. The Exploration lesson discussed the idea that explorations of new frontiers may impact advancements in other fields of study. We looked at the continents. Then through the use of the Scientific Method, students determined for themselves if the continents could have been one large continent. There was an interesting discussion regarding whether there really had been a Pangaea. Finally, our SOS project had us following "Flotsam" and "Jetsam" through the different ocean currents. Flotsam is anything that accidentally falls off of a ship while Jetsam is anything that is thrown off a ship.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

3rd Grade - The word of the day was Opprobrious. Opprobrious means shameful, infamous. The pilgrim of the day was Clint Eastwood. Despite all the moving when he was a child and being fired from Universal studios because he couldn't act, Clint Eastwood has become a successful actor as well as director. The warm-up activity was called 20 Questions. Students were given a picture of an unusual object. They were to ask questions that could only be answered with a "yes" or "no" in order to gain clues that would help them figure out the item. Our series of affective lessons called "Take Five" ended today by having the students reflect on what they learned from these activities. Our friends from Crystal Pond Woods were drawing in the sand and then telling each other what they thought the pictures were as a way to demonstrate creativity. Students were then given the opportunity to come up with creative titles for some simple drawings. They also had an opportunity to create some simple drawings themselves and come up with a title for each one. Our Discoveries lesson had us focusing on the fact that personal discoveries may help us survive in difficult situations. Students were given some materials and told to build a boat that would float. Just like Abel in Abel's Island, they could only use the materials they were provided to learn survival. I hope to get the pictures load on the WI web page next week.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Fervor. Fervor (FUR vur) means ardor; zeal; earnestness and sounds like Fever. The inventor of the day was John Pemberton. During the age of Medicine Man Shows, John Pemberton had developed a tonic called "French Wine of Coca." It contained wine, the drug cocaine, and caffeine. When alcohol was banned in Atlanta, GA, John removed the wine from the list of ingredients and added sugar and oils from several fruits. He eventually sold the recipe and it was resold two more times. Asa Chandler was the last person to purchase the recipe. He put bubbles in the drink, removed the cocaine and named the mix Coca-Cola. The affective lesson was about things we learn as we grow and how those things affect us. We then worked on Deficient, Abundant, and Perfect numbers from the 5th grade Everyday Math curriculum. The focus for today was to get the proper factors of the numbers from 1 to 50. The Exploration lesson discussed the idea that explorations of new frontiers may impact advancements in other fields of study. We looked at the continents. Then through the use of the Scientific Method, students determined for themselves if the continents could have been one large continent. Finally, our SOS project had us following "Flotsam" and "Jetsam" through the different ocean currents. Flotsam is anything that accidentally falls off of a ship while Jetsam is anything that is thrown off a ship.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

1st and 2nd Grade - In Crystal Pond Woods, our friends, Isabel the Inventor and Yolanda the Yarnspinner had us practicing SCAMPER again. Students spun the wheel to decide what common item to SCAMPER. They also learned that it was important to leave lots of details when describing their pictures. Our Discovery lesson had us focusing on the generalization that personal discoveries may help us survive in difficult situations. Students learned in order to survive you have to use what materials are available. This is similar to what Abel from Abel's Island is going through. Students then built "boats" that would float to help Abel get some ideas to get off the island.



3rd Grade - The word of the day was Opprobrious. Opprobrious means shameful, infamous. The pilgrim of the day was Clint Eastwood. Despite all the moving when he was a child and being fired from Universal studios because he couldn't act, Clint Eastwood has become a successful actor as well as director. The warm-up activity was called 20 Questions. Students were given a picture of an unusual object. They were to ask questions that could only be answered with a "yes" or "no" in order to gain clues that would help them figure out the item. Our series of affective lessons called "Take Five" ended today by having the students reflect on what they learned from these activities. Our friends from Crystal Pond Woods were drawing in the sand and then telling each other what they thought the pictures were as a way to demonstrate creativity. Students were then given the opportunity to come up with creative titles for some simple drawings. They also had an opportunity to create some simple drawings themselves and come up with a title for each one. Our Discoveries lesson had us focusing on the fact that personal discoveries may help us survive in difficult situations. Students were given some materials and told to build a boat that would float. Just like Abel in Abel's Island, they could only use the materials they were provided to learn survival. I hope to get the pictures load on the WI web page next week.



4th Grade - The word of the day was Aqueduct. Aqueduct means a large pipe or conduit for carrying water from a distant location and sounds like "aqua duck." The pilgrim of the day was Mary Cassatt. Despite the fact that she was a woman living in the mid 19th century, Mary persevered to become "America's Great Impressionist." We also played 20 Questions. Students haven't figured out what the bird cage is used for. The affective lesson focused on confidence and insecurity. Students were looking at their strengths (electric outlets) and weaknesses (dimmer switches) to see how they cope with those attributes in different circumstances. Our Exploration lesson had us studying the scientific method just as Alfred Wegener did with his theory of continental drift. The SOS project had students learning about flotsam and jetsam. Flotsam is anything that falls off a ship accidentally. Jetsam is anything that is tossed from a ship. Students then traced the currents some flotsam would have taken to get from one place to another.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

1st and 2nd Grade - Our word for today was Aversion. Aversion means a strong dislike toward something. The pilgrim was James Monroe who we had discussed before, so we moved on to the warm-up activity. The warm-up activity was a game called 20 Questions. Children are to ask questions that can only be answered with a "yes" or "no." By asking questions they are to develop clues to help them determine what the item is. It took them more than 20 questions, but they did figure out what the mystery object was called. Students then finished writing on their shoe print what is necessary when speaking to an adult.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Fervor. Fervor (FUR vur) means ardor; zeal; earnestness and sounds like Fever. The inventor of the day was John Pemberton. During the age of Medicine Man Shows, John Pemberton had developed a tonic called "French Wine of Coca." It contained wine, the drug cocaine, and caffeine. When alcohol was banned in Atlanta, GA, John removed the wine from the list of ingredients and added sugar and oils from several fruits. He eventually sold the recipe and it was resold two more times. Asa Chandler was the last person to purchase the recipe. He put bubbles in the drink, removed the cocaine and named the mix Coca-Cola. The affective lesson was about things we learn as we grow and how those things affect us. We then worked on Deficient, Abundant, and Perfect numbers from the 5th grade Everyday Math curriculum. The focus for today was to get the proper factors of the numbers from 1 to 50. The Exploration lesson discussed the idea that explorations of new frontiers may impact advancements in other fields of study. We looked at the continents. Then through the use of the Scientific Method, students determined for themselves if the continents could have been one large continent. Finally, our SOS project had us following "Flotsam" and "Jetsam" through the different ocean currents. Flotsam is anything that accidentally falls off of a ship while Jetsam is anything that is thrown off a ship.

4th Grade COGAT scores will be going home with the students this week.

Monday, November 15, 2010

4th Grade - The word of the day was Aqueduct (ACK wa duct). It means a large pipe or conduit for carrying water from a distant location and sounds like Aqua Duck. The pilgrim of the day was Mary Cassatt. Mary was an artist during a time when women didn't work outside of the home. Her own father didn't encourage her, but Mary was not easily discouraged. She spent several years training in Europe eventually joining a group labeled "Impressionists." The warm-up activity of the day was 20 questions. This particular group hasn't figured out what the item is yet. Our affective thinking focused on confidence and Insecurity. Students pondered how confidences and insecurities affect performance in all areas of life. Our Explorations study was wanting us to understand that the explorations of new frontiers may impact advancements in other fields of study. Students reviewed the Scientific Method as they learned about how the continents at one time could have all been together as one large continent known as "Pangea." Today, in our SOS project, students learned about Flotsam and Jetsam. Flotsam refers to cargo that falls off a ship. Jetsam refers to cargo that the crew actually throws off the ship. Students then used what they learned about ocean currents to find out how items lost at one sea could end up in another ocean.

Friday, November 12, 2010

4th grade - The word of the day was Fertile. Fertile means able to reproduce children, seeds, or fruits; highly productive and sounds like Turtle. The pilgrim of the day was George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver overcame discrimination to become a leading botanist. When southern farmers were losing their cotton crops, George Washington Carver was able to persuade them that there was a market for peanuts by inventing for 300 uses for that product. The puzzle of the day was a Quotation Quizzler. Quotation Quizzlers take a famous quote and put it into a puzzle something like a crossword puzzle. For more puzzles to do at home, go to http://www.quotepuzzles.com/.
Students then worked on a project from their 4th grade Every Day Math curriculum. They put together a Cutaway Globe that will be able to help them with latitude and longitude. We then discussed how Pacific Ocean currents affect cities in Japan and eastern Asia as well as the west coast of North America.

5th grade - The word of the day was Prevail. Prevail means to be victorious; to persuade and sounds like Sail. The inventor of the day was Ruth Wakefield. While baking cookies one day, Ruth discovered she had run out of baking chocolate. Her friend, Andrew Nestle, had given her a semi-sweet chocolate bar which she broke up and put into the cookie batter. She thought it would melt and she would get her chocolate cookies. To her surprise, the chocolate did not melt and now we have chocolate chip cookies. Her recipe is on the back of every package of Nestle's Toll House chocolate chips. The cookies were named after the inn she and her husband ran. The puzzle of the day was a Quotation Quizzler. Students then spent some time reflecting and writing about what was important to them. We then worked on the SOS project. Students were to reflect on how the ocean currents of the Pacific Ocean affect eastern Asia and the west coast of North America. Students left early to enjoy the magician assembly for all of their work on the Sooner fundraiser.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Happy Veterans Day!

3rd Grade - The word of the day was Tantamount. Tantamount means equivalent to, virtually the same. The pilgrim of the day was Walt Disney. Walt Disney had his early cartoons rejected by the Chicago Tribune, but he didn't give up. Walt eventually headed to Hollywood. In 1927, he created the cartoon character that ehlped him achieve his dream. The puzzle of the day was a Quotation Quizzler. You may do more puzzles like these at home by going to http://www.quotepuzzles.com. Our affective thinking lesson today centered on setting goals in the five areas we have been studying. Students looked at where they are now in each of those areas and set goals to help them reach where they want to be. In Crystal Pond Woods, we began studying Divergent Thinking. Divergent Thinking gets the students to brainstorm and branch ideas out in to many answers. This is the opposite of Convergent Thinking where students had to gather information and come up with one solution. We then revisited our potato experiment from last week. Students learned that it was not safe to drink salt water because salt water will dehydrate you.

5th Grade - The word of the day was Prevail. Prevail means to be victorious; to persuade and it sounds like Sail. The inventor of the day was Ruth Wakefield. Ruth and her husband owned the Toll House Inn of Massachutes. Ruth did all of the cooking and baking. She was well known for her chocolate cookies. One day she ran out of baking chocolate. Her friend Andrew Nestle had given her a semi-sweet candy bar. She thought if she broke it up and put it in the batter, the candy would melt and she would get her chocolate cookies. Instead she got chocolate chip cookies and we are so glad! The affective lesson had students thinking about themselves: what is important to them, what they like about their friends, etc. After a special visit from LTC Ty Bonner and the ROTC from North Edmond to help celebrate Veterans Day, students were reminded that ocean currents affect the temperatures of coastal cities. Today the focus was on Pacific Ocean currents.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

1st and 2nd Grade - The word of the day was Gloat. People who gloat are happy about other people's failure. The pilgrim of the day was Sacagawea. Sacagawea was an interpreter for the Lewis and Clark expedition. Although she didn't speak English, she could speak with the Native American tribes and tell her husband what they said in French. Her french husband would then translate to Lewis and Clark in English. The puzzle of the day was a Quotation Quizzler. Students can practice more puzzles at home by going to http://www.quotepuzzles.com/index.jsp.
Our affective lessons are still centered around the characteristics of successful people. Today the focus was on courage and speaking properly with adults otherwise known as "putting your best foot forward."

3rd Grade - The word of the day was Tantamount. Tantamount means equivalent to, virtually the same. The pilgrim of the day was Walt Disney. Walt Disney tried to sell his cartoons to a newspaper, but they rejected him. In 1927, while living in California, Walt Disney developed the mouse that became Mickey Mouse. Where would we be if Walt's cartoons had been accepted by the Chicago Tribune? We also did Quotation Quizzlers as our daily puzzle. Our affective lesson focused on setting goals for each area that we have discussed this year. Students looked at where they are in those five areas and where they want to be. Today, our trip to Crystal Pond Woods centered around Divergent Thinking. While Convergent Thinking brought ideas together for one answer, Divergent branches into lots of ideas. At the end of the class period, we revisited our potato/water experiment from last week. We discussed the difference in the two different potatoes.

4th Grade - Our word of the day was Fertile. Fertile means able to reproduce children, seeds, or fruits; highly productive. The pilgrim of the day was George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver does not claim to have invented peanut butter as many people think, but he did invent over 300 uses for the peanut. Our puzzle of the day was the Quotation Quizzler like the other two grade levels. We built a "cutaway globe" which is a project from the Every Day Math curriculum that the regular classes are using. Students then looked for North American cities along the west coast and matched them with an eastern Asian city on the same latitude as the North American city. We were researching how the ocean currents affect the city climates.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Classes for today were either canceled or moved to another day. I had to take care of some personal business. Our normal routine will begin again on Wednesday.

Monday, November 8, 2010

4th grade - The word of the day was Fertile. Fertile means able to reproduce children, seeds or fruits; highly productive. Fertile sounds like turtle. The puzzle of the day was a Quotation Quizzler. These are quotes that have been put into a puzzle similar to a crossword. For more puzzles to do at home, go to http://www.quotepuzzles.com/index.jsp. The person of the day was George Washington Carver. While many people credit George Washington Carver with the invention of peanut butter, he did develop over 300 uses for the peanut, but did not claim to have invented peanut butter. We then built a paper Cutaway Globe. This is a project from the Everyday Math series that the students use in math class. Students did more research on cities affected by ocean currents. Today they concentrated on cities near the Pacific Ocean.

5th grade - Students from Mrs. Cook and Mrs. Maxwell's classes that usually meet for Enrichment on Tuesday afternoon, met today. The word of the day was Prevail. Prevail means to be victorious; to persuade and sounds lilke sail. The inventor of the day was Ruth Wakefield. Ruth and her husband owned the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts. People would stop by the Inn from miles away to try Ruth's chocolate cookies. One day, as she was mixing up a batch of her famous chocolate cookies, she noticed that she had run out of baking chocolate. A friend of hers, Andrew Nestle, had given Ruth a semi-sweet chocolate bar. Ruth thought if she broke up the candy bar and put it into the cookie dough, it would melt and she would get her chocolate cookies. Instead, the chocolate did not melt and she had invented a new cookie. The Toll House Cookies are named after the Inn and Ruth's recipe is on every bag of Nestle's chocolate chips.
The affective thinking lesson centered around how students felt about themselves/what was important to them. These students also studied Pacific Ocean cities that were affected by ocean currents.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

3rd grade - Our word for today was Diaphanous. Diaphanous means translucent, transparent. The pilgrim of the day was Tom Cruise. As a boy, Tom struggled with reading, but was able to fit in school because of his athletic abilities. Tom still struggles with reading and has someone record his lines in order to memorize them. Our puzzle for the day was a Plexer. Plexers are critical thinking puzzles that require students to analyze the clues and solve problems through deductive reasoning. For more puzzles you can do at home, go to http://www.puzzles.com/index.htm.
During our trip to Crystal Pond Woods, students developed their own Plexer puzzles. They then tried to solve a neighbor's puzzles. Our Discoveries lessons have us studying the book Abel's Island. Abel has been left on a deserted island due to a hurricane. As we study survival skills, we discussed and observed through a potato experiment the reason people cannot survive on salt water.

5th grade - The word of the day was Runt. Runt means undersized; a small animal or person. It sounds like bunt. The inventor of the day was Tom Adams. After claiming a victory at the Alamo, Santa Anna ended up on Staten Island, NY with Tom Adams. Santa Anna suggested that Tom try inventing a new rubber using chicle, an abundant resource from Mexico. When the rubber idea didn't work, Tom broke off a piece and started chewing it. That led to the invention of chewing gum. This group also did Plexer puzzles. For more puzzles to do at home, go to http://www.puzzles.com/index.htm.
Our SOS project had us looking up different sea side cities and determining their warmest/coldest and average temperature. Students then had to decide why cities on the same latitude line were warmer or colder than the other. After a brief lesson on planes and joints, students left to enjoy their Accelerated Reading parties.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

1st and 2nd grade - Our trip to Crystal Pond Woods today had us visiting with Isabel the Inventor. Isabel was excited about the yard sale her friends were having to get rid of excess paraphernalia. She found an old kite that she "SCAMPERed." The students were given an opportunity to "SCAMPER" either an umbrella, shoe or fishing pole. They were to take these common items and turn them into a new invention and then write about them. Our affective lesson centered on the idea that successful people exhibit the traits of creativity, goal setting, intelligence, courage, and kindness. The focus today was Responsibility and Respect. Students drew cartoons and wrote captions for those drawings. The cartoons were to tell about the choices they could make when they were bored. You can view both projects during parent/teacher conferences either Thursday or Monday evening.

4th grade - Due to no classes on Friday, the Friday morning group joined us today. The word of the day was Goad. Goad means anything that pricks, prods, or urges. It sounds like toad. The pilgrim of the day was Jimmy Carter. President Carter was instrumental in getting President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and the Prime Minister of Israel, Menachem Begin, to sign a peace agreement in 1978. Students then completed Plexer puzzles. Plexers are logic elimination grid puzzles that teach students to analyze the clues and use deductive reasoning to solve problems. For more similar puzzles to work on at home, go to http://www.puzzles.com/.
The Exploration lesson centered on the generalization that new frontiers may impact advancements in other fields of study. After discussing a few of the items we use every day that were developed for the space program, students built "space stations." These will be on display during Parent/Teacher conferences. Our SOS project again focused on ocean currents. Students were given some cities in either Europe or North America and had to find the average warm temperature, average cold temperature and the overall average temperature. Once they found those temperatures, they had to decide why the cities were cooler or warmer than they would be if they were further inland.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

1st and 2nd grade - Our word of the day was Sullen. A person who is sullen is sulky or quietly in a bad mood. The pilgrim of the day was James Monroe. After serving his country for many years, James Monroe had not saved up any money for himself. He finally sold his family home and moved in with his daughter until he died. The puzzle of the day was a Plexer. Plexers are logic problems. Students are given a problem and a list of clues. They have to use deductive reasoning and logical elimination in order to determine the answers. For similar puzzle to work on at home, go to http://www.puzzles.com/index.htm.
In Crystal Pond Woods today, we began SCAMPERing. We will learn more about that tomorrow.

5th grade - The Friday afternoon group joined us today since we will not be having class this Friday. The word of the day was Runt. Runt means undersized; a small animal or person and sounds like bunt. Our pilgrim of the day was Tom Adams. After the battle of the Alamo, Santa Anna moved to Staten Island, NY where he stayed with an inventor friend named Tom Adams. Santa Anna suggested Tom try making a new rubber from chicle. When that failed, he accidentally began chewing on it. The accident turned into chewing gum. We also did Plexer puzzles. Officers from the Sheriff's department came to visit with the 5th graders this afternoon. After they left, we spent a few minutes researching coastal cities whose temperatures are affected by ocean currents.

Monday, November 1, 2010

4th grade - Our vocabulary word for the day was Goad. Goad means anything that pricks, prods, or urges and it sounds like Toad. The pilgrim of the day was President Jimmy Carter. President Carter was instrumental in getting the president of Egypt (Anwar Sadat) and the prime minister of Israel (Menachem Begin) to sign a peace treaty in the Middle East. The puzzle for today was a logic puzzle. Many of the students love working these types of problems. They are great in teaching students to look for evidence in decision making, as well as deductive reasoning, elimination and problem solving. If you would like to do some more, go to: http://www.puzzles.com/projects/alllogicproblems.html.
We briefly discussed strengths and weaknesses for our affective lesson. The Exploration lesson focused on the understanding that new frontiers may impact advancements in other fields of study. After a short discussion of things we use every day that were developed from space exploration, students built a "space station." As they were building they were also learning about planes/flat surfaces and joints. Together those two items make buildings stronger. The SOS project had us focusing on how ocean currents affect weather in climates that should normally be cool or warm. Students were to look up a city in the encyclopedia and find the warm temperature, cool temperature and the average temperature. We will finish that discussion next week.

Friday, October 29, 2010

4th grade - The vocabulary word of the day was Inhabit. Inhabit means to live or dwell in and sounds like rabbit. Our pilgrim of the day was Rachel Carson. Rachel was an author and environmentalist who was influential in having the pesticide DDT removed from the market. Our puzzle for the day was a Plexer. Plexers are common terms or phrases in picture form. Students are to look for visual clues from the different perspectives and look for the interrelationship of visual clues. The affective lesson of the day centered around tolerance and empathy. Students learned that they need to become more tolerant of their pet peeves. The Exploration lesson focused on the generalization that explorers transfer parts of their culture to other cultures. By playing the game "20 Questions", students learned that a variety of items can transfer cultures not just food. Our SOS project had us studying ocean currents.

5th grade - The vocabulary word of the day was Succor. Succor means help; relief; assistance and sounds like soccer. Our pilgrim of the day was George Washington Carver. Although George Washington Carver was discriminated against because of his skin color, through hard word and determination he over came his obstacle and helped southern farmers develop other crops. The affective lesson of the day centered around tolerance and empathy. The Exploration lesson focused on the generalization that explorers transfer parts of their culture to other cultures. By playing the game "20 Questions", students learned that a variety of items can transfer cultures not just food. Our SOS project has us studying ocean currents.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

3rd grade - The vocabulary word of the day was Sequester. Sequester means to hold in isolation. Our pilgrim of the day was Cher. Cher tried to start her singing career as a teenager. Unfortunately, her first record was a flop. It was after she met Sonny Bono and they became Sonny and Cher that her singing career took off. Our puzzle for the day was Plexers. Plexers are common phrases that are in picture form. Students have to determine the phrase from the picture clue given. The affective lesson focused on the fifth trait of successful people - caring. After reading/listening to some scenarios, students had to determine how they could demonstrate caring at home, on the way to school, at school and after school. Students then continued developing their critical thinking skills through the use of manipulative logic reasoning puzzles instead of the usual paper and pencil method.

5th grade - The vocabulary word of the day was Succor. Succor means help; relief; assistance and sounds like soccer. Their inventor of the day was George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver as a boy had developed a secret garden. He is known for developing over 300 uses for the peanut. We also did the Plexer puzzles. Our affective lesson focused on tolerance and empathy. The Exploration lesson focused on the fact that explorers may transfer parts of their culture to other cultures. Through the game 20 Questions, students learned about several items that have been borrowed from other cultures. Day 2 of the SOS project had us studying ocean currents and understanding that the sun is the source that creates ocean currents. They also got to open the bottle with the "Help letter" from the missing family.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

1st and 2nd grade - Students spent time completing their "Beautiful Autumn Day in the Meadow" stories. The stories were wonderful. Our affective thinking focused on the five traits of successful people. Their focus for today was creativity. The students were given some art supplies and told to build an animal that they would find in the meadow. You will be able to view these next week at Parent/Teacher Conferences.

3rd grade - The word of the day was Sequester. Sequester means to hold in isolation. Our pilgrim of the day was Cher. Cher tried to start her singing career as a teenager. Unfortunately, her first record was a flop. It wasn't until she met Sonny Bono and they became Sonny and Cher that her singing career took off. Our affective thinking focused on the fifth trait of successful people - caring. After reading/listening to several scenarios of caring, students were to write ways they could demonstrate caring at home, before school, at school and after school. Our trip to Crystal Pond Woods had us focused once again on Convergent Thinking. Students were given manipulatives to work the puzzles today instead of the paper/pencil puzzles they have been accustomed too.

4th grade - Due to a meeting this afternoon, Miss Agee's 4th grade Enrichment students will meet with the Friday morning group this week.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

1st and 2nd grade - Our vocabulary word for the day was Excessive. Something that is excessive goes beyond the usual limit. Sybil Luddington was our pilgrim for the day. During the Revolutionary War, Sybil rode through the dark of night to gather the militia. Our trip to Crystal Pond Woods was led by Yolanda the Yarnspinner. Yolanda encouraged students to use colorful, descriptive words to write a story about a beautiful autumn day. The students had just started writing their stories when it was time to go back to their regular classes. We will pick up there tomorrow.

5th grade - Our vocabulary ward for the day was Succor. Succor means help; relief; assistance and sounds like soccer. The inventor of the day was George Washington Carver. During a fifty year span, George Washington Carver found over 300 uses for the peanut. Tolerance and empathy were the focus of our affective thinking study of the day. We learned that explorers may transfer parts of their culture to other cultures. Through the use of 20 questions, students learned that a lot of the items we have in the United States today came from other cultures. Likewise, other countries have picked up parts of our culture. For example, other cultures have adopted our democratic form of government. The SOS project helped us learn about ocean currents. We were able to open the bottle today from our missing family and read the note.

Monday, October 25, 2010

4th Grade - Welcome Back! Hopefully you had a great time off.

Today the word was Inhabit. Inhabit means to live or dwell in and sounds like Rabbit. The pilgrim of the day was Rachel Carson. Rachel was a writer and environmentalist. She is responsible for having the pesticide DDT removed from the environment. Our affective study centered around levels of negative tolerance and their effects on behavior. It is hoped that students will become more tolerant of things that bother them. Our Exploration lesson centered around cultural borrowing. Students had an item borrowed from another country taped on their backs. Through asking a series of yes or no questions, they hoped to determine the item that we borrowed from another culture. Not only did students learn that food and games can be transferred to other cultures, forms of government can be transferred from one culture to another. Our SOS project began studying ocean currents - how they are created and move.

Wednesday, October 20

1st and 2nd grade - The second graders were enjoying a field trip on Wednesday. The two first graders had not met Dudley the Detective and Sybil the Scientist yet. They were introduced to our two friends from Crystal Pond Woods as well as logic elimination puzzles. Logic elimination puzzles provide skills in analysis, deductive reasoning, problem solving and evaluation.

3rd grade - The word of the day was Hypnotize. Hypnotize means to put into a sleep-like state and sounds like Hippo Eyes. Our journeying pilgrims were the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers were the first to make man made flight. Our warm up activity was called, "Stories with Holes." The students were to ask twenty questions that could only be answered with a "yes" or "no" inorder to determine what the situation was about. The statement/story was, "As Carlita jumped to her death, she yelled "Oh no, I have to do it again." Students then spent some time studying and researching a famous "pilgrim" - Amelia Earhart.

5th grade - Their word of the day was Craven. Craven means Cowardly and sounds like Raven. Their inventor was Luther Burbank. Luther Burbank was a plant scientist that had over 3000 experiments going at one time. He is known as the father of the Idaho potato. The warm-up activity was called "What in the World." This is a puzzle that used to show up on the back of the National Geographic for Kids magazine. There are nine close up objects and a clue for each item. From the clue and photo, the students have to determine the item. The affective lesson of the day was on self-discipline in which students were to set goals for themselves for the week. We will see how well they went toward reaching those goals next week. Our Exploration lesson was centered around the idea that explorers transfer parts of cultures to other cultures. After researching the game Mancala, the students had an opportunity to try it themselves. Our SOS project was to locate where their family's bottle was picked up using latitude and longitude.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

1st and 2nd Grade - The word of the day was Benevolent. Benevolent means kind and caring. Our journeying pilgrim for the day was James Madison who we learned was not the tallest or heavest of the presidents. Our puzzle for the day was a Stories with Holes problem. In Stories with Holes, students can only ask the teacher questions about the situation that can be answered with a yes or no. This helps students to learn how to ask more specific, thoughtful questions. The students then worked on the trait of goal setting/motivators. Each group was given a pile of packing peanuts and toothpicks. With five minutes and either a positive or negative motivator, students were expected to complete 10 items that were similar to the given model.



5th Grade - Their word for the day was Craven. Craven means cowardly and sounds like Raven. The inventor of the day was Luther Burbank. Luther was a plant doctor who had more than 3000 experiments going at one time. He is known for developing the Idaho potato. The trait of the day was Self-discipline. Students were to develop a goal and work on it throughout the week. Next week, we will see how well they worked to complete the goal. We then discussed the difference between civilized/uncivilized and culture. The students then did a brief research activity about Mancala, a game that came from an African culture. Finally, students were to locate where their SOS bottle was picked up based on the latitude and longitude written on the bottle's tag.

Stories with Holes problem: As Carlita jumped to her death, she yelled "Oh no, I have to do it again."

Monday, October 18, 2010

The Enrichment students from Mrs. Roan and Mrs. Robison's classes met this morning. Our word of the day was Hypnotize. Hypnotize means to put into a sleep-like state. Hypnotize sounds like Hippo Eyes. Our Journeying pilgrim for today was two people: Orville and Wilbur Wright. Orville and Wilbur Wright both dropped out of high school, but were life long learners continually reading anything they could get their hands on. Their invention was the first airplane to be flown by a man. They then got their bottles for the SOS project. Using reference materials in the room, they had to determine the city and country that matched the latitude and longitude found on the bottle. Since this is going to be a short week, we took a break from our Exploration lessons and decided to find out what happened to Amelia Earhart. We had just started following her flight path when it was time to go. Maybe we can finish it up before Thanksgiving Break.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Fan Fare - Students were introduced to another fund raiser to raise money for the school - good luck everyone!



4th Grade - The Wednesday afternoon class joined us for a while because of the program during their class time. The vocabulary word was Elegant. Elegant means characterized or exhibiting elegance; excellent. It sounds like Pelican. The hero of the day was Elizabeth Blackwell. She overcame the obstacle of being a female in her desire to become a doctor. Her accomplishment was to become the first American woman doctor. We took a pretest on terms (stress, procrastination, perfectionism, potential, isolation, leadership, risk-taking, and motivation). The students then drew house plans to get a visual of how those terms are part of their lives. Our Exploration study covered the term civilization and culture. The focus of understanding was that explorers may transfer parts of their culture to other cultures. We then did a quick study of Mancala, an African game. Our Journey project was to find the bottle that belonged to our lost family. Then, using the latitude and longitude, find the country where the bottle was picked up.



5th Grade - Their vocabulary word was Craven. Craven means cowardly and rhymes with Raven. Luther Burbank was the inventor of the day. At one time he was working on 3000 experiments. He is known for developing the Idaho potato. We then discussed self-discipline. One aspect of self-discipline is to have a plan and stick to it. The students developed goals and set a time to reach those goals. They also studied Mancala and had to locate where their bottles had been picked. This group even had a few minutes at the end of the day to play Mancala.



Have a great weekend. We still need some 17 oz nut cans. If you happen to be snacking on nuts this weekend and empty the can - please send the empty container to Enrichment.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

3rd Grade: Our word for today was Solicitous. Solicitous means attentive/concerned. Our "pilgrim" for today was Jim Carrey. Students learned that Jim Carrey had to drop out of high school when his father lost his job. Through hard work and determination, Jim Carrey kept journeying toward his goal of becoming a comedian. Our puzzle of the day was taken from an old National Geographic Magazine cover. It was called, "What in the World." Students were given very close up views of nine items. After listening to a clue, the students had to determine what the items were. Our affective thinking study was about courage. Each student had to give a one minute speech about something in which they were involved. Not only did the activity help develop courage in the students, they also learned about public speaking and a little bit more about their fellow students.





5th Grade: The Thursday afternoon group welcomed two new faces which meant that groups had to be rearranged to accomodate them. Our word of the day was Craven. Craven means cowardly and rhymes with Raven. The inventor of the day was Luther Burbank. Luther was a plant scientist that had over 3000 experiments going at one time. He is most known for developing the Idaho potato. In affective thinking, students thought about the term "self-discipline." This is a character word that we will definitely have to continue improving. Our "Journey" study was centered around the generalization that explorers transfer parts of their culture to other cultures. The game Mancala is an activity that came from Afica. Students spent a few minutes researching more about the game. We were also able to spend a few minutes working on our SOS project. Students chose what their responsibility would be for the duration of the project. After finding their bottle, they looked up the latitude and longitude of the bottle's location to find out what was the name of the country.

Wednesday, October 13

1st and 2nd graders learned that successful people set goals. They also traveled to Crystal Pond Woods where our friend Isabel the Inventor encouraged us to brainstorm. We were given simple outlines and had to think of all the different things that shape might be.



3rd graders learned that courage is standing up for what you believe in or taking reasonable risks. They practiced this by giving a spontaneous speech for one minute. During their trip to Crystal Pond Woods, they practiced Logic Elimination Puzzles while reinforcing the concepts of Convergent Thinking.



Due to the 4th grade program, the 4th graders who usually meet on Wednesday afternoon, will join the Friday morning group for Enrichment this week.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

1st and 2nd graders welcomed two new faces to our group. Our word of the day was Loquacious. Loquacious means someone who talks too much. Our biography was about Lydia Darragh. She was a spy for George Washington during the Revolutionary War. The puzzle of the day was - to figure out when given two objects, what do they have in common.

The Tuesday afternoon 5th graders were off on a field trip.

Monday, October 11, 2010

The vocabulary word for 4th grade this week is Elegant. Elegant is characterized or exhibiting elegance; excellent. It sounds like Pelican.



The 4th grade biography for the week was about Elisabeth Blackwell. She was the first female to become a doctor.



Affective Thinking: Over the next 9 weeks, we will be covering such terms as: stress, procrastination, perfectionism, potential, isolation, leadership, risk-taking, and motivation. Today we did a preassessment of ourselves as to how each of these elements effects our lives. The students then visualized how each term impacted their lives by drawing a floor plan. Each room of the house represented one of the terms mentioned above.



Our Exploration unit is studying how explorers transfer parts of their culture to other cultures. One game we in the United States have picked up from Africa is Mancala. After a brief period of research, the students shared what they learned about the game.



Due to the 4th grade program rehearsal, we had a short day and were unable to work on our SOS project.

Alien

The "Alien Project" was a cooperative project of three Edmond schools. Each class build a body part of the alien, wrote how they built it, then sent the directions to the other classes. How did you feel about this project?