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.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
Monday, November 8, 2010
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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