Wednesday, February 23, 2011

1st and 2nd Grade - This morning we listened to the story Do You Want to Be My Friend? by Eric Carle. We then discussed what makes a good friend and each student wrote down 5 characteristics that make themselves a good friend. Next week, we will connect this lesson with why we have friends. Our trip to Crystal Pond Woods had us focused once again on Visual Thinking and developing strategies. We played a game called Think Ahead! on the Smartboard. It is like the old connect the dots to make a square game. Students took a copy of the game home to play with a friend or family member. If they return it finished, they receive credit for their team.

3rd Grade - The word of the day was Inception. Inception means the start or beginning. Our pilgrim of the day was Oprah Winfrey. Ms. Winfrey wowed a lot of people as she was growing up, but not her bosses at the station where she was a TV news anchor. She cared too much. They gave her a job as a morning talk show host and as they say, "the rest is history." The warm up activity was a Quizzle puzzle. For more puzzles to do at home, go to http://www.puzzles.com/Projects/LogicProblems.html. Our trip to Crystal Pond Woods had us focused on Visual Thinking. Max the Magician had students working on Fanciful Phrases or as we like to call them Plexers. Students are given a common phrase in picture form and have to determine what the picture says. Our discovery lesson was a continuation of the Gold Rush lesson of last week. As our nation started growing due to people rushing west, new products and inventions were being developed. Some of these items were discovered by accident (like the gold had been discovered while building a sawmill). Something that is discovered by accident is called Serendipity. Students spent time today researching various inventions.

4th Grade - The word of the day was Despite. Despite means inspite of, notwithstanding and sounds like Write. Our pilgrim of the day was Matthew Henson. Matthew Henson set out to sea at the age of 12 to escape a difficult childhood. An explorer by the name of Robert Peary was so impressed by Mr. Henson, that he asked Mr. Henson to join his team. After three failed attempts these two men along with 4 Inuit guides reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909. They were the first to do so. The warm-up activity was a Quizzles puzzle. For more puzzles like the one we did today, go to http://puzzles.com/Projects/LogicProblemsArchive.html. Our affective thinking had us focusing on the fact that successful people exhibit the trait of creativity. Students were given a variety of materials. As a team they had to make an animal and write a story about the animal. We then studied water density based on the salinity of the water as part of the SOS project.