Monday, March 21, 2011

4th Grade - The word of the day was Swelter. Swelter means oppressed by heat and sounds like sweater. The pilgrim of the day was Thomas Jefferson. As a young man, Thomas Jefferson liked to read. In fact, it wasn't unusual for him to spend 15 hours a day studying. Interestingly, President Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of Independence Day. Independence Day was a day President Jefferson helped create by authoring the Declaration of Independence. The warm-up activity of the day was 20 Questions. One student had actually seen one of these unusual items in use and was able to identify it. The affective lesson had students focusing on the idea that successful people are task committed. Students were given packing peanuts, toothpicks and an incentive to get at least five Whatsits completed in 5 minutes. We then discussed positive and negative motivators as well as intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Our exploration lesson had us exploring veins and arteries in the body. The SOS lesson had students researching the clues discovered by the CSI which we hope will lead us to the rescue of our families. They have been stranded for a very long time.