Wednesday, April 13, 2011

It was great to be back with the Washington Irving Enrichment students. Wednesday was a little hectic, but we quickly fell back into our normal routine. 1st and 2nd Grade - The students took their weekly trip to Crystal Pond Woods where they continued to work on Evaluative Thinking. Several students brought their backpacks for today's activity. After developing their criteria, as if they were purchasing a new backpack for school, students evaluated the bags in order to decide which would be the best to purchase. The Discovery lesson had students focused on the concept that discoveries may impact the behavior of people and influence history. A short discussion on how ice is considered strong led to a simulation of how icebergs are formed and how powerful they can be once they begin to move. We ended the morning by watching a video about icebergs which we will finish next week. 3rd Grade - Occlude was the word of the day. Occlude means to obstruct or block. Bill Gates was the pilgrim of the day. Mr. Gates was often bored in school. When he got bored, he would daydream and when he daydreamed, he would rock. His parents realized he was bored with school and sent him to a private school where his love affair with the computer began. And as the saying goes..."the rest is history." The trip to Crystal Pond Woods for these students had them working on Evaluative thinking again. This time they had to develop criteria and evaluate potato chips. Paleontologists were the focus of the Discovery lesson. Students spent time researching well known bone hunters.
4th Grade - I was away from school Monday, but a wonderful lady was with the students. From the note I received everything went well and the lesson plans were followed. Here is what students learned: The word of the day was Transpire. Transpire means to happen; to become known and sounds like Vampire. John Glenn was the pilgrim of the day. In 1962, John Glenn made the first man made orbit of the earth from space. He went into space again at the age of 78. Quizzles were the warm up puzzle for the day. For more puzzles like the one we did today, go to http://www.puzzles.com/projects/AllLogicProblems.html. Logic puzzles are also a great test practice skill. They teach students to look for problems, search clues, put clues together and draw a conclusion. The Exploration lesson had students completing an experiment to understand Tectonic plates. Students completed the afternoon by researching information from the final clue sent by the CSI team. When we return to Enrichment after testing, students should be able to locate their missing family.