Friday, January 30, 2015

4th Grade - Potent, which means something that is powerful and effective, was today's vocabulary word. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who led even children in peaceful protests for civil rights was today's explorer. Students followed directions for a Surprise in the Middle drawing for the warm up activity. The focus of the affective lesson was on the understanding that giftedness means different things to different people. Time was spent researching topics about the ocean. The final activity was to repair our robots for Open House next week.

The Friday afternoon 5th grade class was moved to Thursday so Mrs. Rains could go to a meeting.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

3rd Grade - Today's learning began with the vocabulary word Prehistoric which mean of, relating to, or existing in the time before people could write. The explorer, Alexander Graham Bell, not only invented the telephone but also the comic book. Students drew a Surprise in the Middle picture for the warm up activity. The affective list focused on thing we considered valuable. In Crystal Pond Woods students had the opportunity to use visual thinking along with convergent thinking as they played the game Web Walkers. For the Discoveries lesson, students learned that the word Serendipity means to be discovered by accident. Students then began researching inventions.

5th Grade - Fifth grade learning began with the vocabulary word Machinate which means to plot or scheme. Robert Goddard, today's explorer, invented rockets. These students also drew a Surprise in the Middle picture for the warm up activity. We discussed a philosophy question, Are impossible things ever possible? for the affective lesson. Students were also tied together to see if they could separate themselves without breaking the string or slipping the string off their wrists. The rest of the afternoon was spent finishing the ExploraVision projects.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

3rd Grade - Today's learning began with the vocabulary word Prehistoric which mean of, relating to, or existing in the time before people could write. The explorer, Alexander Graham Bell, not only invented the telephone but also the comic book. Students drew a Surprise in the Middle picture for the warm up activity. The affective list focused on thing we considered valuable. In Crystal Pond Woods students had the opportunity to use visual thinking along with convergent thinking as they played the game Web Walkers. For the Discoveries lesson, students learned that the word Serendipity means to be discovered by accident. Students then began researching inventions.

5th Grade - Fifth grade learning began with the vocabulary word Machinate which means to plot or scheme. Robert Goddard, today's explorer, invented rockets. These students also drew a Surprise in the Middle picture for the warm up activity. We discussed a philosophy question, Are impossible things ever possible? for the affective lesson. Students were also tied together to see if they could separate themselves without breaking the string or slipping the string off their wrists. The rest of the afternoon was spent finishing the ExploraVision projects.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

4th Grade - Potent, which means something that is powerful and effective, was today's vocabulary word. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who led even children in peaceful protests for civil rights was today's explorer. Students followed directions for a Surprise in the Middle drawing for the warm up activity. The focus of the affective lesson was on the understanding that giftedness means different things to different people. Time was spent researching topics about the ocean. The final activity was to repair our robots for Open House next week.

Monday, January 26, 2015

1st Grade - Students learned that Nellie Cashman, our explorer for the day, saved the lives of hundreds of men as she traveled to different mining camps providing them with meals. In crystal Pond Woods, students completed a more advanced from of a Venn Diagram. They also drew a picture for the Surprise in the Middle creativity activity.

2nd Grade - These students learned that Inflation means a continual increase in the price of goods and services. Their explorer was Sacagawea who helped Lewis and Clark explore the Louisiana purchase. Surprise in the Middle was the warm up activity which had students drawing an elephant. The affective lesson focused on caring as they wrote pledges to do nice things for other people. The final activity was to build a watercraft that would help Abel from Abel's Island get off his island.

Friday, January 23, 2015

4th Grade - Today's lessons began by learning that Impersonate means to mimic or pretend to be someone else. Benjamin Franklin, today's explorer, founded a lot of firsts for the United States. Students solved a page of Plexer puzzles for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on understanding that being gifted means different things to different people. We spent time reviewing and making suggestions to the 4th grade Enrichment students at Angie Debo about their robot instructions. The rest of the class session had students researching different subjects about the ocean.

5th Grade - These students learned that Nefarious means evil, infamous, Their explorer, Robert Fulton, invented the steamboat as an adult but as a student he was a doodler. They solved the Plexer puzzles for the warm up activity. The affective had students looking at issues through a step by step process to help them decide on a situation. More essays were worked on for the ExploraVision project which is due next Friday.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

3rd Grade - Today, students learned that Paleontology means the science tat deals with the fossils of animals and plants that lived very long ago especially in the time of dinosaurs. Oprah Winfrey, today's explorer, started out as a TV reporter but cared too much about the people involved in the stories. The warm up activity was a series of Plexer puzzles. In Crystal Pond Woods, students worked with visual analogies. Then our Discoveries lesson taught us about the discovery of gold.

5th Grade - These students learned that Nefarious means evil, infamous, Their explorer, Robert Fulton, invented the steamboat as an adult but as a student he was a doodler. They solved the Plexer puzzles for the warm up activity. The affective had students looking at issues through a step by step process to help them decide on a situation. More essays were worked on for the ExploraVision project which is due next Friday.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

3rd Grade - Today, students learned that Paleontology means the science tat deals with the fossils of animals and plants that lived very long ago especially in the time of dinosaurs. Oprah Winfrey, today's explorer, started out as a TV reporter but cared too much about the people involved in the stories. The warm up activity was a series of Plexer puzzles. In Crystal Pond Woods, students worked with visual analogies. Then our Discoveries lesson taught us about the discovery of gold.

5th Grade - These students learned that Nefarious means evil, infamous, Their explorer, Robert Fulton, invented the steamboat as an adult but as a student he was a doodler. They solved the Plexer puzzles for the warm up activity. The affective had students looking at issues through a step by step process to help them decide on a situation. More essays were worked on for the ExploraVision project which is due next Friday.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

4th Grade - Today's lessons began by learning that Impersonate means to mimic or pretend to be someone else. Benjamin Franklin, today's explorer, founded a lot of firsts for the United States. Students solved a page of Plexer puzzles for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on understanding that being gifted means different things to different people. We spent time reviewing and making suggestions to the 4th grade Enrichment students at Angie Debo about their robot instructions. The rest of the class session had students researching different subjects about the ocean.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Today, we enjoyed a day off from school to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Friday, January 16, 2015

4th Grade - Students started the class off by learning that Indignation means anger, especially over something that's unfair.Today's explorer, Albert Einstein, unleashed the nuclear era with his E=mc2 equation. They were challenged with the 20 question Mystery Object for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on Maslow's Hierarchy Theory and how we need to have the lower levels met if we are going to be successful. The rest of the class time was spent building robots from the instructions set to us from Angie Debo.

5th Grade - Today started with the vocabulary word Gregarious which we learned means sociable. The explorer, Benjamin Franklin, only had two years of formal schooling, but continued to learn by reading. These students solved the 20 Questions Mystery Object puzzle for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on controversial topics and how we need to be informed before making a decision about such ideas. The rest of the afternoon was spent developing the consequence segment of the ExploraVision contest.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

3rd Grade - Due to a scheduling change, this group met with the Wednesday group.

5th Grade - Today started with the vocabulary word Gregarious which we learned means sociable. The explorer, Benjamin Franklin, only had two years of formal schooling, but continued to learn by reading. These students solved the 20 Questions Mystery Object puzzle for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on controversial topics and how we need to be informed before making a decision about such ideas. The rest of the afternoon was spent developing the consequence segment of the ExploraVision contest.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

3rd Grade - These students learned that Stratum is usually the many layers of a substance (such as a rock). Sylvester Stallone, today's explorer, was expelled from ten schools as a child, but became a famous actor. Students solved the 20 questions Mystery Object warm up activity. After listening to the book "Song and Dance Man" by Karen Ackerman, students wrote about their own personal gifts. Students continued to develop their visual thinking skills by working with pentominos in Crystal Pond Woods.

5th Grade - Today started with the vocabulary word Gregarious which we learned means sociable. The explorer, Benjamin Franklin, only had two years of formal schooling, but continued to learn by reading. These students solved the 20 Questions Mystery Object puzzle for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on controversial topics and how we need to be informed before making a decision about such ideas. The rest of the afternoon was spent developing the consequence segment of the ExploraVision contest.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

4th Grade - Students started the class off by learning that Indignation means anger, especially over something that's unfair.Today's explorer, Albert Einstein, unleashed the nuclear era with his E=mc2 equation. They were challenged with the 20 question Mystery Object for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on Maslow's Hierarchy Theory and how we need to have the lower levels met if we are going to be successful. The rest of the class time was spent building robots from the instructions set to us from Angie Debo.

Monday, January 12, 2015

1st Grade - There were two explorers today, because they both had the same problem. Two U.S. Presidents, James Garfield and William McKinley, had their deaths hastened because their doctors didn't know about germs. The warm up activity was a 20 questions Mystery Object. We continued being detectives in Crystal Pond Woods as students learned to group items using a Venn Diagram.

2nd Grade - Today, students learned that a Nugget is a solid lump of a valuable metal. The explorer was our 6th President, John Quincy who liked to swim in the Potomac River. Students were able to solve the 20 questions Mystery Object for the warm up activity. They learned that successful people are caring. In order to demonstrate caring, students learned how to "put their best foot forward" when meeting an adult. The trip to Crystal Pond Woods had students expanding their creative thinking by SCAMPERING an old item into something new and useful.

Friday, January 9, 2015

4th Grade - We started the session by learning that Ponderous means something that is heavy and massive. Thomas Edison, who took out 1,093 patents in his life, was today's explorer. Students completed a Quotation Quizzler for the warm up activity. The focus of the affective lesson was Pet Peeves and how they repel friendships. The rest of the time was spent completing the Munracks and E.coli Prezis.

5th Grade - Students learned that Modicum means a moderate amount. Conrad Hubert, inventor of the flashlight and the Ever Ready Battery Company, was today's inventor. The affective lesson focused on telling the truth. After completing an evaluation of the E.Coli project, students spent the rest of the afternoon working on the ExploraVision project.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

3rd Grade - Today's lessons began by learning the Erosion means the gradual destruction of something by natural forces (such as water, wind, or ice). The explorer, Steven Spielberg, was rejected from college because of poor grades. Students completed a Quotation quizzler for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on protecting your gifts. Students built a structure from straws with a water filled egg. The box containing the structure was dropped from different heights to determine if the egg would break. We started developing our visual thinking in Crystal Pond Woods. Students were to color a map using only four colors and spaces using the same color could not touch.

5th Grade - Students learned that Modicum means a moderate amount. Conrad Hubert, inventor of the flashlight and the Ever Ready Battery Company, was today's inventor. The affective lesson focused on telling the truth. After completing an evaluation of the E.Coli project, students spent the rest of the afternoon working on the ExploraVision project.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

3rd Grade - Today's lessons began by learning the Erosion means the gradual destruction of something by natural forces (such as water, wind, or ice). The explorer, Steven Spielberg, was rejected from college because of poor grades. Students completed a Quotation quizzler for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on protecting your gifts. Students built a structure from straws with a water filled egg. The box containing the structure was dropped from different heights to determine if the egg would break. We started developing our visual thinking in Crystal Pond Woods. Students were to color a map using only four colors and spaces using the same color could not touch.

5th Grade - Students learned that Modicum means a moderate amount. Conrad Hubert, inventor of the flashlight and the Ever Ready Battery Company, was today's inventor. The affective lesson focused on telling the truth. After completing an evaluation of the E.Coli project, students spent the rest of the afternoon working on the ExploraVision project.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

4th Grade - We started the session by learning that Ponderous means something that is heavy and massive. Thomas Edison, who took out 1,093 patents in his life, was today's explorer. Students completed a Quotation Quizzler for the warm up activity. The focus of the affective lesson was Pet Peeves and how they repel friendships. The rest of the time was spent completing the Munracks and E.coli Prezis.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Welcome Back! I hope everyone had an enjoyable break. Here are the things we learned in Enrichment today.

1st Grade - Students started the morning by learning that Calamity Jane should have been named Lucky Jane because did a lot to help tame the wild west. The warm up activity was a Quotation Quizzler. Since the students were new at this activity, it took up a great deal of time but they learned a good deal. We started learning about Venn diagrams in Crystal Pond Woods, but will have to finish the lesson next week.

2nd Grade - These students learned that Ability means the power or skill to do something. Their explorer was Emily Geiger. Emily's family were Patriots during the Revolutionary War. She was to deliver a message to General Sumter in the North. When British soldiers stopped her, she quickly read the message, swallowed it and when allowed to continue she delivered the message word for word. A Quotation Quizzler was the warm up activity. The focus of the affective lesson was responsibility, respect and self discipline.