Wednesday, January 31, 2018

2nd Grade - We are continuing our focus on the five characteristics of successful people. Today's characteristic was caring. Students looked up the significant words to the pledge to the American flag. Tomorrow we will write pledges we can keep on a personal level.

4th Grade - These classes learned that Potent means something powerful and effective. The thinker was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who fought racism with peaceful demonstrations. Students worked together to solve the 20 Questions Mystery Object for the warm up activity. The rest of class time was spent finishing up researching a planet and creating a travel brochure for the planet.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

2nd Grade - Students solved the 20 Questions Mystery Object for the warm up activity. The rest of class time together was spent finishing work started last week.

Dr. Rains spent the rest of the day making up missed CogAT tests.

Monday, January 29, 2018

2nd Grade - These students learned that a Shelter is a dwelling place or home considered as a refuge from the elements. Their thinker, Martin Van Buren, presented his first case as a lawyer at age 15. Students worked together to try to solve the Mystery Object/20 Questions problem for the warm up activity.

5th Grade - Machinate was today's vocabulary word which means to plot or scheme. Robert Goddard, today's thinker, tried to sell his idea of a rocket to the military during WWII, but the army wouldn't listen. Robert Goddard is now known as the "Father of Modern Rocketry." Students worked together but could not solve the 20 Questions Mystery Object for the warm up activity. The leadership lesson focused on the idea that leaders need to be good listeners. The rest of class was spent working on the Exploravision contest. One more week to complete all projects.

Friday, January 26, 2018

5th Grade - These classes learned that Nefarious means evil, infamous.Their thinker was Robert Fulton who doodled until he created the steamboat. Students exchanged papers each adding a small piece to a drawing of a house for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on the need for communication when leading others. Time was spent completing more essays for the Exploravision project.

Thursday, January 25, 2018

2nd Grade - Our weekly trip to Crystal Pond Woods had students continuing Divergent Thinking. Students were given simple shapes and had to brainstorm what they thought the shape looked like.

3rd Grade - Today's learning started with the vocabulary word Welfare which means good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity of a person, group, or organization; well-being. The thinker was Elvis Presley who's high school music teacher told him he couldn't sing. Students passed drawings of a house around adding a segment to each paper for the warm up activity. Their weekly trip to Crystal Pond Woods had students trying to come up with the question to the given answers. The rest of class time had students working on travel brochures to a Polynesian island.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

2nd Grade - Our social/emotional lesson focused on the idea that successful people are also caring individuals. This also coincides with the week of kindness we are having around school.

4th Grade - These students learned that Impersonate means to mimic or pretend to be someone else. The thinker was Benjamin Franklin who not only invented many things, was a public servant, and was also a philosopher. For the warm up activity, students were given an outline of a house then everyone in class added a piece to each drawing. The rest of class time had students building the robots from the other school and completing information for their planet brochures.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

There were no GATE classes today, but several regular classes had the opportunity to stop by the GATE classroom while their teachers were attending meetings for some fun activities.

Monday, January 22, 2018

2nd Grade - Today, students learned that Physical Change is any process involving a substance's change from one state (gas, liquid, solid) to another. The thinker was Harriet Tubman who served the Union Army during the Civil War, but never received compensation for her years of service. Students took turns creating a drawing for their classmates for the warm up activity.

5th Grade - This class learned that Nefarious means evil, infamous.Their thinker was Robert Fulton who doodled until he created the steamboat. Students exchanged papers each adding a small piece to a drawing of a house for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on the need for communication when leading others. Time was spent completing more essays for the Exploravision project.

Friday, January 19, 2018

5th Grade - Gregarious was today's vocabulary word and it means sociable. Benjamin Franklin, our thinker, only had two years of formal schooling. Students completed a set of Plexers for the warm up activity. The focus of the social/emotional lesson was encouraging others in a kind, precise manner. Our deadline for ExploraVision is getting closer, so time was spent working on more segments of the project.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

2nd Grade - The weekly trip to Crystal Pond Woods had students completing more convergent thinking puzzles. Today they used manipulatives to solve the problems.

3rd Grade - Learning for this class begin with the vocabulary word Tranquility which means calmness; peacefulness; quiet; serenity. The thinker was Michael Jordan who did not make the varsity basketball team for his sophomore year. Students worked together to complete Plexer puzzles for the warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods, students learned about Rube Goldberg's chain reaction contraptions and designed one of their own. Researching Polynesian islands wrapped up our lessons for today.

4th Grade - This class learned that Indignation means anger, especially over something that's unfair. The thinker was Albert Einstein who was a man of peace even though he was instrumental in the development of the atomic bomb. Students worked together to solve Plexer puzzles for the warm up activity. For the affective lesson, students assessed where they fell on a continuum regarding eight areas we have covered this year. The rest of our class time was spent writing directions for building our robots and typing them, researching a planet, brainstorming information for a Veltzar brochure, and completing a template for the brochure we will finish next week.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

2nd Grade - Today's affective lesson covered the understanding that successful people demonstrating caring by celebrating our differences.

4th Grade - These classes learned that Indignation means anger, especially over something that's unfair. The thinker was Albert Einstein who was a man of peace even though he was instrumental in the development of the atomic bomb. Students worked together to solve Plexer puzzles for the warm up activity. For the affective lesson, students assessed where they fell on a continuum regarding eight areas we have covered this year. The rest of our class time was spent writing directions for building our robots and typing them, researching a planet, brainstorming information for a Veltzar brochure, and completing a template for the brochure we will finish next week.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

2nd Grade - These students learned that a Glacier is an extended mass of ice formed from snow falling and accumulating over the years and moving very slowly. Their thinker was Andrew Jackson who was under fire many times. He was hit in the chest with a bullet one time. Doctors told him the bullet was too close to his heart and they didn't want to remove it, Mr. Jackson lived the rest of his life with that bullet in his chest. Students worked together to solve some Plexer puzzles for the warm up activity.

Small groups of students came to Dr. Rains room throughout the rest of the day to work on research projects.

Friday, January 12, 2018

5th Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Modicum which means a moderate amount. The thinker was Conrad Hubert who got the idea of the "hand torch" (flashlight) from a friend's idea of a flower pot that would light up. Students brainstormed three different topics for the warm up activity. Dealing with dilemmas was the focus of the social/emotional lesson. The rest of class time was spent working on the Exploravision project.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

2nd Grade - During our weekly trip to Crystal Pond Woods, students worked to complete different Convergent Thinking puzzles using manipulatives.

3rd Grade - These students learned that Justice is the administering of deserved punishment or reward. The thinker, James Earl Jones, was mute through elementary school because he stuttered. For the warm up activity, students were given a statement then had to brainstorm ideas for that topic. Students had the opportunity to continue brainstorming in Crystal Pond Woods with simple drawings. Finally, students spent time to complete their island research and start creating a brochure for the island.

4th Grade - These students learned that Pulchritude means beauty. Their thinker was Thomas Alva Edison who took out 1,093 patents during his lifetime. Students completed three different rounds of brainstorming topics for the warm up activity. The rest of class time was spent building robots for the other school and starting the written instructions for building it.

Wednesday, January 11, 2018

2nd Grade - Today we learned that Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. The thinker, Emily Geiger, swallowed a secret for George Washington's army so it would not get into the hands of the British. We started working on a Quotation Quizzler for the warm up activity, but we ran out of time. Students wanted to finish it at home.

4th Grade - These students learned that Pulchritude means beauty. Their thinker was Thomas Alva Edison who took out 1,093 patents during his lifetime. Students completed three different rounds of brainstorming topics for the warm up activity. The rest of class time was spent building robots for the other school and starting the written instructions for building it.

Monday and Tuesday, January 8-9, 2018

Monday - Dr. Rains was gone. Classes will be made up on Friday, January 12.

Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday, classroom teachers attended meetings while different classes came to Dr. Rains for some enrichment activities.

Friday, January 5, 2018

5th Grade - This class learned that Soporific means sleep inducing. Today's thinker was Thomas Alva Edison who not only invented the light bulb, but also gummed paper, the phonograph, the phonograph record and the movie projector. Students worked together to solve a Quotation Quizzler for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on making a good first impression. Progress was made in completing two sections of the Exploravision project.

Thursday, January 4, 2018

2nd Grade - This group was able to finish a breakout/escape room they started before the holiday break.

3rd Grade - Today we learned that a Preamble is an introductory statement; preface; or introduction. Their thinker was Whoppi Goldberg who was a makeup artist for a funeral home before she became a famous movie star. Students worked together to solve a Quotation Quizzler puzzle. In Crystal Pond Woods, students were introduced to the guidelines of divergent thinking and learned to brainstorm using a fun game developed by the Crystal Pond Woods creatures. Finally, students had a few minutes to work on their island research project.

4th Grade - Due to a meeting Dr. Rains had to attend, this class met before the holidays.