Friday, March 30, 2018

5th Grade - These students learned that Occlude means to obstruct/block. Elijah McCoy, today's thinker, invented the "Real McCoy" a way to oil machines while they kept running. Students brainstormed several topics for the warm up activity. The affective lesson continued to focus on the importance of clear, concise directions when leading a group of people. Students who had completed their presentations on the Industrial Revolution share them with the class. Then they had the opportunity to solve a Breakout room puzzle.

Thursday, March 29, 2018

2nd Grade - Today's affective lesson focused on the idea that we experience a range of emotions everyday. How we deal with our emotions is a choice.

3rd Grade - This group learned that Consumers are organisms usually animals which feed on plants or other animals.Their thinker was Albert Einstein who failed his entrance exam into engineering school. Fortunately, he read and learned on his own and was finally accepted into the University of Zurich. Students Brainstormed different items for the warm up activity. We continued to develop our visual thinking in Crystal Pond Woods. Today, students had the opportunity to learn a new game while practicing their visual thinking. The final activity was to learn more about natural disasters which will be discussed later this year.

4th Grade - This group learned that Instill means to put a feeling or idea into someone's mind slowly. We had two thinkers today; Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan who were advocates for handicapped people. For the warm up activity students brainstormed three different topics. The rest of our time was spent developing their transportation presentations trying to get them completed before state testing begins.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

2nd Grade - The vocabulary word for the week was Constants which are not changing or varying.We had two thinkers today: John Tyler the 10th President who was known as "His Accedence" and James Knox Polk the 11th President who was known as the first "dark horse".

4th Grade - This group learned that Instill means to put a feeling or idea into someone's mind slowly. We had two thinkers today; Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan who were advocates for handicapped people. For the warm up activity students brainstormed three different topics. Those who had completed their transportation presentations shared them with the class and had the opportunity to try to solve a digital breakout problem. Those who did not have their presentations finished took time today to complete it.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Different classes came to Dr. Rains' room for enrichment activities today while their teachers were attending meetings.

Monday, March 26, 2018

Welcome Back! I hope everyone had an enjoyable and restful Spring Break.

2nd Grade - This class was canceled due to a special assembly for Jump Rope For Heart.

5th Grade - These students learned that Occlude means to obstruct/block. Elijah McCoy, today's thinker, invented the "Real McCoy" a way to oil machines while they kept running. Students brainstormed several topics for the warm up activity. The affective lesson continued to focus on the importance of clear, concise directions when leading a group of people. Students who had completed their presentations on the Industrial Revolution share them with the class. Then they had the opportunity to solve a Breakout room puzzle.

Friday, March 16, 2018

2nd Grade - Today we focused on the generalization the people can predict change. We studied weather maps to predict what they weather would be like the next day.

5th Grade - This class learned that Spurious means false, counterfeit. The thinker, John Walker invented the safety match while trying to invent a safer explosive. A Drop Quote puzzle was collaborated upon for the warm up activity. The leadership lesson had students trying to build a puzzle they couldn't see using only the directions verbally given by another person. This taught the importance of listening not just hearing. The rest of class time was spent completing Industrial Revolution projects. Several students were able to present their projects to the class.

Thursday, March 15, 2018

2nd Grade - we continued to develop our Divergent Thinking in Crystal Pond Woods. Students each selected a noun, then a verb and had to invent something to go with the drawn words.

3rd Grade - This group learned that a Producer is an organism, as a plant, that is able to produce its own food from inorganic substances. Their thinker was Thomas Edison whose teachers thought he was dull and couldn't learn because he was deaf. In Crystal Pond Woods Students continued developing their Visual Thinking by completing visual analogies. For the final activity, another chapter of Call It Courage was read and discussed.

4th Grade - The vocabulary word for today was Exploit which means a daring or heroic act. The thinker was Thomas Jefferson who had good teachers that gave him a love for learning. A Quotation Quizzler was the warm up activity which was completed as a class. Students went to work on finalizing their research on the transportation system and also worked on the products they will share with the class.

Wednesday, March 13, 2018

2nd Grade - The affective lesson focused on the generalization that people experience a range of emotions every day. Students drew several emotions they could be feeling in a given day.

4th Grade - The vocabulary word for today was Exploit which means a daring or heroic act. The thinker was Thomas Jefferson who had good teachers that gave him a love for learning. A Quotation Quizzler was the warm up activity which was completed as a class. Students went to work on finalizing their research on the transportation system and also worked on the products they will share with the class.

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

2nd Grade - Today students learned that Insulation means to cover, line, or separate with a material that prevents or reduces the leakage of heat. The thinker was Belle Boyd who pick pocketed information from Union army leaders to pass on to the South. Students worked together to complete a Quotation Quizzler for the warm up activity.

5th Grade - This class learned that Spurious means false, counterfeit. The thinker, John Walker invented the safety match while trying to invent a safer explosive. A Drop Quote puzzle was collaborated upon for the warm up activity. The leadership lesson had students trying to build a puzzle they couldn't see using only the directions verbally given by another person. This taught the importance of listening not just hearing. The rest of class time was spent completing Industrial Revolution projects.

Monday, March 12, 2018

Classes were moved to Tuesday while Dr. Rains presented information about gifted students to teachers in another district.

Friday, March 9, 2018

5th Grade - Students learned that Oscitant means someone who is inattentive. The thinker was Guglielmo who is credited with the invention of the telegraph although there is some debate about who actually invented it. What in the world puzzles were the warm up activity for this week. The affective lesson again focused on the importance of communication in leadership. The final activity was to have students work on their Industrial Revolution projects.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

2nd Grade - Each student was given words cards which they used to develop a class story. It was a very fun and interesting story.

3rd Grade - This class learned that Compatible means able to exist together with something else. Their thinker was Alexander Graham Bell who invented the comic book and the telephone. Students solved nine What in the World puzzles for the warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods, students were given shapes and pentominoes. The pentominoes were manipulated visually and physically to fit into the shapes. The Relationship lesson has been centering around the book Call It Courage. Today's activities included watching a video about hurricanes and completing an experiment about them.

4th Grade - Our vocabulary word was Candid which means someone who is honest and sincere. The thinker was Langston Hughes who started the Harlem Renaissance movement of the Great Depression to bring poetry to African Americans. Students figured out nine What In The World puzzles for the warm up activity. Today's social/emotional issue focused on the generalization that being gifted means different things to different people. The final activity was to research different methods of transportation which will be used in a later project.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

2nd Grade - Students finished creating their booklets about stress.

4th Grade - Our vocabulary word was Candid which means someone who is honest and sincere. The thinker was Langston Hughes who started the Harlem Renaissance movement of the Great Depression to bring poetry to African Americans. Students figured out nine What In The World puzzles for the warm up activity. Today's social/emotional issue focused on the generalization that being gifted means different things to different people. The final activity was to research different methods of transportation which will be used in a later project.

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

2nd Grade - This group finished the What In The World puzzles started yesterday. The affective lesson focused on stress. Students began developing small booklets about it.

5th Grade - Students learned that Oscitant means someone who is inattentive. The thinker was Guglielmo who is credited with the invention of the telegraph although there is some debate about who actually invented it. What in the world puzzles were the warm up activity for this week. The affective lesson again focused on the importance of communication in leadership. The final activity was to have students work on their Industrial Revolution projects.

Monday, March 5, 2018

2nd Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Skyscraper which means a relatively tall building of many stories, especially one for office or commercial use. The thinker was William Henry Harrison who's death in office was predicted by Chief Tecumseh. Students began working on a What In The World puzzle for the warm up activity. We will finish that tomorrow.

The Monday morning 5th grade class was moved to Tuesday morning due to a change of scheduling for today. Dr. Rains was assisting and teaching other classes during the day.

Friday, March 2, 2018

5th Grade - Chaparral, a thicket of shrubs and small trees, was the weekly vocabulary. The thinker was Horace Wells who discovered laughing gas could be used as a pain killer. Students worked together to solve the Plexer puzzle for the warm up activity. Speaking in front of others was the focus of the leadership lesson. Our final activity was to complete research on an Industrial Revolution topic in order to develop a product that can be shared with the class.

Thursday, March 1, 2018

2nd Grade - Today's lesson focused on the generalization that change can be predicted. We read about how people in the past used folklore to predict the weather and we looked as some weather in the past and tried to predict future weather ourselves.

3rd Grade - These students were practicing their music program which they will be preforming this evening for their parents.

4th Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Idyllic which describes something that is pleasant and peaceful. Matthew Henson was today's thinker. He and Robert Peary were the first people to reach the North Pole. Students completed a Plexer puzzle for the warm up activity. The final activity to our electricity study was spending time creating electrical circuits with Snap Circuits.