Thursday, November 29, 2018

4th Grade - Today's learning began with Predilection which means a preference for something. The successful person was George Washington who became the first President of the United States. Students completed a What in the World? puzzle for the warm up activity. The affective lesson had students reflecting on past successes and analyzing how they can use those successes to help them with future problems. Last week they created their 8 foot Munracks and finished coloring them today.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

3rd Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Depression which means a period of time in which there is little economic activity and many people do not have jobs. The successful person was Whoopi Goldberg who overcame drug addictions to become a famous actor. We worked together to complete a Quizzles/Logic elimination puzzle for the warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods, students expanded their Divergent thinking skills by providing elaborative answers to simple drawings. The final activity was to watch the video of Abel's Island which will be used for several activities over the next few weeks.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

5th Grade - Learning today began with the vocabulary word Sedulous which means industrious. The first revolver that our successful person (Samuel Colt) invented was so different that it was not well received. We worked together to try to solve a Quizzles puzzle for the warm up activity. During the leadership lesson, we learned the importance of teamwork strength. We do not have all of the qualities necessary to be a good leader and sometimes have to rely on team members. Students then discussed with their teams ideas for the Exploravision project and started researching the current technology available.

Monday, November 26, 2018

3rd Grade - The vocabulary word for today was Foundation which means a usually stone or concrete structure that supports a building from underneath. Our successful person was Harrison Ford who not only saves people in the movies, but also in real life. For the warm up activity, students had to unscramble and identify nine animals from a very close up picture. The affective lesson focused on kindness and a plan was created to implement the idea. In Crystal Pond Woods, students moved from Convergent thinking to Divergent thinking where we want to generate a lot of ideas. Today's focus was on brainstorming.

Friday, November 16, 2018

5th Grade - Today we learned that Rapacious means raptor-like, preying on others. Ada Lovelace, our successful person of the day, wrote a program for a calculating machine in 1843. Students identified  close up photos of nine animals for the warm up activity. Students considered the qualities they look for in friends during the leadership lesson Finally, students accessed Google Classroom and started completing some of the assignments that are available.

2nd Grade - Our vocabulary word for the day was Appearance which means the way that someone or something looks. James Monroe, our successful person, was so busy helping our country that he needed his daughter to take care of him when he got older. Students tried to solve the Stories With Holes Mystery for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on Respect and Responsibility. This was due to the idea that successful people demonstrate a caring attitude. In Crystal Pond Woods, students began working to develop their Divergent Thinking skills. Today, we were given different shapes and had to brainstorm what we thought each shape looked like. For our final activity, we tested the boat we made last week to see how many pennies it would hold. This was to help Abel in Abel's Island get back home.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

4th Grade - Today's learning began with Sullen for the vocabulary word. Sullen means a person who is sulky or quietly in a bad mood. The successful person was Mary Cassatt who became known as America's Great Impressionist (painter). For the warm up activity, students worked together to try to solve the Stories With Holes mystery. Comparing their lives to spinning plates was the focus of the affective lesson. The final activity was to take the Munrack drawing on a regular sheet of paper and make an 8 foot version of the creature.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

3rd Grade - The vocabulary word for today was Foundation which means a usually stone or concrete structure that supports a building from underneath. Our successful person was Harrison Ford who not only saves people in the movies, but also in real life. For the warm up activity, students had to unscramble and identify nine animals from a very close up picture. The affective lesson focused on kindness and a plan was created to implement the idea. In Crystal Pond Woods, students moved from Convergent thinking to Divergent thinking where we want to generate a lot of ideas. Today's focus was on brainstorming.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

5th Grade - Today we learned that Rapacious means raptor-like, preying on others. Ada Lovelace, our successful person of the day, wrote a program for a calculating machine in 1843. Students identified  close up photos of nine animals for the warm up activity. Students considered the qualities they look for in friends during the leadership lesson For the Exploravision segment, students began looking for ideas. Each student will be interviewing people looking for ideas to their projects.

Monday, November 12, 2018

3rd Grade - Students learned that Depth is the degree of intensity. The successful person was Clint Eastwood who was fired by Universal Studios because they said he could not act. Together they tried to solve the Stories with Holes problem that was the warm up activity. For the affective lesson, students were asked to evaluate how they felt about the five characteristics of successful people and what they learned. During the weekly trip to Crystal Pond Woods, students used their Convergent Thinking skills to solve some more logic puzzles. Instead of using a logic grid this time, they used manipulatives.

Friday, November 9, 2018

5th Grade - Opprobrious which means shameful, infamous was today's vocabulary word. John Pemberton, was today's successful person. Mr. Pemberton was the original developer of Coca-Cola. Unfortunately, his French Wine of Coca contained wine which was banned from Atlanta. Students worked together to try to solve the Stories with Holes for the warm up activity. The leadership lesson had students discovering information about other members of their group. The focus was on the idea that leadership means different things to different people. Students have been working on ideas for the Exploravision project. Students have been working to solve a problem for a partner. Today, they built a prototype and evaluated the product. These are similar steps to the Exploravision project we will begin working on next week.

2nd Grade - Students learned that Predict means to say that something will or might happen in the future. The successful person was Sybil Luddington who alerted the colonial militia that the British were coming and to prepare to fight. A Surprise in the Middle drawing was today's warm up activity. For the affective lesson, students focused on the idea that successful people exhibit the trait of creativity. After watching Hooray for Diffendoofer Day, students told what they would do to make a lesson more interesting. In Crystal Pond Woods, student used manipulatives to conplete convergent thinking puzzles. The focus of the Discoveries lesson was that new situations may help people make personal discoveries. Students were given materials to make a raft that would hold the weight of a mouse. We will test the raft next week.

Thursday, November 8,k 2018

4th Grade - The vocabulary word of the day was Excessive which means to go beyond the usual limit. George Washington Carver was today's successful person. Mr. Carver came up with over 300 uses for the peanut. Students drew a picture of a robot in a Surprise in the Middle drawing for the warm up activity. Social and emotional safety mechanisms were the focus of today's affective lesson. For the Explorations lesson, we will be exploring space. This includes drawing an 8 foot Munrack from the planet Veltzar. Students drew their perspective of the Munrack then wrote a persuasive speech to convince their teammates to make their drawing the final product.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

3rd Grade - Students learned that Depth is the degree of intensity. The successful person was Clint Eastwood who was fired by Universal Studios because they said he could not act. Together they tried to solve the Stories with Holes problem that was the warm up activity. For the affective lesson, students were asked to evaluate how they felt about the five characteristics of successful people and what they learned. During the weekly trip to Crystal Pond Woods, students used their Convergent Thinking skills to solve some more logic puzzles. Instead of using a logic grid this time, they used manipulatives.

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

5th Grade - Opprobrious which means shameful, infamous was today's vocabulary word. John Pemberton, was today's successful person. Mr. Pemberton was the original developer of Coca-Cola. Unfortunately, his French Wine of Coca contained wine which was banned from Atlanta. Students worked together to try to solve the Stories with Holes for the warm up activity. The leadership lesson had students discovering information about other members of their group. The focus was on the idea that leadership means different things to different people. Students have been working on ideas for the Exploravision project. Students have been working to solve a problem for a partner. Today, they built a prototype and evaluated the product. These are similar steps to the Exploravision project we will begin working on next week.

Monday, November 5, 2018

3rd Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Personality which means the set of emotional qualities, ways of behaving, etc., that makes a person different from other people. Walt Disney who was turned down as a cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune was today's successful person. Students completed Surprise in the Middle drawing for the warm up activity. Surprise in the Middle is an exercise in following the directions as well as an opportunity for students to expand their creative thinking. Now that we have covered the five traits of successful people, students evaluated where they are currently with each trait and set goals for the future.The final activity was the weekly trip to Crystal Pond Woods. We reviewed several logic elimination puzzles together.

Friday, November 2, 2018

5th Grade - Our learning today began with the vocabulary word Tantamount which means equivalent to, virtually the same. The successful person was Ruth Wakefield who created the chocolate chip cookie by mistake. Students completed a Surprise in the Middle picture for the warm up activity. The Leadership lesson focused on helping kids identify good role models that are also good leaders.
Students also worked to develop an idea/product that would solve a classmates problem.

2nd Grade - Today we learned that Character is one of the attributes or features that make up and distinguish an individual. James Madison, our third President, was the shortest President. Students worked together to solve the 20 Questions/Mystery Object for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on the idea that Successful people exhibit the trait of creativity. Students were given materials and had to make an animal from the items. They were then to write an adventure story with the creature. The Discoveries lesson had students learning that during a natural disaster people can not drink salt water because absorbing too much salt is bad for our health. We learned this by making observations of a potato that was put in salt water and another that was put in tap water.

Thursday, November 1, 2018

4th Grade - These students learned that Benevolent means kind and caring. The successful person for the day was Jimmy Carter who started out as a peanut farmer to become President of the United States. Students worked together to solve the Mystery Object/20 Questions for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on confidences and insecurities. For the Explorations lesson, students learned that explorers transfer parts of their culture to other cultures. To demonstrate this, students were given an item that came from another country then had to ask the class 20 questions to identify the item.