Friday, December 21, 2018

5th Grade - Today's learning began with Modicum which means a moderate amount. The successful person was Conrad Hubert. Mr. Hubert bought an idea from a friend, tinkered with it, and invented the "hand torch" (Ever Ready) flashlight. Each student completed a Loosen Up drawing for the warm up activity. Dilemmas and how to make good decisions was the focus of the leadership lesson. Our focus for the rest of class was to complete any unfinished Exploravision assignments and move on to another. The deadline for this project is February 1st. Since many of the other classes were working on fun activities, we took some time to work on an escape room from Breakout Edu.

2nd Grade - We learned today that a Merchant is someone who buys and sells goods especially in large amounts. Harriet Tubman, today's successful person, helped the Union during the Civil War but did not receive any money for her work. Students drew a Loosen Up drawing for the warm up activity. For our affective lesson, we focused on the generalization that successful people are kind and caring. We discussed the purpose of everyone being different. In Crystal Pond Woods, students had an opportunity to use words to develop a creative story. Our study of the book Abel's Island came to an end today as we discussed what we knew about Gower the Frog and what we could infer about him.

Thursday, December 20, 2018

4th Grade - Due to the afternoon holiday celebrations, all of the classes met this morning. Our learning began with our vocabulary word Pulchritude which means beauty. Today's successful person was Frederick Douglass a slave who learned to read and became key in the Abolitionist movement. Students created a Loosen Up drawing for the warm up activity. Students then designed what they would like for their robot to look like. Each student then wrote a persuasive speech to convince their teammates to choose theirs. For the final activity, students began creating a brochure for the planet Veltzar.

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

3rd Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Prospector which means the possibility that something will happen in the future. The successful person was Michael Jordan who did not make the school basketball team as a high school sophmore, but went on to become one of the greatest players of all time. Students followed directions to create a drawing for the warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods, students demonstrated their divergent thinking skills as they designed and built a tower that would hold the most weight. For the Discoveries lesson, students had to build a watercraft that would hold the weight of a mouse in order to help Abel escape from the island.

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

5th Grade - Today's learning began with Modicum which means a moderate amount. The successful person was Conrad Hubert. Mr. Hubert bought an idea from a friend, tinkered with it, and invented the "hand torch" (Ever Ready) flashlight. Each student completed a Loosen Up drawing for the warm up activity. Dilemmas and how to make good decisions was the focus of the leadership lesson. Our focus for the rest of class was to complete any unfinished Exploravision assignments and move on to another. The deadline for this project is February 1st.

Monday, December 17, 2018

3rd Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Prospector which means the possibility that something will happen in the future. The successful person was Michael Jordan who did not make the school basketball team as a high school sophmore, but went on to become one of the greatest players of all time. Students followed directions to create a drawing for the warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods, students demonstrated their divergent thinking skills as they designed and built a tower that would hold the most weight. For the Discoveries lesson, students had to build a watercraft that would hold the weight of a mouse in order to help Abel escape from the island.

Friday, December 14, 2018

5th Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Soporific which means sleep inducing. Thomas Alva Edison, our successful person, invented gummed paper along with improving the electric light bulb. For the warm up activity, students brainstormed several different items. The leadership lesson focused on leaving a good first impression. Students spent the rest of our time together working on their history essays for the Exploravision project.

2nd Grade - This class learned that Inflation is a continual increase in the price of goods and services. Sacagawea (the successful person) was in interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, but could not speak English. We worked together to solve the Quotation Quizzler for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on the understanding that successful people care for others. In Crystal Pond Woods, students were given an item and were asked to SCAMPER it into a new item. For the Discoveries lesson we compared civilized Abel to the primitive Abel he became after spending a year on a deserted island.

Thursday, December 13, 2018

4th Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Gloat which means people who are happy about other people's failure. Walt Disney was told the project would never work, it was too expensive, but in a few days Snow White and the 7 dwarfs will be celebrating their 81st anniversary. Students worked together to solve a Quotation Quizzler/Dropquotes puzzle for the warm up activity. For the rest of class time students researched a planet from which they will create a brochure for the planet Veltzar.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

3rd Grade - Demand was today's vocabulary word which means the ability and need or desire to buy goods and services. James Earl Jones was the successful person. As a child, James Earl Jones was a stutterer, but has overcome to become one of the most recognized voices in the world. By working together we completed a Quotation Quizzler for the warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods, we learned about Rube Goldberg and his chain reaction contraptions which are very elaborate creations to do simple tasks. A great opportunity to expand our divergent thinking. For the discoveries lesson, students were able to finish watching Abel's Island and created a tornado using an interactive activity through National Geographic's website.

Tuesday, December 11,2018

5th Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Soporific which means sleep inducing. Thomas Alva Edison, our successful person, invented gummed paper along with improving the electric light bulb. For the warm up activity, students brainstormed several different items. The leadership lesson focused on leaving a good first impression. Students spent the rest of our time together working on their history essays for the Exploravision project.

Monday, December 10, 2018

3rd Grade - Demand was today's vocabulary word which means the ability and need or desire to buy goods and services. James Earl Jones was the successful person. As a child, James Earl Jones was a stutterer, but has overcome to become one of the most recognized voices in the world. By working together we completed a Quotation Quizzler for the warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods, we learned about Rube Goldberg and his chain reaction contraptions which are very elaborate creations to do simple tasks. A great opportunity to expand our divergent thinking. For the discoveries lesson, students were able to finish watching Abel's Island and created a tornado using an interactive activity through National Geographic's website.

Friday, December 7, 2018

5th Gtrade - Our weekly vocabulary for today was Ligature which means bonds used to tie or bind. Our successful person was the Smith Brothers who invented the cough drop. Together we solved a Dropquotes puzzle for the warm up activity. The Leadership lesson focused on giving positive feedback to others as a leader. For the rest of class, students spent time researching information to create a history timeline for the Exploravision project.

2nd Grade - This class learned that Nugget is a solid lump of a valuable metal (such as gold). Today's successful person, John Quincy Adams, was caught swimming without his clothes in the Potomac River. Because he wouldn't give an interview, the newspaper reporter that caught him sat on his clothes until she got what she wanted. For the affective lesson, students learned that successful people demonstrate courage. The focus of the lesson was meeting new people.  In Crystal Pond Woods, we continued expanding our Divergent thinking skills. We took common items and "SCAMPERed" them.

Thursday, December 7, 2018

4th Grade - Today, students learned that Aversion means a strong dislike toward something. The successful person was Roberto Clemente who was killed in a plane crash trying to help earthquake victims in Nicaragua. We worked together to solve a Quizzles/Logic elimination puzzle for the warm up activity. Teams worked together to create a See, Run, Do poster. This gave them an idea of what it will be like when they build and write directions for their robots.

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

3rd Grade - Due to testing and meetings, there were no classes today. We will resume our regular schedule tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

5th Gtrade - Our weekly vocabulary for today was Ligature which means bonds used to tie or bind. Our successful person was the Smith Brothers who invented the cough drop. Together we solved a Dropquotes puzzle for the warm up activity. The Leadership lesson focused on giving positive feedback to others as a leader. For the rest of class, students spent time researching information to create a history timeline for the Exploravision project.

Monday, December 3, 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.

Friday, November 30, 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.

2nd Grade - This class learned that Ability is the power or skill to do something. Their successful person was Emily Geiger, General Greene's daughter (of the Continental Army), who took a message to General Sumter crossing enemy lines in order to accomplish her mission. Students identified nine close up items in a What in the World? puzzle for the warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods, students developed their Divergent Thinking skills as they elaborated on a story about a beautiful day in the meadow.