Thursday, January 31, 2019

4th Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Potent which means something that is powerful and effective. The successful person was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who led peaceful demonstrations against segregation. Students quickly solve the Stories with Holes problem for the warm up activity. The focus of our affective lesson was on preparing for success by looking at our current needs and how we can solve them. Time was spent completing planet brochures and repairing robots to go home after Open House.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

3rd Grade - Students learned today that Paleontology is the science that deals with the fossils of animals and plants that lived very long ago especially in the time of dinosaurs. The successful person was Oprah Winfrey who struggled as a news reporter, but became a famous talk show host. In Crystal Pond Woods, we learned that we could turn written analogies into visual analogies. For the Discoveries lesson, we began discovering the Gold Rush of California.

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

5th Grade - Today we started our learning with Inception which means the start or beginning. Our successful person was actually two people. Richard Knerr and Arthur Melvin invented the hula hoop from plastic that no one wanted. They quickly solved the Stories with Holes problem for the warm up activity. During the Leadership lesson, students learned it is important to always listen especially when you are a leader. The rest of class time was spent finishing up Exploravision projects. All segments are due Friday at 3:00p.m.

Monday, January 28, 2019

3rd Grade - Our vocabulary word for today was Erosion which means the gradual destruction of something by natural forces (such as water, wind, or ice). Steven Spielberg, today's successful person, was rejected from attending film making school but went on to become a famous director. In Crystal Pond Woods, we started developing our Visual Thinking skills. Today, students had an opportunity to solve a visual problem that required them to color a map with only four colors. For the Discoveries lesson, we concluded the discovery of Abel's Island by discussing what we knew about one of the characters and inferring what we thought he was like.

Friday, January 29, 2019

5th Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Machinate which means to plot or scheme. The successful person was Robert Goddard, the Father of Modern Rocketry. Students had to concentrate on listening as they worked to complete a Surprise in the Middle drawing for the warm up activity. After playing a numbers game, students discussed the need to listen and develop a plan when leading others. Teams worked to develop the consequences portion of their Exploravision project and complete other essays for the rest of our time together.

2nd Grade - The vocabulary word for this week was Debris which means the pieces that are left after something has been destroyed. We did not have a successful person today. For the warm up activity, students listened and followed the directions to complete a Surprise in the Middle drawing. The affective lesson focused on how to deal with teasing or people that "bug" you. In Crystal Pond Woods, students began learning about visual thinking. Today they had the opportunity to manipulate Tangrams to replicate a given design. For the final activity, students will be studying the Gold Rush. They got to dig for gold in a chocolate chip cookie simulating a gold dig.

Thursday, January 25, 2019

4th Grade - The vocabulary word for today was Impersonate which means to mimic or pretend to be someone else. Benjamin Franklin, today's successful person, was involved in the writing of four of our nation's important documents. Students listened to directions in order to draw the Surprise in the Middle drawing for the warm up activity. After a brief affective lesson that focused on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, students built more robots from the directions we received from Angie Debo Elementary School.

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

3rd Grade - Today we learned that Stratum means one of usually many layers of a substance (such as rock). Our successful person, Sylvester Stallone, was kicked out of 10 different schools. He had a speech impediment that other students teased him about. For the warm up activity, students had to pay attention in order to follow the directions to create a picture. The weekly trip to Crystal Pond Woods had students working with Pentominoes. Students had to fit the pieces into specific shapes using visual thinking. For the Discoveries lesson, we focused on the understanding that not all discoveries are equal in importance or impact. Today we made discoveries about crayons.

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

5th Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Machinate which means to plot or scheme. The successful person was Robert Goddard, the Father of Modern Rocketry. Students had to concentrate on listening as they worked to complete a Surprise in the Middle drawing for the warm up activity. After playing a numbers game, students discussed the need to listen and develop a plan when leading others. Teams worked to develop the consequences portion of their Exploravision project and complete other essays for the rest of our time together.

Friday, January 18, 2019

5th Grade - The vocabulary word for the day was nefarious which means evil, infamous. Doodling and daydreaming led today's successful person, Robert Fulton, to invent the steamboat. We worked together to solve the Plexer puzzles for the warm up activity. Communication was the focus of the leadership lesson. For the rest of our time together, we focused on completing more of the Exploravision project. We are on the downhill side of this project-just two more weeks to go.

2nd Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Glacier which is a very large area of ice that moves slowly down a slope or valley or over a wide area of land. The successful person was Andrew Jackson who lived with a bullet in his chest after being shot by his wife's first husband. Students worked together to solve the Plexer puzzles for the warm up activity. Successful people demonstrate kindness was the focus of the affective lesson. In Crystal Pond Woods, students were given a noun and a verb then had to invent a machine using those two words. Our Discovery lesson focused on the generalization that Not all discoveries are equal in importance and impact. Students discovered different concepts about crayons today.

Thursday, January 17, 2019

4th Grade - The vocabulary word Indignation which means anger, especially over something that's unfair was the start for today.Our successful person, Albert Einstein, was a man of peace who did not want the atomic bomb dropped on people.  Students completed Plexer/visual word puzzles for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on obnoxious behaviors. Completing our robot directions and planet brochures wrapped up the rest of our time together.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

3rd Grade - Our vocabulary word for today was Erosion which means the gradual destruction of something by natural forces (such as water, wind, or ice). Steven Spielberg, today's successful person, was rejected from attending film making school but went on to become a famous director. In Crystal Pond Woods, we started developing our Visual Thinking skills. Today, students had an opportunity to solve a visual problem that required them to color a map with only four colors. For the Discoveries lesson, we concluded the discovery of Abel's Island by discussing what we knew about one of the characters and inferring what we thought he was like. The final activity was to solve the problem of trying to get people and items from one end of the classroom to the other with certain stipulations.

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

5th Grade - The vocabulary word for the day was nefarious which means evil, infamous. Doodling and daydreaming led today's successful person, Robert Fulton, to invent the steamboat. We worked together to solve the Plexer puzzles for the warm up activity. Communication was the focus of the leadership lesson. For the rest of our time together, we focused on completing more of the Exploravision project. We are on the downhill side of this project-just two more weeks to go.

Monday, January 14, 2019

3rd Grade - Today's learning began with the vocabulary word Serendipity which means luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for. The successful person was Elvis Presley who was told by his high school music teacher that he could not sing. Students worked together to solve the 20 Questions/Mystery Object for the warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods, students learned how to use webbing another method for organizing brainstorming thoughts. The Discoveries lesson compared Abel's personality and behavior at the beginning of the story with the end. In particular how he was very civilized at the beginning of the story, but his circumstances led him to become more primitive. We also experimented with a candle and a glass jar to demonstrate why it would have been difficult for Abel to build a fire in his log house other than the log would catch on fire.

Friday, January 11, 2019

5th Grade - Our learning began with the vocabulary word Gregarious. Gregarious means sociable. The successful person was Benjamin Franklin who only had two years of formal schooling. Students quickly solved the 20 Questions/Mystery Object for the warm up activity. The focus of the leadership lesson was encouraging feedback. Each student was to write a word of encouragement to someone in the classroom. The final activity was to spend time working on the Exploravision project. There are just three weeks left to work on the project and a lot of segments still need to be completed.

2nd Grade - Today we learned that Supply means to make something available to be used: to provide someone or something with something that is needed or wanted. Clara Barton, today's successful person, was helping a soldier in the Civil War when a bullet when through the sleeve of her dress. She never mended that dress. Her courage and determination to help others led her to establish the American Red Cross. Together we solved the 20 Questions/Mystery Object for the warm up activity. Courage, one of the characteristics of successful people, was the focus of our affective lesson. Students designed their own shield that  demonstrated an act of courage they preformed. For the Discoveries lesson, students focused on the generalization that not all discoveries are equal in importance or impact. We are currently discovering crayons.

Thursday, January 10, 2019

4th Grade - Today we learned that something that is Ponderous is heavy and massive. Thomas Alva Edison, our successful person, took out more than 1,093 patents during his 84 years on this earth. Students worked together to solve the 20 Questions/Mystery Object for the warm up activity. Each team worked for 45 minutes to build the robot that they would be sending to Angie Debo Elementary School for them to build. The final few minutes were spent writing the directions for building the robot and working for finish their planet brochures.

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

3rd Grade - Today's learning began with the vocabulary word Serendipity which means luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for. The successful person was Elvis Presley who was told by his high school music teacher that he could not sing. Students worked together to solve the 20 Questions/Mystery Object for the warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods, students learned how to use webbing another method for organizing brainstorming thoughts. The Discoveries lesson compared Abel's personality and behavior at the beginning of the story with the end. In particular how he was very civilized at the beginning of the story, but his circumstances led him to become more primitive. We also experimented with a candle and a glass jar to demonstrate why it would have been difficult for Abel to build a fire in his log house other than the log would catch on fire.

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Welcome Back! I hope everyone had an enjoyable and restful Winter Break. Here is what we did today:

5th Grade - Our learning began with the vocabulary word Gregarious. Gregarious means sociable. The successful person was Benjamin Franklin who only had two years of formal schooling. Students quickly solved the 20 Questions/Mystery Object for the warm up activity. The focus of the leadership lesson was encouraging feedback. Each student was to write a word of encouragement to someone in the classroom. The final activity was to spend time working on the Exploravision project. There are just three weeks left to work on the project and a lot of segments still need to be completed.