Thursday, December 19, 2019

4th Grade - Due to our Winter Celebrations this afternoon the afternoon class had GATE on Tuesday. This is what the morning class did today:
They learned that Predilection means a preference for something. Their future thinker was Hank Aaron who broke both ankles, but was still able to break Babe Ruth's home run record. The affective lesson focused on setting goals. Students then had 45 minutes to build their robots. When we return from our Christmas Break, we will write out step by step instructions and send the directions and materials to another Edmond school to see if their students can build something identical to what we made.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

2nd Grade - Climate which is weather characterized in an area was today's vocabulary word. There were two future thinkers: James Garfield (20th President) and William Mckinley (25th President) who both died because their doctors didn't know about germs. Students complete a logic grid puzzle for the warm up activity. The affective lesson connected the students' learning intelligence with what they wanted to be when they grow up. In Crystal Pond Woods we learned how to SCAMPER an old item to make it into something new. We took a break to do a fun holiday breakout room and actually opened all of the locks.

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

3rd Grade - Our vocabulary word of the day was Tranquility which means a calmness: peacefulness; quiet; serenity. For the warm up activity students worked together to solve  a logic elimination puzzle. Due to classroom activities that was all the time that was available. We are looking forward to January when we will be able to build balloons for our own Macy's parade.

4th Grade - Due to our Winter Celebrations coming this Thursday afternoon and not having third grade, I was able to take one of my fourth grade classes. They learned that Predilection means a preference for something. Their future thinker was Hank Aaron who broke both ankles, but was still able to break Babe Ruth's home run record. The affective lesson focused on setting goals. Students then had 45 minutes to build their robots. When we return from our Christmas Break, we will write out step by step instructions and send the directions and materials to another Edmond school to see if their students can build something identical to what we made.

Monday, December 16, 2019

5th Grade - These students learned that Ligature means bonds used to tie or bind. The forward thinkers were the Smith Brothers' father who had a peddler pay for a meal with the recipe for cough candy. Mr. Smith made the candy and had is sons sell it door to door. It was a hit and is still being sold today. Students spent the next hour and a half working on Exploravision. Then they solved a breakout room around a Christmas theme.

Thursday, December 12, 2019

4th Grade - Today students learned that Aversion means a strong dislike toward something. The forward thinker was Kate Winslet who has overcome her issue with weight to become a well known, awarded actress. For the warm up activity, students used the 26 letters of the alphabet to fill in terms associated with airplanes. Goal setting and patience were the focus of the affective lesson. Students finished designing the robots that will be exchanged with another elementary school here in Edmond. Materials were selected so we can start building next week and write the instructions. We should be able to trade sometime during the first week back to school in January and build from their instructions about the second week.

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

2nd Grade - Today we learned that a Shelter is a dwelling place or home considered as a refuge from the elements. The forward thinker was Rutherford B. Hayes who is known for starting the Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn for kids. For the warm up activity, students searched books about planes to complete vocabulary words. The affective lesson focused on demonstrating kindness. Each student developed pledges they could keep to their families, friends, school, and the environment. Our weekly trip to Crystal Pond Woods had students starting stories about a day in the meadow by brainstorming descriptive words to describe what we did in the meadow.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

3rd Grade - Today we learned that Justice is the administering of deserved punishment or reward. Nancy Hart, today's forward thinker, stole a horse to escape from a Northern prison during the Civil War. Students filled in the letters of the alphabet for aviation vocabulary words as the warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods, students learned to elaborate on their brainstorming and creativity. During our GATE 2020 lesson, students observed baking soda and vinegar filling a balloon. They then designed a balloon that will be part of our own balloon parade.

Monday, December 9, 2019

5th Grade - Today's classes learned that Rapacious means raptor-like, preying on others. The future thinker was Ada Lovelace who drew up plans for the first computer program in 1843. For the warm up activity, students used the 26 letters of the alphabet to fill in vocabulary word blanks about aviation. Encouragement was the focus of the affective lesson. Students wrote a kind note to a classmate then searched for plastic eggs hidden in the room. Each child then shared the note with with rest of the class. Some more information has been leaked to the press today about Amelia Earhart's disappearance. Each news reporter then wrote an article for their newspaper about the information they received. Finally, students spent more time working on the Exploravision project.

Thursday, December 5, 2019

4th Grade - Students learned that Gloat means someone who is happy about another person's failure. For the warm up activity, students were given two pieces of a puzzle and had to set the riders on the horses in the correct position. Their future thinker was John Wayne who over came cancer to film 18 more movies. The affective lesson focused on solving the problem of going on a vacation with a limited budget. We then began thinking about the "robots" that each team will create. Once built and instructions written, the robots from this school will be exchanged with another school in Edmond who will try to build our robots from our instructions. And we will try to build their robots from their instructions.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

2nd Grade - Students began class today by learning that Physical change is any process involving a substance's change from one state (solid, liquid, gas) to another. The future thinker was Ulysses S. Grant, who did not want to be a soldier as a child. However, his father enrolled him at West Point and eventually led the Union army in the Civil War. For the warm up activity, students were given two pieces to a puzzle and had to fit them together. The affective lesson focused on doing acts of kindness and how it makes them feel. Our weekly trip to Crystal Pond Woods had students beginning divergent thinking. Today students practiced brainstorming different things they saw with unique shapes.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

3rd Grade - Today we learned that a Preamble is an introductory statement; preface; introduction. The future thinker, Rose Greenhow, tried to help the South win the War Between the States. For the warm up activity, students were given two pieces of a puzzle and had to figure out how to fit the pieces together correctly. We began learning about divergent thinking during our weekly trip to Crystal Pond Woods. Today our focus was on brainstorming and coming up with lots and lots of ideas. For our GATE 2020 lesson students drew a balloon they would like to see added to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Students then had an opportunity to complete some math problems about the parade.

Monday, December 2, 2019

5th Grade - Students learned today that Sedulous means someone who is industrious. For the warm up activity, students were given a two piece puzzle and had to it the riders on the horses. Their forward thinker was Samuel Colt who invented the revolver by watching a ships steering wheel. The leadership lesson focused on characteristics of leadership and how we can work as a team if one member of the group doesn't possess all of right characteristics. In our Amelia Earhart study, students were each given a news leak and had to create a newspaper article based on the information in the leak. The rest of class time was spent working on the Exploravision project.