Friday, January 31, 2020

1st Grade - Students put on their detective badges to solve some mysteries with Dudley the Detective. They were then logged into my Google Classroom and Khan Academy which will provide them with extension activities while they are in their regular education classes.

Thursday, January 30, 2020

4th Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Impersonate which means to mimic or pretend to be someone else. The future thinker was Hillary Clinton who was criticized for being too strong, too intelligent, and too outspoken. It was these qualities that helped her become the first woman senator from New York and the first woman to win nomination for President. For the warm up activity, students were given the choice to complete two very short story starters about flight. The affective lesson focused on helping students narrow down things that are of particular interest to them so they do not become overloaded with activities outside of school. In our study of the electric system, students learned about watts, volts, amperes, and kilowatts. They will use the information they learned today to figure out overloaded circuits next week.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

1st Grade - Today was the first time this class has met. First, we learned that a Pattern is a noun and something that repeats in a predictable way. The future thinker was Hans Christian Andersen who had difficulty at school, but became a famous storyteller. Since this was our first class meeting, we developed a class pledge/code of conduct to follow while attending GATE. Students were then introduced to Crystal Pond Woods and Dudley the Detective. We will do more with that on Friday.

2nd Grade - This group learned that Insulation means to cover, line, or separate with a material that prevents or reduces the leakage of heat. Theodore "Teddy" did not lead a charge up San Juan Hill. The affective lesson focused on the understanding that we experience a range of emotions every day. In Crystal Pond Woods, students were given two words and some items and had to invent the new item that was a result of the two words.  For the Flight lesson, students observed a balloon blowing up as a result of baking soda and vinegar. We then discussed the properties of flight necessary to lift the balloon.

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Due to second grade CogAT make up testing going on today, I was unable to meet with the third grade GATE students. We will resume our regular schedule next week.

Monday, January 27, 2020

5th Grade - Today we learned that Modicum means a moderate amount. The forward thinker was Conrad Hubert who developed the idea of a hand held torch from a flowerpot that would light up. Students spent some quality time developing their Exploravision projects. Many are just about complete. The final activity was to create a 3D vertical ring from Pringles potato chips.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

4th Grade - The morning class had a delayed start due to second grade testing. We did learn that Indignation means anger, especially over something that's unfair. For the warm up activity, the class worked together to solve some Plexer puzzles and left the rest for homework. Madeline Albright, the first woman Secretary of State, was today's forward thinker. The morning group completed the robots from the other Edmond school and evaluated how they wrote the directions. Those who were finished had an opportunity to learn about circuits with Snap Circuits.

The afternoon group had more time and used it to complete unfinished projects, work a little on Khan Academy, and play with the Snap Circuits.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

2nd Grade - Our vocabulary word for today was Skyscraper which is a relatively tall building of many stories, especially one for office or commercial use. The future thinker was Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States, who developed a tumor in his jaw. Mr. Cleveland then had a dentist design a rubber jaw to replace the part of his jaw that had been removed because of the tumor. Very few people knew he had a rubber jaw until many years after his Presidency. Students worked together to solve the Plexer puzzles that were today's warm up activity. Handling stress was the focus of the affective lesson. In Crystal Pond Woods, students chose a common object, then SCAMPERED it to reinvent a new item. We then listened to Balloons Over Broadway the true story of Tony Sarg the puppeteer of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade balloons.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

3rd Grade - After a long, restful weekend students began learning with the vocabulary word Environment which means, air, water, minerals, organisms, and all other external factors surrounding and affecting a given organism at any time. The forward thinker was Charlie Parkhurst who had been a stagecoach driver for over 50 years. Upon his death it was discovered that he was a she who had been the first woman to vote in California. Students worked to solve Plexer puzzles about aviation for the warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods, students were given three sheets of construction paper and approximately 40 inches of masking tape. They were to build a tower with a minimum height of nine inches that would hold the most encyclopedias. Finally, we had our own version of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

4th Grade - Our learning began today with the vocabulary word Pulchritude which means beauty. The future thinker was Jackie Robinson who broke the racial barrier to become the first African-American to play major league baseball. For the warm up activity students tackled the challenge of creating a vertical 3D ring from Pringles potato chips. The affective lesson focused on helping others and goal setting. Students wrote ways they could perform acts of kindness and put them on a calendar where they could see the goals they needed to complete. The final activity was to build the Northern Hills robots.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

2nd Grade - We learned that a Perimeter is the border or outer boundary of a two-dimensional figure. Benjamin Harrison (today's future thinker) was called the Sandwich President because he was President between Grover Cleveland's two terms as President. For the warm up activity students tried to build a vertical 3D ring out of Pringles.We then completed our SCAMPERed invention with our friends from Crystal Pond Woods.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

3rd Grade - We began our learning today with the vocabulary word Liberty which means freedom from external or foreign rule: independence. The forward thinker was Nellie Cashman who traveled to different mining camps helping miners with food, boarding, and medical attention. For the warm up activity students worked in teams to solve the Pringles Ring STEM challenge. In Crystal Pond Woods students had to brainstorm the questions to the given answer. Our final activity was to program the Beebots which will be the floats to carry our balloons in the GATE version of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Monday, January 13, 2020

5th Grade - Today's classes learned that Soporific means sleep inducing. For the warm up activity students matched aviation terms with their definitions.The Future Thinker was Thomas Alva Edison who also invented gummed paper. First impressions was the focus of the affective lesson. Finalizing the first three essays for the Exploravision took up the rest of our time together today.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

4th Grade - Today's vocabulary word was Ponderous which means something that is heavy and massive. Students matched aviation terms with their definitions for the warm up activity. Lance Armstrong joined a cycling team after winning the Iron Kids Triathlon at age 13. The affective lesson focused on goal setting. The rest of class time was spent writing directions for the robots we built so students in another school can build the robot from our directions.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

2nd Grade - These students learned that Dimensions means measurement in length, width, and thickness. Chester Arthur and Calvin Coolidge, our 21st and 30th Presidents, were not very good at forward thinking as they didn't like to work. For the warm up activity, students matched aviation vocabulary with the definition. The focus of our affective lesson was dealing with people that tease us. After listening to the story Chrysanthemum students created bugs as a reminder of what they should do if others are mean to us. In Crystal Pond Woods we reviewed the SCAMPER process and worked to redesign a familiar object.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

3rd Grade - Today was our first day back to school after the Winter Break. We began our learning with the vocabulary word Welfare which means the good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity of a person, group, or organization; well-being. Their future thinker was Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Canary) who really should have been nicknamed "Lucky." For the warm up activity, students mathed airport terms with their definitions. In Crystal Pond Woods we continued learning about divergent thinking. Today we created chain reaction contraptions that would do a simple task such as cracking open acorns. In a few weeks we hope to actually build a Rube Goldberg chain reaction contraption. Our final activity was to build the balloon floats for our own "Macy's Thanksgiving Day" parade.