Tuesday, March 30, 2021

2nd Grade - For the warm up activity these students drew Fist Circles (circles drawn with the pencil in the fist). The affective lesson focused on the idea that friends can help relieve stress. In Crystal Pond Woods students selected words that they will use next week to create a class story. The final activity was to play a game of chess with all of the pieces on the board.

4th Grade - After completing their fist circle designs, these students began working on their Energy Choice Board activities.

5th Grade - These students also completed the fist circles for the warm up activity. Their affective lesson focused on communicating clearly and precisely. They spent time working on their choice board activities for the rest of class time.

Monday, March 29, 2021

3rd Grade - These students drew designs with fist circles for their warm up activity. In Crystal Pond Woods students were given simple designs and had to come up with creative, elaborative answers. Finally they had an opportunity to design their own Skedoodles (as Yolanda the Yarnspinner called them).

4th Grade - After completing their fist circle designs, these students began working on their Energy Choice Board activities.

Friday, March 26, 2021

1st Grade - This class learned how to solve Plexer/Word Boggle puzzles. Their affective lesson focused on "bugging" other people in a nice way. In Crystal Pond Woods we continued with detective thinking as we played a game identifying attributes of blocks. The final activity was to work on an inventory that will help us understand our learning styles.

4th Grade - This class worked together to identify the Plexer/Word Boggle puzzles for the warm up activity. We watched a few videos about different forms of energy. Students then selected one of the available options they will be working on for the next couple of weeks.

5th Grade - These students also completed the Plexer/Word Boggle puzzles for the warm up activity. They spent the rest of their class time working on individual projects of their own choosing.

Thursday, March 25, 2021

2nd Grade - After completing the Plexer/Word Boggle puzzles for the warm up activity, students identified stress in their lives. Students learned that we have to deal with stress everyday and that spending time with friends can lessen stress. In Crystal Pond Woods, students were given a common item and were asked to SCAMPER it into a new invention. The final activity was to learn the moves of the Queen and King of a chess board.

3rd Grade - After working together to solve the Plexer/Word Boggle puzzles students began learning about Divergent thinking and Brainstorming. Students were given topics to brainstorm. They then learned how to come up with their divergent thinking score. The more we practiced today, the better each student became.

4th Grade - This class worked together to identify the Plexer/Word Boggle puzzles for the warm up activity. We watched a few videos about different forms of energy. Students then selected one of the available options they will be working on for the next couple of weeks.

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

2nd Grade - After completing the Plexer/Word Boggle puzzles for the warm up activity, students identified stress in their lives. Students learned that we have to deal with stress everyday and that spending time with friends can lessen stress. In Crystal Pond Woods, students were given a common item and were asked to SCAMPER it into a new invention. The final activity was to learn the moves of the Queen and King of a chess board.

4th Grade - This class worked together to identify the Plexer/Word Boggle puzzles for the warm up activity. We watched a few videos about different forms of energy. Students then selected one of the available options they will be working on for the next couple of weeks.

5th Grade - These students also completed the Plexer/Word Boggle puzzles for the warm up activity. They spent the rest of their class time working on individual projects of their own choosing.

Monday, March 22, 2021

 I hope everyone had a great Spring Break. We went back to learning today and here are some things we did:

4th Grade - This class worked together to identify the Plexer/Word Boggle puzzles for the warm up activity. We watched a few videos about different forms of energy. Students then selected one of the available options they will be working on for the next couple of weeks.

3rd Grade - After working together to solve the Plexer/Word Boggle puzzles students began learning about Divergent thinking and Brainstorming. Students were given topics to brainstorm. They then learned how to come up with their divergent thinking score. The more we practiced today, the better each student became.

Friday, March 12, 2021

1st Grade - For the warm up activity today, students found the six sets of the game of SET. Students then learned how to sign into different programs that we will be using in GATE. They also completed a couple of inventories to help me get to know each of them better.

4th Grade - This class was able to find all six sets for SET. Students completed their Tiny House Living project. Finally, they were introduced to our next project: Energy.

5th Grade - These classes also found the six sets for SET. They spent time finishing up their Pasta Rover project then began their choice board activities. These classes also were introduced to the Choice Boards available for them for the rest of the year. Students will have an opportunity to choose what they want to learn and how they demonstrate their learning of the material.

Thursday, March 11, 2021

2nd Grade - For the warm up activity today, students found the six sets of the game of SET. Because I kept forgetting to celebrate the end of the Exploravision project, we took a few minutes to celebrate the end of that major activity. The affective lesson focused on friendships. The final activity was to learn the moves of the Knight and Bishop in a chess game.

3rd Grade - For the warm up activity today, students tried to find the six sets of the game of SET. The rest of class time had students finishing up their Oklahoma boxes with agricultural products found in each region.

4th Grade - This class was able to find all six sets for SET. The rest of class time had students completing their Tiny House Living project.

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

2nd Grade - For the warm up activity today, students found the six sets of the game of SET. Because I kept forgetting to celebrate the end of the Exploravision project, we took a few minutes to celebrate the end of that major activity. The affective lesson focused on friendships. The final activity was to learn the moves of the Knight and Bishop in a chess game.

4th Grade - This class was able to find all six sets for SET. The rest of class time had students completing their Tiny House Living project.

5th Grade - These classes also found the six sets for SET. They spent time finishing up their Pasta Rover project then began their choice board activities.

Monday, March 8, 2021

3rd Grade - For the warm up activity today, students tried to find the six sets of the game of SET. The rest of class time had students finishing up their Oklahoma boxes with agricultural products found in each region.

4th Grade - This class was able to find all six sets for SET. The rest of class time had students completing their Tiny House Living project.

Friday, March 5, 2021

1st Grade - First graders met for the very first time today. They had the opportunity to try the Helium Stick Challenge. Two lines of students faced each other with their pointer fingers sticking outward. A really long straw was placed across all of the fingers. Students then had to work as a team to see if they could get the straw to the ground with all pointer fingers still touching the straw. Students managed to raise the straw not lower it. We then took a trip to Crystal Pond Woods where students were introduced to Convergent/detective thinking. Students then learned how to access their GATE activities in Canvas.

4th Grade - They also had the opportunity to try the Helium Straw Challenge. They were successful in raising the straw instead of lowering it. Students then built their tiny houses.

5th Grade - These classes also faced the Helium Straw Challenge. One group was able to lower the stick closer to the floor than any other group. Their affective lesson focused on the importance of communication and teamwork even as a leader. Students then spent time testing their Pasta Rovers and began working on individual projects of choice.

Thursday, March 4, 2021

2nd Grade - This class was given the Helium Straw Challenge to complete. Two lines of students faced each other with their pointer fingers sticking outward. A really long straw was placed across all of the fingers. Students then had to work as a team to see if they could get the straw to the ground with all pointer fingers still touching the straw. Students managed to raise the straw not lower it. The affective lesson was based on the book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." We discussed different things Alexander could have done so he wouldn't have to deal with anger. Students were also given suggestions on how to deal with situations where anger could occur. In Crystal Pond Woods students continued practicing their divergent thinking skills. Our friend Isabel the Inventor suggested using the acronym to help convert something old into something new. Students then chose either an umbrella, a fishing pole, or a tennis shoe to SCAMPER a new invention.

3rd Grade - This class was given the Helium Straw Challenge to complete. Students managed to raise the straw not lower it. Each student then had the opportunity to solve the logic grid puzzles of the other students in the classroom. The final activity was to learn the different agricultural resources available in the Frontier Country of Oklahoma.

4th Grade - This class also had difficulty getting the straw to lower instead of rise. The rest of our class time had students finishing up information about their region and tiny house.

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

2nd Grade - This class was given the Helium Straw Challenge to complete. Two lines of students faced each other with their pointer fingers sticking outward. A really long straw was placed across all of the fingers. Students then had to work as a team to see if they could get the straw to the ground with all pointer fingers still touching the straw. Students managed to raise the straw not lower it. The affective lesson was based on the book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." We discussed different things Alexander could have done so he wouldn't have to deal with anger. Students were also given suggestions on how to deal with situations where anger could occur. In Crystal Pond Woods students continued practicing their divergent thinking skills. Our friend Isabel the Inventor suggested using the acronym to help convert something old into something new. Students then chose either an umbrella, a fishing pole, or a tennis shoe to SCAMPER a new invention.

4th Grade - They also had the opportunity to try the Helium Straw Challenge. They were successful in raising the straw instead of lowering it. Students then built their tiny houses.

5th Grade - These classes also faced the Helium Straw Challenge. One group was able to lower the stick closer to the floor than any other group. Their affective lesson focused on the importance of communication and teamwork even as a leader. Students then spent time testing their Pasta Rovers.

Monday, March 1, 2021

3rd Grade - This class was given the Helium Straw Challenge to complete. Two lines of students faced each other with their pointer fingers sticking outward. A really long straw was placed across all of the fingers. Students then had to work as a team to see if they could get the straw to the ground with all pointer fingers still touching the straw. Students managed to raise the straw not lower it. Each student then had the opportunity to solve the logic grid puzzles of the other students in the classroom. The final activity was to learn the different agricultural resources available in the Frontier Country of Oklahoma.

4th Grade - This class also had difficulty getting the straw to lower instead of rise. The rest of our class time had students building their tiny houses.