Tuesday, November 30, 2021

3rd Grade - The warm up activity today was to play the game of SET. We started playing with the cards, but due to time constraints we had to play as a class on the Smartboard. The affective lesson had students evaluating the Take 5 program. Students then completed the logic puzzles they started two weeks ago. The final activity was to reimagine their balloon design and make improvements for their next Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Monday, November 29, 2021

2nd Grade - Our first task today was to get students enrolled in Khan academy. This is not a required activity, but an opportunity for students to move through their favorite subjects at their own pace. Students played the SET game for the warm up activity. The affective lesson focused on Responsibility and Respect. Students then wrote a short story about what they can do in class when they get bored. In Crystal Pond Woods, we practiced brainstorming with words to make our stories more colorful. The final activity was to get inspired for the Exploravision project.

Friday, November 19, 2021

Good morning and welcome back. I hope you all had a terrific Thanksgiving Break. Due to a meeting I had on the Friday before Thanksgiving, here is a late review of what we did that morning. 

3rd Grade - These classes started with a Drop Quote puzzle for the warm up activity. Their affective lesson focused on self evaluation regarding the five characteristics of successful people. Students also set goals for themselves in each area. In Crystal Pond Woods students had some larger logic elimination grid puzzles to solve. The final activity was to build our balloons for our own Thanksgiving Day parade.

Thursday, November 18, 2021

5th Grade -  Today's activities began with a Drop Quote puzzle for the warm up activity. The leadership lesson focused on people who have "touched" the lives of the students. The final activity was to design, and build their balloon for our Thanksgiving Day parade.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

4th Grade - Today's activities began with a Drop Quote puzzle for the warm up activity. Students then shared in a discussion about the demands of parents, teachers, friends, and even themselves because they are identified as gifted. The final activity was to plan, design, and build a school from straws.

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

3rd Grade - These classes started with a Drop Quote puzzle for the warm up activity. Their affective lesson focused on self evaluation regarding the five characteristics of successful people. Students also set goals for themselves in each area. In Crystal Pond Woods students had some larger logic elimination grid puzzles to solve. The final activity was to build our balloons for our own Thanksgiving Day parade.

Monday, November 15, 2021

2nd Grade - These students started with a Drop Quote puzzle for the warm up activity. Their affective lesson focused on the generalization that successful people demonstrate creativity. After listening to Hooray For Diffendoofer Day by Dr. Seuss, students wrote about what they would teach at Diffendoofer school. In Crystal Pond Woods we moved on to Divergent Thinking. Students were given simple shapes and had to come up with what they thought the shapes looked like. The final activity was the introduction for the Exploravision project.

Friday, November 12, 2021

3rd Grade - Students solved the What In The World for the warm up activity. What is the World is a set of eight close up items with a clue to help students identify the item. For Take 5, students had to identify a famous person and tell how they demonstrated the five characteristics of successful people. In Crystal Pond Woods students played Aces, Jumbles, Zilch (a paper and pencil form of Master Mind). Balloons Over Broadway is the book we will be using for the next STEM project. Students will be designing their own balloon and attaching it to a Beebot. We will then put it all together for our own Thanksgiving Day parade.

Thursday, November 11, 2021

5th Grade - Students had to identify from clues eight close up items for the warm up activity. . Their affective lesson focused on leaders that students had in their lives and leaders in the world. We began a STEM project where students designed a balloon that will become part of our own Thanksgiving Day parade.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

4th Grade - Students had to identify from clues eight close up items for the warm up activity. . Their affective lesson focused on Gripe #6 of Gifted Kids: Our friends and classmates don't always understand us, and they don't see all of our different sides. Students completed a brief research project about a career that involved trees. We began a STEM project where students designed their own school and next week will get to build it.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

3rd Grade - Students solved the What In The World for the warm up activity. What is the World is a set of eight close up items with a clue to help students identify the item. For Take 5, students had to identify a famous person and tell how they demonstrated the five characteristics of successful people. In Crystal Pond Woods students played Aces, Jumbles, Zilch (a paper and pencil form of Master Mind). Balloons Over Broadway is the book we will be using for the next STEM project. Students will be designing their own balloon and attaching it to a Beebot. We will then put it all together for our own Thanksgiving Day parade.

Monday, November 8, 2021

 2nd Grade - Students had to identify from clues eight close up items for the warm up activity. . Their affective lesson focused on the generalization that successful people are creative. Last week we began a STEM project where students designed their own school. Today they combined their creativity and STEM skills to build their school and then determine any changes they would make. In Crystal Pond Woods, students used manipulatives to complete puzzles where they had to change the attributes of the pieces.

Friday, November 5, 2021

3rd Grade - Today's warm up activity was a logic elimination puzzle. Students worked together and came up with the solution. The affective lesson covered the final characteristic of successful people which was caring. Next week we will put them all together. The final activity was to complete the MEE competition. Students developed a product to solve a problem, Then they had to create a commercial that they used to try to sell their product.

Thursday, November 4, 2011

5th Grade - Today's warm up activity was a logic elimination puzzle. Students worked together to solve the problem. The affective lesson focused on leaders who made the cover of magazines. The discussion had students thinking about their future, what they want to be, and the difference between a leader and a celebrity. The final activity was to complete the MEE competition. Students developed a product to solve a problem, Then they had to create a commercial that they used to try to sell their product.

Wednesday, November 3, 2021

4th Grade - Today's warm up activity was a logic elimination puzzle. Students worked together to solve the problem. One group was successful. However the other group found the puzzle to be a bit more challenging. The affective lesson covered Gripe #5 of Gifted Kids - we can't work ahead. We discussed ways to possible work around that situation. The final activity was to complete the MEE competition. Students developed a product to solve a problem, Then they had to create a commercial that they used to try to sell their product.

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

3rd Grade - Today's warm up activity was a logic elimination puzzle. Students worked together and came up with the solution. The affective lesson covered the final characteristic of successful people which was caring. Next week we will put them all together. The final activity was to complete the MEE competition. Students developed a product to solve a problem, Then they had to create a commercial that they used to try to sell their product.

Monday, November 1, 2021

2nd Grade - Today's warm up activity was a logic elimination puzzle. Students worked together and came up with the solution. The affective lesson focused on Task Commitment. Everyone has given a task to complete with a positive and negative motivator. We then discussed the difference and how we all are motivated in different ways. In Crystal Pond Woods, students played a game where they rolled a die and then had to change the attributes of a card. We were introduced to the Exploravision project which we will begin working on in the coming weeks. Finally we read the book If I Built a School by Chris Van Dusen Students designed a school and will build it next week.

Friday, October 29, 2021

3rd Grade - Students started class by solving a Stories With Holes mystery. The affective lesson focused on Courage (one of the five traits of successful people). Each student had to give a one minute impromptu speech. The final activity involved the MEE contest. Students watched a video about the difference between needs and wants. They then worked in teams to put common economics terms with their definitions. The final part of today's MEE contest was to complete an assessment about finances as a team.