GT Update
April 3-7, 2017
Kinder
Chloe and Aidan Playing Attribute Train
Joshua and Santiago Playing Attribute Train
Stepping Up to the Challenge
1st Grade
2nd Grade
Planning the Bridge Design
Experimenting with the Bridge Design
Experimenting with the Bridge Design
It Works!
It Works!
It Works!
3rd Grade
We then worked on the final Hands on Equations lesson, which taught them how to record their work in writing. (I've included some pictures of their work.) For the rest of the school year, we will be working on Verbal Hands on Equations. These are problems in word form that students create and solve equations for. I'm looking forward to them sharing these with you on Seesaw.
We also did a short, unplugged coding lesson on loops. Loops are a way to tell the computer to do an action multiple times, instead of having to repeat a command over and over. During the next lesson they will apply this coding feature to short programs.
We ended the day by reading more of Tuck Everlasting. Our goal is to complete the book next week before the field trip. We will have group discussions and class work relating to the book the following couple of weeks. They were not happy with me when we had to stop reading because of time. However, I love to have them eager to read again!
Angela H.'s Hands on Equations
Shanzay's Hands on Equations
Angela Y.'s Hands on Equations
4th Grade
After Genius Hour, we did the next lesson of Hands on Equations. Last time we introduced "convenient zeros" into equations to help solve. This week, students introduced an x or * to both sides of the equation as needed. It's wonderful watching the multiple strategies used throughout the room.
Our Wednesday Wars theme for the day was heroes. Students completed a "chalk talk" on Google Classroom, expressing their thoughts, feelings, connections, etc to the following quote by the author of Wednesday Wars, Gary D. Schmidt:
“When gods die, they die hard. It's not like they fade away, or grow old, or fall asleep. They die in fire and pain, and when they come out of you, they leave your guts burned. It hurts more than anything you can talk about. And maybe worst of all is, you're not sure if there will ever be another god to fill their place. Or if you'd ever want another god to fill their place. You don't want the fire to go out inside you twice.”
We continued the theme by creating hero related Diamante Poems. (I've attached some of them here.) We also applied ratios to batting averages, since our main character, Holling Hoodhood, loves baseball and mentions this when describing his hero. We read part of January and will finish it next week, along with taking a look at the Vietnam War.
5th Grade
Students also did some basic research on forms of government, took digital notes, and will use this knowledge to try and persuade their Civilization group to implement their chosen form of government. We also watched two "History Bombs" to gain some insight on both WWI and WWII. Since The Boy in the Striped Pajamas takes place during WWII, it helps to understand the state of Germany and the rest of the world during this time frame.
We wrapped up the day with Hands on Equations.