Search for the Yeti!

Today our class went on an expedition to find the illusive and mysterious Yeti.  We discovered, not the actual beast of legend, but a substantial footprint making us believe we had stumbled on it's path. With only a pencil in our pack to take measurements, we deduced that the Yeti foot was exactly two pencils long.  Our own foot being closer to a mere one pencil length, we hypothesized we could recreate the Yeti form by doubling our own body measurements.   Students groups set out to decide their tool and method and complete the task of recreating their assigned body part.  We engaged in lots of good discussion as they problem solved the most accurate methods for the job.  Next week, like any good explorer/mathematician/scientist, we will work to communicate our discovery and findings as we see if our final product proportions "measure up."

For our language arts focus, we returned to our fable of The Ant and the Dove to look at details of the story and how they help us create mental pictures of the events.  We categorized "good turns" and looked at the moral, one good turn deserves another, to see if we could find other generalizations from the text.

 

Students continue to impress me with their work on the analogy practice we have been using to Jumpstart our day.  We also finished our Thrively strength assessments and some students were able to explore some of the "spark" activities provided in their personal interest fields.

Estimation Benchmarks

We packed a lot in on our half day together.  Our morning Jumpstart focused on analogy practice.  I am really impressed with the strategies students are using to define the relationships between terms.

We finished up our first measurement lesson by estimating and measuring lengths of various body parts.  By comparing the estimates and measurements, students began to develop some helpful benchmarks for estimating the lengths of other objects in their world.  Our math focuses on written explanations of thinking.  Today students crafted their findings into paragraphs and gave each other feedback for clarifying their ideas.

We also got some initial housekeeping completed with Thrively and highlighted the pawn as an underestimated piece on the chess board.  We learned that the pawn attacks on the diagonal because the placement of his shield keeps him from striking straight ahead.  We also learned an exception to that rule that allows for a capture in passing or "en passant".

Neural Networks

Today we focused on analogies for our morning Jumpstart.   Students learned to create bridge sentences to clarify the relationship in the word pairs.  Then they used the bridge sentence to choose the accompanying pair with the same relationship.  Analogies will be our focus during this time for the next several weeks as we look in detail at different types of analogies and relationships.

We began our Jacob's Ladder reading curriculum today with the fable of The Ant and the Dove by Aesop.  This curriculum has students work through  different rungs of analysis and understanding as they climb the "ladder".  Today we focused on sequencing and summarizing as well as cause and effect and overall implications of character actions.  Next week we will revisit this text to consider details, classifications, and generalizations.

In math, we reviewed our measurement posters from last week and toured the ruler, focusing on techniques to ensure precision in length measurements.  Students measured and compared several different items around the room to practice this skill and work on rounding to the nearest unit as well as identify potential hazards to accuracy.  Next week we will look at our own body measurements to begin to build benchmarks for estimation.

Our mindset focus today was on neural networks of the brain.  Students acted as neurons and passed messages from classmate to classmate.  They discovered that they were no match for the nervous system.  We also used an increasing thickness of string to demonstrate how pathways strengthen with use and can make it easier for their brain to access and recall information with continued practice.  We wrapped up with A Walk in the Rain with a Brain by Edward Hallowell.  Our advice from the brain was to treat "smart" as a misleading word when talking about intelligence.

Strong neural network

Wimpy neural network

Finally, in our Games for Learning time, we were introduced to Chess, it's origins, and the key players on the board.  I am so happy to see that the students' enthusiasm is matching my own!  We will spend several weeks  building our background knowledge and becoming familiar with the rules of play, although I am not sure how long I will be able to hold them off!

A Beautiful Beginning!

What a great first day we had as a SPARK class!  We got to answer some of the "Why am I here?" and "What will we do?" questions as we got to know each other.  Students practice a sample of our morning Jumpstart activities with a collaborative word relay game and impressive persistence on our brain stretcher puzzles.

I was able to do a few pre-assessments which also gave students a preview of what lies ahead in math and reading and will serve to show the great growth they will make this year.  With that growth as our goal, we read My Fantastic Elastic Brain and discussed the brain building benefits of trying new things, making mistakes, and working through challenges.

We wrapped up our day with "game time" and discussed the value of games in logic, reasoning, and strategy.  They are also great tools to encourage responsible risk taking and perseverance.  Today students had the choice of playing Rush Hour, Set or working on a math logic puzzle.

Can you do it?  Side columns each total 15.  Top and bottom rows each total 25.  Arrange number 1-10, one in each white space, to make these statements true.