The title of this blog post, 22 Directions, is in honor of our 'band name' for Boosterthon. They came up with ideas, they voted, and then it was decided...22 Directions. How perfect a name for 22 unique individuals. They are creative, they are beyond the surface thinkers, they are fun! When I am having one on one conversations with any of my students I am always intrigued at what we are talking about and then when I walk around the room and see and hear them working together I am amazed at how they help each other put all of the pieces together and solve problems and work through things. They show these important components, each and every day...
Here are some pictures of them in ACTION...
Winter time in the south makes for some pretty unpredictable weather. One day we are out running around wanting to take our jackets off in 60 degree weather. Then the next day we are bundled up from our head to our toes trying to stay warm in the chilly 40 degree weather with an even colder wind chill.
Needless to say we can't go outside every day for recess in the winter because of the weather. Which means we have indoor recess. I opt out of putting a movie in and them sitting quietly because I know how important it is for them to interact with each other. So, we get out blocks, and construction paper, and card games and they play with each other inside. The good news is THEY LOVE IT!
Here are some pictures of them showing off the 4 C's even during recess. :)
Our school is all about eating healthy, wellness, and exercising! Once a month, a 4th grader from the P.E. Club, comes and teaches a lesson on healthy eating habits to our class. Below you see Ruvim in action! This makes me especially proud since he was in my classroom a few years ago. Now, I have his brother, Dimitriy in my class. :) I know he was proud of his big brother, too! Way to go Ruvim!!:)
Every Wednesday I get to choose I student who has exhibited a life skill for that week. Below, you see Nevaeh and Payton proudly showing off their Captain of Character hats and certificates. :)
Katelyn was smiling big wearing her Captain of Character hat and holding her certificate. :)
Matthew was showing off his certificate and his Captain of Character hat. :)
Looks like the winter weather kept us inside for recess again....
Rileigh found some ways to be creative with construction paper. :)
They were building again. :)
A train was chugging along through our classroom!:)
Flowers were growing during indoor recess!
Look at this! What a great idea!:)
We had two students from our classroom who completed Science Fair Projects. Below, you see Kinsley showing off her hard work. (Matthew was out sick so we didn't get a picture of him with his project.)
Way to go SUPER SCIENTISTS!!!:):)
Our new Project Based Learning (PBL) Unit kicked off with me asking them simply "What is an idea?" Then I asked them 'What do you do with an idea?" Their answers left me speechless...they were just so simple, yet so profound! Here are a few...
Next, we read the book....
We followed the character throughout the story and page by page we analyzed him and how he responded to his 'idea'. We saw him go through so many different phases...happiness, being proud, feeling rejected, embarrassed, then he was hopeful and confident! You will have to read the story if you never have! It's so deep! We could have spent weeks looking at the illustrations and how they help piece the story together!
For the next part of our unit we took a trip to 'The Wonder Room". There were 22 inventions set up and they spent about 1 minute making observations and taking notes on each one. How does it work? Why was it invented? What problem does it solve? What does it look like? Sound like? Feel like?
Then we went back to our classroom for some COLLABORATING! They got with a partner and shared notes on the inventions. They were able to switch partners 3 times to share with different classmates. :)
...be on the look out for future blog posts of what we have been working on since our PBL Invention Unit kicked off...
We learned 4 strategies for solving two digit addition problems with regrouping. Below are pictures of them being teachers and teaching the strategy to a classmate. :)
Wednesday is known as 'Wonder Wednesday' in our classroom! To accompany our current Magnet Unit in Science, they were asked the question, "How are magnets used in everyday life?"
Here is the link from Wonderopolis:
Here are few of their journal entries from their "I Wonder" journals...
Boosterthon is at OAKLAND!!!
Here are a few pictures from the Boosterhon pep rally! :)
