This was a fun week in the classroom! Even though Second Grade was not here on Monday (due to the Columbus Holiday) all other grade levels were in on the GT action. Third Grade loves warming up their brains with Logic Puzzles. I love Logic Puzzles because not only does it require Convergent Thinking but also students have to reread the clues many times to find that right answer which is a good skill to have in many areas. Now that we have discussed the word Metacognition and what it means in the GT classroom, we are moving forward on studying Systems Thinking and what that means. In order to do this, we are discussing actual Systems first and grasping what a System is and the purpose of Systems. The students continue to read Phantom Tollbooth and follow Milo on his path to Dictionopolis. This week we learned about the Doldrums and what that word means. Funny, it means not thinking and being bored. So that lead to wonderful discussions of guess what, Thinking and why we do it. The students started learning about Genius Hour with a wonderful video, Caine’s Arcade. We discussed what Genius Hour is and what part it will play in their weekly GT day. Next we move on to planning their first steps for their project. The students are also continuing to carry on their algebraic thinking from Second Grade X-Tiles to now using Hands on Equations.
Fourth Grade was on the ball as well. We are all excited over our new City X project. This week they were able to choose a character with a problem that they will eventually help to solve. We visited the library and watched our Las Lomas 3D printer in action and actually touched a bracelet made on the printer. We are just getting started so over the next few months the class will have time to think about the problems and begin the design process. The students discussed a quote from Einstein and then did some research on this very interesting man. After this, each student reflected on the Masterpieces and Mysteries of themselves. This is a different way of thinking for Fourth Graders but they did an excellent job of it. We continued to read Chasing Vermeer and follow Petra and Calder as they begin their mysterious journey into the art world. There is a secret message buried in the book’s illustrations and the students are anxious to use their decoding skills to find the answer. We moved on in Hands on Equations with the new students learning the first steps while other members of the class review these same skills.
The Fifth Grade class had fun using iPads and QR codes to collect clues to the lyrics of a special song they will hear next week. The two teams arranged the lyrics and gave their creation a name. Let’s see which team comes closest to recreating the actual song lyrics and meaning. We move on with Hands on Equations with review and new learning for the classmates who joined us this year. Also, for Genius Hour, a classmate shared a presentation of her wonderful trip to Europe exciting other students to work on their own projects. We continued to read The Giver and follow Jonas in his highly unusual community. The discussions around this book are so fantastic and I enjoy the thinking that it opens up for Fifth Grade Philosophers. This class also created their LIM Class Mission Statement which says it all in two sentences. Fifth Grade is also participating in the City X project. This week they selected their characters based on the problem that character needs to have solved. After visiting the library to view the 3D printer and what it can create, each student filled out an empathy page for their character. This will help them to design and create a solution to the problem.
It was a wonderful week of learning and exploration and I can hardly wait to see what next week holds for our creative classrooms. Have a great weekend!