Tag Archives: Genius Hour

3rd Grade Reviews Systems Thinking

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3rd grade worked on another “Contrasting Facts” math problem that was eventually solved by the girls with their great collaboration!  The group learned that communication is really key during these activities.

They also reviewed some of the things they had learned about Systems Thinking from the book we read, Billibonk and the Thorn Patch.  Last week, they collected pictures related to the book, and generated clue words for the pictures.  I was able to upload them to the Words app that we are testing for Tangible Play, and they were able to play a customized version of the game developed by the students, themselves!

Lastly, they worked more on their Mission Plans for Genius Hour.  They came up with “missions” and estimated time for completion.  We batted around several ideas for presenting their information, and they are going to finalize them next week.

5th Grade Experiences Google Glass

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Today’s blog post was written by Aubrie, and photographs were taken by Anna and Mr. Belford.

In G.T. today we had a 2 special guests. Mr. Madden, father of a 4th grade G.T. student, had purchased a device called ‘Google Glass’. He explained to us what it was, how it worked, and answered all our questions about it. He even let us try it on, and we got to look up something, or watch a video, on it! Our other guest, Mr. Belford, was here to learn about Aurasma. Aurasma is a cool app that lets you scan a certain picture, and then a short video pops up!

We also worked on Genius Hour, and did the cruel challenges. Next time we do Genius Hour, a few of us might be ready to present! Anna was the first to present hers, and she did a scavenger hunt about Faberge’s eggs.

We discussed Google Glass and ‘The Giver’, and watched a Kid President video as well.

The class pets are on hold right now, but we hope we get more soon!

4th Grade Does a Little Doodling

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Today’s blog post was written by Mahli.

Today in G.T we read more of Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. We also talked more about the question “ Is violence  ever right?”. Still most of us said in some situations, but others said no. Later,we worked on our genius hour project and practiced a lot. Then at the end of the day we went over rules for the B.O.S.S.HQ ( Building of super stuff). People in level 3 got to go in B.O.S.S HQ and played with things like 3D Doodler, Little Bits, and got to draw. While level 3 students were in B.O.S.S HQ others not in level 3 were on a programing app called Hopscotch. Their mission on Hopscotch was to make a program that would spell their name, some succeeded while others didn’t. Today in G.T. was very fun.

Note from Mrs. Eichholz:  Another activity that we tried today was “Newspaper Blackout Poetry.”  It was very challenging, but some of the students created some great “Found” poems using newspaper articles, and I wanted to feature them here.  Click on the picture to enlarge it.

3rd Grade Starts Genius Hour

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3rd Grade watched a short “trailer” for Genius Hour today, and brainstormed ideas for projects related to the brain.  Their questions were great, and everyone has a good topic for starting next week on their planning sheets.

They also learned about parentheses in Hands-On-Equations, and solved a math-related “Would You Rather” question.

During indoor recess, the students tested out another app that is in beta right now from Tangible Play.  It’s called “Doodles”, and the iPad recognizes what you draw on a piece of paper.  Your goal is to draw a line on the paper that will drive the falling balls on the iPad screen to the star.  It’s a little glitchy, since it’s still in the early stages of development, but the kids seemed to enjoy it!

In our Maker Studio (B.O.S.S. HQ), the students helped me finish up building a paper roller I bought at Ikea.  I also taught them how to use the 3Doodler – our 3D printing pen!

5th Grade Accepts the Challenge!

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Today’s blog post was written by Aubrie.

Today in G.T. we had a half-day, because of the visitors at our school. We did Genius Hour, and 2 people were brave enough to do level 5 challenge cards!

We read ‘The Giver’, and discussed why the residents in the book were not allowed to have certain things.

Lastly, we did B.O.S.S. H.Q., where we did Little Bits, improved the B.O.S.S. H.Q. sign, and did 3Doodler, and worked on Valentine’s Day sudoku.

See you next week!

4th Grade Meets the Genius Hour Villains

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Today’s post was written by Mahli and Athasi.

Today in GT we continued to work on our Genius hour projects and  were introduced to the “villains” of genius hour projects, such as pop up penelope, who distracts you with pop up ads. Today for Genius Hour we did a lot of research on are topics so next Wednesday we can create.

Also we read more of Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. We discussed if it was ever ok to use violence even when you are protecting someone. Most of us said only in some situations others said no. After that we went through some tough scenarios to help us decide if violence is ever the answer .  At the end of the day we got a fun Valentines Day sudoku puzzle. Everyday in G.T is always a new adventure. Today was definitely an exciting day for the fourth grade G.T at Hidden Forest Elementary.

 

5th Grade Has our 1st Genius Hour Presentation of the Year

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Today’s blog post is by Aubrie.

Today in G.T. we spent a lot of time on Genius Hour. We did the (extremely) evil challenges as well.

We also read ‘The Giver’, and discussed the chapters we read.

Lastly, we did Maker’s Studio, now called ‘B.O.S.S. HQ.’, which stands for Building of Super Structures. Only people who were on level 3 (we rank ourselves based on the number of Class Dojo points we have), (which means that you have 21 points and up),could do it. In B.O.S.S. HQ., we got to paint the sign reading:B.O.S.S. HQ., use mini electronic ‘robots’ called Little Bits, and use the newly-acquired 3Doodler pen, which can melt plastic and make 3-dimensional pictures!

See you next week!

B.O.S.S. HQ is Now Open!

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This post was co-authored by Mahli and Athasi.

Today in G.T we read “Tuck Everlasting “by: Natalie Babbitt and took a vote to see how many people would still drink the magic water that makes you live forever, and very few of us raised our hands . After that, we did some hands on equations which is  pre algebra. Also we revised our Genius Hour projects to meet the criteria that we talked about last time and many of us started our projects. Then, students who were on level three got to choose either to paint the sign to our maker studio, which  is called  B.O.S.S. HQ  (Building Of Super Stuff) or create hands on programs with little things called Little Bits. For those of us who were not on level three, tried some challenges on the iPad using the programming app “Hopscotch”.  Also, report cards went home today, along with our G.T folders, full of the cool stuff we do in G.T.At the end of the day Emmett showed us some things under the microscopes at the Genius Bar. There was also a question on the Genius Bar that said,” Should you always listen to the opinions of others?” A lot of us said no, but a few of us said yes.Today in G.T was a good day to show the creative side of yourself.

5th Grade Works on Goals and Genius Hour

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This blog post was written by Aubrie.

Today we focused mainly on Genius Hour, and we got a lot accomplished. Today we had less time than usual, because Mrs. Eichholz had a doctor’s appointment and had to leave at noon. As we did Genius Hour, we also graded ourselves on how we think we did on every subject.

We also did level 17 in algebra, and did a matching worksheet.

Lastly, we made goals for the winter season and watched a new Kid President movie.

Lainey has returned to Hidden Forest, and we would like to welcome her back to G.T.!

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4th Completes Parallel Poetry

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Today’s blog post was c0-authored by Mahli and Athasi.  Click on the images below to see full-size samples of some of the students’ work.

Today in GT we learned fun creative things you can do with Google Drive to make your documents or slideshows stand out and then shared them with Mrs. Eichholz. When we all finished, Mrs. Eichholz reminded us of the acronym, T.M.I., which stands for Think, Make, Improve, and asked us if we could improve the way our poem looked, and many of us added a bunch of things to it. We also went over criteria for genius hour. Some of the criteria was that it had to be able to be researched, and be completed in a reasonable amount of time. We all got time to improve our project and then other people voted to see if it was a good project or not. Today was a fun day in GT.