Getting to Know Rosie

Last week, our math problem solving strategy was “Use Logical Reasoning.”  I have introduced this strategy before, but this time the format was different and very challenging for most of us!  

Here is a challenge problem for your child to try at home with you.  Your child can earn an extra star by bringing in the correct answer next week. 

The SAGE students love to show what they have learned.  One day, 12 students altogether were working on the computer during exploratory.   6 students all together were creating posters during exploratory.  Four students were doing both by creating posters ON the computer.  How many students were in this day's SAGE class?   

This week, we started our day by meeting, Rosie.  Rosie is a Chilean Rose or Rose-hair tarantula, Grammostola rose, donated to our class by the family of a former student, Samantha.  Samantha knew that in the past, I had two tarantulas as class pets.  When her great Uncle decided to reduce his collection, she suggested we might make good caretakers for one of his tarantulas.   I'm glad she thought of us!  Rosie is definitely an exciting addition to our classes.  Ask your child to tell you a little about what he/she learned about tarantulas today.  If you or your child would like to learn more about Rosie, check out this link on tarantulas.

Next, the students worked in the individual Exploratory areas.  One of our basic academic vocabulary terms for second grade is independent.  We have discussed what it means to be an independent worker and learner.  Each week I encourage the students to push themselves to be as independent in their work as possible.  Learning to edit, self-evaluate, self-pace and thoughtfully complete project work are goals of our Exploratory Center time.  It is exciting to watch the students as they are engaged in their own center tasks.  

We ended our day working on our second Creative Problem Solving lesson.  This week, the students were given 20 minutes to complete the "squiggle" below.

In this task, students are asked to create a single, cohesive picture that includes all of the given squiggle figures and lines.  This exercise focuses on the students' flexibility and elaboration.

Flexibility is the ability to change your way of thinking about a problem or situation.  It is the ability to think of alternative ideas and to adapt to different situations  

• You are flexible in your thinking when you approach a complicated math problem you missed in a different way.
• You are flexible in your thinking when you can think of indoor games to play when your birthday swim party is rained out.

Elaboration is the process of expanding an idea by adding detail.  To elaborate, you must understand the original idea and see a way to clarify or improve it by adding specific details.  

• You are elaborating when you add to, enlarge, enrich, or expand descriptions, designs, drawings, explanations, instructions, reports or  stories. 
• You are using elaboration when you edit your stories and add more descriptive vocabulary and more details.

You can see your child's finished squiggle on display during our conferences.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Pushing Our Frustration Levels & Stretching Our Creativity

Let me start by thanking you for attending our Fall Open House Tuesday night.  We had a great turn out and everyone seemed to enjoy and celebrate the students' efforts and work.

This week we discussed my expectations. I shared with the students that SAGE is somewhat like brain aerobics class (minus the sweat- LOL.) The work they do here should challenge them and hopefully, frustrate them from time to time. It is not supposed to be painful, but it is intended to stretch their abilities, take them out of their comfort zone and test the way they handle frustration. The safety net is close, although sometimes camouflaged. I need to know what they can handle and so do they.

Each week, the work they do in our room should be hard enough that they are missing at least one or two problems/questions. If they are getting everything correct, I will bump up the level of difficulty until they are missing some. I want to get them to their individual, instructional levels. All of our work (particularly in math and critical thinking) is done over until it is correct. I give small hints if they ask. If I feel like they are becoming too frustrated, I will set down with them and work through the problem.   I've told them our classroom is a safe place to try something new and a safe place to fail. I try very hard to watch that a student is not getting too stressed, but I sometimes miss the signs. If your child expresses that SAGE is too hard, please contact me so we can talk about it with him or her. 

We were busy all day and somewhere along the line, I forgot to take out our camera and document our day.  So this will have to be my short and sweet, text-only blog post.  The exciting digital media will have to wait for another week.  

We spent part of our morning working on our latest Problem Solver strategy; Use or Make a Table.  We completed one together as a class and then they had an opportunity to try the strategy on a problem, on their own.  Next, they continued their individual work in the TOPS Math program.


The students also worked on their individual Exploratory tasks.  Most of the students have begun the comprehension level task and a few are now working on the level of their choosing.  Ask your child about the project in which they are working.

In the afternoon, the students were introduced to the Components of Creativity:

• Fluency- to brainstorm many ideas
• Flexibility- to redirect and approach a problem from a new angle
• Originality- to generate unique ideas
• Elaboration- expand on ideas by adding details

We divided our class into 2 teams.  Each team brainstormed for seven minutes  to see how many ideas they could come up with for objects that could fit in a 1 inch by 1inch square. 

Maddison recorded ideas for one team and Jasmine recorded ideas for the other.  To make a comparison quantifiable, I told the students I would give the teams one point for each idea on their list.  This would be their fluency score.  I would also give three bonus point for every original idea; an idea for which the other team failed to think.  This is their originality score.

For this casual competition,  
 
Maddison's team brainstormed twenty ideas for a fluency score of 20 points. 
Jasmine's team brainstormed twenty-seven ideas for a fluency score of 27 points.

Maddison's team earned an originality score of 21 points (7 original ideas.)
Jasmine's team earned an originality score of 42 points (14 original ideas.)

This week's winner is Jasmine's team!

Some of the more unique ideas included, a tear drop, ear wax, crumbs, a flower petal, gas, and a Lima bean.  The more we practice this skill, the better they will get!

Have a great weekend!

Using Clues & Strengthening our Logical Thinking Skills

The Rotation B Day students were busy today. We worked in the Problem Solver program and today's strategy focused on making an organized list to solve mathematical problems. Next, the students worked in the Logic Links program. This is an individualized program that allows students to progress at their own pace as they strengthen and exercise their logical thinking skills. You will have a chance to see how they solve these logic problems at our Fall Open House next Tuesday evening. 

 
After lunch and recess, we discussed our SAGE Class Rules. 

1. There is no such thing as a dumb question or answer.
2. This is a safe place to try new things.
3. It’s okay to say, “I don’t know.”
4. If you don’t understand, ask.
5. If you still don’t understand, ask again.
6. Be respectful of other peoples’ feelings and ideas.
7. It’s okay to disagree– try explaining your ideas.
8. It’s okay to be yourself, originality is in!
9. None of us are perfect.
10. This is a safe place to make mistakes- jump in a give it a try!

I am confident the boys and girls will find success with these rules.

In the computer lab, the students had a chance to read and respond to the comments written by our Canadian Quadblogging partner. We have also gotten many comments posted from the partner schools/students from England and New Zealand.  

Next we learned the importance of having strong research skills.  We discussed and defined our 2nd grade Academic Vocabulary words: knowledge, comprehension, research and independent.  We are encouraging the boys and girls to be as independent as possible in their work.

We ended our day working at our individual Exploratory Centers.  Ask your child what he or she learned today.

Your children are looking forward to showing you around our SAGE classroom and telling you about their SAGE work this Tuesday evening.  I hope to see you all here.

Briarcliff Primary SAGE 

Fall Open House

in our SAGE Classroom 

from 6:00-7:00 PM 

Our First Week of Exploratory...

At the start of our SAGE day, the boys and girls wrote the rough draft for their "Take a Closer Look at Me" poem.  We took a very fun photo of each student to display with with their poems. Next, they took turns typing them on their own.  Their projects are great!  They will be display at our Oct. 2nd Fall Open House.

During our morning, we discussed Bloom's Levels of Thinking and what each level might look like.  I introduced our Exploratory centers and the procedures we follow to select and complete a center.  The students had an opportunity to look through the choices and list their top three picks.  The boys and girls met with me individually to be sure their first choice center is a good fit for them.  We have students studying Color, Capsela robotics, Volcanoes, Puppets, Birding, Insects, Titanic and more!  Ask your child which center he/she chose and what drew him/her to that center. 

Discovering Our Exploratory Topics on PhotoPeach

The first step in beginning any center is to fill out their Exploratory Contract.  This helps me keep track of their individualized work and it empowers the children to become more independent in their learning.  After filling out their contracts, they had about 45 minutes to begin the Knowledge Level reading at their chosen center.  A couple of students even had time to finish their Comprehension Level task!

Next week, they will have time to continue their center work.  (The Knowledge Level and Comprehension Level tasks  usually takes 2-3 SAGE days to complete.)

In the afternoon, we worked together in the Problem Solver series.  This week's focus was on the strategy, “Use Logical Reasoning.”  Our problems were not very hard, but we will be ready to apply this to more difficult problems soon!

To reinforce this strategy, I introduced the students to the Logic Links program.  This is a challenging, self-paced logical thinking program.  Ask your child to tell you a little about more about the problems he/she solved.

Have a great weekend!

Our iLearn Podcasts

Last week, the boys and girls each made a podcast of their iLearn paragraph.  This is a paragraph the second graders wrote on their first day of SAGE to tell about a topic in which they love to learn.

They did a great job on their very first podcast!  Besides the fun of sharing their writing in a personal recording, this experience will also help them learn to speak with inflection, at an appropriate pace and volume, when they are orally presenting their learning, online or in person.

I used Audioboo.fm to embed their podcasts here.  I hope you enjoy hearing them as much as the students enjoyed recording them.

listen to ‘ iLearn, Rotation B-1’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘ iLearn, Rotation B-2’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘iLearn, Rotation B-3’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘iLearn, Rotation B-4’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘iLearn, Rotation B-5’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘iLearn, Rotation B-6’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘iLearn, Rotation B-7’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘iLearn, Rotation B-8’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘iLearn, Rotation B-9’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘iLearn, Rotation B-10’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘iLearn, Rotation B-11’ on Audioboo

When you have a chance to learn something new, what topics interest you?

Dots Around the World Project- A Celebration of the book, The Dot

Week two, and the returning students are getting back in the routine.  Week two, and the new students are looking less anxious and fearful.  I am pleased to see that!

In the morning, the boys and girls completed writing the final draft of their paragraph on something about which they love to learn.  They did a nice job on it. 


Today, my surprise was revealed to the students.  We have a new podcasting booth in our room.

 
 

The students also made an audio podcast of their "iLearn" paragraph, but that project will have to come in a later post when I have more time to upload them...

Next, the students learned about International Dot Day and we read the book, The Dot. International Dot Day is a time to celebrate creativity in our children.  More than a half a millions teachers and students are participating in the global project.  Each child is asked to create their own dot image.  The students came up with a diverse gallery of dots.  Check out their creativity below!

 For anyone who has been afraid to express themselves - from a child in art class to an adult whose fear has shut down a dream, Peter H. Reynolds' book The Dot (Candlewick Press) is there to remind us all to "Make your mark, and see where it takes you."

In the afternoon, I gave a more detailed tour of our blog with the help of our Smart Board.  We discussed our Blogging Guidelines and the importance of staying safe in our Internet interactions.  
I focused mainly on:

• Always having parent permission when exploring the Internet at home
• Never sharing personal information about yourself or others when on a blog or website
• Always sign blog posts or comments with only a first name
• Rules, responsibility and expectations come with the privilege of participating in our class blog
• This is an academic blog rather than a purely social blog and our interactions, posts and comments should reflect our learning.  (The learning being shared does not have to be exclusively "school learning."  It can be something learned in an activity with friends or family, a trip or even a new skill learned outside of school.)

We also reviewed how to post a quality comment:

Mrs. Yollis' video,  How to Compose a Quality Comment

Have a wonderful week!

Today Was a Fast, Fun, First Day!

The boys and girls from Rotation B were really ready to begin our first SAGE day.  I was so impressed with how quiet and focused they were when they arrived!  It was nice to see my returning students and to have a chance to get to know our new classmates.  I always wonder what our class will be like with the addition of new students and a new mix of personalities?   They seem like a pretty hard working group (with a "not-so-hidden" silly, fun-loving side.)  We are definitely off to a great start!

The students began their morning by writing a paragraph about something in which they love to study.  Next week, we will try to finish these to share and display our interests and passions.

During our lab time, the boys and girls learned to log in to our computers with their new user name and password.  They also practiced accessing our class blog.  There are many wonderful student and parent resources on the tabs along the top of our Primary Thinkers "home" page.

After recess, the students had a chance to get better acquainted with a classmate they did not know. To do this, they took turns interviewing their partner and recording a few facts about him/her.

Each student then had the opportunity to introduce their friend to our class and share a few details about that person.  They did a wonderful job on their introductions!

I took notes and discovered some pretty interesting facts about the boys and girls as they were introduced.  I thought about posting some of the facts here.  Rather than having me share them, I think I would like to encourage the students to post a comment here about their partner.

With your mom or dad's help, please add a comment to our blog post and share one or two facts you learned about your new friend.  (Parents, this can be done without creating a Google account.)  Remember, we only use first names, so mention your friend by his or her first name and sign your comment with just your first name.

If you have trouble figuring out how to leave a comment, don't worry, you can do it in our class next week and we can help you.

 

In the afternoon, the students were introduced to TOPS Math and learned how we structure this individualized, problem solving program.  TOPS can be pretty tricky!  It stumped a few students, but I can see we have some strong math students in this class!

 

I hope you enjoyed your first week of SAGE.  Have a wonderful weekend and we will see you next B day.