Irving Week of 3/25

Happy Monday everyone! It is so hard to believe that we are coming up on Spring Break, this year has gone quickly! Unfortunately, today was my only day at Irving this week. On Wednesday I am accompanying the Franklin 4th and 5th graders on their Wisconsin Capitol field trip. Teachers have been notified and this information will be relayed to students. They are welcome to continue project work and GCT work in class during their session times on Wednesday as long as its approved by classroom teachers.

Today students continued to work on their 20% Projects. They've been so diligent and motivated in working through project steps. Just an FYI I did not get to see everyone today due to Forward Testing.

Henry's crystal "saga" continues as he would attest to. After attempting to use numerous DIY recipes that he located, ordering materials, and finding one after another that did not work, he decided that ordering a kit with specific material ingredients may be the best bet. Alum and copper sulfate solutions were just not working for him. I admire his perseverance! Today he started two batches using the official kit. One batch to create clear crystals and one to create red. We used boiling water rather than warm water in hopes of that making the difference. Henry is determined and will keep going until he grows those crystals!

Today Gianna held a "focus group" to make sure that her game runs as planned. She invited 5 classmates to join her in a test run of her math board game. Based on how the game went today and the feedback she received, she will be able to make modifications where needed. Great to see her hard work pay off with a functioning math board game!

Joey and Anvesha worked diligently on their respective Kahoot series and Board Game questions. Joey is working on his 5th original quiz and will be organizing his groups to play the math games after Spring Break. He has tried to create challenging and varied questions to keep the players engaged. He has used his own background knowledge as well as the Common Core State Standards to develop questions. He's also worked to add images to make the visual piece engaging. Joey reflected today that it was difficult coming up with quizzes and how coming up with multiple answers that would be feasible is challenging. We had a discussion about how teachers often avoid true or false/multiple choice questions to make sure we can see what students know over guessing. Great way to flip the student-teacher perspective a bit. Stick with it Joey, your Kahoot players will have a blast playing and strengthening math skills.

Anvesha has been painstaking in writing her questions. Her board game included both math and ELA and is targeted a lower elementary students. She has been using Common Core State Standards to create here questions and make sure they are grade appropriate. Her questions include diagrams, word problems, and real world situations. Next she'll complete her board and decide on game pieces.

Mason continues to develop his lesson series on Technology. His plan is to make his students (peers) see that technology is not just electronics but how we utilize resources to help us achieve a task. His lessons range from exploring how a door handle works, to breaking down the definition of technology, to having students create a piece of "technology" of their own. He used a 3-D printing pen today to start making components that students can choose to use in the hands on activity he has planned. Mason has developed lesson plans, created graphic organizers, and selected videos that will enhance his teaching.

Audrey continued work on her "Science of Emotion" 20% Project. She has completed her research and began thinking about how she will present this visually using a tri-fold, which she started today. She decided to include an audience engagement piece that surveys how viewers feel emotionally when presented with different scenarios. She is having them record their reactions using a bar graph that will be displayed at the 20% fair. She plans to analyze the data afterwards and present it in terms of percentages and pie charts.

Aidan is creating his next Kahoot Quiz for his weekly club. Today we explored strategies for finding the product of factors that are multiples of ten. He is writing and developing questions while also solving them. Great practice for both Aidan and his club. In running this club he has taken on a leadership role and weekly reminds members of expectations. He also encourages them and reflects on each question, explaining the answer if any student was incorrect. Way to go Aidan!

So very proud of each and every one of these students as well as those not pictured in today's post. These 4th and 5th Graders are showing an ability to self-direct their learning, focus on their project goals, and incorporate peer/teacher feedback into creating their best work.

Please reach out with any questions or items to discuss. I encourage you to chat with your students at home and in class about their projects, any feedback for them is great!

Enjoy your week.