Our Busy E Day!

The students got quite a bit work work done today!

We started our day working in the Math Rules problem solving program.  We are focusing on finding the important information in the word problem and in the illustration.  We also discussed the key words that tell us if we need to add or subtract and ways we can show our thinking.

Next, using Microsoft Word as our tool, the students worked to type their paragraph.  Along the way, we learned to use the "tab" key to indent, the space bar to space appropriately between words and after punctuation, right-click to correct spelling errors and to save and print our documents.  (One student, that shall remain unnamed- LOL, got tired of typing, "basketball player" so I showed him how to copy and paste.) When they completed typing their paragraph, they we able to format their font for style.  Their paragraphs look great!



After recess and lunch, the students began working in their Exploratory area.  The students were able to complete the Knowledge and and at least some of the Comprehension level task.  They are now able to select any of the remaining tasks to complete.  Ask your child to tell you about their center work and a fact or two they learned about their topic. 

Next the students were introduced to our procedures for using the TOPS Math Problems Solving Program and began their individualized work.   We ended our day working on an open-ended critical thinking exercise that focused on flexible thinking.  It takes time and practice but everyone can improve their divergent to thinking abilities.

One area in which almost all of my students need to work is "doing their very best!"  It takes time to adjust to the expectations in our class.  Many of the students tend to rush through their work.  This results in careless mistakes, less elaboration, messier work and a general reduction in the quality of their projects/assignments.  Please remind your child I am looking for their personal best effort, especially on final draft projects, Exploratory tasks and problem solving exercises.  With patience and attention to detail they will be surprised by the quality of work with which they can achieve.

2nd SAGE day and our year is up and rolling!

Rotation E students had a great second day/week of SAGE.  They worked really hard today!  They should be proud of their efforts!

At the start of our day, we discussed our SAGE class rules and 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.

This week, the students began the rough draft paragraph about their aspirations for the future. We discussed indenting, the position and purpose of a topic sentence, supporting details and a conclusion sentence. All of the students finished this draft. They also finished their picture of what they would like to be when they grow up as well as their construction paper head.  (Yes, that sounds weird, but they are oh so cute!)  Next week, they will begin typing the written explanation of their goals. We hope to have this completed by our October 6th Open House.

Next, we discussed Bloom's Levels of Thinking and what each level might look like. I introduced our Exploratory centers and the students had an opportunity to look through the choices and list their top three picks. Each student met with me to be sure their first choice center is a good fit for them. Ask your child which center he/she will be beginning on our next SAGE day?

Our time flies by, but I feel like they accomplished a lot.

A Fun First Day

Our First Day of SAGE!

What a fun group of students!  They seemed very excited when they came bounding off the bus.  I was looking forward to beginning our year together! It is a tiny group with only four students and all of them are new to the program. (This is very typical for the start of school as these little guys have hardly been in school long enough to be noticed, tested and identified. By November their numbers will have grown enough to keep me running in circles!)

When the students arrived, we took a quick tour of the school and discussed our general building expectations.  (The great thing is, school rules tend to be much the same so they can feel comfortable with the consistency and I can expect them to be accountable for their behavior and choices.)  We reviewed arrival procedures and spent some time sharing about our summer and our interests with a Skittles activity.  Some of us stayed in the Kansas City area going to Oceans and Worlds of Fun, Powel Gardens, the Kansas City Zoo and other area attractions.  We were all busy reading books such as Junie B. Jones, Max and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Others were vacationing in Florida and visiting family and friends in Chicago.  Everyone seemed to have enjoyed their summer break.

Next, the students grabbed their big magnifying glass and put on their "thinking cap" to play detective.  Their job was to look at items from my purse to see what they could discover about me. We passed around my purse and everyone retrieved an item from the contents and tried to analyze it to see what they could learn from it. Zacarias chose my wallet and carefully examined the contents.  He found four wrinkled dollar bills and Maddison accurately noted I wasn't very rich.  (LOL)  From my driver's license, he discovered my middle name, Anne, and my license number. He discovered I like to go to Panera from my Panera VIP card and assumed I must like to play games because I have a Game Stop Power Up card.  In this case, he was wrong as that card is my son's.  Jaynah pulled my iPhone from the purse.  She was quick to figure out how to move through the contents.  She was particularly interested in my photo gallery.  She decided my son, Logan, was pretty silly from some animated images of him.  She found a picture of my niece making funny faces and mistakenly thought it was my daughter at first.  A little deeper into the pictures she spotted Courtney and noted that she had just gotten her driver's license!  She also giggled over my personal taste in music after looking through my iTunes playlist. (I still strongly defend my 80's roots!)  Maddison found a bag of throat lozenges and everyone guessed I cough a lot.  They were close.  My allergies are flaring up and I'm getting a sore throat.  We had fun and I decided they are pretty good detectives!

Next, we reviewed the parts of the computer and the related vocabulary words on our Smart Board.  We also practiced how to find our way around the network.  When we got to the computer lab, the students were able to locate their personal folders on the shared drive with little or no help!  Bravo to them!  They learned to add and name a new folder inside for future photos. Then they opened and named a blank Microsoft Word document. They typed their full name and grade and then learned to format the font for size, style (bold, underline & Italics) and color. Our thirty minute lab times fly by quickly! I am looking forward to expanding our technology skills this year, beginning our discussions on being safe and responsible on the Internet and starting down the path to becoming twenty-first century learners.

After a very chilly recess and lunch, they started their individualized work. The students completed an analytical thinking worksheet as a part of our critical thinking program. They also began the Math Rules problem solving program.

Next, we began an affective project where the students will share some of their aspirations and dreams for their future.  They drew a picture of what they would like to be when they grow up.  Their self-portraits are really cute!  Next week, they will continue working on this project and begin their written explanation of their goals.  We hope to have this completed by our October 6th Open House.

We ended our day discussing what it means to have a blog and to be a blogger.  The students watched the brief video on our home page to learn more.  Finally, we looked over the the parts of our blog and how to navigate around the site.  We also discussed ways in which they will be able to contribute to our class blog.  We have many exciting and challenging tasks in our future this year!

We hope you will follow our adventures here.  Feel free to share your thoughts by posting comments.  You are also welcome to email me with questions and/or concerns.   Please sign your child's Take Home Folder and encourage them to return it on our next SAGE day.
 
Have a wonderful week!