Giving Our Very Best Effort

Today was a busy day, (so much so we pretty much forgot about getting any pictures.)

In the morning, the students worked at their Exploratory centers.   The newer students selected their first center, filled out their contract and started the Knowledge level task.  The rest of the students continued their individualized tasks.  

• Cadence has started a model of a firefly for the application level task.
• Kirby is learning about volcanoes by reading and watching videos.  He has begun to show his knowledge on the comprehension level worksheet.
• Jason finished a great poster today showing the results of his analysis level experiments to test which magnets are the strongest.
• Kyla is doing a beautiful job designing tissue paper in Eric Carle's style for an application level task.  Once she is done, she will make a synthesis level picture with them--inspired of course, by Eric Carle's illustrations.
• Julissa is learning about birds by watching a video and reading some books for the knowledge level task.
• Trig is working on classifying his new species of wild cat for his synthesis level task. (There is a ton of analysis going on to come up with the correct classification too!)
• Leah is conducting color experiments by mixing various combinations of colors for the synthesis level task.  (Her job is to invent, describe, name and give suggested uses for an original color.)
• Colton has made models of the three types of volcanoes.  This week he is typing up information about each to be displayed with his application level project.
• Reanna is working on learning information about butterflies for the knowledge level thinking task.

Did you get in mental images from my description???  Not nearly as fun as the photos, sorry!  I can share with you an image or two of some of the finished projects we are currently displaying.  Ask your child about how his/her project is going?

In the computer lab, the boys and girls reviewed how to locate a document in their SAGE shared drive file.  The students learned to minimize, restore down and close a file.

They also learned to open Microsoft Power Point Presentation, save it in their SAGE- shared drive file, and to insert and move a text box. We also discussed the differences and similarities between Microsoft Word and Microsoft Power Point.

Today we discussed what quality work looks like and the importance of giving our very best effort for finished projects.  I am excited to see the students beginning to complete more time intensive projects.

Have a wonderful weekend!