Compasses!!! Thanks Mr. Matthews and Tri State Outfitters

We now have 11 compasses for us to use !! YAY!!

Pen Pals at Good Samaritan Village--such a wonderful experience for all

Today the kids had the most fun searching for eggs on the Assisted Living Patio while the residents watched. Then the kids came to the living room and greeted and had conversations with many new and old Pen Pals.

They found all the eggs in a flash-- must have been a couple hundred and all filled with goodies. 

After working on letters to reply to their Pen Pals this week, we dropped them off on this visit. These letters were longer, more in-depth, and fun. They shared interesting stories and pictures they drew.

Sister Delores loved and played basketball and to Jalyn and Malia that was the coolest thing to hear.

  The students are talking with their actual Pen Pals. Sister Delores and Ray have been very interesting
for the kids to get to know. You have to speak closely and loud and the kids did--there was a lot of background noise so it was hard for the residents to hear. The kids adapted very nicely to make sure the conversations were followed.

 Tommy and Maya with The Amazing Leroy------ They learned he knew a lot about WWII.

 Ms. Melanie, a LPN, who has been the greatest resource and teacher to the kids about working with older citizens. She loves what she does and and has shared great stories.

Their effort and focus showed and the gift they gave of conversations on paper will be really appreciated. I am very proud of how hard they worked to write meaningful letters. Plus they were super respectful and kind to the residents.

Collaboration for Art in Science Reports and the Pleiades Poetry Celebration Criteria List

Being able to compare work and listen to feedback allows each to improve work. These were all drawn freehand.

 To the surprise of most-- revision works! That is the hardest thing to keep saying from my end as the teacher, "Go back, try again, what about doing this, how about redoing that..." It is all about helping them take work to a higher level than they thought they could. Yet, one of the best things to hear is when a student will say how proud they are of their work and how much effort they put in. They learn that success comes with knowing what to do and doing it well.

The list below is how the kids checked in to make sure that their poetry fit into the ideas that make poetry so different from prose or non fiction texts. It was a good contrast and really fun since they had been working so hard on both the science and social studies reports. 

We talked about a lot of ideas, listened to music, and they wondered about big ideas as we sat outside. Some talked about what is the meaning of life! Poetry allows for some time to sit back and think and feel. They produced some interesting and deep moments.

Learning to play Hearts and research for a body system...following rules and being good sports-- thinking deeply and creating a full report

Learning to shuffle, hold cards, take turns
(great fine motor stuff) and keep score.

Morning Meeting activity-- playing Hearts

Learning to play card games provides great opportunities for socializing and thinking strategically. Each is learning to pay attention to the whole game and figure out how to win. Hearts has been fun because the goal is to gt the least amount of Hearts. Plus, this game has a great connection to English History which we talked about. Maya even found a book that supported the information I had shared with them in class. It was really cool to see kids see each other in new ways because different players won. The game helps develop critical thinking skills like analyzing and judging.

The expository report on a body system followed up the Skeleton
Project where the students learned the bones and put together a model. This report had many parts. The writing had to be in 3rd person which took a lot of revision. Each report had a drawing or diagram and a bibliography.
It was also great because we have had two medical experts join us and teach- Ms. Mickey, a nurse from the county health department and Ms. Melanie, a nurse that works at Good Samaritan and helped coordinate the Pen Pals.

Both of these happy kids can explain the Digestive System. They taught had the bright idea to match the model to the book in order to get clarification.