We had so much collaborating on our learning games!

Unit Study:
We learned about the Global Goal of Climate Action. The kids were excited about the alternative energy sources! They continued their research on their countries. We'll have a few more weeks to finish research. We also read The Magic School Bus and the Climate Change. So much good information!

Algebraic Thinking:
We tackled word problems today! It's much more challenging applying the Hands on Equation concepts to word problems. We'll be working on this again next time.

Novel Study:
We read a few more chapters of our novel, Front Desk. The kids are loving this story! 

Affective Skills:
We watched a couple of great videos of the importance of the growth mindset and the "Power of Yet"! 
The kids continued their Mindfulness Practice with a short video about "observing your train of thought." The kids liked the idea of a train of clouds!

Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger

Fridays are always great with these kiddos!

Algebraic Thinking:
We worked on Hands On Equations Lesson 8. The kids are ready to try some word problems next time!

Unit Study:
We learned about Clean Water and Sanitation today. The kids collaborated in Jigsaw Learning to share their new knowledge about our topic with others who read different sections of the article. It went really well! They did a great job!

Novel Study:
We read a few more chapters of our book, Front Desk. It was interesting to find out that Mia could play the piano!

Stations:
We had a blast playing games to challenge our convergent and divergent thinking skills! There's so many ways to encourage and expand these skills!

Affective:
We had a ton of fun figuring out whether popular characters show a Fixed or Growth Mindset. The kids did a wonderful job discussing how this helps or hurts characters.
We continued our Mindfulness Practice with "2 Minute Mindfulness". The kids enjoy these quiet moments to focus.

Have a fantastic Fall Break!
​Dr. Kraeger

We had a full day of Target fun!

Algebraic Thinking:
We started Level 2 of Hands On Equations, learning about the Star-the white pawn. Very exciting!

Unit Study:
We researched Clean Water and Sanitation and also watched "The Water Princess" to learn about how families in other parts of the world struggle to have clean water.

Novel Study:
We read a few more chapters of our book. We met Uncle Ming and heard Mia tell more fibs about having a dog.

Stations:
We used our divergent thinking to transform a key into something else. The solutions were so creative! We did a gallery walk, so they could comment on others' work. The feedback is always interesting!

Affective Skills:
We learned about "Fixed vs. Growth Mindset". The kids are finding a character for each of those to talk about next week.
We continued our mindfulness practice with "Mindful Bell".

HW: Find a character that demonstrates a Fixed Mindset and another for Growth Mindset.

Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger

We got a late start because I was filling in to give the IOWA test. 

Unit Study:
We continued our Country research for our Model United Nations unit. The kids are currently checking on Poverty in their country.

Stations:
We worked on divergent thinking by creating solutions for our September F2OE. We also did a Gallery Walk for the kids to comment on their peers' work. It was interesting for them to see other ideas, and they enjoyed reading comments from others. Later we played "Scratch" with our answers from the Flexibility section. The kids loved it! I bet they'll try hard to think of more original answers next time! 

Affective Skills:
We continued our Mindfulness Practice with "66 Second Story". The kids can see the difference mindfulness and slow, steady breathing can make in their day. 

Novel Study:
We read another chapter in Front Desk. Then we watched the author answering reader questions. The kids found out that the book is based on the author's life as a child. 

Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger

We had a shorter day because of GR1 & GR3 Testing and some of our class was at home today, but we did some amazing learning!

Unit Study:
We continued our study of Global Goals #1-No Poverty. The kids also continued their Country research. We watched a read aloud of an inspiring story by Malala Yousafzai, The Magic Pencil. Check out their thoughtful reflections after the story.

Novel Study:
We continued our novel, Front Desk, with a few more chapters. The kids did a great job answering some critical thinking questions after reading.

Affective Skills:
We continued our Mindfulness Practice with "Fear vs. Anxiety" to help the kids tell the difference between real threats and anxiety. We also discussed strategies to help us calm anxiety. 

Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger

​

We got our day of to a great start with some challenging games of chess, checkers, and ThinkLab. 

Algebraic Thinking:
We reviewed our Lesson 6 concepts with an Extra Practice. The kids are definitely ready to move on to the next lesson, the start of Level 2!!!

Unit Study:
The kids sorted the Global Goals and prioritized those they thought were most important. We watched a read aloud of Beatrice's Goat to illustrate how much poverty impacts people all over the world. The kids chose their country to research for our Model United Nations debate. We'll be researching different aspects of the countries and how they are working on the Global Goals. We learned about how many people live in poverty around the world and how scarce resources are. 

Stations:
The kids worked on the August F2OE, focusing on creating things to show fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. There ideas are SO creative!  Love these great thinkers! 

Novel Study:
We read a few more chapters of Front Desk. The kids thought about whether it is better to have something for a short while before it is taken away or to never have it at all. It was a good discussion!

Affective Skills:
The kids read an article, "You Can Grow Your Intelligence". They learned all about how we can impact our learning and intelligence through what we chose to do. They shared "Wow!" facts during our "Whip Around". So many great ideas! We continued our Mindfulness practice with "Why Humans Experience Anxiety?". The kids enjoyed doing a couple moments of mindful breathing. 

Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger

Fantastic Friday with these great kiddos!

Algebraic Thinking:
We played "BACON" again, but this time the rounds included squaring numbers, cubing numbers and multistep operations. Much more of a challenge!
We combined math and logic with a Versatiles activity. The kids had fun figuring out how to use the Versatiles kits again and solving the logic!

Affective Skills:
We watched a few Sketchnoting videos to help us build our skills for notetaking: "Drawing Peeps". The kids did a great job sketchnoting during their "Big Idea 1" video! 
Later we continued our Mindfulness Practice with "4-7-8 Breathing". The kids liked this one. We'll practice this again next time.

Unit Study:
We continued our Model United Nations unit with Goalkeepers Can, where we discussed what special skills we bring to being a Global Goalkeeper and how those skills will help us work toward those goals.  The kids also finished their "Global Goals Countries". Very creative ideas on how to meet all 17 Sustainable Development Goals!

Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger

We had the absolute BEST day in Target! What a wonderful way to start our year!

Affective Skills:
We started off with the Cup Stack Challenge. The kids worked in pairs to stack the cups into a pyramid without touching them with their hands. Look at their successful collaborations!

We started our Mindfulness Practice with "Still, Quiet Place". The kids enjoyed these moments of calm in the middle of a busy and active day.

Algebraic Thinking Skills:
We jumped back into Hands On Equations with a review of Lesson 6. The kids are working through that pretty well. We'll pick up there next week.  Our friends who are new to Target did a great job on Lesson 1 and will move ahead next week to continue learning with Lesson 2. 

Novel Study:
We read the first chapter of Front Desk. The kids loved the funny things the main character says about her life in the United States as a new immigrant from China. 

Unit Study:
We kicked off our Model United Nations unit by learning about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Goals of reaching all 17 by 2030. The kids created drawings of their lives in the year 2030. Then they worked in small groups to create a fictional country that shows what would happen if all 17 Global Goals were met. We had some interesting discussions about how to create equity in resources and why everything can't just be free.

Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger

What a fantastic year we've had in Target!

This Week's Target Learning-

Unit Study:
These clever and resourceful kiddos solved "The Bell" Challenge and then created their own Challenges and a Rube Goldberg Machine to solve them.  Wow!  They amazed me!

We enjoyed a Kahoot game, which really challenged their critical thinking skills!

Instead of paper/pencil activities for Stations, we had fun playing various convergent/divergent thinking games.  

Have a wonderful summer!

Until next year,
​Dr. Kraeger

We had a busy day of learning in Target!

Algebraic Thinking:
We reviewed Hands On Equations Lesson 14, so the kids will be solid in understanding before moving on to the last lesson of this Level.

Stations:
We worked on a May F2OE to use our divergent thinking skills and a logic puzzle to engage our convergent thinking skills.  The kids are pros at both of these now!

Novel Study:
We finished reading Hidden Figures.  What a wonderful story of accomplishment, innovation, and sheer determination!

Unit Study:
The kids did a fantastic job on the first Rube Goldberg Challenge, "Jenga Geronimo Challenge"!  Check out the pictures of their amazing creations!

No Target Class on May 14the because of Milestones Testing.
Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger