We started our day with a creative brain stretch on our "Waker Upper".

Unit Study:
We reviewed the Project Rubric.  Find it here.  The kids did a good job in finding images and important facts about their frogs.  

Algebraic Thinking:
We moved on with our Hands On Equations to discover new ways of solving more complicated equations.

Convergent Thinking:
We stretched our convergent thinking with a different type of logic puzzle, Perplexors.  We also used our communication skills to complete analogies.

Affective Skills:
We viewed a video, "Book of Virtues-Friendship".  After that we reflected on what we've learned and what question we still have about teamwork, leadership, or building our skills.
We continued our mindfulness practice with "Why Do Humans Experience Anxiety?".  This is a good one to help the kids understand more about  why they may feel anxious about some things.

Novel Study:
We read more in our book, and reflected on the meaning of some important story events.
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HW:  Edmodo Question
Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger

We started our day with a convergent thinking Versatiles task.  This was pretty easy for many of the kids!

Affective Skills:
We worked on our group dynamics a bit more with "Revisiting the Broken Square".  This task involved the kids working together to combine their individual pieces into 5 complete squares.  We had a deep discussion with many good insights and some powerful reflections by the students at the end of the lesson.
We continued our Mindfulness Practice with "Still Calm Place".  The kids enjoy this visual way to relax and refocus their attention.

Unit Study:
We chose our frogs today.  I'll be posting a photo of the list below and on Edmodo, just in case anyone forgets.  The kids came up with some "Thin" questions about their frogs, and some "Thick" questions that will require more research and perhaps some evaluation and analysis to understand.

Algebraic Thinking:
We continued our Hands On Equations with groups learning more about Legal Moves and Convenient Zeros.  It's challenging, but interesting for these kids!

Convergent Thinking:
We stretched our thinking with logic puzzles and analogies.  The kids are becoming more confident in their convergent thinking.  It is amazing to listen to them debate over the clues and what conclusions they can draw from the information given.  

Novel Study:
We read a few more chapters in our novel.  The kids are learning a lot more about our main character, Theo, and also making some connections between the characters and themselves.

HW: Emodo-What is one question you have about your Frog?

Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger

We got off to a strong start with a convergent Versatiles activity-"Minipups & Sneedflops".  It was a bit tricky, but not hard enough to stump these kiddos!

Algebraic Thinking:
We jumped right back into our Hands On Equations lessons to refresh our memories and prepare for new learning.  They did very well and are ready to move on next week!

Affective Skills:
We had a challenging teamwork task called Zoom.  Each person had a card with an image on it.  The kids had to order the images sequentially, without showing their images.  There were 30 for each class, so this was a pretty tough task!  Check out the video here: Zoom.  The kids learned how important clear communication is to solving a difficult problem.
We also continued our Mindfulness Practice with a quick review of "4-7-8 Breathing". So helpful in many situations!

Unit Study:
We kicked off our Frog Research Unit with an overview of why it is important to study frogs- Disappearing Frogs.  The kids will choose a frog to begin researching next week.  You can find more information about this Frog Unit on the Target Glog-4th Grade Page.

Convergent Thinking:
We worked on our convergent thinking skills with analogies and a logic puzzle.  These kids are making excellent progress in solving more challenging puzzles!

Novel Study:
We read a bit more of The Way to Stay in Destiny.  Many interesting things about Theo were revealed!  

HW:  Write down 3-5 frog choices to research

Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger

We started off with a "Waker Upper" to get our creative juices flowing this morning!  The kids enjoy thinking of all sorts of wacky ideas!

Our first activity with the whole group was a Target Scavenger Hunt.  The kids had to move around the Target Classrooms to find and identify various games, resources, and supplies--sometimes matching the resource or idea to one of our Gifted Standards.  This was fun and an excellent lesson reviewing what exactly we're working in during our Target Time!

Stations:
We stretched our Divergent thinking with an F2OE.  The kids did a fantastic job thinking of really original and creative sentences using the letters of their first names.  Check those out by our classroom!  We also honed our communication and convergent thinking skills with an Analogy and a Logic Puzzle.  

Novel Study:
We started our new book, The Way to Stay in Destiny.  The kids are totally hooked and can't wait to figure out more about the mysterious parts of the story.  We haven't even gotten to the actual mystery in the book yet!  We have enough copies for the kids to share with a buddy during our reading time.  If you'd like to purchase a copy for your child to keep, here's an Amazon Link to the book.  We'll make sure your child's book gets labelled and goes home at the conclusion of our Novel Study.  

HW:  Edmodo Question about the Novel

Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger