Algebraic Thinking:
Our process with Hands-On-Equations continues at a good rate! Our Extension Group is moving along quickly and is eager to keep up this rapid pace, so that's what we'll do! They're really impressing me with their rate of learning and their depth of understanding, even the new concepts! Our on-level group is making good progress as well. They will continue to work on a new HOE Lesson each week, so keeping the pace in class is important. Those that need extra time will either work more in the morning on Target Day or take unfinished HOE work home.
Convergent Thinking:
We worked a bit on the groundwork for analogies and then continued with some challenging logic puzzles called Perplexors. These will be a regular part of our convergent thinking work.
BYOD:
Thanks for sending in the permission slips and devices today! We were able to get everyone on the CCSD BYOD network. We tried a couple of web-based activities to practice with our devices today--Socrative and Answer Garden. We'll use these more in the future as a way to assess learning, collaborate, and keep us on track. Children without devices were able to use one of our class iPads or one of the desktop computers to participate in our activities today. The kids really enjoyed our first try with BYOD. They may bring devices each week to Target from now on.
Gollywhopper Games-Target Style!
This was a high point of the day. The kids competed in small teams in a "Gollywhopper Games" type of competition. They had three Challenges to solve: Break the Code, Match the Game, and Word Winks. Each brainteaser involved all sorts of critical thinking and problem solving. When a team finished the Challenge, they would come see a teacher. They would receive a card with a physical stunt to perform (like Do 10 jumping jacks, High-5 your teammates, Hop on 1 foot 5 times, etc.) If they got the Challenge answer wrong, they had to try to answer again and do the stunt again. The Challenges were pretty tough, especially Match the Game. Let's just say, we had a LOT of jumping jacks and hopping today! Each of the questions focused on our gifted standards. In the end, every group solved all of the Challenges. It was a blast!
Here are some photos:
Until next week,
Dr. Kraeger