Algebraic Thinking:
We marched on with Hands On Equations. Our beginners started Level 2, which introduces -x. This will help so much next year in Math 6/7 or Advanced Math 6. Our middle group learned about representing their problem-solving using drawing. It's a good back-up plan to solve equations using our Hands-On methods, even without the pieces we usually use. Our third group is almost to the end of the Hands On Equations lessons, with 24 of 26 lessons. It's getting pretty tough because we're using EVERYTHING we've learned in each of the equations. We'll need to spend another week on this one, but that is just fine.
Novel Study:
We read a couple of exciting chapters leading up to the State Robotics Meet for our characters from the Academy of Scholastic Distinction. Our hero Donovan wants to help them win, but he's been kicked off the team and has to avoid his arch enemy, Dr. Schultz. We'll see if the team wins next time!
Affective:
We finished our Dream Poems and illustrations. Please take a look outside our classroom. The kids did a fantastic job, with so much creativity in their writing and artwork!
Unit Study:
We watched a couple of interesting videos about Games, The Dawn of Video Games and The Psychology of Gaming. The kids were fascinated by how much people really liked the early video games and how big the first computers were.
Later, we worked on learning to code by completing a project on CSFirst. The kids used the Scratch programming language to create Earth Day Logos for Google. The clever and fun ideas I saw were amazing! It was an incredible afternoon. Imagine...35 kids coding at the same time, most of whom have very little experience with coding. The best part, they all learned enough today to successfully create their logos! SUCCESS! Some of the kids may use this knowledge to create a video game for their Game Project, or at least part of a video game. A big shout out to Karim for his patience in helping all of our newbies, since he has lots of experience with Scratch! A very nice bonus to this activity is the $100 Donor's Choose Gift Card we'll earn because of Goggle's partnership with Donor's Choose. For each coding project the kids finish, our class earns $100, up to a total of $350. That's fantastic! We're working toward another iPad for the Target Rooms.
HW: Edmodo-Finish the Coding project
Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger