We started off our morning getting our creative juices flowing by finishing up our Weighty Word-Felicity-Visual Vocabulary creations.

Stations:
We kept those creative ideas coming to SCAMPER a Magnifying Glass.  The kids had LOTS of wonderful ideas!  Check them out on our 3rd Grade Bulletin Board in class.  We also used our convergent thinking skills to find who stole the "Missing Candy" in a logic puzzle.  Finally, the kids recorded their Mystery Stories on Flipgrid.  You can see their videos if you stop by outside our classroom.  Just scan the QR code (most newer phones can scan with the camera) and click to visit our "Mystery Story Theater" Grid.  Check out the great, spooky stories the kids wrote over the past few weeks!

Vocabulary:
We read our last Weighty Word story, Geriatric.  I think the kids liked the word play on this one: Gerry's Hat Tricks!  Take a peek at our student-created Visual Definitions hanging in our classroom, up by the ceiling!

Novel Study:
We finally finished our book, Be a Perfect Person in Three Days.  The kids loved the ending and saw the bigger message: "Being perfect isn't all it's cracked up to be."  

HW:  Draw your favorite scene from Be a Perfect Person in Three Days

Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger

We started our day with creativity by doing our Weighty Word Visual Vocabulary for Letter E-Expedient.  The ideas were EXCELLENT!

Algebraic Thinking:
We really applied those algebraic thinking skills with a math problem solving activity, "The Mystery of the Socks!"  The kids used charts/diagrams to figure out possible combinations.  Who says Combinations aren't until Middle School math class?

Vocabulary:
We had a great lesson with Mrs. Hazlett, our Technology Integration Specialist, on how to use Office 365, including how to log-in at school and how to create a Word Document online.  The kids used these skills to work on our new word this week, Felicity.  They has some wonderful images!

Unit Study:
We continued working on typing our Mystery Stories in Office 365.  Stay tuned next week for a special surprise with our Mystery Stories!

We also researched fingerprints and learned how to take a fingerprint.  After the kids took all 10 of their prints, we analyzed to see which type of fingerprint pattern each one was.  They had a blast doing this!

Our logic puzzle was also on the Mystery Theme this week, with "Broken Window".  The kids used their convergent thinking to determine who committed the crime, based on the answers in the puzzle and the time the crime was committed.

Affective Skills:
We learned about how to "Calm Down Your Amygdala" and reviewed our mindful breathing with some Square Breathing.

HW:  Edmodo Quiz
Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger

Wow!  The kids were so excited to be back in school and back to Target!  They worked so hard all day!

Algebraic Thinking:
We started the day with some mixed problem solving with Math Stars.  The kids remembered and used a variety of strategies to get the problems solved!  

Affective Skills:
We practiced our sketchnoting by learning more about titles and containers for our text.  Later we used those skills to sketchnote about Courage from an Adventures from the Book of Virtues video.  It was interesting to see how the kids interpreted and visualized aspects of courage.  

We also used our sketchnoting to complete an Idea Flood titled, "All About Me".  There are some neat posts about the kids!

We continued our mindfulness with a Mindful Listening Exercise.  The kids did a great job focusing their attention on the Bell.

At the end of the day, we read more of our novel, Be a Perfect Person in Three Days.  The kids focused on perseverance, since this is what Milo has been showing.  They found images that represent this trait and will make a poster using the images next week.  

Stations:
We stretched our creative thinking with the Idea Flood and worked our convergent and evaluative thinking with Logic puzzles and a new game, "Rubik's Battle".  It's like War, but with images of Rubik's Cubes.  The kids enjoyed it!

HW:  Edmodo
Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger

We started off our short Target Day with recess to get some fresh air and get the blood flowing to wake up our brains!

Vocabulary:
We read our next story in Weighty Word, Expedient.  The kids have finally realized that the animals in the story are related to the word for each week.  Love it when they get to the "AH-HA!" moment!

Unit Study:
We spent some time in the Computer Lab beginning to type our Mystery Stories.  Many of the kids learned how to get to Office 365, so they can save documents to access both at home and at school.  If you'd like to try this at home, check it out here:
The user name is going to be in the format of: firstname.lastname@students.cobbk12.org for MOST students. However, if the student shares a name with other students in Cobb there will be a random number after the lastname. We could check that at school.  The password will always be their network password, the same they use to login to CCSD computers on campus. If they forget this password your media specialist can reset it. Students can access O365 on any device that has internet access, on or off campus; that is one of the greatest things about it! They just need to go to www.cobbk12.org > parents > Office 365 login.

Affective Skills:
We continued our Mindfulness Practice with Mindful Breathing and Listening Activity.  The kids were very engaged in hearing all the sounds they could.  

We ended our day with another chapter in our novel, Be a Perfect Person in Three Days.  Milo gave up the broccoli, but had to do something SOOOO hard for an entire day!  He's trying so hard to be perfect.  Ask your child what Milo had to endure.  This led to a great discussion about one of our character traits: Perseverance.  The kids shared examples from their lives when they've shown this trait.

HW:  NONE!  Enjoy the Break!
Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger

We started our day off with lots of creativity!  Some worked on finishing their Visual Vocabulary for Coruscate, while others worked on a task called, "Grab a Flashlight".  It was filled with different types of puzzles that call for creative thinking.  The kids really like it, so we'll do one of these each month!

Algebraic Thinking:
We added our creativity into Math with Mystery Pictures.  The kids used ordered pairs to color grid squares certain colors to reveal a Mystery Picture.  Not all finished, but word got out pretty quickly that the Mystery Picture was a sailboat.  They did a great job!  Look for those hanging on our bulletin board later this week.

Stations:
Next we moved on to our convergent thinking with a Perplexor logic puzzle.  The kids are getting better at this type of puzzle, but some are still pretty challenged by this format.  We also used our math skills to play small group games of "Albert's Insomnia", our new game from last week.  I love how the kids created their own "House Rules" to keep the action moving and keep everyone involved in the game!  Truly the mark of creative thinkers!

Unit Study:
We spent quite a while working on our mystery stories, with several kids finishing their rough drafts.  They peer edited, especially checking for the Mystery Elements that we discussed.  We'll continue to work on these stories next week, including typing them, as time allows.

Vocabulary:
Our word of the week is Dogmatic.  The kids found some fantastic pictures to illustrate this word.  I hope you'll ask them what the word means and how they might use it in a sentence or story.

Affective Skills:
We continued our Mindfulness Practice with "Fear vs. Anxiety-What's the Difference?"  This is a great video showing kids how our bodies react the same way to real danger as they do to anxious, worried thoughts.  We discussed strategies to help us quiet those worried thoughts.  We also practiced our relaxing breathing for a couple of minutes.  They are doing great with this!

Later, we read a wonderful book called Courage, by Bernard Waber.  The kids created charts comparing examples of Courage from this book to connections from their own lives and examples of courage from our Novel-Be a Perfect Person in Three Days.  I was very impressed with their deep connections and willingness to share personal instances of courage.  Excellent work on this!

HW:  Courage Exit Slip
Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger

 We started our day by finishing up some ongoing projects--Weighty Word, Tagxedo, getting our Notebooks ready and then moved on to Checkers, Chess, and a jigsaw puzzle.  Lots of good divergent and convergent thinking to get us going!

Algebraic Thinking:
We read a story called, Albert's Insomnia, and learned a new math card game that works on strategy and math fluency.  I'm piloting this game for a friend of mine to see the engagement level and also the positive impact on math achievement.

Convergent Thinking:
We jumped into stations to work on Logic Puzzles and a different type of puzzle called a Perplexor.  The kids really showed their thinking skills to get these done with ease.  They're ready for more of a challenge next week!

Unit Study:
We got started on writing our mystery stories with our Story Pictures from the book, Harris Burdick.  The kids began with a story plan to map out the characters, clues, problem, suspects, and solution to their story.  We'll be working on this project for several weeks.  Stay tuned for updates as we make progress!

Vocabulary:
We read another story in our Weighty Word book, Letter C for Coruscate.  Hopefully, the kids got a good handle on this word.  I would say so from the great job they did on choosing their visual representation of the meaning.

Affective:
We continued our Mindfulness Practice with "Why Humans Experience Anxiety?"  The kids enjoyed learning about one important difference between animals and humans.

We also continued reading Be a Perfect Person in Three Days.  The kids found out what happened when Milo wore the broccoli necklace all day to school.  It turns out that Milo was extra brave, polite, and careful.  We also used our convergent thinking to create Broccoli Transformations.  Check out the fantastic ideas in the hall outside our class!

HW:  Finish Logic Puzzle, Transformation or Weighty Word coloring

Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger

We started our day with some creativity by making Word Clouds using Tagxedo.  Check it out in your child's Target Folder.  Please make sure you sign your child's Assignment Sheet each week.  

Unit Study:
We continued our study of mysteries with an introduction to our Mystery Story Topic Illustrations from The Mystery of Harris Burrdick.  The kids chose their favorite illustration to use as a basis for the mystery story they will write.

We also played the Observation Game to practice our detective skills.  The kids formed 2 teams.  One team stood in the hall, while the other team changed a few small details of their appearances.  The Hall Team came back in and tried to observe what had changed.  Then, we switched roles.  The kids had a blast with this activity!

Algebraic Thinking:
We continued our math work with a mixed problem solving activity.  The kids worked on comparing Celsius to Fahrenheit and calculating the conversion using a simple chart we created.  This was a good lesson on how making a chart can save time and trouble in solving math problems.

Vocabulary:
We continued our study of Weighty Word. Today's word was Bifurcate.  Check to see if your child remembers the meaning.  The kids did a good job finding pictures that matched the meaning and creating their own Visual Vocabulary Mini-Posters.  

Divergent Thinking:
We combined creativity with critical thinking and making connections by completing a Synectic: "How is Broccoli like Perfection?"  The kids thought of some AMAZING ways the concepts are related.  Excellent job!

Affective Skills:
We continued our book, Be a Perfect Person in Three Days.  The kids are waiting to see why Dr. Silverfish wants Milo to wear a stalk of broccoli around his neck for a whole day.  

We continued our Mindfulness Practice with Owl Breathing.  They did a great job of focusing and breathing along with the video.  We discussed how this strategy could be helpful in stressful or frustrating situations at school or at home.

HW:  Play the Observation Game with a family member or friend

Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger

We got our day off to a good start with a divergent thinking activity.  The kids described what school would be like without Target.  The answers were funny, creative, and definitely 100% kid!  Check them out by our classroom!

Unit Study:
We continued our study of mysteries with a video of the 7 elements of Mysteries.  Hmm...do you know what a Red Herring is?  Ask your child to see if he or she knows.  If not, there will certainly be some Red Herrings coming up soon!

Algebraic Thinking:
We began our math work with a mixed problem solving activity.  The kids learned a lot about symmetry and also how to determine what the relationship of their "Wingspan" to their height is.  We're definitely getting our math thinking back in gear!

Vocabulary:
We started a new book, called Weighty Word. It's a book filled with cute animal stories that describe the meaning of 26 VERY challenging words.  I called them "College Words", which made the kids eager to learn even more of them!  Our first word was Abasement.  Check to see if your child remembers the meaning.  Each week, the kids will create a visual representation of the new word using images from our Cobb Digital Library- Image Quest.  

Divergent Thinking:
We stretched our brains in creative ways with our first F2OE of the year.  We reviewed what Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, and Elaboration are.  The kids liked the variety of tasks and rated which they found easiest and hardest.  We'll do variations of this task throughout the year to help us grow our creativity.

Affective Skills:
We started a new book, Be a Perfect Person in Three Days.  The kids are interested to find out what Milo has to do to become perfect.  This led right into a good goal setting activity of our own.  The kids listed goals for the year, including some for school and some outside of school.  We'll check back on our progress later in the year.  

We continued our Mindfulness Practice with a breathing exercise, 4-7-8 Breathing.  Most of the kids found this pretty challenging, but did much better after the second try.  This is a good way to relax or help quiet the mind at bedtime.

A Quick Note about Edmodo:
I only assign one question for Homework each time.  The kids will see it at the top of their posts.  Edmodo sends out an optional Question of the Day.  The kids don't have to answer that,--it's just for fun.  I'll be sending home Parent Sign-Up forms for Edmodo next week.

HW:  Edmodo Question

Until Next Time,
Dr. Kraeger

We had a blast getting our day started making a Chatterpix of our Target Wishes.  The kids LOVE this app--so much fun!  We created our own Name Cards and had a few minutes to play Chess or Checkers.

Next, we worked on our evaluative thinking, Creative Problem Solving, and collaboration with the Marshmallow Challenge.  Check out the Ted Talk to see some of what we experienced and why.  The kids learned a lot about what works and what doesn't.  It will be interesting to see how they do when we repeat this activity with new teams in January!

We learned about a new strategy called "Sketchnoting".  Here's a video for your information about what's behind this method and why I think it may helpful for the kids to learn.  Their preview video was a short clip showing the how/why of sketchnoting.  We learned how to draw different types of people today: i people, h people, bean people, and star people.  And YES, I drew too--even though I am NOT an artist!  We practiced our sketchnoting skills by creating a Rules & Procedures for the Target Classroom page in our Notebooks.  The kids are enjoying getting started with this idea.

After lunch, we focused our attention with some Mindfulness Practice.  We'll do this each week to find ways to relax our minds.

We also watched an introduction to our Mystery Unit.  The Chronicles of Harris Burdick is creepy and mysterious and a perfect kick-off to our unit.  Stay tuned for more news of mysteries, detectives, and all things unknown!

Finally, we signed up for Edmodo accounts.  A few of the kids were having trouble with their passwords.  They've written their username and passwords on a card to take home.  If they try to type it as written and they still have trouble, please have them stop by the Target room for me to reset the password.  

HW:  Edmodo Question

Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger

Thank you so very much for the sweet gifts for Teacher Appreciation!  I absolutely love working with your children, and you are all so kind to spoil me with the wonderful treats, presents, and lovely notes!
​
We had a fantastic last day of Target for the year!

We challenged our convergent and divergent thinking skills along with our teamwork skills to program our robots to maneuver both an obstacle course and a search and rescue mission.  The kids did a great job with that!  

We followed that with some fun with coding to create our own games using our convergent thinking on Code.org.  The kids had a blast!

We also finished our book.  What a surprise ending!  The kids loved it, and are eager to read the next 2 books in the series.

We finished the day with a wonderful robot movie called, Big Hero 6.  It is a wonderful combination of robots, dealing with giftedness, and working with others.  We had a really good discussion about how all those pieces fit together.

Have a wonderful summer!

Dr. Kraeger