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

We had so much wonderful learning today in Target!

Unit Study:
We started off with a Guest Coder-Mr. Adam Edwards, Mrs. Lobello's son-in-law.  He works for Career Builder, in the IT Department.  He shared a video of the cool Robot Conference Assistant and taught us some challenging concepts about coding, even some Java code!  He also answered questions about robots in everyday life, different jobs that involve coding, and some of the interesting things he gets to do in his job.  It was a great session!  
Next, we moved on to Lesson 16-"Flappy Birds".  The kids got a chance to create a mini-game.  Mr. Edwards enjoyed seeing their games and offered feedback on several.  
Finally, the kids planned out obstacle courses for their Robots next week.  They also wrote the programs, so they can put the Robots through their paces on their self-designed Obstacle Courses next time.  It should be so much fun!

Novel Study:
We read more of our novel, and unfortunately found out what happened to E.  He was disassembled!  Now, we just have to find out who the Robo-Napper was!

Algebraic Thinking:
We finished our Hands On Equations with the last lesson in Level 1.  The kids have done a great job with this curriculum!

Affective Skills:
We discussed "Strengths of the Heart"-Love, Hope, Gratitude, Curiosity, and Zest.  Ask your child how they remember the meaning of Zest!  It's a funny story!

Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger

We had so much fun in Target today!

Unit Study:
We started our day with a fun learning game called, BUZZ! The kids rotate around the room reading and examining different resources about Robots to answer questions. They love the movement and learn a lot during this research activity.

Next, we took our dance moves from last week and programmed our Robots to dance. The results were hilarious! The kids absolutely loved this! I enjoyed seeing their creativity!

Novel Study:
We read a few more chapters of our book. The kids are inferring and predicting who "Robo-napped" E. We're still trying to figure out what's up with the Black SUV too!

Stations:
We used our convergent thinking to work on a logic puzzle and stretched our divergent thinking and communication skills to finish our Ninja Comic strips. Check them out by our classroom!

Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger

We hit the ground running today for a ton of learning!

Stations:
We used our divergent thinking skills to create Ninja Comic Strips based on an idea from our novel.  The kids are so clever!  We used our divergent and convergent thinking skills to solve a variety of tasks on our "Waker-Upper-Robot Name".  Finally, we tackled a larger logic puzzle to stretch those convergent thinking skills a little bit more!

Novel Study:
We read a few more chapters in our novel, finding out that E can still scare off a bully!

Unit Study:
We checked out some fun Robot Dance Moves and then created a dance for our Robots to do next week.  The kids listed each part of the dance in computer code, so they can program the robots to execute the moves.  It should be lots of fun to see the robots dance next time!  

We also learned about events in programs.  Check out the pictures of the kids acting out the events as I called them out.  It was fun and a little bit goofy!

Algebraic Thinking:
We finished up our day with Hands On Equations, using pictorial representation to solve equations.  The kids really seem to understand the basics of our beginning algebra.  They are ready for the next level in 4th grade!

Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger

We had so much fun with our learning today!  

First, we read some of our novel.  Our favorite robot "E" caught fire and Sammy's second-best friend put the fire out with his nerdy science knowledge!  Sammy's father finished another Ninja Comic, so we're going to create our own Ninja Comics next week.  We started the story planning today and will finish that and creation next week.

After that, we challenged our algebraic thinking with Hands On Equations Lesson 7.  We learned to draw our solutions, in case we don't have pieces available.  Hmm...sounds like good practice for Middle School, when they won't have manipulatives to solve algebra problems.

Finally, we used our convergent AND divergent thinking to create bracelets using Binary Code.  The kids used our Binary Alphabet Chart and then chose colors to represent the 0s and 1s.  The finished bracelets with their Initials in Binary form look great!

HW:  Edmodo
Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger

Our time together was short due to Milestones Testing, but we made the most of it!

Novel Study:
We read a few chapters in our book, discussed foreshadowing, and used our critical thinking skills to make a prediction about what might happen next with Dr. Scientrific.

Algebraic Thinking:
We combined math and art with a wonderful Multiples Mosaic Activity.  The kids found multiples of 3, 4, and Common Multiples.  Love the way they jump to work above grade level!  The finished projects are gorgeous!

Unit Study:
We refreshed and practiced our debugging with another round of Relay Coding.  The kids were more successful this time.  We'll try it once more in a few weeks to see how they improve again.

HW:  Finish the Multiple Mosaic, if not already done.

Until next time,
​Dr. Kraeger

We started our day by finishing up some Hands On Equations and playing some learning games.

Algebraic Thinking:
We used our mathematical and critical thinking to solve a variety of challenging word problems.  They were more difficult than the kids first thought and required a second look for many.

Convergent Thinking:
We learned a new puzzle using convergent thinking-"Drop Quotes".  The kids loved trying to figure out the quotes from our book!
We also used our convergent thinking to solve jigsaw puzzles, play Qwirkle, and play chess.  The kids are also developing their communication and collaboration skills during these game sessions.

Novel Study:
We read a bit more of our novel, finishing up by using our evaluative thinking to answer some questions about the chapters.

​Divergent Thinking:
The kids were super creative using their divergent thinking to make some marvelous Egg Transformations!  Check them out on the Bulletin Board, if you head down our way! 

Affective Skills:
We continued our work on character traits with a short video and discussion of friendship, including the qualities that make a good friend.  The kids did a good job on the reflections following our discussion.

No HW!

Have a wonderful Spring Break!
​Dr. Kraeger

It was fantastic to be back with these wonderful kiddos today!  I have missed them terribly!

We started our day with a Versatiles activity to warm up our convergent thinking skills.  It was pretty challenging for some of the kids!

Unit Study:
We moved on to our lessons with Code.org to learn about Conditional Statements.  We started off with a fun activity called "Conditional Card Games".  The kids made up their own conditional statements, including the actions to take if the statement was true or false.  It was a riot seeing them play!  We had kids doing jumping jacks, sit-ups, clapping, flapping like chickens, saying their names 3 times, and lots of other fun stuff!  They followed this game with some practice activities using conditional statements on Code.org.  There was a glitch with a few of the later activities, so they can be finished up at home or at school if the kids want to do that.

We got our robots into action with more convergent thinking to program them for an Alien Encounter.  The kids enjoyed programming the robots to deliver a snack, pretend or real!  

Algebraic Thinking:
We reviewed the important concepts from Hands On Equations Lesson 6-Using Parentheses.  This lesson sets the kids up for using this concept throughout the following 2 years in our Hands On Equations program.  They did very well with it today!

Novel Study:
We read a few more chapter of our book, finding out that Sammy is braver and better at dodgeball than he ever thought!  The kids enjoyed the reading and ended with some thoughts about what it means to be perfect and whether it's all it's cracked up to be.

Affective Skills:
We continued our mindfulness practice with 66 Second Story and Cloud Breathing.  Then we checked out more about Self-Discipline with a Book of Virtues episode featuring King Midas.

HW:  Wisdom Exit Slip

Until Next Time,
Dr. Kraeger

We started our day with a Versatiles activity to challenge our convergent thinking skills.  It was a bit more challenging than it appeared, so the kids had to work pretty hard on this.

Unit Study:
We had a blast learning more about loops with our Code.org lesson and then practicing debugging with Relay Programming outside.  Thanks to Emily's mom for helping out with the relay teams!  The kids had us working hard to check their code!  This is really a test of their convergent thinking to see if the various ways they code are really effective.  The kids continued their coding to program their robots for our "Security Patrol" Mission.  The robots were patrolling doorways and warning intruders to move away.  Great job on this session!

Affective Skills:
The kids shared their "I Wonder" projects today.    We were very impressed by the variety of topics and projects we saw.  The kids definitely took this seriously and did a fantastic job!  

HW:  "Missing Mom" poster for House of Robots

Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger