We managed to squeeze in so much learning, even though the kids took the CogAT first thing this morning.

Algebraic Thinking/Relationships & Connections:
We continued work on our Pattern Books with our plot summaries.  Some of the kids even started creating their stories using the computer.  We'll work on this again in a couple of weeks.

Divergent Thinking:
The kids worked hard to plan the cardboard pieces they wanted, mark the pieces, and clean up over 100 pieces/boxes in just 5 minutes!  Wow!!!  I can't wait to see what they build next week!  We'd love to have some adult help with our Cardboard Creating, if you can join us on Tuesday from 10:30-12:00 (or any part of that time.)

Affective:
We finished our novel, Be a Perfect Person in Three Days.  To support our work, we watched another character virtue video.  Check out the rest of this video about Self-Discipline.  The video tied in with how Milo had to use self-discipline in his last challenge to reach his goal of being perfect.  Ask your child what Milo finally learned about being perfect.

HW:  Cardboard Creation-make any labels, pictures, signs that will be attached to your Creation next week.

Until next week,
​Dr. Kraeger

We had a fantastic day of learning!  

Convergent thinking:
We continued our work with figural analogies and Perplexors.  The kids had a bit of trouble with last week's puzzle, so we completed another one together today to bolster our logical thinking skills.  It was a BIG help!

Algebraic Thinking:
We worked on the setting and characters for our Algebraic Pattern Books.  We'll be working on the plot next time and get busy creating our books.

Affective:
We practiced Mindfulness with a wonderful video, Progressive Relaxation.  It's almost 10 minutes, but it works well to just practice part of the video too.

Our study of Character Virtues continued with a video clip.  Here's the rest of the video about Perseverance and a chapter in our novel showing Milo's perseverance in his quest to become a perfect person.  Following that, the kids searched for an image using Cobb Digital Library's Brittanica Image Quest, that represented Perseverance.  I was really impressed with the images they chose!

What a marvelous, productive day we had in Target!

Algebraic Thinking:
We continued our work on algebraic patterns with testing out whether the "Weigher" in the The King's Chessboard was correct.  We figured out that he wasn't accurate.  Check out this link to see if he estimated too high or too low when he measured out one ounce of rice.  Remember back to the day he decided to use an ounce instead of counting the grains.  It was the 12th day.  How many grains would that be?
We'll be creating our own Pattern Stories based on this book.  

Affective:
We continued our study of character virtues with our novel, Be a Perfect Person in Three Days.  Milo showed courage throughout this chapter.  Sounds like he might be on his way to becoming perfect!

We also watched a short video about the virtue of Courage.  Here's another video clip from the same episode on Courage.


We also continued our Mindfulness Practice with a video about 4-7-8 Breathing.  Try that technique out for yourself!

Divergent Thinking:
We designed and created a small structure out of thin cardboard today using some of the techniques shown in a blog we've been studying.  The kids came up with such creative ideas!

Convergent Thinking:
We practiced our figural analysis by looking at criteria, and then moved on to Perplexors, a type of logic puzzles.  The kids are zooming ahead and definitely ready for more of a challenge in this area!

HW:  Watch the Courage video.  Think about the setting for your Pattern Book.  If you want, you can experiment with the Comic Creators on the Target Glog to see if you would like to use them to make your book.  

Until next week,
Dr. Kraeger

We charged right through a jam-packed day!  We have signed up for our Edmodo accounts.  Look for some homework assignments coming up using Edmodo.  Also, I'll be sending along directions on how parents can sign up to be a part of their child's Edmodo account.

Algebraic thinking:
We read a new book, The King's Chessboard.  This story goes along with our math lessons about input/output-algebraic thinking.  Ask your child how the rice multiplied over the 64 days.  It was pretty amazing!

Convergent thinking:
We worked on using Venn diagrams for classification and also on some basic logic puzzles.  Based on the work we've done so far, we're ready to move on to more challenging thinking activities.  That's great!

Focus Study:
We looked at some examples of cardboard creations and ways to use cardboard.  The kids are getting ideas and refining their design plans.

Affective:
Once again, we combined our affective work with our novel, Be a Perfect Person.  We talked about character virtues and the value of positive traits to success and a happy life.  We also talked about how Milo worked on becoming more "perfect".  Our conclusion was the broccoli really did help him.

We watched a short video to begin our mindfulness practice.  This will help us to learn techniques that can focus attention, relax us, promote positive feelings, and reduce anxiety or stress.  Here's a link to the video we viewed today:
GoZen Quiet Place.

Divergent thinking:
I enjoyed seeing the marvelously creative transformations and accompanying stories!  What a fantastic job everyone did!

HW: Collect cardboard and other recyclable materials.  Bring some to school.


Until next week,
Dr. Kraeger