Students began today's STRIDE day by checking their Cross Numeral puzzles and sharing with each other what they learned about Mozart.  This discussion lead right into Creative Expression for today.  We went over the WebQuest answers together and students shared their drawings.  Next we analyzed Mozart for evidence of F.F.O.E. After sharing this knowledge, we listened to two very different Mozart compositions and students drew how each piece made them feel and what it made them think about.  Ask your child about his/her drawing and the names of the pieces.  Small groups of students worked together to learn even more about Mozart by viewing a Google Slides presentation "Walking In Mozart's Footsteps." This included more about his family, his travels, and excerpts from some of his letters.  Students analyzed and recorded characteristics, forces, and techniques related to him and his work.  I was pleased with how they worked together, their discussions, and their ability to pull out important information. 

​An introduction to the "Moment of Genius" was next.  Last year's students shared their perspectives on the MOG, I added a little about "genius", and we learned the MOG song.  Today students learned more about Robert Hooke and Sir Isaac Newton.  Ask your child which STRIDE subject they connect with and how.

Construction Concepts began with a vocabulary review.  Next students viewed a video on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.  We analyzed its structural failure and brainstormed possible reasons why then viewed a "Mysteries At the Museum" clip to see what really happened. Students learned about thrust, tension, compression, shear, and stress by watching demonstrations to aid their understanding.  They also learned to do the "Force-arena" to remember what each term means.  Ask your child to show you how it goes!

There were three Franklin Findings today.  We learned about two games created using Gamestarmechanic.com and tornadoes, including an in class demonstration!

We ended our day with the History of Math. We reviewed Roman Numerals and all the rules for using them with several "mental math" problems.  Next we learned how to write even bigger Roman Numerals and practiced writing a few at the SMARTBoard.  Students will continue practice with Roman Numerals for homework.  

Math is our only homework this week.  Students may choose 10 problems to complete on the "More" Roman Numerals sheet and they should complete ALL of the problems on the "Larger" Roman Numerals sheet.  Both contain all the "teaching" information we went over today.

Busy, busy, busy.  We learned LOTS today!

Students began by sharing their "creativity" homework at their tables.  I overheard some interesting ideas and saw some cool products as I checked homework.  I took these up so that I can see them all. 

Latin was next.  We watched a video clip introduction to understand why Latin really isn't a dead language and some connections to what we already know.  We also tried to "guess" the Latin phrase and practiced speaking a bit. 

History of Math began with a review of the four ancient numeration systems we learned about last week.  Then students practiced writing 1-25 in all four systems.  They did great!  We ended with the game "Try the Heap" where students match the same number from the four numeration systems.  They will continue working with these for homework.

In Matters of the Heart we revisited growth mindset and watched this video clip on grit.  Students shared examples of where/how they used a growth mindset in the past week and we added more insight to our charts.  I was impressed with their connections!

Next we really worked our brains with our Structures generalizations or "points to ponder".  We took each apart to understand its meaning.  Students discussed for two minutes at their tables, and then they recorded their "beginning of the year" thoughts individually.  Great discussion and insight were evident.  I can't wait to read their responses.  We'll revisit these again at the middle of the year. 

We spent the rest of the day learning about economics in our Money unit.  Students worked in Paper Hat Companies to gain understanding about bartering and why we need a monetary system.  Ask your child about this activity and what he/she learned.  You can see some pictures below.

I have exciting news!  Our first county STRIDE event will be a field trip to visit the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh!  This trip is scheduled for Tuesday, December 1, 2015.  Tentatively we will leave at 8:15 and return at 4:00.  More details and a field trip permission slip will come home soon.  Let me know if you'd like to help chaperon.

Homework this week:
1. Math: Complete the cross numeral puzzle
2. Mozart: Students will use a Google Slides presentation and their handouts to learn more about Mozart.  See the assignment in the Google Classroom.

Today we began with Matters of the Heart.  Students shared their Vision/Life board homework projects with the class.  They were fantastic!  I loved the creative ways they chose to present their information and learning more about each student.  After sharing time we placed these and the "It's All About Me" posters from last week on the tables and had a bit of walk around time for closer inspection.

Next we continued with MOH and learned about having a Growth Mindset.  We watched to short video clips to help us understand what it is and see its application.  Today we learned to say, "I can't do that...YET."  It is so important to have a Growth Mindset instead of a Fixed Mindset.  Having a Growth Mindset means that you believe your brain is malleable and will continue to grow as you press yourself to learn new things.  Being smart and/or talented is not enough. We must learn to make mistakes and persevere by trying new and difficult tasks and skills.  Ask your child if he/she can share some examples.  Here are the video clips we watched and discussed.  Growth Mindset and Above and Beyond

Follow this link to a GREAT video for parents about Growth Mindset!  Developing our Growth Mindsets will be a MOH focus for the year, so plan to hear more about it.

Our day continued with our first Creative Expression lesson: What is creativity?  We discussed and defined creativity and looked at four elements through F.F.O.E.  See if your child can tell you what each letter stands for and something about it.  Students practiced F.F.O.E using their "Istrawginations."  There were lots of creative ideas shared today!

The last subject of today was History of Math.  We began by learning the difference between a number and a numeral, then explored the Roman, Egyptian, Mayan, and Greek numeration systems. We will continue here next week with some practice writing numerals in each system!

Homework this week is creativity practice.  Students have creative thinking activities on "Skateboards" and "Video" games.  The assignment is to choose four activities to complete, any combination from the two topics.

Please remember to initial your child's "Check It Out!" sheet each week!