Collaboratively Planned Stations

As the crew begins to take control of their learning, they are asking for and getting much more input into the stations we have in our classroom. Recently we had a crew meeting and took a look at each station and decided which ones to rotate out and which ones to rotate back in. I loved that their decisions weren't based on "fun" but on what they wanted to learn. Some highlights from the discussion:

• They really want to continue to work on learning to use chopsticks and write Chinese characters in the Chinese Culture station.
• They really want to continue to learn to code (computer programing) and asked for some further lessons on how to get better at these stations.
• They created a new station and named it Word Academy (after a vote) and decided all of the activities that they wanted to do at this station. The idea for this station came from a book we read called The Very Inappropriate Word. In this book the main character collects words and the crew wanted to be word collectors, too.
• They wanted to keep the basket of currency from around the world to explore.
• They wanted to get rid of the Spelling City station. They still want to work on spelling but they think that this app is too complicated to use and would rather work on spelling at the Word Academy Station or the Pocket Chart Station - both of these are hands-on stations, not apps.
• They wanted to add a Google Earth station because they love to visit other places in the world on this app and also browse the photos from other places in the world. This led to a big discussion because we would have too many stations if we added this station and they didn't want to get rid of any others (including i-Ready lessons and others that can be challenging). So we finally figured out that we could make the ShowMe station a free choice ipad station and then each child could choose each time they went to that station what they would do - make a ShowMe, visit Google Earth or some other app.

This is probably too much detail for you (and this isn't all we discussed) but I wanted to give you a taste of just how seriously they are taking the responsibility of deciding what they should learn and how they want to learn those new things. Below are a few photos and ShowMes to help you see what they are doing.

Kalyn and Nikelle made this basket and list of words at home one evening for the Word Academy Station. Students can add words to the basket or they can find words that they love on the word list and add them to their word notebooks.

I went to my teaching colleagues on Twitter and asked for some help with lessons for coding for first grade students and one teacher shared this link with me. Once a week, I am sharing a video from this site with the crew and I can already see the difference it is making. Check out Maddie's first Scratch, Jr. coding creation and then compare that to her second Scratch, Jr. creation. This was after watching just one of the 5 minutes videos.

Scratch, Jr. 1 by Maddie
Scratch, Jr. 2 by Maddie

Avery donated a fun new math game to our Math Station.

Teamwork

Most of us worked on our ShowMe presentations on patriotic symbols and famous Americans with a partner. Because we have an odd number of students, a few students did choose to work on their own rather than in a group of three. Even then, I saw those students helping each other gather facts and information. I loved watching them all dig right in and get to work locating resources, finding facts, choosing photos and writing their scripts. They worked hard and they also worked very well with each other. They are learning some of those beginning collaboration, communication and critical thinking skills that they will use throughout their lives.

Homework ~ Read a good book or two. Check out a Bedtime Math story.

Read Across America Day
Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday and so to celebrate schools across the country participate in Read Across America Day. We had some special guests come and read to us. They were 8th graders from Mesa Middle School. They were all alumni of Renaissance and it was great to see them. I must admit that I got a little tear in my eye when they walked in.

Observing, Comparing and Sorting

Last week we read a book called, The Button Box and took a close look at the buttons in our button box. We looked closely at some of them to notice the special things about them, we compared them to other buttons and we sorted them into different groups. The buttons in our box are fascinating and all of the crew enjoys observing, comparing and sorting them. We also use them in our Wonder and Explore station. We use muffin tins to sort and hold the different groups we make. We learned lots of things about buttons that day. Ask your child to tell you all about the buttons in our button box.

Important Dates
8/28 Fieldwork to Ms. Zina's garden ~ permission slips due today
9/7 Labor Day ~ No School
9/22-9/23 ~ Fall Voyage
9/24 Day of Rest for 1st grade
9/25 No School ~ Professional Development Day for Teachers
10/2 Boot Camp
10/3-10/18 Fall Break
10/19 No School ~ Teacher Work Day

Collaboration in Math

Last Friday, we collaborated in math. Our task was to create a design using pattern blocks. We had to create only one design with our group of 4 or 5 students and we all had to contribute to it and agree on what the design would look like. This is actually a very tough task but our crew happily rose to the challenge and worked through their different ideas.

Important Dates
8/28 Fieldwork to Ms. Zina's garden ~ permission slips coming soon
9/7 Labor Day ~ No School
9/22-9/23 ~ Fall Voyage
9/24 Day of Rest for 1st grade
9/25 No School ~ Professional Development Day for Teachers
10/2 Boot Camp
10/3-10/18 Fall Break
10/19 No School ~ Teacher Work Day

Wonder and Explore Stations

We added two new stations to our rotation recently one is the Snap Circuit Electricity set that I mentioned in an earlier post and the other was a large bucket of uncooked beans. We had used the beans for a lesson on volume/capacity and the crew really wanted more time with those beans so we added them to a station. Both stations have been big hits and inspire lots of creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking. (Thanks to Ms. Michelle for a donation of AA batteries to keep the circuit station up and running!)

Below is a short, 10 second video of Russell and Brianna sending the fan up into the air using the circuit set (yes, that was supposed to happen). If you get this post by email, you will need to go directly to the blog to view the video.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Pack your daypack for tomorrow's Voyage including a sack lunch, a water bottle, 2 snacks, light jacket and other small, lightweight personal items if desired like chapstick, tissues, sunglasses, hat.

Be sure your child brings his or her carseat or booster seat tomorrow!