Genius Hour Presentations AND Breakout Digital

http://www.geniushour.com/

Finished up our Genius Hour presentations in preparation for our AWEsome EXPO tonight.  I was pleased with the entire process of my first ever Genius Hour.  The kids were all thrilled with the projects and products they were given time to create.  I will definitely do this next year!

Og's Great Adventure

Since we were unsuccessful with this digital breakout a few weeks ago, I asked students to attempt solving this challenge again today.  However, I did allow students to collaborate and most groups were successful.  Once they had completed this Level 2 Adventure, I challenged them to try a Level 3:

Find the Redstone

Memorial Day - No School

Image Credit

No school today!

http://www.clipartbest.com/no-school-clip-art 

Genius Hour Presentations (Day 2)

http://www.geniushour.com/

We spent today sharing our Genius Hour Passion Projects!  I really enjoyed the day!  It was a very relaxed atmosphere because the kids were telling us about their passion and what they have learned about it.  My favorite part was the question/answer.  This was when their true understanding of their passion showed!  This was when the language of their passion came out.  It was a successful day of presentations!

Tuesday - May 31

• 3rd round of presentations
• AWEsome EXPO - 5:30 p.m.

Field Day

Image Credit

Genius Hour: Presentations (Day 1)

http://www.geniushour.com/

We spent today sharing our Genius Hour Passion Projects!  I really enjoyed the day!  It was a very relaxed atmosphere because the kids were telling us about their passion and what they have learned about it.  My favorite part was the question/answer.  This was when their true understanding of their passion showed!  This was when the language of their passion came out.  It was a successful day of presentations!

Thursday - May 25

• 2nd round of presentations

Monday - May 31

• 3rd round of presentations
• AWEsome EXPO - 5:30 p.m.

Tenth Annual 5th Grade Titanic First Class Luncheon

Today we celebrated our Tenth Titanic First Class Luncheon!  The girls were resplendent in their beautiful dresses and the boys were dashing in their suits and ties!  The First Methodist Church was decorated beautifully and the food was excellent.  The students enjoyed their 5 course meal which was served as a three piece band and the low lighting helped set the overall feel of the event.

There were many, many, many photos taken.  We will be sending information home on getting copies.

At the end of the meal, Mrs. Johnson gave some final statistics regarding the night Titanic sank and asked the musicians to play "Nearer My God to Thee."  It is said that the orchestra continued to play in an effort to calm nerves as the life boats were loaded.  The last song played was "Nearer My God to Thee," as the ship sank.

To end the luncheon, students were given an envelope that contained a copy of the front page of the newspaper that was published the morning after Titanic sank.  It also held a biography of an actual passenger on the Titanic.  Many students learned that they were seated with family members at their dining table.   The moment they opened the envelope they learned their fate, and the fate of their family members, the night Titanic sank.

Based on the information from the Titanic:

The passengers:

• 438 passengers were women (20%)
• 112 passengers were children (5%)
• 1664 passengers were men (75%)

Survival:

• 324 women survived (74%)
• 56 children survived (50%)
• 325 men survived (20%)

Placing our 5th grade numbers into the statistics:

• 23 of our girls (out of 31) survived
• 5 of our boys (out of 25) survived

This really resounded with the boys and girls when we asked the girl survivors to stand and then then the boy survivors to stand.  It was very sobering.

It was a day to remember!  Thank you to the many parents who volunteered to set up, serve, and clean up!

Genius Hour: Final Hour

http://www.geniushour.com/

We spent the entire class researching topics and designing products!  We also completed our final Weekly Reflection.

Tuesday - May 24

• 1st round of presentations

Thursday - May 25

• 2nd round of presentations

Monday - May 31

• 3rd round of presentations
• AWEsome EXPO - 5:30 p.m.

Breakout EDU: Shapeshifter

http://www.breakoutedu.com/beta/ 

We attempted another Breakout today.  I was interested to see how the activity would go today.   Yesterday, we had attempted a Digital Breakout to little success.    I had to remind my students that when we struggle, we are growing our brains.  Yesterday my kids were not pleased with the struggle.  They wanted an easy answer and became very frustrated.  I chose not to help.  The struggle is worth it.

Today, we attempted the Shapeshifter.  There was much more success, and we found that working as a team is very helpful.

Results:

1st Period:

 

2nd Period:

3rd Period:

http://joelschleicher.blogspot.com/2016/01/breakout-edu-best-thing-ever.html 

Think Through Math Benchmark and Digital Breakout

We began our class by taking our final Think Through Math benchmark.  

Then, students were directed to complete a DIGITAL Breakout!  Basically, students are to open a series of digital "locks" by solving puzzles online.  I assigned a Level 2, "Og's Great Adventure," as our first foray into this new type of Breakout.  I had gone in and solved the Breakout myself a few days ago and found that it was a nice challenge (proud to say I solved it!).  

AR Celebration

We celebrated reading today!  We spent an hour dancing under the disco ball, watched the movie "The Princess Bride" (great movie AND book), and jumped on bounce houses at the carnival!

Natural Resource Day

Image Credit

Genius Hour - Product Design

http://www.geniushour.com/

We spent the entire class researching topics and designing products!  We also completed a Weekly Reflection to guide our hour next week.

Friday - May 20

• Final Genius Hour

Tuesday - May 24

• 1st round of presentations

Thursday - May 25

• 2nd round of presentations

Monday - May 31

• 3rd round of presentations
• AWEsome EXPO - 5:30 p.m.

Breakout: Weather Wizard

http://www.breakoutedu.com/beta/ 

We attempted another Breakout today.  While the activity is always a hit, the groups don't always "breakout" and sometimes frustration builds.  I think this is what makes BreakoutEDU so good!  I want my kids to learn perseverance.  I want my kids to learn that things aren't always easy.  I want my kids to know that they aren't always the "smartest".  I want my kids to learn how to handle disappointment when a group is successful and they are not.  I want my kids to know how to be a graceful winner.  These are all lessons kids show have, but to learn then they have to "try something new"!

http://joelschleicher.blogspot.com/2016/01/breakout-edu-best-thing-ever.html 

Science STAAR

Everyone took the Science STAAR today.  Then we finished up our apartment.  Today  we used the Lowe's paint calculator to find the area of the walls that would be painted.  We were also able to easily subtract the area taken by doors and windows.

Reading STAAR Retake

For those students who did not have to retake the STAAR Reading test today, we began working on designing an apartment.  We created a layout for furniture, placed walls, doors, and windows.  We found the perimeter and area of each of the rooms.

STAAR Math Test (retake)

For those students who did not have to retake the STAAR Math test today, we completed a mystery picture using coordinate graphing.

Genius Hour (research and product design)

http://www.geniushour.com/

We spent the entire class researching topics and designing products!  We also completed a Weekly Reflection to guide our hour next week.

Social Studies Week

https://www.studiesweekly.com/

Our class time will be divided between Social Studies and math this week.  Today, in Social Studies, we are learning about the Three Mile Island catastrophe e in the 1970s using our USA Studies Weekly newspaper and our Studies Weekly online tool.  Students also created a public notice poster explaining the dangers of nuclear weapons.

Social Studies Week

https://www.studiesweekly.com/

Our class time will be divided between Social Studies and math this week.  Today, in Social Studies, we are learning about the oil embargo and gas shortage in the 1970s using our USA Studies Weekly newspaper and our Studies Weekly online tool.  We also worked towards completing the map that highlights the states our presidents were born in.  Students have to give the map a title, include a compass rose, and make a very detailed map key.

In math we will be focusing on review by working on Countdown to STAAR and Think Through Math.

Social Studies Week

https://www.studiesweekly.com/

Our class time will be divided between Social Studies and math this week.  Today, in Social Studies, we are learning about what makes a good president and President Ronald Reagan using our USA Studies Weekly newspaper and our Studies Weekly online tool.  We also began creating a map that highlights the states our presidents were born in.  Students have to give the map a title, include a compass rose, and make a very detailed map key.

In math we will be focusing on review by working on Countdown to STAAR and Think Through Math.