Solar Eclipse 2017

Everyone had glasses and we were able to bask in the shadow of the moon.

Structured Academic Controversy: Lunches

On Friday students completed a Structured Academic Controversy. It is a strategy that has students collecting evidence from multiple sources and using that evidence to create and support a claim. In this case students learned about how some school systems are banning lunches from home and requiring all students to eat school meals.

What is important about this strategy is that students did not learn until moments before the debate which side they would have to defend. Consequently, the preparation for the day had students attending to both sides of the issue.

Shadow Tracking

Today the students went outside to learn how their shadow changes throughout the day. In the morning students traced their shadow and four hours later they returned to the identical spot to make another tracing. Students then explained how their shadow changed based on the orientation of the sun.

First Week Meant Lots of Firsts

We finished our first week of school and managed to get a lot done. Aside from securing important routines and procedures, we completed our first Number Talk, our first Close Read, our first Writers Workshop, our first art project, our first Kahoot, and our first reading of a 9th grade reading passage. (Although, until this post, no one knew it at the time.)