Using the Discussion Strategy, Fishbowl

Today we used the discussion strategy “Fishbowl” to debate whether using bottled water was more positive or negative. The students read two articles (here) and annotated the pieces looking for evidence to support one position or the other. Then they discussed both articles free of any valued added statements; instead, attention was pointed to finding evidence.

The students positioned themselves around a fishbowl with four students in the middle. Students would share a point, debate the point, and if they couldn’t find evidence or didn’t have a good argument, they would tap someone from outside the fishbowl to take over for them.

The annotating, discussion and debate will help us with our writing in which students have to support a super claim.

Exploration: How much water is in the world?

Today we we used estimations, graphing and calculations to determine how much salt water versus fresh water there is in the world. Based on the student predictions and the results, there was a lot of academic growth!

Room360 Visits Donner Memorial State Park

A few photos from our visit to the Donner Memorial State Park. Admittedly, all the recent snow made touring the park of touch more adventurous than we expected but the kids were good natured about it. Moreover, everyone seemed to have a lot of fun while learning a lot simultaneously.

Working with Parent Data

Today we started working with the data that we collected from parents. Students are turning the information gathered in the Google Form into line plots.

A Few Pics to Illustrate the End to a Great Spring Break

These were the last submissions. Thanks to everyone who shared!

Pictures from the 2nd Week of Spring Break

Thank you to all the families who shared pictures of what they have been up to during our break. And if you look closely, a few even got caught with books!

Spring Break Highlights from Room360

Thanks to everyone who shared a picture. Enjoy the last week of break!

SB Sheep

Gomm’s Visit to the Spanish Springs Quarry

Today the students in Room360 got to visit the Martin Marietta Spanish Springs Rock Quarry. The team at the quarry was great and allowed students to tour the facility, learn about the work they do, and hear more about the quarry’s role in construction throughout Northern Nevada.

Another Great Brown Bag Lunch

Thank you families for visiting and being part of the Brown Bag Lunch today. It is great to see so many of you, share what is happening in the classroom, and promote the learning your child is engaged in. Linked here is the PowerPoint I shared and here is the link to the Farmer’s Insurance Vote

NevadaTeach Leads Room360 through an Engineering Experience

Led by NevadaTeach students from the University of Nevada Reno, Room360 explored the differences of building structures in topsoil, sand, and rock. The NevadaTeach students used a lesson from Engineering is Elementary to guide the students through the scientific process and to allow access to the engineering standards within the Nevada Academic Content Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards.