This week we completed our first Socratic Seminar. We used the text A Game of Catch to reinforce the habit of buttressing claims with evidence from text. In this case, students had to build their case and answer the questions, Why did Scho fall from the tree?
Our Socratic Seminar followed the structure listed at www.ProjectTahoe.org (here) in which 100% of the talking and arguing is done by the students.
We made it through the week without a delayed start or a snow day–not a small thing since returning from break. This meant a chance to connect multiplication of fractions to work with decimals, a deeper look a the the causes of the American Revolution, preparation for our move to flexible seating, and a thank you note writing for over 20 donations made to our classroom!
We packed a lot into our last week of school in 2016. We had our classroom holiday celebration, auction, white elephant book exchange, Polar Express presentation, beeswax candle making, and we even found time to watch a movie. All of the aforementioned did not get in the way of making sure we also learned a lot including more work with fractions, a careful study of theme and point of view, and a project based learning task in which students constructed their own Maker Space.
What we were able to accomplish in 2016 proved pretty amazing and I look forward to what we do in 2017.
Thanks for all the families who helped with our holiday celebration. From crafts to cookies, the students clearly enjoyed themselves.
Today students created holiday ornaments during their art lesson. Several different techniques were employed simultaneously and the final product looks great. Students will take these home next week to share.
Since returning from our Thanksgiving Break, we have taken a very close look at the personal narrative with an emphasis on point of view. Students can be pretty adept at identifying first person from third person point of view and even third person limited from third person omniscient. Understanding and analyzing how point of view impacts a story is an entirely different endeavor and this is why taking so much time with it.
Students are reading rich personal narratives and are also writing their own. They may have been asking about the history of their name and we will be turning what they learn into a graphic essay.
The students started sharing their Google Slides presentations on Friday and we will continue to do this throughout next week. The presentations look great and showcase how “digital natives” can fluidly blend a traditional book report with 21st Century tools.
Many students already emailed their reports to parents and in some cases, to their classroom peers.
Room 360 