Schedule for the First Day

Welcome to the 2011-2012 School Year

Hello and welcome to the start of the school year. Please check back frequently after the first day of school for information and happenings in our classroom!

Growing with Christina

In keeping with our survival theme, Skyler's Mom, Christina came in last week to help us with planting. Yes, planting in January! We have planted lettuce, sunflower, chives, tomatoes, potatoes and a few other seeds. When we first began, Christina asked the question, "What do plants have to do with survival?" the responses were: to give us oxygen, to give us food, to help us breathe, to provide shelter. We plan to expand on these ideas over the next few weeks as we delve into the theme of survival. We will also revisit these themes again in the spring when we attend Ohio State's Scarlet and Gray Ag(riculture) Day in May.

The Danger Box by Blue Balliet

Our new read aloud is titled The Danger Box. This is author Blue Balliet's fourth book. Her first three, Chasing Vermeer, The Wright Three and The Calder Game center around a mystery and an artist. Three friends try to solve the fictional mystery that she creates around the actual piece of art. She departs from the three friends and the art in this novel, instead choosing a scientist (Charles Darwin) and two friends. It's a complicated and intriguing book, with many twists and turns, but a satisfying read in the end. She crates memorable characters and weaves a complex plot of mystery. 

For more info, please read the review below from School Library Journal:

"Balliett's latest mystery explores the intricacies of scientific discovery. Wealthy Mr. Zip has arranged for a priceless treasure, stolen years ago, to be delivered to him. He will indulge his dream of savoring this object, and then will return it to society, a magnanimous gesture that will ensure that he is remembered as a hero. Sadly, before the treasure reaches him, Mr. Zip dies of a heart attack. When a mysterious man in possession of the box learns about this, he senses opportunity for personal gain, but before he can learn what he's transporting, his truck is stolen. Switch to our narrator, Zoomy, an engaging 12-year-old who, with pathological myopia, sees the world differently than those around him. Raised by his grandparents, he is pulled into the intrigue when his absent and alcoholic father makes a brief reappearance in his life with the box. Inside, Zoomy and his grandparents find only an old notebook wrapped in a blanket. An inveterate list-maker and notebook-keeper himself, Zoomy immediately falls in love with the journal, sensing a kindred spirit in the creator. He attempts to learn more about its history as the man schemes to reclaim that which does not belong to him, and as issues of The Gas Gazette provide clues but no answers about a "mysterious soul." Balliett demonstrates how danger boxes are all around us–not just as containers of physical objects for which people will hazard a great deal, but as vehicles that expose us to risky ideas and dreams. This highly satisfying story will enlighten readers even as it inspires them to think about their own danger boxes."

Survival

We are currently in the beginnings of our survival study. After completing the Marshmallow Challenge, we have begun to brainstorm what survival means and read stories of survival. Each person read a nonfiction picture book and wrote how the story was one of survival. Next, with a partner, students made a Venn diagram to look at similarities and differences contained in their stories. We are recording these and they will be posted in Moodle as podcasts in the near future. We are practicing podcasts as a result of an idea many students brought up in class -- to create a Wickliffe newspaper. After investigating we found two other classroom are possibly investigating writing newspapers, so we decided to create a "Wickliffe Weekly News" podcast. Look for more information in the near future.

In addition to comparing survival stories, we are also looking at survival events throughout history, how people survive, animal survival and qualities of survival. Eventually, each person will choose one event to study in depth about survival. We will be previewing these topics next week. Also next week, students will work in small groups to build bridges, perhaps a necessity to survival? We'll see! Stay tuned...

Poetry Workshop

The "Try It Out" for this week's poetry workshop was writing "How To Be" Poems. We shared a few and then tried out a group poem: "How To Be the First Snowflake" (appropriate for the day, we thought). This inspired many interesting, thoughtful and creative poems. Please see just a sample below.

How To Be Anything

Be
Live
Think
Hope
Dream
Thing Big
Reach for the Sky
Love What You Do
And make sure to
Believe



How To Be the First Snowflake

Descend on the first of December
Be in the clouds ready to drop
Get an early start and fall
Dive down and feel like a plane
Gliding through the air,
Crystal clear


How To Be a Light Bulb

Soak up electricity
Be bright
Be smart
Sometimes burn out
Symbolize ideas
Turn on and off
Flicker and spark and
Shine your soul


How To Be a Light Bulb

Soak up electricity
Get hotter and hotter
Start glowing
Reply to the call of the switch
Give lots of light
Symbolize ideas
Freak people out by flickering
Repel the monsters under the bed
End your life with a final flicker


How To Be a Doodler

Imagine your creatures
Use your surroundings
Give it your best try
Use your best skill to create it
Have fun with it
Take your time
Keep doing it
Draw what you can
Take it from someone who knows
Don’t care what other people think
It’s the best by how much love you put into it.

What Motivates Us?

What motivates you?
food/candy
learning something/gaining knowledge
friends and teachers
reading/books
someone telling you what to do
other people sharing
time
when you see someone else doing something cool
money
knowing you will get a good grade
knowing you will have a feeling of accomplishment
sports
seeing someone not as fortunate

We had an interesting discussion today about what is motivating to each of us. We asked the question, "what motivates you in school?" The list above is what we brainstormed. We also talked about extrinsic and intrinsic motivation - a very interesting and thoughtful discussion. If you get a chance, ask your child about our discussion.