School Year 2010-2011...Be sure to scroll down past the post for lots of pics!

Morning Meeting! The kids are doing a great job leading!
They are responsible for a proper greeting, sharing/reading, activity, and announcements. This routine and ritual they are all familiar. We meet daily 8:30-9:10. The importance of these gatherings is evident in the ways the kids treat each other and the content we study. Last year each led a Morning Meeting, yet this year, the expectations are much higher as they know completely the process and why it is important. They have been given a schedule so they can be prepared and successful for this leadership endeavor.

The kids are using the 10 Design Principles very well and continuing their good CREW behavior to our school which is courage, responsibility, empathy, and welcoming.
Each designed a t-shirt that gives an example of each trait and these lamenated shirts reside on the lockers to remind them each day of what they all can do.
We added a cartoon quail to the lockers after each filled it out with comments that they like, know, and learn from each other. These will be keepsakes for years to come as they look back and realize how much character already shows and hopefully remind them of their strengths. Each crew wrote sincerely to the others.

Newest Chant for Closing Crew: Kowabunga, I love being among ya, We soar all the more because we're one score!!


Make sure to have your child read 40 minutes per night. That is homework. On Feb. 7, we spend time talking about when the kids read and most read right after school, on the bus and before bed. Good they are all finding a particular time and making the reading happen!

Practice multiplication and division, 1-12 times table. Make sure that your kid knows the United States too!! They have a map... Memorization is our tool for bigger problem solving.


Educational Goals were created and each child has them now in their Student Led Conference binder. These goals are things that the kids think about being when they grow up. Remember when you were almost 11...?






Wednesday, April 6, 2011

3 Chairs Discussion

  Noah sits in one of the three chairs to give his facts and opinion to the discussion question: Are chemicals the biggest threat to water quality? He is sitting in the 'No' chair and speaking his opinion from  examining the expert and common texts  related to water quality. The kids had 22 texts from many sources and various reading levels to find information related to the Guiding Question of this expedition. The GQ is How does water quality affect the ecology of a community?
This discussion protocol I learned while at the EL National Convention in Portland over Spring Break.  As soon as I learned it, I knew this crew would love it.
It is a very structured format and each and every student speaks during this discussion. There are 3 chairs. One for NO, the one in the middle for posing questions to the group for clarification and deeper understanding, and a YES chair. For the YES/NO chairs, the student speaks and there is only listening from the group. The Question chairs allows the person there to pose a question that has come up for them about the topic and engage in conversation with the group.  Only one person comes up at a time. We had several good questions that allowed for interaction that was interesting and informative.
The crew really likes this protocol. The discussion lasted an hour and could have gone longer. After each person  had a chance to go to one chair, then the floor is open and each can come up again. They said they appreciated how each voice was heard and interesting to see how people thought about this one deep question. They also said that it was interesting to see which sources were used.

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