We warmed our brains up first thing this morning with a group memory game called Shadowlands. The students had to discover the path on the grid to move from the dark Shadowlands into the light. If they had a mis-step and landed in the "dark," there turn ended and they moved to the end of the line. They did get to work as a group to locate and stay on the path. They did a really good job. We also discovered that Luke has a really good spatial memory! We were glad he was on our team!
In the computer lab, the students continued working on their Storybird stories. We had a good discussion on how you work with others to collaborate on a story. A few students "vented" about their frustrating experiences when their other collaborator changed or deleted parts of their story. We discussed appropriate changes, ways to communicate and the importance of compromise in a collaboration. It was interesting to watch them collaborate on a story from across the room. There was still a lot of negociating and a bit of bossing as they walked back and forth to give each other instructions. Little by little, they will learn to adapt to a distance collaboration task. This is a great place to start!!!
They are very enthusiastic about their stories. If it is possible-- and they are interested, please encourage your child to work on their story from home or from school if they have spare time. Our limited time here in SAGE and in the computer lab won't be enough to satisfy their desire to write with this application and soon, we will need our computer lab time to learn other Web 2.0 tools.
After lunch and recess, the students worked on the independent endangered animal research. Today, they learned to take and organize bulleted notes for specific content. Most students had time record information on their specific species' description, diet and hunting habits. A few had time to record info on where in the world their animal is found. It isn't an easy task. It can be challenging, tiring and frustrating. I was proud of them for sticking with it. Their results were good! Now that they have the hang of it, I think they will be more independent next week. For some, the hurdle is just the act of writing out the information. Continue to praise and encourage your child. That can really motivate and carry them through the hard parts.
We ended our day with Spanish. Today the students combined Spanish vocabulary words that have learned to create and then modify complete sentences.
It was a good day! I hope to see some of you at Hands-On Night tonight!
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