Scavenger Hunt

Last Thursday (March 25), our math class embarked on a grand scavenger hunt. There were 12 clues, each a math problem, and each had to solved to find out where to go for the next clue. Every clue involved fractions, division, protractors, and scientific measurement. It wasn't an easy hunt: for each clue, the kids had to solve a fractions problem, and take the fraction that resulted and apply it to the number of degrees in a circle (e.g. 1/6 of a circle is 60º). That gave them the angle at which they had to set off to find the next clue. So, they'd measure the angle with a protractor, and then use the scientific measure of distance on the clue to learn how far they had to go. Here are a few examples of the problems they solved:

6) 8/15 – 13/30 = [answer: 1/10]

Give the number of degrees that make up that fraction of a circle: [answer: 36º]

Distance to travel (measured along the ground): 25m x 10^0 = [answer: 25m]

To the left.

7) Walking along the shore, Melody likes to pick up interesting shells and rocks. Of the things she brings home to show to her grandfather, 5/8 are shells. 1/3 of the rocks have fossils. What fraction of the found objects Melody will lay before her grandfather are rocks without fossils?

[answer: 1/4]

Give the number of degrees that make up that fraction of a circle: [answer: 90º]

Distance to travel (measured along the ground): 1.1m x 10^1 = [answer: 11m]

To the left.

The class was divided into two groups for the hunt; I went with one, and Jesse went with the other. At the end, there were prizes! Each child who reached the end of the scavenger hunt received a Rubix cube, balloons, and some of the pellets that transform into sponge dinosaurs when dropped into water. The kids liked the prizes a lot, and they said they liked the scavenger hunt, too. When I asked if the questions were too easy, too hard, or just right, the class agreed on the following answer: "The questions were just right for a scavenger hunt. But if they hadn't been part of a game, they would have been too hard." Quite a testimonial to the power of fun to motivate learning!

Scale (March 12, part 2)

At the end of last Friday, I introduced my class to a flash animation called The Scale of the Universe (the link is at the end of this post). It is fascinating to see! Once my students had a chance to explore the images on their own, we took the computers over to Elaine's room to show the Kindergartners and first graders. Each of my kids had two or three younger students crowding around to look at their computer, and it was their job to explain what the animation shows. I heard delightful lessons going on all around the room: "Do you know what a nebula is? Well, it's this big cloud of dust and gas in space, where stars form..." "See how my fingers are touching? But they're not, really, because the atoms aren't touching because there's so much space inside an atom..." The parts of an atom are certainly are a lot smaller than the atom itself!

Watching my class teaching the younger kids all about what they were looking at—hearing the quiet excitement in the room, and the exclamations of, "That's so cool!" and seeing the instant rapport that sprang up between the different ages as they explained and learned—was one of the most beautiful moments I think I've seen in any classroom.

Here's the URL for the animation they were looking at:

http://www.freeworldgroup.com/games8/gameindex/scaleoftheuniverse.htm

Clocks (March 12, part 1)

Last Friday was a particularly lovely day for our class. We finished writing our cave reports, but we also had two special events.

Firstly, Jesse Metcalf-Burton's younger brother Justin came in on Friday morning to read James' Thurber's book The Thirteen Clocks aloud to our class. I heard Justin give a reading of that book in January, and immediately asked him if he'd consider reading to our class sometime! He gave us a beautiful dramatic reading (I know that he's worked particularly on his rendition of the Duke's evil laugh), and the children listened with intense focus for almost an hour and a half. We had discussed Justin's visit as a class beforehand, and the children requested clay and drawing materials to help them concentrate on the story. They produced some gorgeous drawings and sculptures based on the story!

(I unfortunately was too wrapped up in the story myself to think of taking a photo at the time, but Justin was kind enough to forward me this picture of himself telling stories in Washington, D.C.)

Short Stories

This month is our Book Study theme, and our class—returning to a topic we touched on earlier in the year—is studying short stories. This study is taking several forms: The kids are reading their way through stacks of short stories, and checking off the ones they've read on a list I've printed out. When they finish one story, before they begin the next, they come find me to read me their favorite sentence in the story they've read, and explain why they like it so much. Some reasons I've heard so far: the sentence is funny, it contains new words, it sets up a whole sequence that's going to follow in the story, or it's just very clear. In the end, each student will be asked to pick one sentence they've liked better than any other this month—so we call this the Hunt for the Perfect Sentence.

The children will also need to pick one story each—a story no one else in the class has checked off—to read out loud. They'll be able to take their chosen story home to practice reading it before they read to the class. (In fact, all the books of short stories are available to be taken home.) If they have time before the end of the month, they may also move on to create their own art based on stories they've read; they'll be able to make a drawing, a painting, a poem, another short story, a play, or even a movie if they choose.

On Tuesday of this week, we learned about story arcs. We had a short discussion at the board about the arc of a story, and the different paths that different stories may take. Then, the children got out big sheets of graph paper, and we settled into our sunlit classroom to map the arcs of stories as I told them. We started with a few short practice tales, and then the kids had to map the arc of a 15-minute story as I recited it. I think everyone had fun!

And this Friday, Jesse's younger brother Justin will be coming in the morning to give us a special reading of James Thurber's The Thirteen Clocks. I was privileged to hear him read this a few months ago, and I immediately asked if he'd be willing to give us a performance—I can't wait to hear it again!

Festifools studio

Today, the whole school visited the Festifools studio, to get some inspiration and context for the giant puppets the children will be constructing with Ruth. The studio was amazing! Here are some pictures...