Google Doodle Portraits

5th grade embarked on some research for the upcoming Google Doodle contest!  This year, the theme is What makes me...me.  Students will be creating a unique Google Doodle to explore themselves through creativity. 

Today, we interviewed a peer and drew a portrait based on their peer's information.  Check out the doodlers in action!

TEDed Club and Teamwork!

A Tagxedo of ideas!

TEDed Club has begun in 5th grade!  We have explored our passions and are working to refine our ideas to be shared through a TEDed Club talk.  We've also begun to look at what characteristics make a great beginning, middle and end of a talk.  I'm so impressed by the interests of the students and can't wait to see how these talks come together!

 

 

Teamwork!  A group of 5th graders works to complete a 3D puzzle!

Morning Message

Morning Message, for me has had a different perspective than the typical Morning Message in classrooms.  You see, each day, I arrive back in my classroom from morning duty to find positive, uplifting messages on my board.  Written by students after their Safety Patrol duty, on their way to class, the messages inspire me to enjoy the opportunities and possibilities of the day.  They remind me of why I teach.  For that...I am grateful. 

International Day of Peace

How will our students and community share peace today and every day? 

Students, if you decide to take action, comment below and share with your community! 

Happy International Day of PEACE! 

Pax,
Dr. Haddock

Mind Challenges!

6th grade enjoyed a well-deserved mind challenge time!  They explored with creating digital designs, handmade crafts, Bug House chess and Stratego!  We also observed a terrific and magical substance brought in by Braxton!  Check out the power of the magnet!  Click on the image to order your own. 

Don't forget World Peace Day is Monday, September 21, 2015!  How will you share peace?  Logan created an image to share with others.

Bug House Chess

Magnetic Putty

Logan's Peace Plea

 

Key Concepts of Organizations

Our 6th graders spent time creating Key Concept maps of organizations/clubs after researching different organizations Internationally, locally and at a university.  This is part of our unit entitled Clubs, under the theme How we Organize Ourselves.  Students will ultimately create their own organizations to participate and take on leadership roles!

Reasons people organize:
To take action or solve a problem
Create awareness
Cultivate skills or learn new things
Self-improvement
Be social and do things with others
Nurture interests
Enjoyment
Work toward a common goal

 

More Civilizations!

Our 4th grade class this morning did a Wordle Relay and created this word cloud of all of the elements they are thinking are required to make a civilization.  Let's see how our thinking changes as we continue to inquire using many different resources!

 

 

We also learned more about each other during a game of two truths and a lie! 

 

Elements of a Civilization!

4th graders have been busy uncovering the elements necessary for a civilization!  You can see the list they have created based on the TED ed video we viewed.  After learning about ancient Egyptians, the Mayans, and the medieval Japanese, students collaborated and created a list of possible essential elements of a civilization. 

 

Students then worked with another student to research a different civilization and discover 5 essential elements of that civilization.  This knowledge was compared to their understandings from the video to continue to determine what a civilization needs in order to be considered a civilization. 

 

Are civilizations limited to humans?  Locked in time and place?  We will find out more!

 

Fisher and Nick look at the ancient Roman civilization

Welcome Back!

We are off an running!  It seems like we never left! 

I hope everyone had a terrific summer and is ready to tackle new learning, make new friendships and create a difference in our world. 

This year, I will have the 4th and 6th grade Gifted classes.  We will explore things like civilizations, what it means to organize and the research process.  Students in the 4th grade classes have already made their Essential Agreements!  (See images below.)  The attributes of the Learner Profile are certainly evident! 

I look forward to providing a window into our classroom and sharing all of the wonderful connections and inquiries that we uncover this year! 

 Essential Agreements for the Wednesday Morning Class

 

Essential Agreements for the Tuesday Afternoon Class

Poetry Feature

                                                                            I Came

I came from my culture,
I came from my genes,
I came from myself,
I came from my home,
I came from my parents,
I came from a blessing,
I came from my past,
I came from my spirit,
I came from my world.

Then I came.

By Kennedy Coleman

5th Grade Action Activators

In 5th grade, students have been going to Canine Commandos all year, working to help train dogs at the Central Brevard Humane Society, so that they are more adoptable. 















As a result of their learning and experiences, students have developed many actions to continue to make a difference in the homeless pet population!  Students will showcase some of these actions at the Canine Commando Expo on May 19th. 

This year has also allowed for 5th graders to develop collaborative problem solving skills in many different areas.  They formed a TEDed club, whereby students created their own TED talks based on an area of interest or idea.  We shared these talks with the community! 

They have also nurtured each other in developing a higher level of understanding in mathematics.  Kiddos discussed for about 30 minutes, the different ways to solve an SAT math problem!

Future Problem Solving State Competition

We had a WONDERFUL group of FPS participants that qualified to go to state this year!  Not only did the children represent our school very well, they had a blast thinking about future problems with Human Enhancement!  Thank you to all of the families who participated!

Connected Me

While learning about the myriad of ways we are all connected, 2nd grade GSP students explored our butterfly garden and wrote connections they found between themselves and nature.  On our quest, we found some soon to be new members of the Freedom 7 community!

Learning from the Experts!

In 3rd grade, we have been reading Ralph Fletcher's A Writer's Notebook and learning all of the wonderful things that he has to teach us about writing.  Students recently became experts in each of the chapters, to allow for continued dialogue about how to improve our craft.