AIG Update December 2014

Here's a copy of the December AIG Update

Thanks for all your support in 2014! I am fortunate to work with such great students, teachers, and families.  Happy Holidays!

Advanced Subject Group in Reading

4:  Fourth grade completed our work with the Junior Great Books (JGB) introduction to shared inquiry or seminar learning by kicking off a ‘book club.’ This group read Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs – at the wise suggestion of our awesome media specialist, Mrs. Page! Students had 60-70 page reading assignments each week – and most of them were easily able to do so! We are still in the process of wrapping up this work. In the New Year we will move back to short stores by JGB.

5:  Fifth grade readers wrapped up our Fall’s work with fluency activities including a readers theatre about Benjamin Franklin and poems for two voices by an award winning poet. Selections from both of these activities have been highlighted through my AIG blog. The last of December and into 2015 (can you believe it?!) will focus on a simulation where students accept roles as scientists to solve ecological disasters around the world. They’ll have some pretty heavy-duty reading research to help with their decisions.

Advance Subject Group in Math

Both fourth and fifth grade math groups have focused on perseverance in attending challenging math work. To this end, both groups have worked on a variety of math puzzles including

Magic Squares (where rows, columns, and diagonals have the same sums)

Problems with Operations (incomplete equations where the operations (+,-,/,x) must be added)

24 (manipulating random numbers to solve for a specified sum)

In addition, fifth grade also worked with Gang of 15 – where they had to track a mysterious organization all over the world – discovering and converting international currencies all the while! Fifth grade is also currently working with the Fibonacci sequence – one of the most famous mathematical concepts.

Comprehensive Study Group

4:  Fourth graders reflected on multiple intelligences and what their prominent intelligence might be. They then completed an online survey to determine which they may most reflect. This work is based on research by Harvard’s Howard Gardner. Students then integrated this knowledge into personal profile Google presentations which we will record for inclusion on the blog. Only a couple are complete at this point, so look forward to seeing more in the New Year!

5:  These students completed a large (maybe 6 feet) Mobius strip after learning about the Dutch artist M.C. Escher. It was more of a task than they expected! Along with the construction were great discussions about ‘the infinite.’ The discussion part was based on the National Paideia Center’s seminar for his work of art. Check out the blog to see the photo!

Enrichment Study Group

4:  Our simulation work with The Great Solar System Rescue continues. As of this, these students have located and saved the first of four lost space probes. To do this, they have had to understand a specific science through reading, process a ton of information from video transmissions and more reading, and, most importantly, share and work with each other to form consensus decisions. There are three teams overall, so we’ll see how they rate at the end of our work in the New Year!

5:  These students completed an interest inventory to help drive independent projects. Everyone is engaged in this work which varies from computer and sports research to original works of fiction. Although drafts are certainly in the process, we won’t be sharing out until the spring.