4th grade seminar updates

Week of Feb. 10: Students watched videos of different tiny house layouts and started to think about what type of design they want for their own tiny house.

Week of Feb. 17: We went over tiny house guidelines and students began their rough drafts.

Week of Feb. 24: Work on rough drafts continue. Some students are starting on their final copy.

Weeks of March 2 and 9: The tiny houses are coming along pretty well. It's a bit of a challenge to design something so small, and then get it colored correctly so it corresponds to their design. After the base, walls, and ceiling/roof are finished, students will build at least three 3-D models of some items in their house.

Affective

Students who will be invited to participate in at least two of the three CogAT-themed classes (verbal, quantitative, non-verbal), based on CogAT and/or MAP scores, will be included in the affective seminar. This class began in September and finished in January. Fourth graders learn about growth mindset and leadership. We talk about characteristics of positive and negative leaders, and students reflect on their leadership strengths and challenges. They also take part in an activity about empathy.

Week of Oct. 28: This was our first week of class. We spent time on expectations and procedures, as well as playing SET for our brain warm-up. Students also made sure they have the Schoology and Notability apps on their iPads, and then followed the Welcome document in Notability to learn about the app's functions.

Week of Nov. 4: Students learned how to appropriately use their LEGO kits and built a teeter totter with their partner. We had a chance to look at everyone's creation and discuss work, effort, load, and pivot.

Week of Nov. 11: Students did a pre-assessment and we discussed the definition and purpose of simple machines. We also learned what the 6 simple machines are. Next week we'll begin our lever investigations.

Week of Nov. 18: This week the students completed their lever investigations. We looked at the load, effort, and work on each of the three classes of levers.

Week of Dec. 2: Most of our investigations into the remaining simple machines are done. Next week we will discuss what we learned and then move on to building and investigating a complex machine.

Week of Dec. 16: Students have built a Freewheeler and are doing an investigation regarding how far it goes with small wheels, large wheels, no load, and with a load. After this is finished, they will design their own vehicle to see how far it will coast down the hall!