Today was all about getting oriented to the GATE classroom and new classmates. The students asked lots of questions about what we will be doing and about things in the classroom and around Lowell. We had two main pieces of work today: All About Me Sculptures and Choice Time. Choice Time will happen for 20-25 minutes each week, and it is an opportunity for students to stretch their brains in a way that is exciting to them. Today students chose to craft inventions, write a play, learn chess, and learn a new game called IZZI. The students also got to crack open their Maker Boxes to craft a sculpture that represented at least 3 things about them. They then had the choice to present their work to the whole class or just to their table mates. The project Success Criteria was to create a sculpture that represents at least 3 things about you, to try your best, and to not worry about it being perfect. All of the students were successful and we achieved the Learning Intention of getting to know our classmates. The students also really enjoyed making connections to the things their new classmates presented and getting to add a paper clip to our ever-evolving classroom paperclip chain art piece! 

Next week there is now school, but on January 22nd we will continue to learn about the classroom and start out Journey of an Idea unit. If you haven't filled out the New to GATE survey, you can find it on the 1st grade Welcome Page here.