Our day today started off with a hiccup since one of the bus drivers got sick and delayed a lot of the students' arrival. However, they jumped right in when they finally made it.

We started the day with a Book Creator portfolio lesson to clear up some confusion from last week. Then we checked out the highlights from a video of an origami master showing how to make an origami cicada at 11 stages of difficulty. We used that as a jumping off point to identify which Habits of Mind origami can help develop.

We chatted about strategies to get out of The Learning Pit. One of those strategies was to try a different method and another was to know your basics. Thus, students then saw how far they could get through this basic origami folds video at their own pace. Some students struggled to slow things down, ask for help after an appropriate amount of struggle, and persist through difficulty. These are all important habits that we continue to work on in GATE class for years to come.

After Choice Time, we finished the day by starting a read-aloud of The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda. The main characters of the book are in 6th grade, but the social-emotional lessons of friendship, tolerance, and self acceptance are great for all ages.