These new scholars came to 1st grade ready to learn. They jumped straight into engineering, reading, writing, and math. It was hard to believe they were even away on summer break.
This group really loves their books! They quickly found their favorite reading spot and personal interest books. We are working on a class stamina goal of 12 uninterrupted minutes of reading. We eventually want to get to 20 minutes, but the class decided 12 was a good place to start. Our most recent time was logged at 5 and a half minutes, but I know they are eager to make it to 12 this week.
Friday was full of engineering/ design challenges. I first challenge students to work as a team to line up cups in order from 1-10 once that was done I challenge them to make a pyramid, just like they saw the teachers do just minutes before, at Friday assembly. Many were successful and many quickly learned if they did not communicate with their team members they had a harder time stacking the cups. This was a great lead in to all the partner engineering projects we will have in the future.
My favorite challenge I gave the students was a paper fold and cut challenge. I made a quick pop up and encourage the students to copy my design. As they were working I took note of the things they were saying. many of the comments were negative. They grew frustrated when they couldn't figure out how to recreate my pop up. I called them down to the carpet and wrote their statements on the board. They quickly realized their words were hurtful to themselves. We worked together to turn their fixed phrases into those of a growing mindset. I gave the students a quick demonstration of how I made the pop-up and they quickly returned talking positively and many became successful in their second or third attempts. They were so proud of themselves!
My favorite challenge I gave the students was a paper fold and cut challenge. I made a quick pop up and encourage the students to copy my design. As they were working I took note of the things they were saying. many of the comments were negative. They grew frustrated when they couldn't figure out how to recreate my pop up. I called them down to the carpet and wrote their statements on the board. They quickly realized their words were hurtful to themselves. We worked together to turn their fixed phrases into those of a growing mindset. I gave the students a quick demonstration of how I made the pop-up and they quickly returned talking positively and many became successful in their second or third attempts. They were so proud of themselves!