Looking Good...
9/28/2018
This week was picture day at PNA, and in the shots above you get a sneak peek at what Third, Fourth and Fifth grade classes will look like! This week, though, Sheryll and I would like to focus on highlighting what we're doing with Bridges math at the Third and Fifth Grade levels. As parents know, PNA uses the Bridges In Mathematics curriculum, developed by The Math Learning Center. Bridges takes a very open approach, highlighting multiple ways to solve problems, emphasizing the methods and processes (not just the correct answer), and encourages students to choose their own best path for learning. A traditionally 'right' answer may not be right if work is not fully shown, and a traditionally 'wrong' answer may not be so wrong if the student has shown with their work that they understand the process. In this way, students learn flexible and efficient ways to solve problems that they are able to use not just in a worksheet, but later in real life. Mathematicians At Work...In these pictures, the Third Grade class uses Work Places -- sets of games specially designed to highlight principles of mathematics -- to practice techniques and methods that they've been studying in class. Clockwise from upper right to upper left, the games being played are Blast Off to practice subtraction, Brain Fuel, a Bridges computer game, to practice both addition and subtraction, Addition Top-It to practice addition facts, and Carrot Grab to practice counting by 10s. As you can see by the reactions of the Third Graders, just because it's math doesn't mean it can't be fun! Next up, with have the Fifth Grade class. In the photos below, students play the Work Place game The Multiple Game for, practicing factors and multiples. In The Multiple Game, students challenge each other to find the factors of a multiple chosen by their opponent. Below, you can see the instructions for the game. Looking at the them, and the gameboard, above... how many factors can you find? Currently in Fifth Grade Math, students are taking a look at ratio tables, area models and tiled arrays. In the video below, students work not just to figure out what six times four is, but what it looks like when represented visually. Fifth graders are first given word problems: Bob is building a display of 24 baseballs for his store. Each column of the display has six baseballs. What does the display look like, and how many rows and columns will the display have? And are then asked to build the display for Bob, helping them visualize what six times four looks like. In this way, Bridges really does take much of the mystery out of mathematics, and helps students to build a deeper understanding of concepts and carry those concepts out into the real world! Oh, and then there's also the fun of ratio tables... Until next week... excelsior!
PBL Units Launched
9/21/2018
As a parent, you have probably heard of PBL or project-based learning from your child, from a teacher, at the curriculum night; or you've probably seen PNA's PBL wall featuring the essential project design elements. But do you really understand what project based learning is? Buck Institute for Education defines PBL as "a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge." Jennifer Gonzales from Cult of Pedagogy also explains that "with project based learning, the content is baked inside a real-world problem students need to solve in a creative and authentic way. In the process of solving the problem, students also meet required standards, but this work is integrated into the project, not separate from it." At PNA, it is our goal to equip students with 21st century skills they need in order to be globally and competitively prepared to make a difference in our ever-changing world. Third, fourth and fifth grades invite you to follow us on our PBL journey in order for you to understand what PBL truly is. See it all in action! ENTRY EVENT: In a traditional classroom, students just open up a textbook and teacher announces "our new unit is..." With project based learning, we capture student interest by creating entry events that takes the class out of a routine and activate their excitement by letting them something special is going to happen. Entry events engage students right away and provoke them to want to know and learn more. Entry Event for Third Grade Third graders watched a video called "Caine's Arcade" as an entry event to our first PBL unit. It's about a boy who started with his own cardboard arcade place and became a global viral phenomenon inspiring about a million participants around the world for a global cardboard challenge. Entry Event for Fourth/Fifth Grade Fourth and fifth graders walked to the playground and discovered an authentic real world problem at PNA.
The entry event has definitely sparked curiosity as they asked questions and the need to know more.
Third Grade's Need to Knows:
After a discussion of how some kids can't afford to buy Xbox or Playstation or other expensive toys, the class came up with an idea of helping others. In Anchorage, there's a place where free meals are provided to kids who don't have dinner. This non-profit organization is called Kid's Kitchen. For this unit, the class decided to help out Kid's Kitchen through our project. To find out more about how this is going to be done, please wait until the the third graders' public presentation.
Fourth and Fifth Grades' Need to Knows:
The class learned about how the school has a playground committee that consists of adults (teachers and staff) who are in charge of developing the playground. Our class is given an area where the playground committee plans on utilizing the space for science. Since this is a science class, who else has great ideas but the kids learning science! The class decided to build something that tie in with our first science unit concept that revolve around senses particularly sounds, sight, smell, smell, and touch.
DRIVING QUESTION:
A driving question is another essential element of a project-based learning unit. It is like the thesis of an essay. For students, the driving question gives them a sense of direction in a clear language. For teachers, it serves as a guide that provides focus and consistency on planning. After the entry event and identifying need to knows, our driving question was born. Third Grade's Driving Question: Fourth and Fifth's Driving Question:
This is just the beginning of a project based learning. Follow our blog to join us on our journey of learning about the real world. If you want to learn more on how to support project based learning, please contact your child's teacher.
Resources:
Buck Institute for Education. What is PBL? Retrieved from http://www.bie.org/about/what_pbl Gonzales, J. (2016). Project based learning start here. Retrieved from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/project-based-learning/ Caine's Arcade. A boy's cardboard arcade that inspired the world. Retrieved from http://cainesarcade.com The Fall Outing (And Other Outings)
9/16/2018
Pacific Northern Academy started the week off venturing out into the wilds of Alaska! No PNA school year would be complete without the annual beginning of the year Fall Outing! Students were broken up into groups mixed by grade to mingle with new friends and then treated to several hours of fun, food and games! In the video below, PNA's Lee Saunders starts the school off with our usual group game! Can you spot your child? The idea of the Fall Outing is not just to get the kids outside, but to build school spirit. Teams are mixed at every level, and students each find their own moments to shine as they use their individual strengths to help their teammates out through the day! But That Wasn't the Only Outing...This week, after several classes spent generating story ideas, Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade practiced a technique called Flash Drafting -- the writing of super quick, fully contained story drafts. The idea is to flex the storytelling muscles of the brain without the inhibitions imposed by second guessing yoursel and slowing the creative flow down. The faster you get the ideas out, the more original and exciting they will be. (Or so the Lucy Calkins' theory goes). In the photos below, Language Arts students sit outside in the sunshine for maximum inspiration... And, the Third Graders also focused on writing 'still lifes', creating prose portraits of the people around them. In this video, Third Grader Carson reads his to the class... can you guess who he is describing? And, speaking of storytelling and inspiration, in the photos below, Ms. Katie reads the Third Graders a story for Music Class... And, Third Graders Carson and Ethan read about Alaska... before taking a trip outside to cap off Friday afternoon! And, The Winning Napkins Are...A few weeks ago, we challenged parents to illustrate the napkins they sent their children to school with... here are a few of the winners! And, here are two more... that for some reason will only post sideways. Yes, I know what I'm doing... but this is one thing I just can't figure out! An Afternoon At The Theater...And, finally, Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade ended the week with a show, Ramona Quimby, at Alaska Pacific University, starring a fellow PNA student. Can you spot the PNA star in this picture? And, Just For Fun...Building a Collaborative Culture
9/7/2018
Have you even been in a group project where you ended up doing all the work? Or maybe you just sat in a corner and let someone else do all the work? Have you encountered a time when you'd rather work alone than in a group because you have different opinions, needs, and wants that you would not just get along? Now, think of a time when you've been a part of a team you realized each other's potential, strength and weaknesses. You were able to compromise and work through challenges and conflicts because you gave each other feedback, value each other, and had each other's back. All those experiences and feelings, the good and the bad, happen in real classrooms. So how does PNA build and nurture a culture of collaboration in a classroom or a school of diverse learners? We intentionally build it with our students! We start our day with a morning meeting to create a stress-free atmosphere where everyone is welcomed and greeted. We explicitly teach children how to make eye contact and a friendly handshake. We create guidelines with the students and hold them accountable. Students had to learn what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to solve problems together, to think critically together, and how to communicate by respecting each other’s ideas, strengths, and skills. In 4th/5th grade science, students created their own guidelines and practiced through an activity called The Cup Challenge. There were definitely different opinions when they started off but they were able to work through their conflicts and finished up celebrating together.
Research has shown that collaboration is one of the learning skills needed to succeed in the 21st century. At PNA, we don't just educate students to become independent thinkers, we also provide endless opportunities for learners to develop effective collaboration skills.
Each and every morning, the Third, Fourth and Fifth Graders start their day with a morning question, part of PNA's Responsive Classroom program... The Responsive ClassroomOver the last few years, the Third, Fourth and Fifth Grades have used what is called the Responsive Classroom to give the students agency over their own environments. The responsive classroom teaches:
Responsive Classroom is an evidence-based approach to education that focuses on the strong relationship between academic success and social-emotional learning (SEL). The Responsive Classroom approach empowers educators to create an engaging learning communities where all students have a sense of belonging and feel significant. As you see in the video above, the Morning Meeting is an important way to get the day started, as it brings students together. Each and every morning meeting consists of:
To learn more about the Responsive Classroom, please watch the video below! Lucy Calkins |
Jessica GrahamMs. Graham graduated from the University of Alabama with a BS in Early Childhood/Elementary Education, and is currently working on her master's in reading. She enjoys hiking, traveling, arts & crafts, and playing the ukulele. Archives
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