Interesting Enigmas
11/16/11 These kids are amazing workers. Once given a task, they set to and work diligently! It truly is a joy to work with such a group! That being said, they are in the process of wrapping up their historical fiction pieces. Be looking for them to be featured right here next week!
11/9/11 We are wrapping up our discovery on who invented the alphabet by writing stories to explain this enigma. The kids are working on historical fiction pieces which we will be sharing right here when they are finished!
11/2/11 I really missed this group today. The Challenge Lab was closed. I'm always sad to miss a group!
10/26/11 Sometimes gathering and organizing facts and information does not appear to be that fun, but it tends to lead to some pretty fun activities! So, in other words, today was mostly about organizing facts and information. Check out this picture of the group working together to make a timeline with different ideas leading to who invented the alphabet.
 |
| The camera (not the operator, right) was either taking really dark or very blurry pictures. None the less, here is one of the ladies playing secretary while others pour over information for the timeline! |
10/19/11 Today's update is quick...We have moved on to our second enigma, "Who invented the alphabet?" Stay tuned!
10/12/11 The documentaries, well, err, the plays are complete! Enjoy, and then follow the link on the bottom to vote on who YOU think discovered the Americas!
Click HERE to Vote!
9/28/11 and 10/5/11 This is serious! Everyone is so into working on their documentaries, that partitions were built to keep work top secret! Next week we will film these masterpieces, so stay tuned!
9/21/11 We are now officially in three groups and working on documentaries! Stay tuned! They will air right here! Each group represents someone who can claim the discovery of the Americas!
9/14/11 We officially have our first Socratic Seminar under our belts! The good news? The kids did great! The bad news? I was pulled for a meeting and had to miss it! Not to worry though, "The Faze" took over - that would be our wonderful fourth grade writing teachers Mrs. Foley and Mrs. Hayes! Combine their super powers (and their names) and you get "The Faze!"
The kids did three rounds each with a different question. Round 1: What do you know about the discovery of the Americas? Round 2: Can you explain what the word "discovered" means? Round 3: Who discovered the Americas?
The WHOLE group now believes the Chinese discovered the Americas! Enjoy the pictures from today! Hopefully you visualize the deep thinking taking place!
 |
| About to make a wise statement! |
 |
| Looks like he is not ready to play his cards. Each student had three per question. When they spoke, they threw one in! No cards = silent thoughts! |
 |
| About to play a card! |
 |
| Backing it up with facts! |
9/7/11 Things sure can take a different spin in an hour. The hot debate is between the Vikings or the Chinese discovering the Americas! These conclusions were arrived at through intelligent conversation. There was a quick lesson on "intelligent conversation" that included etiquette and backing all statements with a fact. When studying enigmas, it is cool to disagree - you just have to do so with many, many facts. We are on the road to making short documentaries on "Who Really Discovered the Americas?" Our next step in getting there? We will attempt a Socratic Seminar next week! Hopefully I can get some great pics or short clip of this!
8/31/11 We jumped right into study group by trying to figure out what the word "enigma" means and why I chose that study group topic. After some massive brainstorming on the board the kids were able to see we will be looking closer at some mysteries in history. Our first enigma: "Who Really Discovered the Americas?" Right now they are thinking the Indians, the Vikings, Christopher Columbus or no one! Hmm....let's see how this progresses!
No comments:
Post a Comment