Last week, my 5th grade group took on the Marshmallow Challenge. 20 spaghetti noodles, 1 yard of tape, 1 yard of string and a marshmallow are all they get to attempt to build the tallest, freestanding tower to support their marshmallow. It is the second year I have begun the year with my 5th grade math group with this activity so I think we have begun a new tradition. Why do I love it? First, it is a great way to begin to build our community of learners. Building a marshmallow tower is impossible to do by yourself. The students begin to see how important teamwork is from day one of our time together. Another reason I love it is it isn't easy! Ultimately this time, only one of our groups managed to get a tower to stand and support their marshmallow after 18 minutes. Gifted students (as a general rule) like to succeed - don't we all?! One group this year set a new record - the shortest tower ever - when their marshmallow tower fell over and bent lower than the table (we officially recorded the height as a negative number! !) This activity creates an opportunity for the students to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. Perseverance to a task is a great life skill, and this challenge begins setting that expectation in my classroom from the beginning. And, of course, it is a great way to start the year simply because it is FUN. Shouldn't students want to come to a school environment that is challenging but allows room for mistakes and yet is fun? Check out the photos page of the website for all of the pictures from our challenge.
0 Comments
I am trying out a new online planning tool this year to keep myself organized. As part of the features on this site, I can give you access to see the weekly homework that I have assigned. Now your student SHOULD be fililng out their planner each day so you know exactly what their homework is. I also have a bulletin board in my room that shows what the nightly homework is in math. But just in case, use this link (also on the GTmath page under homework) to see the assignments for the week:
http://planbook.com/student?t=974564&k=20132014 Summer is officially over, and the first day of school is complete! GT groups will begin meeting in the coming weeks as I complete the identification process, and we settle into the new school year. Poudre School District as a whole has adopted new ID criteria for students to qualify for the gifted and talented program. While this does not affect students who were identified last year, it does affect this year's 3rd graders and all students in the future. I would love the chance to share this new criteria with you and share about what you can expect from Werner's gifted program this year at the GT Back to School night on Wednesday, September 18 from 7:00 - 8:00 pm in the media center. Please plan on joining me for an informative evening!
|
Tracey BeanWerner Elementary Archives
May 2018
Sign-up for updates: |
Knowledge Peak | Blog |