An Example

I wanted to post an example of a decade project from a previous year. This is above and beyond, but if you were struggling to get an idea about what the end result should look like, here it is. The projects are going well so far, a little slow, but the students are working hard in class and seem to be excited about their projects so far. Again, please let me know if you have questions!

Decade Project

It's official, the pojects have been assigned. At this point, everyone should have selected a decade they would like to spend time researching. Starting Monday, we will use some of our class time to research. I would like to have trifold display boards in class in the next couple of weeks. I sent home detailed information about the project, so hopefully you've had chance to look it over. Please let me know if you have any questions. I will post interim deadlines along the way so it doesn't all get put off until the last minute.

Update

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. By the live traffic feed, it didn't appear that very many people were checking the blog, so I wasn't sure it was worth the time. However, before Christmas, a couple people had asked, and said they had tried to get to it, but were unable to access it. Anyway, if you are reading, would you mind letting me know either by leaving a comment, or through email at dllawrence@baschools.org . I am happy to do it, I just don't want to stress out about it if I'm the only one checking it. With that being said, we do have a few things coming up. One is the chess tournament which will be January 31st. I would love to have all the student participate. More information will be sent home regarding this very soon. A few of you have also asked about the upcoming project. PLEASE DO NOT FRET ABOUT THIS! There will be a project, but it won't be overwhelming, and I assure you that I will send home all the information with a very detailed description and allow plenty of time for it to be completed. I will also send the info via email, so you will for sure know what is expected. I hope you all had a fabulous holiday, and are looking forward to getting back into a regular routine. I know I am!

A Few Pics

This is a picture of my fourth grade students participating in a pair share discussing our unit. This gives students an opportunity to get out of their seats as well as give them another opportunity to verbalize the material they are learning.
This is a picture of students reading the paper. The Tulsa Word has a Newspaper In Education program that we are taking advantage of this year to follow the election. It is a great program that allows schools to get newspapers for free!
Students unlocking the ideas puzzle. One of the things we focus on is writing and one of the traits we work with is Ideas. This activity required students to notice the details of puzzle pieces, trying to guess what it was a picture of. In the same way, we have to be specific and give details in our writing so our readers can get the full picture in their mind.

These are just a few of the activities we've done so far. I'll have to upload more now that I have the blog up and running.

Field Trip Dates

4th and 5th field trip will be this Tuesday, October 7. We will be going to the Tulsa City/County Library downtown and spend time researching our decades. Permission slips should have already been returned for this trip. Don't forget to bring a sack lunch!

The 2nd and 3rd grade field trip will be November 11 to the Tulsa Historical Society. More information will be sent home the first of November regarding this trip.

Finally!

So, I had planned to do this for a while, and unfortunately never got around to it before now. I can't believe the first quarter has already come to a close. I will be using the blog as a way to help keep you updated on what we are doing in Kaleidoscope each week. We started our year out with a study of Ellis Island, and have recently been studying the 1900-1910 decade for our unit. We will start there and work our way through the 20th century. I've taken several pictures, and will upload them as I have a chance.