Christmas Party

Hello Families and Happy Holidays!!

As this time of year can be hectic and crazy for all of us, I wanted to give you the gift of time as far as our Holiday Party goes.  We, as a class, will be planning our day with a mix of holiday cheer, fun, learning, and community building.  We aren't going to have a standard party, but instead have activities throughout our day.  What does this mean to you?  I means no stress about trying to find the time to come in or help with crafts or decorations.  All we are asking for is a few treats that we can enjoy throughout our day.  Please use this link to sign up.

During our day we have agreed upon doing a Book Exchange in a White Elephant style game, so please have your student bring in a new or gently used wrapped book next Friday.   We will also be doing math surrounding the 12 Days of Christmas and finishing up our studies on Jamestown, among other normal school day lessons.

Thank you again and may you and your family enjoy your time together over break!

21st Century Skills

We have been weaving into our vernacular and daily thinking 21st Century Skills the past few months, and I wanted to give you a brief update.  Our two main areas of focus this year (though we touch on the others) are Systems Thinking and Critical Thinking.

Systems Thinking is a way to look at things around us as a whole unit with many parts.  We use the word Interdependence a lot when talking about this.  We think about all the parts that make up the whole and what happens when a part fails.  Sometimes this causes the system to fail, sometimes it makes it weaker, sometimes other parts take over and have to be resilient.  Ask your kiddos about this!

Critical Thinking is another tool that is woven into all areas.  We are really looking at text, point of views, arguments, and problems with a critical eye to analyze each to develop stronger thinking skills.

With both of these broad concepts, students annotated the definitions to create personal meaning for themselves.  We also create a few "I can" anchor charts to serve as a checklist in kid-friendly terms.  I must say, I'm very impressed with their thinking and application.