Code Breakers

Today our gumshoes were up to the task of deciphering coded messages.  They looked at several different types of ciphers and codes and picked out patterns to uncover the underlying message.  They also wrote their own codes for their friends to crack.  Use these websites at home to continue with your explorations!

Mirror Writing

Cryptology

Code Examples

More Code Examples

Cryptokids

Crack the Code

A light filter code.

Using a pigpen cipher.

We also practiced the Habit of Mind, Persisting as we looked at more DNA codes to match suspects to their crimes.  Students were also able to compete with their DNA challenge questions from last week.  We used a "stuck on the escalator" analogy to discuss perseverance and taking the next step in our learning to overcome challenges.

DNA Close Reading Face-off

Third graders sent their solo time reviewing median, mode, and range with some friendly penguin buddies.  They grouped the penguins to create data sets for their friends to calculate the averages.

Second graders spent their solo time practicing creativity and completing a NERDS activity to create their perfect imaginary friend based on the book Beekle by Dan Santat.

We also threw in some brain stretchers, Mastermind,  and conquered the daily Set puzzle!

Footprint Follow-up and DNA!

Third graders spent some time today reflecting and goal setting for the new year.  I am proud of all this class has accomplished.  I can already see a lot of growth and love watching them apply the language and skills of our Habits of Mind!  


Second graders played the role of eye witness and learned that their testimonies aren't always as reliable as they think.  They practiced their skills of observation as participated in several activities looking for details and differences.

As a whole class, we also did some field study follow up looking at a crime scene as a system and sharing about our highlights and takeaways of the trip.  We mixed in some math by looking at our footprints and using them to predict our height.  Students checked their measurements to see the correlation.

Finally we practiced our close reading skills to understand DNA and its use as evidence in court. Students summarized their findings and bean creating challenge questions to face off against each other in a comprehension battle next week.

ALERT 101

Today we added to our second grade numbers and were free of those pesky third graders for the day. :) We spent the day talking about our goals as a class, what we do, and why we are here.  Students read the Gifted Child's Bill of Rights and looked at what being gifted means to them.  Take a look at this box office hit we made today.

We also did our morphic thinking daily routine, solved some deductive reasoning puzzles, and played a matching game to become more familiar with our Habits of Mind.  

Students also read the book Your Fantastic Elastic Brain, and learned about the connections they make in their brain when they learn and how to strengthen these pathways. This year we want to be very intentional about building a growth mindset in students. It will be our goal to emphasize the part of effort and perseverance in learning and intelligence as something that can be grown. We want to turn "I can't do it!" into "I can't do it yet!"

CSI Field Study with the Richland County Sheriff's Department

We had a fantastic trip today!  Thank you to the sheriff's department and our wonderful chaperons! 

Students viewed a presentation by Investigator Bouknight about all things crime scene related and then rotated through three crime solving stations...

Footprints- Investigator McClary assisted each student in making a footwear print. Students made observations and learned about footprints as forensic evidence.  They learned several techniques for finding and lifting prints including using a gel lifter, electricity paired with mylar film, and dental stone for casting.  They also learned about using oblique lighting to find tracks and photographing prints as the most important form of documentation.

Fingerprints- Students heard Investigators Odom and Atencio talk about the three types of fingerprints and how even seemingly similar prints can reveal unique differences.  Students got to be fingerprinted themselves and examined their own print pattern for Galton's details.

Mock Crime Scene- Students worked with Investigator Polis to documented the scene by sketching the site and marking evidence.  They also learned to use magnetic powder to dust for prints and how to swab for DNA.

It Beats Me: Heart Rate Data Project

     For our Morphic Thinking morning warm-up, students created similes about themselves when they do or do not use the Habit of Mind- Managing Impulsivity.  This was meant as a follow up to last week's lesson. They came up with some cute comparisons!  

• When I don't manage my impulsivity, I am like a nonstop hissing cat.  
• When I do manage my impulsivity, I am like an angel!

   We were back to our data investigations this week.  Third grade students are completing a real world project to show what they know about creating line plots and describing a data set in terms of median, mode, and range.  Students are working in partners to use the results to answer our question, "How fast does the heart of a third grader beat after exercise?"  Today we collected data by measuring our heart rates after two minutes of jumping jacks.  

     Our Habit of Mind focus for today was Gathering Data through all Senses.  Students connected this to crime scene investigation by making observations of evidence.  They learned the terms quaLitative (describe with Language) and quaNtitative (measure with Numbers). They also watched this video and learned the definition of inference and how inferences help explain the observations that we make. 

Inference- an explanation of an observation based on prior knowledge.

An explanation

of an observation based on

prior

knowledge

     Our second Habit of Mind focus was on Metacognition.  We used the metaphor of the students having the power to "drive their brains"- put on the brakes to rethink and reflect, put on the gas to be proactive and take initiative in their learning, and in this reflection, make choices that put them on the road to success!  For more on metacognition for children, check out this article.

Metagognition Article  We read the book The Three Questions and students were able to practice Metacognition by taking some time to reflect on their thinking and learning for the day.

On second grade's solo time, we used the Children's Guide to Critical Thinking video to evaluate three types of thinkers.  Ask your student about Naive Nancy, Selfish Sam, and Fairminded Fran.  We also learned the rules of one of our favorite brain games, Set!  Third graders did some brain stretching plexers of their own.  Try these for yourself!

Interrupting Chicken

     Welcome to our new crew of students!  We are so glad you are joining us and that our 2nd/3rd grade combination class is up and running!  They jumped right in today and did a fantastic job!

     With our new combined class, we will be doing joint activities for most of the day but with some solo time for each grade level while the other is in related arts.
     

     Second graders spent our solo time together getting acclimated to classroom and being introduced to some ALERT staples: The Nerds, Habits of Mind, and Renzulli Learning.  We also were introduced to our year long theme of Systems.  Click each link to learn more.

Using the nerds and the elements of creativity for our binder design.

     Third grade spent their solo time with some brain stretching deductive reasoning puzzles-my favorite!  Try your hand at these!

Sports Logic Puzzle

Pet Mix-Up Puzzle

     This week we spent our time together taking a closer look one of our Habits of Mind.  First we read the book Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein and discussed it as a non-example of managing impulsivity, thinking before acting, and using your brain to manage your body.  Students then created their our Interrupting ___________ stories and presented them to the class.  I'll tell you, we have quite the creative crew!

An Eye for Details

     Our time was short today, but we made the most of it!  Students witnessed a theft in our own classroom and used what we learned about composite sketches to make a drawing of the perpetrator. We then looked at some online activities testing their powers of observation and helping them match the suspect with the crime.  Try them for yourself!

Art of Crime Detection

Perp Walk

Face Memory

The thief

Forensic Artists at work

     We also prepared for our field study by looking at the trip packet, setting expectations, and talking about different types of evidence and how they are collected.  Students learned the process of crime scene investigation and Locard's Principal that says that criminals always take a trace of something with them and leave a trace of something behind.  I hope the same applies to our classroom and the students took something valuable from class today!

Line Plots, Eye Witnesses Accounts, and the Case of the Sugar Shaker

     This week our CSI focus has been on questioning and eye witness accounts.  Students participated in various activities geared toward understanding quality questions in interrogation, the often unreliable nature of eye witness testimony, and the power of close observation.  

Using questioning to guess our mystery tool.

     In math we worked on creating line plots with data and using the graph to find the median, mode, and range of the set.

Plotting data.

     We also took a pre-assessment on forensic science and used last week's fingerprint evidence to compare with our suspect samples and determine the prankster that switched our sugar for salt.

Examining prints.

     Finally we tried our hand at both word and figual analogies and looked for relationships between ideas.
Try this one for yourself:  tornado : scary :: ALERT: _________
A. boring
B. dull
C. green
D. FUN!

Median, Morphic Thinking, and Dusting for Prints

We had our commencing Digging for Data math lesson and students looked at both their rights and obligations as we embark. This math curriculum focuses heavily on discussion, defense of one's thinking, and writing about concepts. Today, students collected data on their jumping rate. Each student completed three trials counting the number of jumps they could complete in one minute. We used this data to understand the concept of the median in a set of numbers and how if can be used when looking for a "typical" result in a set of output data.

We also did our daily morphic thinking to build fluency and originality of ideas and learned some at home techniques for dusting for fingerprints. Next week we will check the prints we uncovered with our suspect samples to determine the culprit in The Case of the Sugar Shaker!