Modern Trade Activity

Students in Room A-4 today experienced firsthand what it is like to trade, barter, and bargain as they participated in both "modern" and "ancient" types of trade.  Students had previously read about a man who traded a paperclip for a house and then reenacted this concept by bringing a small token from home--from Pokemon cards to bracelets to personalized drawings--to trade with their classmates.  Then, students researched Marco Polo and his travels along the Silk Road and created a one pager on Marco Polo describing his experience. Finally, students created an animated map of a pretend Silk Road journey they took to trade with Arabia, Africa, and the Roman Empire (Coming soon...)!

China Show & Tell

Students presented their Chinese inventions and enlightened each other about the history and impact on the world of Chinese inventions such as silk, tangrams, gunpowder, ice cream, fireworks, the crossbow, the compass, paper currency, calligraphy, tea, noodles, the umbrella, and more!  Enjoy some photos below:

Idiom Pop-Up Cards

Students practiced their idioms (phrases not taken literally but instead have another meaning)--and had a few laughs--when creating Idiom Pop-Up Cards!  Students chose an idiom and created a pop-up card including:  idiom, definition, idiom used in their own sentence, and a silly picture of the literal meaning popping out of their card.  Enjoy a few giggles below:

Connecting with Common Core - Collaborative Discussion

Students in Room A-4 enjoyed connecting with the Common Core State Standards through collaborative group discussion about the novel Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman.  After reading several chapters of the novel--while annotating and citing evidence of character's growth and transformation--students were given the challenge to come up with questions addressing different levels of questioning using Bloom's Taxonomy and Costa's Levels of questioning to prepare for collaborative group discussion.  Students wrote questions on index cards and noted which level each question addressed.  Then, in teams a group facilitator initiated the discussion choosing students to read questions, while tracking progress of students who asked questions, answered questions, and listened attentively.  Students took turns asking questions and called on their team members to answer their questions, often citing evidence or agreeing/disagreeing with their peers to show depth of thought and analysis.  After discussing the spectrum of low to high level questions, students completed a writing task answering their partner's questions in writing on a shared Google Slides presentation.  What a fantastic activity--it was such a joy to be a "silent witness" to the deep and thoughtful conversation that was all student-led!  Enjoy the photos/videos below and check out another classroom engaged in collaborative discussion here!