The children have extended their learning in various ways and are truly becoming self-regulated learners (our focus). The homework was designed from the very beginning to build self-regulatory strategies. Self-regulation of behavior is the active control (opposite of "hope" :) :) :)) of their time, environment, and use of classmates/teachers/parents to help them. The classroom mirrors this focus. We are now moving into self-regulation of study strategies. Why? Research has continually shown that gifted students are very high in self-regulatory strategies. More importantly - they can be taught. :) Since the philosophy in our room is that every child is gifted in one way or another, we've been focusing on building these self-regualatory processes. This is critical because the classrooms typically never teach any of them yet they are essential for success as students and learners. You may have noticed the change in the homework from "learning how to research" to "taking notes". This extends our focus in class. Taking notes, identifying what is important, and synthesizing information (making connections and links) leads to stronger learning strategies and greater success in school. Most classrooms focus so much on what to teach that the "how" and "why" of learning are never reached. By now you know that our class begins with the "how"and "why". Taking notes is the "how" of helping us recall, share information, synthesize, and apply what was learned to write. The homework coming home for the next few weeks reinforces these opportunities that are being taught in our class. Your child is practicing how to research and take notes via a fun scavenger hunt related to Walt Disney for the next few days.
??? What kind of scavenger hunt are you doing?
??? What did you do today?
??? What will you do when you are finished?
??? What are you doing well?
??? How are you taking notes well?
Next week, we will continue this and wrap up our focus on heroes of the past and bridge to the present with Neil Armstrong and a reconnection to how our year started: space exploration. Continually revisiting key areas of learning solidifies links that the children now understand as organized files or categories in long term memory to tap into while reading, writing, listening, or speaking with others.
Walt Disney will always be a part of our lives. Each child plotted points systematically using symmetry on a coordinate plane to create the heads of Mickey and Oswald. Your child then used creativity to design the border or background and to add the rest of the body in any way he/she chose. The amazing creations are shown below. Each child created both Mickey and Oswald, but only one was posted per child. :)
High realistic expectations + meaningful math + creativity = . . .
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