Kiker's Strength-Based Learning Cohort

Use the links below to discover some important information about inventors. Read ALL directions and give your best effort! :) 1. What is an invention? http://www.42explore2.com/invent.htm 2. Thomas Edison http://www.nps.gov/edis/faqs.htm 3. Wright Brothers  http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/wright.htm 4. Steel Plow http://www.deere.com/wps/dcom/en_US/corporate/our_company/about_us/history/john_deere_plow/john_deere_plow.page 5. Cotton Gin http://havefunwithhistory.com/movies/cottonGin.html 6. Benjamin Franklin http://learn.fi.edu/franklin/ 7. Levi Strauss http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/sfeature/index.html#invent2 When you have completed your scavenger hunt, you may explore the links on the post below!

Explore the site below to learn more about inventions and the inventors who created them! http://www.kidskonnect.com/subjectindex/15-educational/science/86-inventors-a-inventions.html

Hello, astronomers! There are some cool things happening in the sky this week! We have a meteor shower, a rare chance to see Mercury, and our moon snuggling up to Venus. See the link below for more info. :) http://www.astronomy.com/observing/sky-this-week/2014/05/may-1625-2014 Use the link below to compare and contrast the rotations and orbits of the planets in our solar system. http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/planets.htm Then use the link below to observe our planets in orbit and learn more about their features and characteristics. http://www.kidsastronomy.com/solar_system.htm Enjoy exploring our universe! photo courtesy of National Geographic

third grade vo*cab*u*lar*y pa*rade   noun : event in which students display a collection of words : event in which third grade SBLC students exhibit maximum creativity Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

After our life cycle unit and a visit to the Austin Nature and Science Center, our second graders are expert entomologists! We learned about--and even touched--some arthropods. We discovered that the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach had something in common with our caterpillars: spiracles! That's how they make their hissing sound. We collected, identified, and classified organisms from both water and land habitats. Here are our entomologists in action! We loved learning that while all insects have three body parts, antennae, and an exoskeleton, they have different types of mouths depending on what they eat.  An exciting day as entomologists!

Examining Texas cultural history? Check! Observing artifacts and models? Check! Gaining understanding and appreciation of life long ago? Check! Our day of hands-on social studies was exciting and informative. We learned about the difficult life of a sharecropper, how the fruits of their labor were turned into thread using a spindle, and how the thread was dyed and used to create clothes on a loom. Amazing! We saw firsthand what various aspects of life were like in early settlements, including learning in the one-room schoolhouse. Consequences have changed a bit since then (no debits and credits in those days, just switches and dunce caps) but the concept of multi-age learning didn't seem to phase us too much. ;) Then it was off to Mission San Jose, where we caught a glimpse of what life was like for both Spanish missionaries and the Native Americans who worked there. We packed a lot of learning into our day, although the students might tell yo

We are finishing our novel studies. I wish you could be flies on the wall as we are reading and discussing! They are active readers -- absolutely engaged with our characters -- and willing to take risks at sharing their thoughts, feelings, and understandings. I know they are hooked...especially when they RUN to the living room to get a seat! In addition, we are working in our partnerships on books shares. Now that they have discussed and read the books, they are preparing a self-selected project where they will share the essentials of the book for the class. Hopefully this will ignite some ideas for summer reading! Speaking of books, don't forget tomorrow is the last day for Book Fair!!

Our second graders spent the last month learning all about life cycles. We looked closely at the life cycle of a Painted Lady Butterfly. We watched our centimeter-long caterpillars grow and grow, become mysterious chrysalises, and emerge as lovely butterflies. Here are a few highlights... One of our caterpillars formed it's chrysalis before our very eyes! We were able to project it so the whole class could observe. We also witnessed several of our butterflies emerging. So exciting! And finally, after observing our butterflies for a few days, it was time to release them into their natural habitat. But not before honoring them with a Proboscis Party! :) Fly free, Painted Ladies! We loved learning about you!

We currently have three novels going...ask your kids what reading the ocean means and how it applies to their Core Block's novel. We are analyzing these novels as readers AND writers, seeing how each event, character, character trait, and even setting placement align to allow the main character's struggle to be the focus of the book. We've been talking SIGNPOSTS: Again and Again Contrast and Contradiction Words of the Wiser AHA! Moments Tough Questions Memory Moments and how each of those lead us to ask questions and reveals more about the character's struggle and the theme of the book. I am so proud of their incredible deep thinking! It's more challenging to do this with longer novels, and they are doing it so naturally! The nature of our responses and discussion is fabulous! Also, we have started our reading partnerships -- they are reading the same book as a friend -- and are planning their meetings and discussions. It's so exciting to see their

Active inventing and marketing! We are working in groups to create our very own toy/game. We've been researching current companies such as LEGO, Mattel, Hasboro, Parker Brothers, and many others to discover how they were started, what they created, and what makes them successful. We've learned about focus groups and research groups to find out audience interest and needs, and are now learning what marketers do to sell their product effectively. Our next step? Create a prototype of our invention, conduct our own surveys and focus group testing, and create a marketing plan of our own... We may be on Target's shelves soon!!!

Use the link below to read more about urban planning. http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-city-planning/ Now that you've created a rough outline of your utopian destination, use the links below to help you think about and develop your proposal. What do you see that you would like for your own city? What similarities do you see between sites in each category? *town charter http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charter https://library.municode.com/HTML/15302/level1/CH.html#TOPTITLE *government structure http://austintexas.gov/government *transportation plans http://www.publictransportation.org/Pages/default.aspx https://austintexas.gov/department/transportation *maps https://maps.google.com/ *brochures http://www.cityofwhittier.org/depts/prcs/brochure/summer2014/index.html http://www.fontana.org/index.aspx?NID=2420 http://www.seattle.gov/parks/brochures/ http://www.discovercorona.com/City-Departments/Parks---Community-Services/Recreation---Community-Servi