Kiker's Strength-Based Learning Cohort

It's a wrap on another busy week.  Fourth Grade rocked the house with their amazing 3 performances! We are so proud of their hard work! In reading, Second Grade have continued their comparing/contrasting with two books about a character who wants to adopt a pet. We've been hard at work with our spelling, word building, and using word patterns to help us with a variety of words. All grade levels learned Mountain Language, a way to practice and actively apply grammar skills. We also completed an example of a homonym routine that we are incorporating in our new writing rotations. Third Grade closely examined A Long Walk to Water using all the Bloom's Taxonomy Levels. They were blown away by how deeply with their thinking they can go, especially using evaluation, synthesis, and analysis.  Fourth Grade has been hard at work with expository writing. They penned a piece for administrators to read which explained how our "lunch families" works to ma...

Hello, scientists! When you are finished with your Energy Comic Strip, use the links below to learn more about energy. 2nd grade Part II: Light and Shadows http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/science/physical_processes/light_shadows/play/popup.shtml Part III: Watt's That, Jr. http://energyquest.ca.gov/wattsthat_junior/power/index.html 3rd grade Part I: Geothermal http://energy4me.org/all-about-energy/what-is-energy/energy-sources/geothermal/ Part II: Tiki the Penguin-Energy http://tiki.oneworld.net/energy/energy8.html Part III: Types of Energy http://c03.apogee.net/contentplayer/?coursetype=kids&utilityid=demo&id=16168 Part IV: What is Sound? http://www.sciencekidsathome.com/science_topics/what_is_sound.html 4th grade Part 1: Forms of Energy http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa_pre_2011/energy/heatrev4.shtml Part II: Energy Transfer-- Click  Choose a Topic , then click  Energy https://acswebcontent.acs.org/scienceforkids/inde...

This week we have had some exciting assemblies. On Tuesday, Keynotes led us in a fabulous tribute to our heroes -- Veterans. On Thursday, we heard from 5th Graders running for Student Council positions and participated in the democratic process by voting. We've been working on ways to improve our 3,2,1 responses by first focusing on writing and developing good questions. We will be moving on to how to elaborate and explain our learning more thoroughly as well. In reading and language arts, Second Grade has been working on summarizing and comparing and contrasting. We enjoyed Drew Dewalt's The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home.  We've been working hard in our spelling and word work groups in order to give us a strong base in writing. Third Grade has continued their journey with Salva in A Long Walk to Water.  We've delved deep with inference and using evidence to predict our character's next steps, and seen how every bit of the story has g...

We have had a wonderful first week of November! Our classes have been actively creating opportunities to be leaders in making Kiker a positive place where kids are treated with kindness, dignity, and respect. In project time, we developed a plan for the cafeteria. We admitted that there was a problem with noise and opportunity for unkind words during this time -- the first step. Next, we brainstormed ways to use our time more positively and productively. We also are taking advantage of our multiage component -- we have trios of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders -- "families" that sit together at tables. With our families, we either play a cooperative game, doodle, or draw. We are number one having fun, but the results are a quieter space, more chance to meet others, and good communication skills practice. We hope to see this become successful so that we can share with others at Kiker. We'd love this to make our cafeteria a nicer place to eat AND promote kindness. We wrapped...

Howdy, cowboys and cowgirls! First, read a little bit about the history of cowboys here: http://www.ducksters.com/history/westward_expansion/cowboys.php Make sure to pay extra-close attention to the Clothing section to learn about cowboy boots. Next, leave a comment with your partner sharing your two favorite facts. Then use the links below to view how some cowboy boots are made and observe various boot designs to get ideas for your own custom boot! Pay attention to patterns, colors, and objects that you think best represent Texas. https://www.lucchese.com/process/  *Watch the video titled: LUCCHESE PRESENTS THE MAKING OF THE SHERIDAN (second one down on right side of page) https://www.caboots.com/cart/cowboy_boots/inlay_and_retro_designs/ http://www.paulbondboots.com/collections/boot-of-the-month Finally, begin your own design on the next clean page in your notebook! Your boot must have at least two Texas symbols in the design, but you can be creative with how you...

These are a few links that will help you prepare for your interview! https://www.nbclearn.com/writers-speak-to-kids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eOynrI2eTM http://www.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=843 http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/how-conduct-interview Feel free to look up others to get you ready!

This week has been full of wonderful things! The weather has cooled off, we are starting to feel "Texas fall." In project we have learned that our senses are constantly on the move...however, our RAS (reticular activating system) acts like a filter/strainer, only letting our attention focus on some of those signals. We have active control over it -- we can choose what to focus on. We've taken sensory walks to show how, even though we have "seen" certain things many times, when we are asked to focus our attention (i.e. find orange things), suddenly everywhere we look we find those particular things. In Second Grade reading, we have been working on a Kevin Henkes author study in tangent with summarization. They have learned CSERT to assist them in separating the details from the main idea. We've been working on writing those correctly, with complete sentences, paragraph form, and proper letter form in writing. Third has been reading their novel, A Long ...