Kiker's Strength-Based Learning Cohort

Please use the links below to begin your scavenger hunt. Before you begin: *Read ALL directions and information within each link...that's what good readers do! :) *Work with your partner to complete your scavenger hunt in your social studies notebook. Answer in complete sentences, please. Question 1: Who is the governor of Texas and what did he do before he became governor? http://www.governor.state.tx.us/ Question 2: What is the date the Texas flag was adopted as the national flag of the Republic of Texas? What do the three colors represent? Glue in your Texas Flag and Texas Pledge side-by-side below your answers. http://www.lsjunction.com/flag.htm Question 3: What is the name of the Texas state flower and what other names is it called? Include a drawing of the flower. http://www.lsjunction.com/flower.htm Question 4: Find the blurb about the Old Fort McIntosh Historic District. What is it used for now? http://www.rice.edu/armadillo/Past/Book/P...

It's hard to believe we're wrapping up our fifth week...autumn is here and we're fall-ing into our routines! We completed two directed inquiries in science to continue developing our questioning, data-gathering, measurement, and teamwork skills. The first inquiry allowed us to collect information about how far a ball would roll down a ramp. With the second inquiry, we introduced the concept of a variable and tested to see if the size of the ball affected the distance it would roll. After three trials for each ball, we even calculated the average distance! We're amongst some serious scientists and mathematicians! ;) This week in reading, Second Grade finished up our study of fluency by becoming teachers ourselves! Ms. Toman's First Grade class came and we taught them all we knew about reading smoothly, with expression by buddying up with them and reading a  Piggie and Gerald  book. It was a fun way to authentically practice what we have le...

We had another fun & full week of learning! This week in reading, we focused on fluency; reading smoothly, with expression (like when we're talking). We have begun an author study in Second with Mo Willems and his Piggie and Gerald series. We know that good readers pay attention to punctuation, characters' actions and expressions, and the authors' use of fonts to help us read  Third and Fourth Grade have begun a journey into narrative poetry with Sharon Creech's  Love That Dog  and  Hate That Cat.   We are delving into character analysis (ask them what they know about Jack), setting, inference, and narrative poem structure. With the same text, we are able to also practice our phrasing and fluency! In writing, we've been working on topic selection - choosing things we are passionate about, and truly allow a story to come to life. We've also been working on digging deeper...finding the seed ideas, not choosing a watermelon sized idea. ...

Researching Drawing Sharing

In science, we learned about some of the different science tools we'll be using this year. Now that we're familiar with them and their purposes, we're ready for next week's hands-on experiments! Social studies has been filled with lessons on community roles and responsibilities, how we learn about the past (ask a fourth grader about "talking trash"), and how communities have many people who help us meet our needs. A few of us even got to interview some of our Kiker community members like Nurse Tarren and Mrs. Crowther.  We also talked about turning September 11th--a day when some Americans were not treated with kindness, dignity, and respect--into a day of spreading kindness ourselves. We talked about how in the midst of an event like 9/11 that has unthinkable injustice, there is also an overwhelming amount of compassion and kindness. And that we can be a part of that positivity. Our Mission IM POSSIBLE continued this week...our challenges range...

Your shoes have been scattered in the room. You and your teammates must find them, put them on , and race back to your table. Here's the catch: you may NOT touch your own shoes. A teammate must put them on you, tie/buckle them for you!

To gather a collection of items you see, will be your challenge...one, two, three! With baggie in hand, venture forth as a band!

Today is a fun one, you all will agree... Our Beautification bench encircles a tree. Your tasks are nothing to fear... Arrival and departure all happen here!

We will stay close to home, it will all happen here... in order to get it, it all must make sense! Testing your wisdom of dollars and cents!

We're two weeks in and they have been full...full of establishing routines, learning new processes, and cultivating new friendships. We start off each day with a quick but meaningful check-in. It's a great way for us to come together as a homeroom and develop our listening and empathy skills.  Then it's off to Town Meeting to reinforce Dr. Schneider's message from assembly and touch base as an SBLC Family. We've had a blast (pun intended) practicing teamwork in our Mission Im possible challenges... ...and continue to learn more about each other while getting some exercise during WOW time! In science, we've discussed characteristics of scientists...turns out, we've been scientists all along! In social studies, we learned about how citizens contribute to communities and participated in a gallery walk to share each other's ideas. In Language Arts, we have been learning the art of writing letters. Mrs. Forrest h...

You are on your way to cracking the code, Hopefully you are in teamwork mode, From 2 challenges you must choose, Pick wisely and you just can't lose!

Fiction, nonfiction, or perhaps some poetry... you can find it all here, I hope you LOVE to READ!

S top hanging around and swing into action, Go to the place where there is childhood satisfaction. Don't let your game slide, stop playing around... Hurry and get over to this fun-loving ground!