Kiker's Strength-Based Learning Cohort

Another amazing week in the books! It was a combined effort, and we accomplished a lot! These student have gone from little to no knowledge of our Keyhole Garden Ecosystem to experts who can now TEACH others about it. They know the structure and functions, make up, and have determined rules for how the gardens are used. In this process, they have written letters, created prototypes, drafted, drafted, drafted again...and come up with some amazing products to share their knowledge. Pretty cool to hear a student tell another, "Hey, don't forget the comma to separate those sentences in front of the conjunction, because that joins them!" No rote memorization here -- they have owned this learning and are APPLYING it -- all on their own. Some groups recorded their signage so that others who weren't able to read it could listen with the help of a QR code. We even have some parent help in translating the information into different languages! Powerful! We've also ...

We explored more ways we connect with each other this week. We shared ideas and preferences where we found a lot of "me too" signs happening! Mrs. Bankston also led a lesson on teamwork, which gave us additional practice on working together. Ask your child about the softball players and the cup stacking! We have been asked to create signage for Kiker's Keyhole Gardens, so our work in ELA and reading has been about these special gardens. We have learned nonfiction signposts to help us dig into informational reading, we've learned and written letter form asking experts for help, and we are writing expository pieces to put together information explaining the function and uniqueness of those gardens. BIG WORK! SBLC third graders led the Kiker community in honor of our veterans -- such a fantastic performance! We've been "digging in" to the importance of compost and the many elements of soil. Students know that all of our food can...

We've had a busy week and thought you'd enjoy seeing pictures of our Amazing Race Wildflower Center field trip. There are also a few pics of us playing with our food as a celebration when we got back to campus. Have a fantastic weekend and stay warm!