Kiker's Strength-Based Learning Cohort

One of the goals in building confident and competent learners is that they own their learning. What does this mean? It means a few things. We want kids to set goals about what they want and need to learn. Once they do that, learners are monitoring their understanding against those goals, asking for what they need, and practicing until they reach a deep level of understanding. It was an opportunity this week to take several Benchmarks. We got some practice, but we also were able to pause as we were working to think about areas we feel confident and areas we want to be stronger. Rather than waiting for others to tell them what to work on, they already have goals in  mind. It's empowering! This week, writers have been penning their vignette narrative poems. They are in all stages of revising, and editing, using helpful feedback. They are learning a lot of Texas history through the eyes of another -- in this case a tree. We read Love That Dog  by Sharon Creech. Jack found hi...

This week we have been examining how the brain truly LOVES challenge, and challenge, in turn, brings struggle and failure. Which is NORMAL, natural, and actually GOOD. We do, however, need to have a mindset that we are resilient -- we can "bounce back" -- from what we are currently seeing as setbacks. We talked about mindful strategies which keep us present in the moment. Resilience takes positive self talk too, and our morning meetings had us sharing phrases we can tell ourselves to keep us moving forward. Mrs. Bankston visited this week, and her lesson had us discovering our "spirit animal" when it comes to tough situations. Ask your child what they identified with and why! We also had time to listen to some amazing jazz on Friday morning in person with the Austin Jazz Ensemble. We have been challenged and resilient as we are putting together our Point of View Historical Fiction Vignettes. We are putting ourselves in one of Texas' famous oak trees and tell...

Families, Thanks so much for the generous gift cards and beautiful flowers for each of us. We feel the appreciation of what we do through your support every day, but this gift was truly something to show us how loved we are! 💗 This week, we have been so busy, we thought you'd want a glimpse...ask your kiddos to explain the events that correspond with these pictures! Happy Holidays -- we wish two weeks of fun, family, and relaxation -- see you in January! Best, Jewellyn and Jen

Wow. Our week has been full. As consumers, we enjoyed the Second Grade's annual Market Day. Great finds, and so much creativity! On Wednesday, Third Grade went to the Long Center for one act of The Nutcracker Ballet. They enjoyed dressing up and getting off campus to experience this artistic expression! Our signs received their final pieces -- THANK YOU Mr. Swearingen for your engineering and carpentry expertise and help! In our humanities, we've been analyzing poetry and researching for our Texas Heroes vignette that we are writing. We have been learning about all sorts of Texas History...and are excited to share that through the eyes of a famous Texas Oak! We also wrote thanks to Mr. Dodson, the man who made our Hands Across Kiker possible in November with his drone and to Mr. Swearingen for his Keyhole Garden help. Authentic reasons to write! SBLC mathematicians solved their first Match it puzzles this week! This 4-part experience challenges each studen...

It was another busy week! We started out by presenting our fabulous knowledge of Keyhole Gardens to our sidekick class and administration. It's exciting to know that our signs and voices will be a part of Kiker forever. We really appreciate Mr. Swearingen's help in building some fabulous stands -- once they are up, be sure to stop by and take a read/listen! Our Humanities blocks are beginning our inquiry into Texas history through some Texas Hero Oak Trees. We are examining point of view, poetry, and new vocabulary in order to create personal vignettes from the tree's eyes. More to come! As we wrap our keyhole garden project, we've zoomed out to consider the importance of plants for nourishment through the food chain, balancing the amount of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the atmosphere, etc. We reviewed plant structures and functions, then moved right into the scientific method. While we've used every part of the scientific method through the ye...

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 have really enjoyed with meeting with all of our family units this past week! 45 meetings is a lot, and it does take time, but we truly value both teachers getting that time to sit down with each of you. Thanks too, for your work last weekend going through the notebooks! Know that your child can bring them home to review with you anytime -- just make sure they return them the very next day. We work with the notebooks every day. Thursday night, your child brought home a permission slip to join NASA's Name the Rover Contest. We are endeavoring to write our first polished expository piece through this opportunity. If you don't give permission, no problem -- they will write the same piece, I just won't enter them in the contest. It's a perfect way to show them in an authentic, motivational way how to write to a prompt, choose a central idea, and explain with examples (in 150 words or less -- they'll have to be precise!). In reading, we are researching through n...