Thursday's SAGE Class is Up & Rolling!

Woo Hoo!  I now have everyone's paperwork, and most importantly, their media release.  Thank you parents for helping me get these important "nuts and bolts" in place.

The boys and girls are settling in well.  This will be a two week, blog post mashup....

On our first SAGE day, the boys and girls spent some time getting to know each other a little better.  By the end of a fun game of "Would you rather...." we knew we all had some things in common.  

We discussed things for which we might wish.  Then looked at some folklore about wishes such as wishbones, coins in fountains, eyelashes, dandelions etc.  

After that we each wrote four wishes of our own and made a very special wish project that will be on display at our Open House on Thursday, October 3rd between 5:30-7:00 PM here in our SAGE classroom.

In the afternoon, the students took some time to look through the Exploratory Centers to find at least three they might be interested in starting.  

This week, they completed their Exploratory contract and were able to begin the Knowledge and in some cases Comprehension Level tasks.  They each made a podcast to tell you something special they learned during their Exploratory time.

 We ended our first day discussing ways we can communicate.  Besides blogging as a class, we will also be sharing our learning on Twitter.  Each of the students designed a bird of their own and posted their first "tweet" outside of our classroom on our bulletin board.

You can follow us @KochSAGE on Twitter.

This afternoon, the students had a few moments of frustration during our partner math problem solving work.  We began by working in pairs/groups on a cooperative learning math challenge.  The students were able to work together to find meaning in the problem, determine a strategy for solving the problem and then work it out showing their thinking.  

For many, this was a very different way to work on a problem.  Some of the students would have preferred to work on the problem alone.  A few sat back and let their partner lead the thinking and problem solving.  Some groups really showed cooperation and collaboration skills.  We will have pair/group math lessons about once or twice a month.  This is a great way to cement the learning of skills and strategies as they talk, analyze and explain their thinking to each each other.  

It is going to be a great school year!  Don't hesitate to call of email me if you or your child have any questions or concerns.