Monthly Archives: January 2019

Game of Stones Update — Week of 1/29

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Next week is Mars week at Game of Stones.  As a preface to our LTP, students will be using collaboration and problem-solving skills to develop a NASA Mars mission that meets constraints (budget, mass, power) and criteria (significant science return).  If you are curious, here’s a link to the possible “mission” cards that students will be using to construct their mission.
We are also headed to the Planetarium on Thursday.  Students will be leaving around 10:30am (via school-bus) and returning around 3 or 3:30pm (via RTD).  Students will need to bring warm clothes and a sack lunch on this day.
Upcoming due dates:
Monday at the beginning of class: Planetary Brochure Due
Thursday:  Mars Mission Lab (Group) and Mission Reflection (Individual) due.  (Will be distributed in class)
Tuesday, February 5th:  Inquiry Chart for LTP complete. (Will be distributed in class)
Thursday, February 7th: Earth/Moon/Sun Presentations (this date may slip…)
Thank you for all your continued support.
Have a fantastic weekend!  -Josh Feiger

Game of Stones Update — Week of 1/22

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Hope you had a chance to look at the Super Blood Moon Eclipse last night.  We are going to be exploring Earth/Moon/Sun starting on Monday the 28th.  In the meantime, we continue to work our way gradually towards Earth.  We started with the Big Bang, moved to Scale Models, and this week, we are going to focus on individual planets and moons.  Students will be creating travel brochures about a planetary object of their choosing.

Upcoming Due Dates:
Tuesday:  Questions #11 and #13 from the Solar System Scale Model Lab should be in journals.  (Not collecting, but students will need this later)
Thursday:  Big Bang / Solar System Celebration Assessment!  Some people call these “tests.”  I prefer to call them “celebrations of learning.”  In any event, students will have an assessment on Thursday.  A few notes about this:
1) The assessment is open notebook.  Students may use their journal (and only their journal) from class.
2) Here is a copy of the actual assessment.  These are the exact questions that will be asked.  No surprises.
3) If students need any help, I’m more than happy to work with them to help study.  They should just email or talk to me and we can find a time.
Monday 1/28:  Travel Brochures due at the beginning of class.  (Hoping that most students will turn it in at the end of class on Friday.)
Thursday 1/31:  Astronomy ADI to Planetarium at CU.  Students need to pack lunch and wear warm clothes.
Have a fantastic week!  Thank you for all your continued support.  -JF
Ps.  If time allows, I may introduce our LTP on Friday.  Here’s the write-up fyi…

LA Update — Weeks of 1/22 and 1/28

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This week, we’ll write our voice-over narratives for our personalized video book reviews.  Between MLK day, the ADI, and our conference release day, we only have seven classes over the next two weeks.  We’ll also be reviewing apostrophes and homonyms.  Here a few great questions to ask your student about class:

1) What is the theme of your book?

2) What is a PVBR?

3) What text-to-self connections did you make while reading this book?

4) What image did you draw for your book?

5) How did you arrange the character map?

6) Does your book follow the “Hero’s Journey?”  Why or why not?

7) What are you reading as your choice novel right now (different from PVBR book)?

Here are upcoming due dates:

Tuesday, January 22nd:  “Read This Book” due at the BEGINNING of class with rubric.  This should include a stapled packet with rubric, twenty questions, plot mountain, drawing, and character map. (Students will need to print this out.)

Friday, January 25th:  Strong Draft of Narrative should be complete.  We’ll be peer critiquing these in class on Monday, January 28th.

Monday (2/4):  Narrative spreadsheets complete.  This includes all pictures/images/videos.

Thank you for all your continued support!  -Josh Feiger

Game of Stones Update — Week of 1/14

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Hi Sensational Scientists (and parents),

Here’s what’s happening this week in Game of Stones:
1) On Monday, we’ll be setting up an interactive Big Bang museum in the library. This will be the culminating event for our Big Bang Project.  Other classes will visit and try out our various Makey-Makey exhibits.  (Ask your student about their exhibit and how it relates to the Big Bang.)
2) On Thursday, we are going to Skype with Antartica!  We’ll be talking directly to scientists there who are conducting research.  We’ll be learning about geology and weather science that is actually happening at McMurdo Station.  This will be good preparation for our LTP, in which students will be designing their own science missions.  More on that in a future update.
3) We’ll also begin our exploration of the solar system.  We’ll be creating our own solar system scale model using toilet paper and as time allows, beginning a more in-depth planetary project.
Upcoming due dates:
Big Bang Project due Monday by 2:20pm.  Other due dates TBA in class.
Thank you for all your support.  Have a wonderful weekend,  -Josh Feiger

LA Update — Week of 1/14

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Crazy to think that we have just one more month together in LA!  After February 14th, 8th grade students will continue with me in 8th grade seminar, while 6th and 7th graders will have the opportunity to learn LA with Ms. Lewis or Ms. Rundell for the final trimester.  A few reminders.

1) Reading.  Students should continue reading different genres and updating their book plan accordingly.  I’m always available for book recommendations.

2) Book return.  I’ve lent a LOT of books out from my personal library — which is wonderful — but some of the books have been out for months.  Please check with your student to make sure that any books they are not actively reading are returned to my classroom.  (I’m sure there are many library books out too — those should be returned to school library.)

3) Friendly reminder that February 13th is 8th grade author’s night (6pm-7pm).  8th Graders will be reading one piece of work from their CHOICE career.  Sixth and 7th graders welcome to attend if they wish.

4) Students need their PVBR Novel with them at school.  Some students have not had their books at school during these past few classes, which makes a book study really hard to do…!

In class, students will be finding important passages in their books, identifying theme, making text-to-text connections, writing summaries, and more.

Upcoming due dates:

Friday, January 18th: Questions #8-#15 and #20 due on “Read This Book” sheet. (Not collected)

Monday, January 21st: MLK Day — NO class.

Tuesday, January 22nd:  “Read This Book” due at the BEGINNING of class with rubric.  This should include a stapled packet with rubric, twenty questions, plot mountain, drawing, and character map.  (Students will need to print this out.)

Thursday, January 24th:  Strong Draft of Narrative should be complete.

Tuesday, January 29th: Narrative Peer Critique.

Have a fantastic week!  -JF

 

Co-op Update — Weeks of 1/14 and 1/21

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Hi Co-op,

Not a ton of new news to report these next two weeks.  In case your wondering, here’s our typical co-op schedule:
Mondays:  Check-in, read-aloud
Tuesdays: Portfolio Worktime
Wednesday:  Collaborative Game (Co-op is only 15 minutes on this day)
Thursday:  Council.  Last week’s theme was “re-charged and ready to go”
Friday:  All CHOICE activity TBA.  (Last week we had the Geography Bee)
Conferences are happening soon.  While Tuesdays are dedicated to portfolios, there may be some work that needs to happen at home.  Here are resources.
Conference Expectations (Completed PRIOR to conferences)
A couple of reminders — no school on Monday, 1/21 (MLK day) and Friday, February 1st is a conference release date.  Students will need to be picked up at 10:30am on that day.  Both days are EXCELLENT opportunities for completing community service hours if needed.  In addition to the Museum of Boulder opportunity I mentioned in my last update, here are other community service ideas.
Thank you for all your continued support!  -Josh Feiger
Ps.  While the destination of our Spring trip is still a secret (and will be until March 13th), the dates are not — May 13-17.  If you are interested in joining us, let me know. We need a lot of parent support to make this trip happen.

LA Update — Week of 1/8/19

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Welcome back!  Our big project for the next five weeks will be the creation of personalized video book reviews (PVBRs).  Students will be identifying one book from their book plan that they’ve really enjoyed over the course of the last six months and exploring it more deeply to share how that book changed the way they see the world.  Students need to bring that book with them for class on Wednesday.

 

Here’s an archive of Audience Favorites from years past to give you a sense of what the final product (due mid-February) might look like.
Creating these PVBRs is a four-step process:
  1. Thinking deeply and using comprehension strategies to understand the a“soul” of your selected book.  We’ll do this by answering 20 questions using a “read this book” sheet.   Some of the questions take 5 second to answer; others will require considerably more time/thinking.
  2. Generating a script based on the “read this book” sheet.
  3. Identifying images/video/music/etc. that compliment the audio script.
  4. Pulling it all together through recording, editing, compilation, and credits.
Step one will take us several weeks.  We’ll start by watching a bunch of videos and identifying those elements that create a strong PVBR.
Upcoming due dates:
Every night:  Reading 30 minutes
Wednesday, January 9th:  PVBR Book — Physical book or Kindle version present at school.  (This was assigned prior to winter break.  Students will need their book daily for the next several weeks.)
Friday, January 11th:  Email Check-in #2  AND Questions #1-#7 on “Read This Book” should be complete.
Happy New Year!  -Josh Feiger

Game of Stones Update — Week of 1/8

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Hi Everyone,

I’m super excited to begin science with your student in just a few days.  The class will be exploring three major scientific fields — astronomy, meteorology, and geology. I do my best to try and send out email updates every week or so with the latest happenings from class.  These updates go to both parents and students and I’ll put a copy on my blog as well.  A few quick notes:
1) Students will need a composition notebook for the class.  I prefer the 7.5 x 9.75 bound version.  I have extras, so if it’s challenging to pick up one in the next few days — no worries.
2) Through an Impact on Education grant, I were able to get Makey Makey kits for our classroom.  We’ll be using these invention circuitry kits along with the Scratch Programming platform to create models and interactive games as we build our understanding of various key concepts. For more on Makey-Makey, click here.  For more on Scratch Programming, click here.
3) Our first field trip will be on January 31st.  We are headed to the planetarium in Boulder and possibly to NCAR as well.  If you are interested in joining us as a chaperone, please let me know.
Upcoming due dates will be announced in class.  There is so much science to explore!
Happy New Year!  -JF

Co-op Update — Week of 1/8/19

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Happy New Year!  January conferences are right around the corner.  Here are some resources.
Conference Requirements (To be completed prior to conferences)
In addition, the Boulder Museum is doing a project this spring to help interpret exhibits for blind people.  They are looking for current 7th and 8th graders to help.  No experience needed.  (My own son did this last year and it was a pretty amazing program.). Anyhow, it’s a great opportunity to get service hours.  Here is a quick description…
“Here’s a great opportunity to make a difference in your community while learning to use cool technology. You’ve probably seen artifacts in a museum before with a sign that says “look but don’t touch.” But what if you can’t look, because you can’t see? The Museum of Boulder needs your help to make materials for visitors to the Museum who are blind. Use laser cutters and other tools to make the Museum of Boulder’s exhibits accessible for people who are visually impaired. You’ll learn to write in braille and work with people who are visually impaired to prototype your ideas. We’ll accept 12 students to meet Mondays at 4:30 beginning February 4. To apply please send a blank email to <emily@museumofboulder.org> with the subject line “blind” by January 18 and she’ll send you the link to the application.”
Integrated classes will also begin on the 8th.  In addition, students may also need a resupply of writing utensils for the new year.
Have a fantastic week!  -JF