Code Breakers

Today our gumshoes were up to the task of deciphering coded messages.  They looked at several different types of ciphers and codes and picked out patterns to uncover the underlying message.  They also wrote their own codes for their friends to crack.  Use these websites at home to continue with your explorations!

Mirror Writing

Cryptology

Code Examples

More Code Examples

Cryptokids

Crack the Code

We also practiced the Habit of Mind, Persisting as we looked at DNA codes and used them to match suspects to their crimes.  We used a "stuck on the escalator" analogy to discuss perseverance and taking the next step in our learning to overcome challenges.  Students used their close reading skills to understand DNA as the greatest code of all time.

For some fun and to review median, mode, and range, we played a math game with some friendly penguin buddies.  Students grouped the penguins on icebergs to create data sets for their friends to calculate the averages.

We also threw in some Mastermind!

Footprint Follow-up

We had a half day of ALERT due to my spending the morning bailing water from a burst pipe in my kitchen.  Whew.  When that fiasco was over and I finally had the kids, we spent some time reflecting and goal setting for the new year.  I am proud of all this class has accomplished.  I can already see a lot of growth and love watching them apply the language and skills of our Habits of Mind!  

We also did some field study follow up looking at a crime scene as a system and sharing about our highlights and takeaways of the trip.  We mixed in some math by looking at our footprints and using them to predict our height.  Students checked their measurements to see the correlation.

CSI Field Study with the Richland County Sheriff's Department

We had a fantastic trip today!  Thank you to the sheriff's department and our wonderful chaperons! 

Waiting for the bus!

Students listened to a presentation by Investigator Bouknight and then rotated through three crime solving stations...

Footprints- Detective Carrie assisted each student in making a footwear print. Students made observations and learned about footprints as forensic evidence.  They learned several techniques for finding and lifting prints including using a gel lifter, electricity paired with mylar film, and dental stone for casting.  They also learned about using oblique lighting to find tracks and photographing prints as the most important form of documentation.

Tread comparisons.

Using static electricity to lift a shoe print.

Fingerprints- Students heard investigators talk about the three types of fingerprints and how even seemingly similar prints can reveal unique differences.  Students got to be fingerprinted themselves and examined their own print pattern.

Getting fingerprinted.

Mock Crime Scene- Students documented the scene by sketching the site and evidence.  They also learned to use magnetic powder to dust for prints.

Documenting the crime scene and dusting for prints.

It Beats Me: Heart Rate Data Project

     For our Morphic Thinking morning warm-up, students created similes about themselves when they do or do not use the Habit of Mind- Managing Impulsivity.  This was meant as a follow up to last week's lesson. They came up with some cute comparisons!

• When I do not manage my impulsivity, I am like a crazy monkey with no manner because I have so much energy.
• When I do manage my impulsivity, I am like a Zeus when he is happy because I contain my anger and let my happy shine.
• When I do not manage my impulsivity, I am calm as a spring day with birds singing.

     We were back to our data investigations this week.  Students are completing a real world project to show what they know about creating line plots and describing a data set in terms of median, mode, and range.  Students are working in partners to use the results to answer our question, "How fast does the heart of a third grader beat after exercise?"  Today we collected data by measuring our heart rates after two minutes of jumping jacks.  

Blurry Jumping Jacks

     Our Habit of Mind focus for today was Gathering Data through all Senses.  Students connected this to crime scene investigation by making observations of evidence.  They learned the terms quaLitative (describe with Language) and quaNtitative (measure with Numbers). They also watched this video and learned the definition of inference and how inferences help explain the observations that we make. 

Inference- an explanation of an observation based on prior knowledge.

An explanation of an

Observation based on

Prior

Knowledge

    Our second Habit of Mind focus was on Metacognition.  We used the metaphor of the students having the power to "drive their brains"- put on the brakes to rethink and reflect, put on the gas to be proactive and take initiative in their learning, and in this reflection, make choices that put them on the road to success!  We also read the book The Three Questions and spent some time reflecting on our own learning for the day. For more on metacognition for children, check out this article.

Metagognition Article

      We also did some brain stretching plexers.  Try these for yourself!

Interrupting Chicken

Our guest bloggers Delaney and Kathleen with our daily report...
                                                                                   

the wonders of alert   

Today in alert we learned how to managing impulsivity with the interrupting chicken than we made up are own interrupting stories like the interrupting bunny.   

We learned about csi crimes with evidence.

We also did are weekly morphic thinking. The sp (spontaneous problem) was making crazy names for colors.

     This week we spent our time together taking a closer look at one of our Habits of Mind.  First we read the book Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein and discussed it as a non-example of managing impulsivity, thinking before acting, and using your brain to manage your body.  Students then created their our Interrupting ___________ stories and presented them to the class.  I'll tell you, we have quite the creative crew!

     We also did some brain stretching using deductive reasoning puzzles-my favorite!  Try your hand at these!

Sports Logic Puzzle

Pet Mix-Up Puzzle

An Eye for Details

     Our time was short today, but we made the most of it!  Students witnessed a theft in our own classroom and used what we learned about composite sketches to make a drawing of the perpetrator. We then looked at some online activities testing their powers of observation and helping them match the suspect with the crime.  Try them for yourself!

Art of Crime Detection

Perp Walk

Face Memory

The thief

Online facial sketching

Line Plots, Eye Witnesses, and the Case of the Sugar Shaker

   This week our CSI focus has been on questioning and eye witness accounts.  Students participated in various activities geared toward understanding quality questions in interrogation, the often unreliable nature of eye witness testimony, and the power of close observation.  

     In math we worked on creating line plots with data and using the graph to find the median, mode, and range of the set.

     We also took a pre-assessment on forensic science and used last week's fingerprint evidence to compare with our suspect samples and determine the prankster that switched our sugar for salt.

Median, Analogies, and Dusting for Prints

We had our commencing Digging for Data math lesson and students looked at both their rights and obligations as we embark. This math curriculum focuses heavily on discussion, defense of one's thinking, and writing about concepts. Today, students collected data on their writing rate. Each student completed three trials counting the number of times they could write "rate" in one minute. We used this data to understand the concept of the median in a group of numbers and how if can be used when looking for a "typical" result in a set of output data.

Students also looked at examples and tips and tried their hand at some word and figural analogies as a connection to being logical thinkers. Finally, we learned some at home techniques for dusting for fingerprints. Next week we will check the prints we uncovered with our suspect samples to determine the culprit in The Case of the Sugar Shaker!

I got carried away and dropped the ball on photographing our favorite models today. Sorry!

Systems Kick-Off!

Our favorite activity of the day was kicking off our year-long theme of Systems. Students interpreted the definition of a system and worked in teams to brainstorm examples. They came up with some great one! We also named the different features of systems, (boundary, input, output, elements, & interactions) drew and labeled the parts of a system, created a list of generalizations about systems, and competed in a friendly Kahoot quiz to show off what we had learned.

Generalization for Systems:

Ecosystem with features labeled.

Road system with features labeled.

Ecosystem team!

Nervous System team!

• Systems have parts that work together to create a whole.
• Systems interact.
• Parts of systems are interdependent upon one another.
• A system may be influenced by another system.

Critical thinking was also a focus today. We looked at the Foundation for Critical Thinking's Child's Guide to Critical Thinking videos.  We saw three types of thinkers and evaluated them.  Ask you child about Naive Nancy, Selfish Sam, and Fair-minded Fran. Students should recognize quality thinking as accurate, fair, clear, relevant, and logical.

We also did our daily morphic thinking, and practiced building a growth mindset by persisting in some brain challenges with the Set and Quiddler daily puzzles and word analogies.

The Brain and Mindset

This week we focused on meta-cognition.  (Thinking about our thinking!)

     We kicked off our Morphic Thinking morning routine where students warm-up with a spontaneous problem and boundary breaker.  We will be including these weekly.

Spontaneous Problem: A spontaneous problem is a brainstorming type problem to be solved in a specific amount of time and scored according to the number and creativity of responses generated. The point is to challenge students to be flexible thinkers, to elaborate on original ideas and to think fluently and creatively about a specific topic.

Today's Spontaneous Problem: Name things in the ALERT room.

Boundary Breaker:  A boundary breaker is a group experience which works toward creating a sense of community. Students gain an awareness of and respect for the opinion of others by the use of questions that go beyond superficial depth and have no right/wrong answers. Boundary Breakers also provoke a higher level of thought that merges cognitive and affective thinking.

Today's Boundary Breaker: What is thinking? Why is thinking important?

Carrying on with the same theme, students learned about the connections they make in their brain when they learn and how to strengthen these pathways. They were able to draw their conception of their brain, feel a brain, and use various resources to discover the parts of the brain and how they work together for your body to function. This year we want to be very intentional about building a growth mindset in students. It will be our goal to emphasize the part of effort and perseverance in learning and intelligence as something that can be grown or grow stagnant. To evaluate our current perspective on intelligence, we took the mindset quiz at this link. Feel free to take it yourself! We want to turn "I can't do it!" into "I can't do it yet!"  

Neural pathways in the brain!

Touching a "Brain"!

NERDS!

     It's great to be back for our second week!  This week we explored our creative side by discussing and demonstrating the four keys to creative thinking.  We began by taking a simple figure, looking at it from various perspectives (flexible thinking), brainstorming what it could become (fluency of ideas), choosing the idea like no one else's (originality), and filling in the details of our picture (elaboration)! Our lesson was themed around our mascots of creativity the NERDS candies which the students got to enjoy while they worked. These creative pieces became the covers of our ALERT binders reminding us to "think outside the box"!

 

     Our other main focus for the day was looking into Art Costa's Habits of Mind.  We discussed these strategies of successful people and discussed ways we do and will use them this year inside and outside our classroom.  Student team completed in a pre and post lesson matching game where every pair came out on top improving their understanding of the ideas.

  Other happenings were the creating of a class fingerprint archive just in case we need it for future suspects in future tomfoolery, putting the finishing touches on our writer's notebooks, and getting started on our learner profiles at RenzulliLearning.com.

     I hope your student enjoyed today.  I did!