We had a short class session today due to testing, once we got to the room the kids were busy working on blueprints, double checking measurements, and starting their digital blueprints. One student has all 4 of his walls done and will have them to glue together next week.
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The kids worked exceptionally hard today, especially during math. They solved several variable equations and spent a huge chunk of time on one specific equation. They experienced their first Master Level equation, which combines larger answers with a greater number of variables. This means that there are many more possible solutions. With the less difficult problems, the kids often "see" the answers just noticing the basic multiplication facts within the problem. With the Expert and Master level equations, this isn't usually possible. So, they have to apply more logic and a greater number of strategies to actually solve the equation. They were not able to solve the problem, however, one of the 5th graders did manage to randomly guess the correct answer, but wasn't able to explain how he got it (he put down about 8 guesses at the very end of the day). So, currently, he doesn't know which of his guesses is the correct answer. I did issue them a challenge, so if they come to you asking for help, they are trying to complete the challenge contest. They also worked really hard on their blueprints, since most of them finished their draft scale measurements last week or very early in the day today. Several finished their front facade and are now thinking through the decision of whether they want a complete four walled structure or a facade structure with support braces, similar to what movie sets sometimes use. Killian ALERT kids were busy today; working on Minecraft builds of their model buildings, working on a creative boundary breaker, a very long proverb, and solving math puzzles that went from easy, to medium, to hard. The hard one had them stumped for a while, but they worked together and persevered through to find the solution. Their boundary breaker normally has them thinking about ideas or topics differently, this week they got to think and create as they had sets of books to arrange as many different ways as they could think of. Their Minecraft builds are starting to really take shape and you can see how close many of them are able to get to an exact copy of their chosen house. They are showing a great eye for detail and creative use of materials to try and match their model as closely as possible. |