TAG Week #13 & #14

Frosty the Snowman Supplies Request!

For our last TAG classes of 2016, we will be taking a break from our TAG unit and having some seasonal fun! Students will be participating in a Creative Problem Solving lesson to help Frosty the Snowman. They will be learning about the states of matter, heat energy (insulation and conduction), and the science of snowflakes. 
 
Part of the lesson includes a challenge to build a home for Frosty that will keep him from melting, or at least slow down the process. We are collecting the following items for Frosty’s shelter:

• Cardboard (cut into roughly 12 in. x 12 in. pieces)
• Small cups (paper or styrofoam)
• Egg cartons (styrofoam and cardboard)
• Paper plates (large and small)
• Plastic cling wrap 
• Any other “construction” materials students would like to use

​If you have any of these items at home and could send them in to TAG next week, I would greatly appreciate it! Our first Frosty challenge will be with 5th grade on Thursday, December 15.  

​2nd Grade -
​What's the Matter in Kitchen?

Second graders completed a Carousel Brainstorming activity to introduce our new unit studying Kitchen Chemistry. They thought about foods they can cook, foods that change when you cook them, and how a tongue is like binoculars. Students learned all about the tongue and how important it is to the digestive process as they answered the Essential Question: What are the many uses of the tongue and why is it so important? After researching the tongue and the digestive system, second graders participated in a creative thinking technique called a SCAMPER. This was a lot of fun! Next week we have some exciting food experiments in store to learn about chemical and physical change in the kitchen!

3rd Grade - Ancient Civilizations

We've completed our first unit of the year and ended with the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome, and China. Third graders studied ancient architecture and participated in a Creative Problem Solving lesson to determine the strength of a column (for Greece) and an arch (for Rome). Students enjoyed our Tasty Arch experiment building arches out of sanded sugar wafers! Thank you, parents, for the donated sugar wafers and sand paper! For our last ancient civilization, students chose a famous ancient Chinese invention and created an advertisement to show others the history of the invention and how it's changed lives. Students answered the Essential Question: Which Chinese invention do you feel is the most valuable and how has it changed lives? Next week, we'll begin Freedom Express, our new unit studying the Underground Railroad.

​4th Grade - Qualities of Leadership

Fourth graders completed a lesson on the leadership qualities of Jackie Robinson and after a discussion of IB Attitudes and Learner Profiles, students created commemorative posters honoring Robinson for his barrier-breaking work as a baseball player while displaying commitment, perseverence, being open-minded and cooperative... and much more! It was easy to find IB traits Robinson displayed! Our last lesson of this unit was studying work of two well known artists during the Dust Bowl and Great Drepression: John Steinbeck and Dorothea Lange. Studdents read exerpts from The Grapes of Wrath and studied Lange's photography to answer the Essential Question: How do leaders use the arts to inform and persuade? 

​5th Grade - 20th Century Pioneers

Fifth grade students started their second unit of the year studying pioneers of the 20th century. The first group of pioneers we studied were settlers, railroad workers, and miners/prospectors. Students chose a role, became experts on their occupation, and then shared their knowledge with other experts to complete a Compare Contrast lesson to answer the Essential Question: In what ways were the lives of settlers, railroad workers, and miners/prospectors similar and different? After the lesson, students worked on their Pioneers choice board learning about cattle drives, livestock brands, infamous wild westerners, and more!