Spring: Week 2

I promised to get the blog posted, so here it is. Now you have no excuses for posting an update for your class. Week 2 of our spring project demonstrated to me how well we have organized our project. Our planning meeting lasted maybe fifteen minutes, allowing everyone extra individual planning and training time. Here is an update by class:



K-14: Today we worked with students on planning out their podcast. We took the list of “Math Games” we brainstormed last week, deleting obscure topics and adding new ones. Students were paired and each group selected a different topic on which to focus. We drew pictures of the game and wrote down facts about our game. During the week, Ms. Ieong will have students type their facts into keynote and have students find pictures of the game on the Internet. She will also try to collect real-world versions of the games. Let me know if there are any games you can’t find. I will try to help with the harder ones!


1-104: Today we had visitors from Baltimore observing, and they were knocked out of their socks by the poise and confidence of the first grade class. Students brought in their lists of things around the house that use math. They how much they have learned about keynote by using keynote as a graphic organzier. They typed the objects as headings for each new page and found a picture that matched. Finally, we took a short break to show the visitors our “community helpers” podcast. This week, students will begin to work on their set design by painting scenes on butcher paper. They will also begin to discuss how the objects they selected use math.


2-204/3-304: Today was an introduction to iWeb. Students worked with partners to learn the basics of creating an iWeb page. We learned how to select a template, how to add, delete, and modify text on a page, how to add pictures from iPhoto, and from the Internet, and how to use the camera to take pictures. Students recognized how many of the tools in iWeb are the same tools in Keynote and Pages. This week students will work on their plans for group web sites. They will use post-its on large paper to identify what content will go on each page, and divide the work so that everyone has a specific task. I also suggested that we create a new log-in for the web design. Ms. Catania will work on adding that log in to the computers.


4-404: Today we broke students into groups based on math strengths and weaknesses. Each group selected a main topic on which to focus, and then worked on writing an essential question for that topic. The goal of the question was to (1) teach their peers a math topic that is difficult to understand and (2) that has a real-world application. Many groups had to revise and revise their questions, and even their topics until they were able to meet those two requirements. This week students will spend time becoming experts on their topic and make sure they understand and can explain how to solve real world problems related to their essential question. They will learn simple animation using PowerPoint to demonstrate this understanding.


5-504: Today each pair of students “pitched” their movie idea to the class. There was a wide range of topics from mysteries, to superhero adventures, to real world adventures. Each group presented their topic to the class and everyone had the opportunity to ask questions, make suggestions, and provide feedback about the pitches. Students were constructively critical of the ideas, making sure they had a solid understanding before casting their vote. We needed to select two ideas from the seven pitches. One idea was a breakaway hit, getting one vote from every single person in the room, students and teachers. This was the Money Math Mystery idea, which included rhyming clues, an organized plot, and a persuasive pitch from its creators. The class was split on the second choice idea, but after a run-off vote, the Cooking Show, which uses math to fix a disastrous recipe, was selected as the second choice. Students were randomly assigned to work with the creative team of one of these two movie ideas, and the assignment for this week is to work on the scripts so that we have something to shoot in two weeks.