End of Year LEGO Stop-Motion Movies!

Let's face it, when we have two huge bins of LEGO pieces sitting around and access to some cool stop-motion technology, why would we NOT make some awesome stop-motion movies as part of our end-of-year thematic summaries? But here's the thing: Each grade level was tasked with creating a stop-motion movie that related to our theme for the year. So 5th grade, for example, had to make their film relate to "encounters" between two civilizations or...

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5th Grade: Interactive Inklewriter Story Links!

Fifth graders spent all year building up an imaginary civilization attribute by attribute, from geography to mythology, from basic crops to language and number systems. There were thousands of possible ways to wrap up their study, but we went with a free online program called Inklewriter that allows students to create interactive, reader-driven stories. Their task was to create an interactive story full of reader options that told the story and details of their civilization indirectly along the way. I think you'll enjoy! NOTE: Although I guided...

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Kinder Update: A Running Start into Problem Solving and Logic

Although we've only had a couple meetings so far, you can't say our Kinder students haven't already hit the ground running in some important thinking skills. First, we've been introduced to a thinking system developed by Dr. Edward De Bono called "The Six Thinking Hats." It is a system used in schools and in the corporate world for approaching problems. Each of the six hats has a color and represents a different lens through which to view the problem....

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Fifth Grade Update: The Rise of Civilizations

Bit by bit throughout the year we've been inventing and developing our own civilizations by taking inspiration from real civilizations throughout history, both real and fictional.  Most recently we've added two new attributes to our civilizations and both gave the opportunity to also practice our creative thinking skills of FFOE and SCAMPER. Constellations After studying constellations and their associated myths and legends from various cultures,...

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Fourth Grade Update: Setting the Gold Standard

Our study of the novel The Wright Three has sent us on many wonderful tangents this year, but none have been as mathematically mysterious as the Golden Ratio. Used and observed by architects, artists and philosophers throughout history, the Golden Ratio is a number that seems to reflect the universe's natural desire to make things beautiful, or so many believe. The ancient Greeks believed that humans who exhibited the golden ratio were naturally...

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Third Grade Update: A Cameras Handspring!

By the way, "A Cameras Handspring" is an anagram for "Ciphers and Anagrams!" That will make sense in a minute. :) Benjamin Franklin's life of unending fascination and intrigue continues to be the launchpad for us to explore many exciting topics. This semester that topic has been ciphers. Franklin himself used ciphers during the Revolutionary War in his work as a spy. First, we understood that there are two basic TYPES of ciphers: 1) Substitution...

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Second Grade Update: Life's Ups and Downs

This semester has been all about roller coasters! In our last update post we told about some of the coaster research we'd done and how we'd explored some of the science behind coasters. Now, it was time to put all that knowledge into action and build our own mini-coasters. Student groups were given miscellaneous supplies, such as wooden dowels, cardboard, paper cups, construction paper and tape and asked to create a roller coaster for a golf ball....

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First Grade Update: Detective Work, Tangrams and Brainfocals!

This semester we've been meeting several different characters from the fictional "Crystal Pond Woods." Each of these characters represents a particular type of thinking. The students learn the uses of each type of thinking and practice using it to find solutions to problems and scenarios. We started with Dudley the Detective, a dog who loves to solve mysteries using logical, or convergent thinking. Dudley inspired us to find solutions that required...

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Student Challenge: Triple Riddle Challenge

Answer all THREE of the following riddles for a blog point. What 5-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? What letter comes next in the following sequence? D R M F S L T_ What's full of holes but can still hold water? Submit all three answers to Mr. Koch in an envelo...

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Student Challenge: The Wolf, the Goat, and the Sack of Grain

This marvelous mind-bending scenario was submitted by Borchardt 3rd grader Brian Zhou! A man needs to cross a river to get home. He has with him a wolf, a goat and a sack of grain. However, his boat only has room for him to carry one of the three at a time. This is the dilemna: left unguarded, the wolf will eat the goat and the goat will eat the grain. How does the man get home (across the river) in way that ensures nothing will get eaten? You...

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Student Challenge: Halving the Square

Waylon took the wrong measurements. To make his painting, he needs a square piece of paper 50 square inches in size, but he has one that is 100 square inches. How can Waylon make it the right size when he doesn't have a ruler or scissors? For a blog point, place your answer in a closed envelope addressed to "Mr. Koch." Put your name and grade as the return address. Deliver it to Mr. Koch at school. p.s. If you can't find me, your teacher can...

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Word of the Week: "zenith"

To earn a "blog point," study the word below, then add a comment and use the word in a sentence. You must use correct punctuation, capitalization and the word must be used correctly. A funny sentence is OK as long as it makes sense and is rated PG!...

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Fourth Grade Movie Trailers: They're "Pentominal!"

As you know from last week's status update, our 4th graders have been focusing on the geometrical tool set known as pentominoes. They are a crucial part of the plot in our novel The Wright Three but we are taking them even further. Most recently, students created large, 3-D pentominoes which we've been using to create "rooms" and spaces within the classroom. Last week, we created movie trailers that revolved around pentominoes in some way. They could be characters themselves or just somehow part of the plot. They are very entertaining. We may...

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Student Challenge: Missing Number

What is the missing number in this series?46, 10, 8229, 11, 4796, 15, 7854, 9, 7242, ???, 15 For a blog point, place your answer in a closed envelope addressed to "Mr. Koch." Put your name and grade as the return address. Deliver it to Mr. Koch at school. p.s. If you can't find me, your teacher can put it in my mailbox too! p.p.s. You can add comments, but DON'T reveal your answer in the commen...

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Word of the Week: "slake"

To earn a "blog point," study the word below, then add a comment and use the word in a sentence. You must use correct punctuation, capitalization and the word must be used correctly. A funny sentence is OK as long as it makes sense and is rated PG!...

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January Update: A Busy Month Culminates in Applied Technology

I found myself with access to a stack of iPads this week and couldn't let the opportunity pass. I quickly updated my plans to incorporate a technology piece that was a perfect extension of the work and explorations we'd been doing at each grade level. Here, then, is a quick summary by grade level of what our January has been all about and then a note about how we used tech this week to enhance and extend our learning. 1st We've transitioned into...

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Word of the Week: "rife"

To earn a "blog point," study the word below, then add a comment and use the word in a sentence. You must use correct punctuation, capitalization and the word must be used correctly. A funny sentence is OK as long as it makes sense and is rated PG!...

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Word of the Week: "reign"

To earn a "blog point," study the word below, then add a comment and use the word in a sentence. You must use correct punctuation, capitalization and the word must be used correctly. A funny sentence is OK as long as it makes sense and is rated PG!...

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Word of the Week: "prehensile"

To earn a "blog point," study the word below, then add a comment and use the word in a sentence. You must use correct punctuation, capitalization and the word must be used correctly. A funny sentence is OK as long as it makes sense and is rated PG!...

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Student Challenge: The Cow

This cow has the following parts: head, body, horns, legs and tail. It is looking to the left. Move two matches so that it is looking to the right. For a blog point, place your answer in a closed envelope addressed to "Mr. Koch." Put your name and grade as the return address. Deliver it to Mr. Koch at school. p.s. If you can't find me, your teacher can put it in my mailbox too! p.p.s. You can add comments, but DON'T reveal your answer in the c...

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Word of the Week: "manifest"

To earn a "blog point," study the word below, then add a comment and use the word in a sentence. You must use correct punctuation, capitalization and the word must be used correctly. A funny sentence is OK as long as it makes sense and is rated PG!...

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