E-Ship: Image Challenge
This week marked week 2 of the E-ship quest where the heroes explored image and brand. First they explored and reflected upon world-class examples of logos, advertisements and slogans. They were then challenged to create their own! They have named their company, and developed a catchy slogan.
Throughout this Quest, the heroes earn “studio bucks” by completing quest challenges that they can then use to purchase materials and supplies for their business. This week they investing in swag! They decorated t-shirts and wristbands with their company logo and slogan.
Communications Challenge: Six-Word Memoir
The children considered Ernest Hemingway’s six-word story: “Baby shoes, for sale, never worn.” What does it mean? What part of the story is most impactful?
They are now working on their own six-word memoir. First they explored the idea of mind mapping and brainstorming. Then they brainstormed subject words, verbs, direct objects, adjectives and adverbs, to utilize in their memoirs. Next week they will begin to put them all together in their first draft.
Core Skills / Standardized Testing
This week during core skills, the children worked on their IOWA assessments for ~one hour per day over three to four days. While we are not huge fans of standardized tests here at Acton, we allowed parents to opt in or opt out, and feel the data will be useful for parents to track their child’s academic growth over time. It also allows us as a school to communicate with prospective families that yes, our learning design is highly effective.
We conduct the tests in as low-stakes way as we can. On the first day, the children had some nerves acclimating to test-taking. However, by the second and third day, they had acclimated and were working without trepidation or concern. They were more interested in either getting it finished so they could move on to more interesting work, or enjoying the feeling of exploring the questions and having the answers.
In that sense, it’s good practice for them since the world requires tests, and it’s just one more life-skills with which to gain practice.
As for the tests themselves, they assess two kinds of intelligences: math and verbal, but ignore other dimensions of intelligence. So in that sense, they are limited in their usefulness. Because we do so much project work and collaboration, we see the hero’s incredible skills in building, spatial reasoning, empathy, teamwork, etc.
Math Power Hour
We kicked off the first “math power hour” this Friday. This is a time for the children to engage in math games. A couple children played Battleship (graphing and matrices) while the other children gravitated towards Monopoly which requires a good amount of mental math and learning about investing and returns. For the younger children who haven’t mastered mental math, they have the option to use Montessori manipulatives to help them do the math. Next week we will break out some fractions card games!
Community Projects
One option we posed to the children this session were community projects. Two in particular, have captured the children’s interest. One was to plan next week’s Halloween party. Two heroes took the lead. They were given a $20 budget and planned an all-school celebration with activities, games and prizes.
The other most popular community project option was to create a new badge wall using the bulletin board in our hallway. Each hero decorated his or her own “badge banner.” The next step is for them to decorate the bulletin board where they will hang the banners.
Physical Education
This week the children continued to explore, and prepare for, the Acton Winter Olympics, which they will plan and host in December. They had a blast playing hockey and snowboarding by balancing on pillows. What a fun way to explore balance and the proprioceptive system!
Last week, Miss Kathryn worked with the children to set-up movement stations and challenges within Fellowship Hall. The heroes can use this area when they need movement breaks throughout the day. The children are learning how short breaks – snack breaks, stretch breaks, breath breaks, movement breaks – can help them focus and stay in flow.
Tranquility Thursdays
Speaking of which, we have been using morning launches once a week to learn about mindfulness. So far, we’ve practiced belly breathing, color breathing, box breathing, mountain meditation, and a raisin meditation! The raisin meditation received mixed reviews: “that was the weirdest!” to “I love savoring my food!” Overall, the children are beginning to appreciate these launches more and more as a way to explore what it means to just “be.”
