The Discovery heroes continued solving the mystery of the stolen files this week as part of the Detective Science quest. They ventured outside to make plaster casts of shoe prints, lifted fingerprints, and identified the culprit!
They have also been developing their research and presentation skills. This sessions, heroes have the opportunity to earn a “Civilization Research” badge, by researching and presenting about a challenging question related to Medieval civilizations. This week the focus was Norse culture and Viking sailing routes!
The heroes launched their newest communications challenge: writing a letter of gratitude. After posting all week on the gratitude wall and deciding to whom they would write their letter, this week, the learners explored what character trait they admire most in their chosen recipient. They learned the meaning of “integrity,” and also considered other traits like compassion, courage and generosity.
At Acton, we like to design the studio more like a “community fair” with plenty of choices. This session, heroes have the opportunity to work towards a Coding Level 2 badge, which builds on the work they completed during the Coding and Robotics quest. The Coding Level 2 badge asks heroes to complete the block-coding course on Code.org, and will serve as a pre-requisite for the Coding Level 3 badge (under development), focused on Python coding.
Heroes are also using Fascination Fridays to work on their passion project of putting on a play! Two learners from the Discovery studio got together and formed an Acton Drama Club where they are leading five fellow travelers to create and present a spin-off of Little Red Riding Hood at the next exhibition. We celebrate their leadership, creativity and growth mindset to do something new and explore their calling.
Finally, another option for Fascination Friday and passion project work is the new laser engraver that one of our families generously donated to the school. The children will have the opportunity to purchase materials from the school store. We’re also exploring ways to integrate the laser cutter into seasonal projects and gifts, so stay tuned for what may come home!
