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Spring SAVY 2017, Day 1- Writing and Reflection
Jan. 31, 2017—What a phenomenal first day of our SAVY course, “Writing and Reflection”! Students were very excited to learn how to read literature like college students and to write poetry and prose like the authors they love. We kicked off our class with a concept map exercise, in which students wrote down everything they knew about...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 1- No Quick Fix
Jan. 31, 2017—With the introduction of No Quick Fix, two tantalizing questions were raised for my students to discuss: What would the world be like without any doctors or medicine? And, is the human body in the modern age a quick fix or difficult to treat? I was pleased to hear that many students did not think...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 1- Robotic Programming
Jan. 31, 2017—Greetings! Welcome to Robotic Programming! We had a fabulous start to our class today! Your kids are absolutely amazing! We started to the day by learning the rules and expectations, and by giving a pre-test so that we can see how much your child already knows about programming. That helps us individualize for them so...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 1- Awesome Algebra
Jan. 31, 2017—It was an exciting Saturday, meeting and getting to know our new class! Students worked hard to create concept maps and complete pre-assessments, while getting to know each other and some of our classroom routines. We were able to earn six compliments yesterday for following our three classroom rules: 1) Be Safe 2) Be Responsible...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 1- Science of the Sea: Diving into Marine Biology
Jan. 31, 2017—Our first week of Science of the Sea was all about aquatic ecosystems. We learned about freshwater versus saltwater ecosystems and classified organisms by where they prefer to live. We also learned about estuaries, which connect salt and freshwater. We learned about the scientific method and what marine biologists do. To get an idea of...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 1- Environmental Explorations: Dig It!
Jan. 31, 2017—Dear Parents: It was so nice meeting your children and getting to know them on our first Spring SAVY day together. We began our morning talking about what our young scientists already knew about what scientists are, and what they do. We recorded our prior knowledge on a chart. Then, I read a book called...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 1- Discovering the Third Dimension
Jan. 31, 2017—Welcome to Discovering the Third Dimension! Your kindergarten mathematicians arrived ready to learn and explore all the geometry in our world. We described geometry as the study of shapes and their relationships. We began our SAVY session looking at 2-D plane figures. Next week, we will add symmetry, congruence, and transformations to our 2-D knowledge...
Fall SAVY 2016 (Day 5) – From the Page to the Stage: Novel to Script to Production
Oct. 24, 2016—Coming soon!
Fall SAVY 2016 (Day 5) – Pathogens and Protectors: The Science of the Immune System
Oct. 24, 2016—Our 5th week began with more brainstorming around how to treat allergies and organ transplant recipients, and we discussed current strategies with their shortcomings in each case (ask students about induced pluripotent stem cells or allergy shots). While we have talked a lot about the cells involved in the immune response, we spent time this...
Fall SAVY 2016 (Day 5) – Creative Writing: (Re)Imagining the Monstrous
Oct. 24, 2016—We began our penultimate SAVY class by looking even more closely at the role of sympathy in the classical literature we have read. In pairs, students considered the questions: Who is the most sympathetic character we’ve read so far? Who is the most empathetic? Is it possible to sympathize with someone with whom you disagree?...