Probability, Remainders, Archaeology, and Art

Here we are placing our fractions on the number line. Some of the more complex fractions and mixed numbers needed to be simplified or be converted to "ready to go" form so that their values could be compared. 

Welcome to the dig! The students took a basic survey of the overall site, located artifacts to excavate and identify, built grid boxes to organize their process, and described their artifacts through words and drawings. Then they had the challenging work of trying to develops some theories about the cultural significance of the artifacts. I challenged them with questions about the validity of making big picture claims or drawing conclusions about a grand and diverse culture based on a few artifacts out of context. What can we reasonably assume? Where do you draw the line? These are really big ideas and made for interesting conversations. Nice work archaeologists!

The third graders are dividing with remainders. We've been modeling equal groups with left-overs for a couple weeks and I'll soon teach them to use their 9-Lines strategies to solve division problems more efficiently.

Demonstrating division with remainders for the Team.

This pair is working to come up with their own strategies for finding a fractional part of a set. Check out all of the ideas they've tried... I see drawings, number lines, division and multiplication, and strong communication skills!

In a class meeting, Team 3/4 decided to bring our theme of service back into our own community and do something nice for everyone working hard in the CCS office. They decided to create a collaborative painting of an orca for a big, empty wall in the office. I'll let you know when it's up!

  We're utilizing our fraction skills to work with probability this week. In the next pictures students are defining the probabilities of different events and flipping coins and pulling colored chips out of a cup to test the reasonableness of those predications.

Auction Art, Field Trips, and Artifacts

A special thanks to Genevieve for organizing our funky, cool auction projects. The kids were really excited about their work and have been looking forward to sharing them with you all.

https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/browse.action?grouping=ALL&auctionId=206519326

I've been looking forward to sharing some photos of our trip to the Museum of the American Indian in Novato. It was a really incredible day full of great information, story-telling, and active learning.

Welcome students! Here we are meeting our guide, Alicia. Alicia, part Mayo, Yaqui and Cherokee, is a multitalented interpretive artisan, nature guide, and musician. 

After meeting and honoring Grandmother Bay, we were led into a grove of younger bay trees. There, we gathered bay nuts while Alicia sang. Alicia taught us about the native Miwok uses of bay nuts and about her own experiences with the nuts and tree. She shared stories about hunting and gathering and expressed the importance of developing a personal relationship with nature.

The interior of the museum was remarkably beautiful. Alicia spoke about stereotyping of Native American culture and taught us to be thoughtful about word choice- such as describing traditional American Indian dress as "regalia," rather than "costume."

Here Alicia is sharing a Shoshone creation myth about about the input that the Great Spirit, coyote, lizard, owl, bear, and rabbit put into the design of the human form.

Many Native Californian tribes used strings of flat shells as currency. We used hand drills to drill holes in shells and experience how much effort went into creating a strand of shell money. 

 

We played a hoop and spear game that was designed to help children with hand-eye coordination and prepare them for hunting. It's also just really fun!

Next, we visited the bottom floor of the museum where hunting artifacts and skins are housed.

We played Miwok instruments and sang our hearts out!

Then we wrapped up our experience by making medicine bags filled with sage. We filled them with heartful prayer and general good mojo! Put them under your pillow for sweet dreams!

Lunch as a team before hitting the road!

I was very impressed with the students' work on their reports and artifacts! Overall, the information presented was accurate and supported with specific details. The reports were clear, well-organized, engaging, and showcased the individual writer's voice.  Everyone was really proud to share their work and take questions about how they built their artifacts, how they would have been constructed in the past, what they would have been used for, and why they selected them. 

Our program coordinator from LITA sent me these pictures from our last two trips to Bello Gardens. We're learning a lot about compassion, judgement, and kindness as students get to know some truly lovely people and are sometimes confronted with interactions that challenge their social skills. It can be so hard to just sit and be with someone who is largely non-verbal! I love our time at Bello Gardens. It's always beautiful to watch the kids give of themselves in such an important way. Perhaps even more so, I love getting back into the classroom to de-brief our time there. Students share their experiences, ask questions, and give one another advice. It's really lovely. 

I'll wrap it up with some pictures of our favorite way to get the wiggles out... WHOOOAAAA NINJA!