Harris Burdick Reading Class

 

After reading "The Stranger," the students worked with the famous illustrations of Harris Burdick to design their own mysteries in reading class this week.

Harris Burdick is a mysterious illustrator who left his illustrations and associated picture captions to be published, but he never returned with the stories as he promised he would. Famous authors have written their interpretations of his stories, as have students around the world.

The reading students did a wonderful job completing mystery web planners to develop clues, distractions, and their plot before the writing process began.

M&M Multiplication

Indoor "Down Time"

The foggy and rainy weather kept us inside for our morning recess, so the boys spent some unstuctured time in the classroom playing music, games, and chatting with one another. The boys braved the wet weather for lunch recess, but we certainly have our fingers crossed for nicer weather tomorrow!

Indoor Downtime from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Titanic Timeline Activity

After reading the incredible "Titanic" story, we created a timeline of the days leading up to and following the sinking of the unsinkable ship. Students worked in partners to create a plan for sequencing the 18 events which required properly identifying years, days, hours, and minutes to create a logical order. Below the video of our activity are videos showing live footage of the Titanic wreck as it lies on the ocean floor. We were all amazed by our "visit" to this underwater museum and the technological advances made to make this trip possible.

Titanic Timeline Activity from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.



Untitled from billy williams on Vimeo.

Snow Day

The boys worked on their Snow Day compositions this week, in which they described a snowday from the perspective of a young boy and of a snowflake. We extended the composition by creating word clouds on wordle to demonstrate the key words in each composition.
Snow day Wordles from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

6-B Character Activities

We spent time with our character class 6-B yesterday. We read stories that taught us about snowflakes, and how each flake is unique, just like us! The boys then worked with the Sixth Agers to make snowflakes to celebrate the winter season. Perhaps making virtual snowflakes would have been less messy, but we certainly had a great time with our buddies!

Character Snowflake Project from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Composition Process





(image from icanread)



We were finishing the final composition of our December folders on Thursday, and the boys were busy conducting partner reviews. The composition process begins with a day of brainstorming and webplanning, a second day to write the first paragraph, and a final day to write the second paragraph and proof-read. Proof-reading involves independently reading and completing a checklist with a partner that includes personal writing goals and the general mechanical and structual components of writing covered in grammar. This week we focused on proper conjunction use, which helped many students correctly integrate complex sentences into their writing.



Composition Day 3 from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Math Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers may seem like they belong in composition, but they are useful to help students process new concepts and vocabulary in a different way. The students worked together to locate definitions for our Math Connects Chapter 3 vocabulary and create examples. This gave students working definitions, but also challenged their understanding of the topic by asking for examples; one group debated the example for "regrouping" and whether it should be an addition (chapter 2) or subtraction (chapter 3) problem. The student compromising by including one of each, further reinforcing their understanding of previous and current material.

Math Graphic Organizers from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

The Walters Art Museum

We headed to the Walters Art Museum (check out their website, as our docent told us that all of the pieces in the museum are featured on their website!) yesterday to see the wonderful exhibits and to create our very own amulets. The exhibits are closely tied to our history curriculum, and the students were eager to demonstrate their understanding of the ancient Roman, Greek, and Egyptian worlds. A special thanks to our parent guests who attended the field trip with us!

Walters Art Museum from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Interactive Thanksgiving Research Project

Two of our Ninth Age reading classes partnered over the past three days to explore the true facts behind the first Thanksgiving. The students worked hard on their webquests with partners to explore the facts behind this fall holiday. Webquests are challenging because they require following multi-step directions, critical thinking and collaboration skills, and comprehension of informational text. Terrific job, readers!

Web Research Project from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Character and Growth Mindset

(image from http://icanread.tumblr.com/)

In character class this month we have worked on several topics, one of which is the idea of a growth mindset, an idea brought into the educational spotlight by Carol Dweck. We discussed her analogy of the brain as a ball of rubberbands of varying lengths. This idea is easy for the boys to imagine, making the concept of brain plasticity more age-appropriate. We discussed that the long rubber bands are areas that come to each person more easily, and the short rubber bands are areas that are more challenging. We discussed that the only way to "stretch" our short rubber bands is by focusing on these short bands and working to improve them, instead of only working with our "long rubber bands." We will continue to refer to this idea throughout the year as we challenge ourself to improve in all areas!

Hopper Cricket Game

The boys took to the field for the hopper cricket game flag football game. Many thanks to Mrs. Lears , our talented photographer, for snapping these terrific pictures!


Hopper Cricket Game from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Native Pride Dancers

We enjoyed an incredible show performed by the Native Pride Dancers last week. The boys spent the rest of the day discussing the wonderful costumes, impressive dance moves, and exciting music. Here is a short video of the wonderful dances!

Native American Dancers from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Short e and Long e

In reading today, the students were working with our War with Grandpa text and locating words that followed the phonics rules of the week: short and long e. They did a great job finding the words, photographing the passages using EDUcreations, underlining the words, and recording their voices speaking the words. Terrific job, readers!

Short And Long E from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Student Blogger

There is no school on Friday (there is for teachers and parents, though).

The tag game on the playground has become shadow tag

There was a assembly on Tuesday about election day.

Joke/Riddle Of The Week:

There were 40 people in a boat. The boat sank. is it posible for 44 heads to pop up out of the water???

Charlotte's Web Skype Session

Our 9-1 boys have been participating in the Global Read Aloud project. Yesterday we skyped with our sixth grade partner class from Iowa! We have been collaborating with these students through kid blogger throughout October, sharing responses to the literature and learning a bit more about one another. The students had prepared questions and were eager to hear our opinions of the novel, as well as discussing Hurricane Sandy!
We will be joining together again to read a novel later this month, how exciting!

Halloween Celebration

The students were dressed in their Halloween best on Wednesday and enjoyed bringing some of our history to life by traveling back in time to ancient Egypt.

Wizards and Wands

We headed to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra today to experience Wizards and Wands.

The premise of our show today was the debate between science and music, with our conductor seeking to prove the existence of magic. While the scientist on stage seemed hesitant, the conductor predicted a very magical effect as the theme song from Harry Potter resonated from the stage ...

34 motionless, single-mindedly focused, silent nine year old boys? Seems to be a strong case in favor of magic.

Base Ten Work

We spent time last week using the EDUCreations app on the iPads during math class to take and manipulate photographs of base ten blocks. The students did a wonderful job demonstrating three and four digit addition together.

War with Grandpa Fluency Activity

In class we have been focusing on fluency while we read out loud. The students completed an activity this week using the EduCreations iPad application. This app (it is also a web based program) allowed them to photograph their page, enlarge the size, underline difficult words or make note of puncutation marks, and record their reading. The students did a wonderful job, and I am impressed by the progress they are making in becoming more fluent readers.

Student Bloggers

GO       RAVENS

 The Ravens are playing the texans

The 9th age got new folders this week!!

 

 

 

 

by,

Shep and George

Read Class Activity

We have begun War with Grandpa in reading class this week, and we spent some time today illustrating Peter's room, based on his description from the novel. His room is the basis for much of the impending conflict in the novel, so focusing on its appearance and sentimental value helped our readers understand why giving it up could be so challenging.

Stuart Little Blogging

In Stuart Little, Stuart substitute teaches for the mysteriously absent Mrs. Gunderson. We spent time blogging about what would happen if Stuart was a substitute teacher at Calvert. Terrific job, writers!

 

 

The Last Leaf on the Tree

 

Fresh Food Planting

The Ninth Age students showed off their green thumbs during last week's plantings. They gathered on the blacktop to plant hundreds of seeds that will grow to feed those less fortunate.

Student Blogger

This week we are making our own version of the Rosetta Stone; the hardest part is the hieroglyphics.

 

Math Folder Papers

Our math students were busy working this month on their first folder papers of the year. The organization of math folder papers can be challenging, but is very rewarding! The students are strengthening not only their math skills, but are also improving their spacial awareness, confidence with measurement, and cultivating an appreciation for the process of developing a strong finished product.

Character Partnership

We met with our character class yesterday, 6-B for some unstructured time on the playground and blacktop. We will join together for a variety of activities throughout the year, and this partnership serves as a wonderful opportunity for the Ninth Age boys to serve as mentors to younger students at school.

Spelling Pre-Test

This weekend is the first weekend for spelling pre-tests at home. This week is focusing on the chapter 3 words. The tests can be given by a family member or can be taken using "Spelling City." Spelling City will read the word aloud and your son can take the pre-test independently. Additionally, this might be a great resource for word review during the week!
The link to Spelling City is on the left side of the 9-1 blog, under "spelling words."  The pre-test does not have to be graded, but should be turned in on Monday morning.

Prehistoric Presentations

The boys presented their "solutions" yesterday to our troubled prehistoric tribe...we are sure to have plenty of food, water, wood, and healthy trees, thanks to these ancient problem-solvers!


This project was a slight change from the cave-tool projects which we have completed in the past. In previous years, the boys are told to bring in supplies to build a prehistoric tool. I found it very interesting that while the boys had the opportunity to study any area of "prehistoric life," so many focused on building tools and weapons, which made this project look quite similar to those in the past.

I enjoyed giving the boys the opportunity to research and explore their topic of choice. Having them research "issues and solutions" that could face and help our "tribe" also presented a realistic and meaningful context for their research. Additionally, the opportunity to write about, draw, or build a creation to share with the group allowed the boys to select a medium in which they were most comfortable. One group even presented a "play" about discovering spears to be used for protection! Finally, the boys were allowed to partner together on any aspect of the project (brainstorming, research, creation, presentation). Watching boys join together for certain aspects, while completing other elements independently allowed for more organic collaboration than assigning groups or only permitting individual work. So, while this project looked similar in many ways, it had a very different feel to it.

I look forward to our wrap up discussion tomorrow, as I wonder if the boys' desire to focus on tools and weapons came from genuine interest, more prior knowledge, a lack of available information on different topics during web quests, or because of another reason (or a combination of factors). Additionally, there were a few boys who focused on a different topic, and I look forward to hearing their motivation for doing so. I will ask the boys for feedback on all of the aspects of the project, as they provide the best feedback for which I could ask. As the year progresses, I enjoy hearing from the boys regarding all of our activities and projects; their valuable insight into the discovery and learning process provides me with the opportunity to grow alongside of them, one of my favorite parts of being a teacher.

Prehistoric Project

The young tribe members of 9-1 have been very busy with the final stages of their prehistoric projects. Boys are building, drawing, or writing descriptions of their solution to the problems facing our tribe. The collaboration and creativity displayed by the boys has been impressive, and I look forward to seeing their solution presentations on Tuesday.

Math Class

We were very busy in math class this week. We covered place value, word problems, ordering numbers, and rounding! The students used virtual manipulatives called Thinking Blocks, base ten blocks, and a place value board game to reinforce these concepts. Terrific job, mathematicians!

Global Connections

Today the boys continued to work on their blogging skills by posting comments on other third grade students' blogs...in South Africa!
Blogging benefits students in a variety of ways. It provides them with the opportunity to practice their writing in authentic ways, while focusing on being clear and concise. It also allows for collaboration with classmates, and chances for revisions based on immediate feedback. Our focus on commenting led to a discussion on giving specific feedback (a "praise" and a "polish"). We will continue to focus on this skill, but I am already noticing a difference in our first two blogging sessions!
I was looking forward to the commenting from the moment we located the school on our map, and the boys could hardly contain their excitement:
"I love soccer too!"
"I am going to ask what 'Netball' is!"
"Look, it's their playground!"
An unexpected highlight was when I received a message from the teacher in South Africa during our posting (despite the six hour time difference!), saying that the comments coming in were terrific! The boys crowded around to read the message that had traveled all the way from Africa.
Now our connections were starting to feel really real. 


We partnered with 3D today and look forward to future collaboration opportunities!

Second Week of School

We had another incredible week at school! The boys read the first three chapters of Stuart Little, completed their first math folder paper, created a virtual character scrapbook on Scholastic, learned how to create a web planner for composition, wrote "All About Me" composition, posted comments to Kid Blog, finished geography flipbooks, started All About Me slideshows on Photo Peach, and researched questions for the history prehistoric project...

and it was only a four day week!

 

First Week of School

This week we have attended assemblies, completed classroom jobs, explored Edmodo, posted first drafts and uploaded pictures to Kid Blogger, learned about our first PBL project on prehistoric tribes, expanded sentences (literally and figuratively), and spent time learning about one another. It has been a very busy three days!

I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday!

Day II Lesson: Patience

The school year, though only fourteen hours old, is already teaching us more than was scripted.  While we were busy working on outlining story maps from the summer reading novels, exploring hundreds charts, and learning about long, long, ago in history, unplanned lessons of the year were emerging. Though the planbook called for the boys to register for Edmodo, a site we will be using for project assignments and collaborative activities, and to view several slideshows created by students last year on PhotoPeach for next week's digital assignment, other lessons crept in.

Patience. 

It first shone through yesterday while students worked on our classroom challenge puzzles. Nine puzzle pieces, with repeating images,  solved through trial and error (four line up, but the final five need to be rearranged)...and trial and error (three do not fit)...and trial and error (as eight line up, but the final piece has no slot)...Watching the students' steady persistence pushed a critically important aspect of the learning process into the limelight: frustration. Learning how to plot out a new story web, locating a "double-digit even number with the sum of twelve and the difference of zero" on a hundreds chart, registering for a new website to retrieve an assignment which requires access of another website with a unique login, or correctly arranging stingrays in a 3x3 puzzle all create a great deal of frustration--and learning. While well-supported articles are stressing the trouble our young generation has with delayed gratification, I have been impressed with the patience already displayed by these Ninth Agers, and I am eager to see what lessons hour fifteen of the school year brings.

First Day of School



Today was a terrific start of the school year for the Ninth Age boys! We were busy reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, exploring our classroom, learning Ninth Age routines and procedures, and trying out the new playground. This year promises to be a good one!

Survey Responses

I have really enjoyed learning more about you from your suvey answers, so I thought I would include one of my answers today! I have one pet, a dog named Lance. Usually we call him "Lou," and he especially enjoys a sip of coffee in the morning. He has become quite accustomed to sleeping in this summer, so I am sure the wake-up time on the first day of school will be a suprise for him! I look forward to seeing everyone next week!

Welcome to 9-1!

Welcome letters will arrive shortly, and I am eagerly counting down the days until August 29th! I look forward to getting to know the members of our 9-1 class in a few short weeks, but I always enjoy learning some "fun facts" about each student before the first handshake of the new school year! Feel free to complete the survey below, and I'll post some of my answers in the next few weeks to share a bit about myself before the year begins.

Time Flies

This has been a tremendous year of growth for us all in 9-1. I cannot believe how quickly the end of the year has arrived, and looking back over the year, I am amazing at the progress made by each member of our class, myself included. In history, we traveled from the caves of Africa to the tournaments fields of medieval times. We learned about meteorites, oysters, the Great Pyramid, and trebuchets, taking a small part of each home with us (a larger part, in the case of the trebuchet). The boys have become better writers, leaders, mathematicians, readers, builders, collaborators, historians, creators, athletes, problem-solvers, citizens, and friends. They have worked hard, made mistakes, reflected, and persevered with success. I could not be more proud of a group of young men, ones who will be strong leaders of the school next year in Tenth Age. I look forward to morning visits as they take the walk to their classrooms and updates on their summer adventures. This has been an incredibly special class, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have been a part of it all! Thank you for sharing this year with me.

I thought this video from the first day of school was a sweet reminder of how much we have grown throughout the year.

Feel free to watch any of the videos our vimeo site from this year, watching them certainly shows that time flies when you are having fun!

Music Class Composers

In music class, Mrs. Elliott had the students collaborate with one another to write and play their own music. Below is a video of one of the group's performance. Terrific job boys!

Harris Burdick Reading Class Project

We have spent the last two reading classes working on our Harris Burdick project. Harris Burdick is a mysterious illustrator/author who disappeared without a trace after passing along his illustrations, never returning with the matching stories as promised. For years students and famous authors alike have been writing stories based on the images. We read the introduction to "The Chronicles of Harris Burdick" together on Thursday, and will share our stories as well as read exerpts of famous authors' interpretations during our final class on Monday.
.

More Information about Harris Burdick

Trebuchet Project

The boys have completed the next step of their trebuchet project. I was especially impressed by their eagerness to partner together to complete this step without needing assistance from me!

Witches Final Presentations

Our reading group was busy presenting and reviewing potions, jeopardy games, and virtual stories today in class. I decided to do "science fair" style presentations to give each student the chance to share his or her presentation for several classmates, but then walk around the room and hear/discuss the presentations of several other students. With the variety of presentations and different processes, I hoped that this would allow for more dialogue and interaction, instead of the more formal presentation that we have done in class previously.

Following the presentations, I asked for student feedback and was impressed, as always. A few of their suggestions will definitely be on the plan book (or at least the discussion board) for next year:

• Have two different presentation days so that everyone has the chance to walk around and see everyone's presentation.
• Have another option for a final presentation based on the main character's next adventure battling witches.
• Since storypatch (an iPad application) can only be used at school (the stories created are stored on the school's iPad), allow a student to bring in his smart device (BYOD) so that he can use it at home for homework as well if needed.

This was definitely one of my favorite reading projects of the year: student directed, student planned, student presented, and student reviewed. It seems that these students are really ready for Tenth Age!

Reading Final Projects

Two more Storyjumpers have been completed and are ready for presentations tomorrow!
The Grand High Witch's Life                                                                   The Grand High Witch

Building Begins

The students began their trebuchet projects yesterday, eagerly sanding their wood blocks and gluing down the first support post. This is one of my favorite projects of the year as it allows the boys to get a little dirty (mainly sawdust and wood glue) and physically create something.

So often children participate "once removed" from activities...Playing football on an Xbox, building on Mindcraft, playing music on Guitar Hero. My view of virtual activities is not a critical one, in fact their value is quite untapped at this point. However, we are seeing children that are less interested or able to create, build, problem-solve, and interact within a physical world simply because their access to it is decreasing.

The new concept trending now is the "return of the tinkerer," recently covered in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, to encourage creativity. While the idea of children in basements once again taking apart televisions insteading of simply watching them (I may just have heard a collective gasp from my parents at the thought of losing their Hi-Def) makes me smile, I do think that there needs to be a balance. Within my classroom I do not think that virtual and physical creation should be an "either/or," as our students have the capabilities to integrate both worlds, given the opportunity. In fact, wouldn't this convergence be the foundation for creativity?

Witches Final Projects Continue

 As I looked around the room today, I realized that these student-directed projects have created a unique feel in the room. While I may be reducing the students' need for me, the engagment, learning, and focused energy swirling around the room is well-worth it.  Today's progress included a student carefully cutting out car keys for her witch's potion, another figuring out how to access his jeopardy link from the blog, two students proof-reading their digital stories, all the while carefully checking off personalized game plans and returning to work (often annoucing, "I am ahead of my game plan already!"). Today's highlights:
1.Watching two boys struggle and succeed in making a witch's bucket, without complaining, getting frustrated, or needing assistance from me.
3. Upon completion of their projects, each of the students looked around the room and asked permisison to help classmates or the remainder of class (this is what collaboration should look like!)
 2. One student completed his digital story for homework...homework that he assigned himself..for fun...

Final Witches Project

We have had our first three final projects completed! They will share them with their classmates on Wednesday, but here is a sneakpeek!

     The Grand High Witch                                                The Grand High Witch

The Grand High Witch

Track and Field Day 2012

he boys took to the field for Track and Field Day yesterday. Each student competed in three events and demonstrating impressive sportsmanship throughout it all. Mr. Shep organized a silly teacher competition to start off the day, and Dr. Trusty was a last minute entry into our short track hurdles event. Finally, a special thanks goes out to Ms. Krebs and Mr. Porter for all of their hard work planning this special day.

The Witches Final Project

My reading class began their final projects today after choosing from five options:

1. Write a Storyjumper or Storypatch story that tells about the Grand High Witch before she became “grand” or “high”or maybe even a “witch."
2. Write a Storyjumper or Storypatch story about an adventure in the school of the witches.
3.  Create and present a persuasive speech as the Grand High Witch, trying to convince your audience that you really aren’t all that bad.
4.  Create a three- dimension potion that could free the children from the witches’ spells
5.  Create a jeopardy game based on the book to present to the class using http://jeopardylabs.com/build/

I was surprised by some of the selections the students had made, especially after deciding on certain project options with particular children in mind! However, as I looked around the room at each student completely immersed in their projects I appreciated the value of self-direction. After the students spent time brainstorming their main ideas and supporting details, they began filling out their "game plan." I asked the students to design a self-directed timeline to complete their project by next Wednesday. This involves each student setting specific goals for each day, assigning homework if needed, and checking and re-assigning goals after each class. It was fascinating to hear their different plans, from “I’m going to get it all finished by Friday and double check things on Tuesday” to “I am going to just plan today, and start my actual project tomorrow.”

Personally, I have always aimed to finish assignments well in advance, and have probably encouraged/planned for my students to do the same. Watching the students’ planning process, I realized that each student would have their project completed by Wednesday, while working on very different time schedules. Furthermore, the opportunity to create their own plan helps the students learn more about their working style, instead of mine.

Measurement Unit Begins

We have begun working with measurement this week! We created giant rulers to practice working with 1/8, 1/4, and 1/2 inches. Here is a quick video of our work!

Phonological Awareness

Even though many of our Ninth Agers are confident readers, it is always helpful to do some work with phonological awareness. Here is one short activity I will be doing with my reading group tomorrow to practice manipulating phonemes.

Say cub . . . Now change the /u/ to /a/ . . . Say the new word . . .

Say cart . . . Now change the /ar/ to /ī/ . . . Say the new word . . .

Say bell . . . Now change the /e/ to /aw/ . . . Say the new word . . .

Say pin . . . Now change the /i/ to /e/ . . . Say the new word . . .

Say bike . . . Now change the /ī/ to /ā/ . . . Say the new word . . .

Say chalk . . . Now change the /aw/ to /e/ . . . Say the new word . . .

Say bat . . . Now change the /a/ to /ē/ . . . Say the new word . . .

Say moon . . . Now change the /ōō/ to /a/ . . . Say the new word . . .

Say phone . . . Now change the /ō/ to /i/ . . . Say the new word . . .

Kid Blogging about Reading Novel

In reading class, the students are blogging on Kid Blog to explain two of the many examples of fantasy in Roald Dahl's novel, The Witches. Blogging is a great chance for students to fine tune important writing skills, as well as to provide and receive praise and "polishing" (constructive criticism) through student comments. Finally, blogging gives students the opportunity to recognize a productive way to connect and share with the wider community. Today we have finished our first round of editing and commenting, and we will finalize the project tomorrow.

 Feel free to check out the students' work, and we always welcome additional feedback!

Kid Blog Witches Fantasy Posts

Video Game Assessments

One of my goals this year was to identify new ways to assess my students. While tests can serve as an evaluation tool, alternative assessments give students the opportunity to apply what they know to different projects, which allow them to make real-world connections with the material. However, alternative assessments also serve a selfish purpose. With traditional tests, it is hard to tell if the students are learning the information during class or while reviewing at home. Varied in-class assessments give me the chance to identify not only what the boys know, but also if my presentation of the material is effective.

Our most recent assessment was to envision a realistic video game based on the medieval tournament, castle life, or medieval war times. Students drew a screen shot depicting an important scene from a video game and then were asked to "pitch" their video game with a short teaser video. Here is a compilation of their recordings.

Medieval Video Games from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Field Trip

The boys had an incredible time extending our castle history unit by heading to Medieval Times on Friday. We learned many new facts about this time in history as well as cheered on our green knight to tournament victory!

Medieval Times Field Trip from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Happy Mother's Day!

There is no parenting manual available on raising confident, responsible, creative, resilient, curious, caring boys, yet our 9-1 boys seem to be filled to the brim with it all.

So for every time you picked up and bandaged your son to demonstrate that you care, or let him pick himself up to build resilience...for every time you dropped off a forgotten homework to show your support, or let the homework remain at home to develop responsibility...for every time you explored a question to cultivate curiosity, or let your son discover his own answers to foster creativity...

Thank you for making the daily, often difficult choices that have helped your son become the wonderful Ninth Ager he is today.   

Happy Mother's Day!

Reflecting into New Snow

Every month throughout the year I have the boys contribute to their folders by adding in a Reflection piece. It is a time of personal review and evaluation, as well as a jumping off point for conversations regarding changes, failures, growth and successes.

Many people speak about each month being a clean slate, a new opportunity. However, I think of each month as the next stage of a mountain climb. Each step is new, into unmarked snow, but the trail created is not been wiped clean of the footprints leading to the present. Reflecting gives us the opportunity to recognize our path so that we can continue to make progress, sometimes doubling back, other times pressing forward towards the top.

Never is this more true than at the end of a climb. Looking back, each climber has taken a different route, some more circuitous than others; but with each reflection we are given the opportunity to celebrate the new steps forward, as well as each step left behind.    

Reading Class

The students performed an impromptu group read aloud last week from The Witches. The passages are taken from the Grand High Witch's speech, and were read with incredible expression and creativity. The students also created images of "regular women" and "disguised witches." As we learned while each student was sharing, it can be quite difficult to tell the two apart!

This led to a terrific discussion about the book's fantasy nature (the witches' square toes and itchy wigs) but also about one of the important messages that the author has presented: not judging someone based on their appearance.

 Below is a short video of their performance and artwork.

The Witches from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Personal Learning Networks

Tomorrow the Ninth Age teachers head to Garrison Forest for the culminating event following our year-long technology projects. We have each expanded our "PLNs" (personal learning networks) using twitter, blogs, and discussion boards, while strive to model effective collaboration for our students.

In our increasngly connected world, technology will be a tremendous tool for the creation, sharing, and recreation of ideas. These projects were a great opportunity for me to learn alongside the boys as we tried new technology tools, curricular modifications, and activities.

As a teacher, there is often pressure to always have the right answer. This year has been a great opportunity for the boys to see that I am a learner, just as they are. An individual (teacher or student) might not have the right answer (often there is not just one right answer), but if we challenge ourselves to grow, and know where to turn for help, we will all improve in the process.

We created a "Teaser Video" video and a short presentation to share with all of the other AIMS technology teams. A tremendous thank you goes out to the boys of 9-1 for helping me challenging myself and grow alongside them this year.

PLP Action Research on Prezi

Hoppers and Crickets

The boys took to the lacrosse field yesterday to play in the annual hopper vs. cricket game.

Not only is this a great opportunity for the students to play an exciting game, but they can also continue to work on their sportsmanship skills.  

Hopper Cricket Lacrosse Game from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Mind Control

What do 300 bad ideas, magic, and unskilled artwork have to do with writing?

 Everything, according to our newest visitor. One Friday the Ninth Age boys met with an author who shared his secrets to success.

"I write every single day. Every day I come up with 300 ideas. Sometimes all 300 are bad ideas, but I just keep writing, and suddently the good ideas start flowing."

"Writing is like magic, if you learn how to write well, you can control people's minds."

"You will look at someone else's work and say, 'wow, that's really good,' but don't stop doing what you are doing...you'll keep improving if you don't give up."

Author's Visit from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Earth Week

The boys learned about sustainability, the 3 R's, and ecosystems. Then they headed over to be taught by our sixth grade "Green Experts". I know that in a blink of an eye, our Ninth Age boys will be the sixth grade leaders; how time flies!

Earth Week from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

The Next Chapter

Even in the age of iPads and Kindles, there is still a certain excitment to cracking open a brand new book. The Witches arrived today, with their shiny covers and smooth pages...but I like to make sure that the "next chapter" we are starting was not just the one in the book. I had asked the students to tackle some new projects while reading Island of the Blue Dolphins and was curious to hear their feedback. My goal is always to plan with my students in mind, and what better way to keep them in mind than by asking what was on their minds?

"Google documents were great, but frustrating (several lines could become deleted by accident by another student) when we typed a lot...maybe we can use that for vocabulary or setting, but use kid blogger for longer responses"

"We could do blog posts after reading a chapter, instead of waiting to post at the end of the book"

"Instead of reviewing a chapter for homework, I liked when we could draw a picture of what we read during class "

"I liked the collaborative chapter reviews, sometimes I write slower, so I have ideas that I never get to write down."

While I was digesting their feedback, I caught several students trying to sneak a peek at our newest novel. It was clearly time to crack open the books and start a new chapter. The collage below is the students sketching the opening scene in the novel.

The Lorax

The Ninth Age boys met today for a reading of the Lorax. Tomorrow they will be working on their Green Week compositions, which make connections between this fictional story and our

real-life sustainability efforts.

The Lorax from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Reading Class Bloggers

Many reading students are editing their kidblog posts on Karana's next adventure. Here are a few more of our recent completions. Terrific job, writers!

B.R.'s Post

C.N.'s Post

T.H.'s Post

Editing Pearltrees for Final Project

On Thursday, the boys collaborated to create each biome's Pearl Tree and to add pearls (which represent websites) to their trees. The boys did a terrific job sharing ideas and locating informative websites!

Here is the Ninth Age Pearltree so far:

Earth Day Investigation

After learning that the average person creates 4.4 pounds of trash a day, we decided to investigate the amount of trash 9-1 creates at lunchtime. We weighed a student, then re-weighed him while he held the bag of trash.

We created 4 pounds of trash on Friday. We then discussed ways we could reduce our trash amount, especially items that cannot decompose, like styrofoam.

Terrific job, gentlemen!

Earth Day Birthday!

We celebrated an "Earth Day Birthday" on Friday at school. His donuts were filled with "earth" treats.

Happy Birthday!!

Preparing for Earth Week

The Ninth Age is turning green for next week. We spent some time today learning about different ways we can help the planet using the virtual activity site: "Garbology" Tomorrow we will be examining some of our practices at school which can help the planet.

Edmodo Collaboration

We are busy working on our Edmodo accounts for our final project. The students have selected their top three biomes to research and will be finding out today which one has been assigned. The 9-1 boys learned how to register and take the quiz for Edmodo first, so they helped out 9-A with their registration and quiz taking. Here is a quick glimpse into their collaborative efforts!

Kid Blog

The students are working with Kid Blog in reading class to create blog posts after completing Island of the Blue Dolphins. The students wrote posts about the "next chapter" of Karana's life. Click here for the first completed post!  

Here is a short video of our work.

Calvert Kitchen

March Reading Madness

arch Reading Madness has had our students busily reading throughout the month. Several students read two specific novels which allowed them to be eligible for "Battle of the Books." Three 9-1 boys competed in this challenge in front of the school, and did a terrific job answering library questions and questions about the two books. Great job to all of the students who read this month. I look forward to hearing about the other books the boys read throughout the remainder of the year!  

Fraction Tiles

e have begun to work with equivalent fractions in math class, so we spent some time manipulating fraction tiles to gain a better understanding of this concept.

Ice Cream Sundae Debate

fter learning about why ice cream sundaes are called "sundaes" and debating the creator of the very first sundae, we wrote our composition and then experienced the discussion first hand...

 

Oyster Composition

The boys have been working on their Oyster composition, learning about the history of pearls and pearl cultivation. We "dug" into the topic a bit more, opening real oysters to reveal pearls inside!

Oyster Project from Ms. Gentry on Vimeo.

Math Resources

 will be adding some technology resources for Ninth Age math students on the left column of my blog. Here is an example of one of the fraction sites!

Earth Day is Coming!

heck out the Earth Day brochure below to have a sneak peek into our Earth Day activities.

Cave Art Research

In reading class we have spent time researching cave art after learning more about it during our reading of Island of the Blue Dolphins. 

Recess with our Buddies

Thanks to the warmer weather, we have been able to spend some time with our Sixth Age buddies on the playground. Here is a quick video of their interactions. The boys did a tremendous job monitoring their playing style to match the abilities of the Sixth Agers, as well as to include them in all of the fun!

Geography Unit on Asia Continues

We have almost completed our entire wall map of Asia, there are only a few pieces of tape left! The boys have also finished web-researching their chosen Asian countries.

Below is a video of their geography activities.

Geography Unit on Asia

Today we had Ms. Hannah visit us to talk about her trip to Asia last summer. Below is the wonderful iMovie she made of pictures and videos from her visit.

Thank you for sharing your experience, Ms. Hannah!

Student Blogger

In P.E. we started lacrosse. We can not start games yet since some people still need to learn!

Math Class Input Output Tables

In class today we spent more time working with input and output tables. We began by reading "Two of Everything" to extend the idea of input-rule-output. Feel free to read the fable below and then check out some of the students "Magic Pot" creations!

Final Pi Day Activities

The 9th and 10th Age students were challenged with memorizing the first 10 digits of Pi. If over 100 students accomplished this task, the top memorizers would toss a "Pi-E" at our lower school headmaster. The students went above and beyond, with 130 students memorizing 10 or more digits. All of the classes had fun watching the Pi-E tossing yesterday!

Additional kudos goes out to our class's top Pi memorizer! Way to go!
Enjoy the two videos of our final Pi Day events.

Google Documents

We have continued to work with our Google Document in reading class. Below is a video of the students working together to edit it. The students also used the "chat" feature of the document to determine which vocabulary words each pair was locating. Terrific work!

Pi Day

We had several exciting Pi Day activities for March 14th (3.14). Here is a video of some of the activities completed in math class. We made bracelets identifying the digits of Pi and used compasses to identify the relationship between the diameter of a circle, Pi, and the circle's circumference. Today brings our final activities, check back later for more!

Socrates Presentation

What is the difference between knowing and believing?

Is it better to know that you do not know, or to know that you know, even if you do not know?

These tricky questions were part of our wonderful Socrates Presentation given by a Goucher Professor. We really appreciate his thoughful words, and look forward to asking open-ended questions to become philosophers (lovers of knowlege) in our daily lives. Below are some of our Socratic musings, as well as a thank you for our special guest.

Egg Drop Project

The students have completed their egg drop challenge. The first step involved building a shoe box creation to prevent an egg from breaking after a fall from the balcony in the girls' gym. Then the boys began work on a Pivot digital animation depicting their building process and the egg's fall. Here is a short video documenting the egg drop and some of the first stages of the Pivot creations. Great job, gentlemen!

Geography Asia Unit

Today we spent time on the National Geographic Interactive Map Maker site to introduce Asia, our March continent. We also worked together on making a GIANT map of Asia together (using Map Maker). We have completed the first 2 rows, with 5 more rows to go. I'll post a picture as soon as we finish!

Student Blogger

One of the compositions that we have finished writing is A Letter to Roxanna, Alexander the Great's wife. Another composition that we are doing is writing about Giant Pandas.The last composition we are doing is talking about the egg drop on the girls' gym balcony. Sadly, my egg did not survive. After the great big Egg Drop,we had science. Science is one of my favorite subjects. After science, we have recess.

Iditarod Sled Race

We are following the Iditarod Race Online in reading class this week as well as reading Akiak, the tale of a brave sled dog during the Iditarod race. Each student is cheering for a musher and his or her team to arrive in Nome safely!

 

Digital Citizenship "Think Before You Type"

We spent time today discussing digital citizenship. We determined that there are certain rules, "netiquette", which we should always follow online. We created our classroom's digital citizenship rules, displayed in the wordle to the right, then wrote them on the Educreation applications on the ipad to make this short video.

Please take the time to review these at home with your son.

Fly Prezi Presentations

In preparation for our "When I was a Fly" composition, the boys took photographs of three places that they would visit during their fly travels. The boys then uploaded the pictures and created Prezi presentations, mimicking the flight of the fly. We will begin presenting these Prezis in class this week.  Below are the first three presentations of the week.
Terrific job, gentlemen!