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.