The second cycle of small group work will start on Monday November 16th. The team has created two groups. Each group will meet for eight to ten days. The cycle will focus on metacognition and science.
The second rotation group started with a reading comprehension activity. The weather was so nice Wednesday that we went outside to identify trees and collect leaves. The leaves are currently in the plant press. Later this year we will start a herbarium and construct a dichotomous tree identification key.
We have also (0f course) spent a day doing origami. Being new to MLES, I started this first cycle by asking the students what they liked about last year's Book Club. That was easy. Next, we looked at what students learned in book clubs and categorized that information. That was more difficult. Some teams grouped answers and created a title to fit. Other teams create a bunch of titles and went looking for group members.
What was more important, recalling or evaluating? ("Recalling because you can not evaluate if you can not recall.") How/why do we determine hierarchy ? Is there more than one right answer? Next we did a few fun readings designed to highlight point of view, making predictions, making inferences, and other reading skills. My goal with these activities is not to provide answers, but to provide opportunities for students to discover and grow independently. Students created accounts on newsela.com and read non-fiction. (As an optional activity, there will be articles posted to their accounts weekly. ) Along the way we did a bit of science, and spent the last three days doing origami. The next cycle will include a completely different group of students. The third cycle with be more flexible, with numerous students being offered a chance to participate. Students meet four days a week for about 40 minutes (with the option to stay through recess on rainy days). A new cycle starts about every three weeks. Participation and focus area is subject to change with each cycle.
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