November/ December

Systems: We moved from the crime scene to the forensics lab as students looked at how evidence is processed. We studied DNA and its role in the justice system. Our analysts also used ink chromatography and chemical property lab tests to solve the “Case of the Dognapping” and the “Case of the Crummy Cake”.

Our next systems stop was the courtroom and how evidence is presented in trial. We spent time researching the elements of the courtroom and the progression of trials. Students made some excellent presentations to share with the class and we finished with playing the role of opposing attorneys in the Make Your Case game. Use this link to play at home! http://www.scholastic.com/americanjustice/makeyourcase/

Our culminating activity was solving the case of The Case of the Teachernapping" where I got to play to role of my twin for the day and help students use what they have learned to solve the mystery of my disappearance.

Critical and Creative Thinking: This month students practiced reasoning strategies by using clues to complete matrix logic puzzles. They used the given information to make one and two step deductions in order to find or eliminate matches between the puzzle categories.

Habits of Mind: Our main Habit of Mind focus has been on gathering data. Students used crime scene observations to consider the distinction between evidence and inference and the role of both when investigating. We also practiced metacognition as we set goals and reflected on our learning so far this year. We also practiced flexible thing and persisting with the Set Daily Puzzle, Mastermind, and Tangrams.

M^3 (Mentoring Mathematical Minds) Digging for Data: In math we continued in our data unit and worked on creating line plots and using them to find the median, mode, and range of the set. Students have used our Nearpod software to do some self-paced practice and build their math vocabulary.

Courthouse Field Study

We had a great time watching the judicial process and interacting with professionals in the field.  Our students were the best around and we even had a few stand in as jurors in the trial!  Thanks to our wonderful chaperones for accompanying us!

October

Systems: This month our CSI focus has been on questioning and eye witness accounts. Students participated in various activities geared toward understanding quality questions in interrogation, the often unreliable nature of eyewitness testimony, and the power of close observation. Students witnessed a theft in our own classroom and used what we learned about composite sketches to make a drawing of the perpetrator. We then looked at some online activities testing their powers of observation and helping them match the suspect with the crime. Try them for yourself!

Art of Crime Detection

Perp Walk

Face Memory

We also used our time to do research into forensic science and the order of events when a crime scene is processed. Students learned about Locard's Principle that criminals always take a trace of something with them and leave a trace of something behind at a crime scene. They also learned about collecting that evidence and how it gets from the crime scene to the courtroom.

Critical and Creative Thinking: Our brain stretch focus has been on word analogies as we built vocabulary and looked for relationships between ideas. Students practiced writing bridge sentences to test for a consistent link between terms.

Try this one for yourself: tornado : scary :: ALERT: _________

A. boring
B. dull
C. green
D. FUN!

We also carried over into figural analogies where they had to apply relationship thinking to compare images.

Habits of Mind: Our main Habit of Mind focus has been on Managing Impulsivity. We read the book Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein and discussed it as a non-example of managing impulsivity, thinking before acting, and using your brain to manage your body. 

We also paired the skill of Gathering Data Through All Senses with our CSI theme to talk about qualitative and quantitative observations and the difference between observations and inferences. 

M^3 (Mentoring Mathematical Minds) Digging for Data: Students were introduced to the term rate and collected data based on their rate of completing some chosen activities. They used this data to ponder the question "what is typical?"

I did a terrible job of taking pictures. Sorry!

CSI Field Study

We had so much fun on our CSI field study with the Richland County Sheriff's Department!  Students were able to learn about tools and processes for crime scene reconstruction including fingerprinting, footwear impression molding, evidence documenting and collection, and DNA.  I know this experience helped students gain a deeper understanding of our year-long systems theme.

Thanks to Ms. Bates for most of the photos!

September

A big THANK YOU to all my wonderful students for making the first month of ALERT a success! Here are some highlights of what we were working on in September.

Systems: Students were introduced to this year's theme of Systems and became familiar with system parts and how these parts interact. (Input, Output, Boundary, Elements) They used these terms and concepts to identify and label systems they come in contact with everyday and to create a list of generalizations that can be made about systems.

• Systems have parts that work together to create a whole.
• Systems interact.
• Parts of systems are interdependent and rely upon one another.
• A system may be influenced by another system.

We are highlighting our study of systems by looking at forensics and crime scene investigation. Students began their study by looking at fingerprint evidence and handwriting analysis.

Critical Thinking: Using the Children's Guide to Critical Thinking, the three types of thinkers were introduced. Students learned about Selfish Sam, Naive Nancy, and Fair-minded Fran. Using these characters as a conversation starter, we began to look at the importance of being a critical thinker, and traits that critical thinkers have.

Creative Thinking: Students have gotten familiar with our mascots of creativity, the Nerds! We use these particular mascots because no two are alike, they are colorful, fruity, and fun- just like creative thinking! Students explored our creative side by discussing and demonstrating the four keys to creative thinking. We began by taking a simple figure, looking at it from various perspectives (flexible thinking), brainstorming what it could become (fluency of ideas), choosing the idea like no one else's (originality), and filling in the details of our picture (elaboration)! These creative pieces became the covers of our ALERT binders reminding us to "think outside the box"!

Habits of Mind: Art Costa's Habits of Mind represent 16 traits that successful people can use when faced with a problem. Throughout the year, we will be focusing on building these individual traits in students. As an introduction, students looked at the habits collectively and became familiar with them playing our Habits of Mind matching game.

Morphic Thinking: We kicked off our Morphic Thinking morning routine where students warm-up with a spontaneous problem and boundary breaker. We will be including these weekly. A spontaneous problem is a brainstorming type problem to be solved in a specific amount of time and scored according to the number and creativity of responses generated. The point is to challenge students to be flexible thinkers, to elaborate on original ideas and to think fluently and creatively about a specific topic. A boundary breaker is a group experience which works toward creating a sense of community. Students gain an awareness of and respect for the opinion of others by the use of questions that go beyond superficial depth and have no right/wrong answers.

M^3 (Mentoring Mathematical Minds) Digging for Data: We had our commencing Digging for Data math lessons and students looked at both their rights and obligations as we embark. This math curriculum focuses heavily on discussion, defense of one's thinking, and writing about concepts.