Wizards Updates

Sending along some happy news from the Wizards to share our learning, school spirit, kindness, and the recent snow.  Wishing you all a very happy and safe winter vacation! 

Cultivating Pathways to Sustainability

We took some time recently for kids to dig into the Sustainable Development Goals so that they would have a better understanding of them.  They then worked in groups to research a specific goal along with its targets and action steps toward achieving said goal.  Groups then had to create "graffiti walls" to present their research to the whole team.  Our Up For Learning partners brought student leaders from Harwood to help facilitate our most recent workshop related to identifying strengths of CBMS and opportunities for change. 

Ella and Jeswin were former Wizards so it was a treat to see them leading current Wizards toward activism. :) 

Strengths & Opportunites

Graffiti Goals 

This past Friday we met with our Up for Learning partners again and worked on activities to try to narrow down the students' areas of interest for projects and find commonalities. 

Sprit Day Pictures: Twin or Multiples Day & Team color day

Go TEAM PURPLE! 

Language Arts

We are finishing up our Informational Reading unit. Kids have gained quite a bit of knowledge about human impact on climate change and the planet. We have also explored the ways in which we can make a difference each day and have read about how both scientists and activists are finding ways to combat the problems as well! 

Last week "Chef Michele" hosted a Reader's Cafe so that students could "taste" the book options for our next unit.  When we return from the break we will begin Dystopian Fiction book groups.  As an introduction to the genre, we will be watching the movie The Giver on the day before the break. The movie is rated PG-13 so if you do not want your child to watch it with us, please email Ms. Michael directly and we will figure out an alternative for them.  Here is the link to Common Sense Media in case you want more information about the movie.

 

Matter

Students are busy finishing their final project where they get to choose an investigation that we did over the course of the unit and create a model that explains what is happening.  

We investigated what happens when you heat and cool a gas

We made "thermometers" that could be used to see what happens when you heat and cool a liquid and to explain how some thermometers work

We made observations about the movement and speed of atoms in hot versus cold liquid

Early Humans

Students participated in hunting and gathering games. They also tried to make tools from resources found in nature. I think they have a better appreciation for how difficult survival was for our ancestors.:)

Math

We are wrapping up our study of ratios with some large problems.  Students problem solved to determine how much money you'd have to save on gas to make up for the increased cost of a hybrid vehicle.  We were all very surprised at the number of years and this lead to a discussion about what changes need to happen to that hybrid and electric cars are the more affordable option.  Students persevered on this problem over the course of 4 days!

A special sleigh delivery from Sally

We had a special visit from Sally Merrifield, one of the original Wizard educators.  When she worked on our team, she always made candy sleighs for the kids.  She was a model of kindness and generosity last Friday when she handed out a sleigh to each student despite having retired in 2018.

The kids having a blast in the snow