Science Fair 2016!

The Bradley Creek science fair, open to all 3rd-5th graders, will take place on Friday, January 8, 2016.  Information about the school fair and how to register will be sent home shortly.  For a sneak peak, on the letter coming home, click here.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

Stay tuned for more information and updates!

Think Lab!

Woo hoo! 1st and 2nd grade students began THINK LAB this week!

Think Lab provides an extension to the activities we do in our whole group nurturing lessons.  (To learn more about whole group lessons and the K-2 nurturing program, click here :-)  EVERY K-2 student has the opportunity to participate in Think Lab. Classrooms are divided in half and the two small groups visit the Think Lab on different days.

During Think Lab students play nonverbal games that enrich the higher order thinking skills we've been working on in class.  This session of Think Lab focuses on convergent thinking or Dudley the Detective.  Dudley the Detective teaches us how to analyze the clues to reach one correct answer.

In whole group nurturing lessons, students learn to organize clues and eliminate options to reach the one correct answer.  During Think Lab, students practice these skills with hands-on games.

Some of the games we play include Sudoku . . . 

Castle Logic . . . 

Rush Hour . . . 

And many more! 

Check out one of our 5th grade mentors assisting below :-)

Be sure to ask your 1st or 2nd grader what they are working on in Think Lab!  Students will participate this week and all of next!  Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks for checking in to the BC AIG blog!

Kindergarten News!

The K-2 AIG program is designed to help students develop higher order thinking skills. 

Students are introduced to Dudley the Detective, Yolanda the Yarnspinner, Isabel the Inventor, Max the Magician, Sybil the Scientist,and Jordan the Judge. Each character represents a higher order thinking skill used in his or her job. Each character guides students series of activities to introduce and reinforce their type of thinking. 

In the first nine weeks, students met Isabel the Inventor (Divergent Thinking).  She helps us to use our imagination to see ordinary things in new ways.

Below you will see our "Brainfocals!"  When use these special glasses to help us see ordinary things in new ways!

  

After reading Not a Stick, by Antoinette Portis, students used their imagination to brainstorm new uses for this everyday object.

 a swingset

 a unicorn

a  straw

the letter "e" for Edwin

Students also turned ordinary bubbles into extraordinary creations and used polygons to devise an invention that could move and help people.  Be sure to ask your child about the Isabel the Inventor projects we are working on in class! 

To learn more about the K-2 nurturing program, visit the BC AIG web site here. :-)