Session 5: Year 5 - Week 21 In Review
Session 5 is full of experiences
Check out this week’s updates below…
spark studio
What in the world made dinosaurs go extinct?
It’s an uprising in the studio, and stories are coming to life as we dig deeper into the how and why. What if it was tiny volcanoes all over the world erupting from the earth’s core … the earth started quaking, causing a disturbance everywhere. The sky turned gray, the land began to divide, and trees were uprooted, leading to the entrapment of the dinosaurs as they became entangled in limbs, roots, and lava.
After it was all over the land separated, bigger volcanoes formed in various places worldwide, and the dinosaurs were gone. Where did they go? Who survived? Who was the first human to discover the existence of dinosaurs? This is just a short version of the many thoughts that arise during our launch discussions. We can’t wait to hear how this tale ends.
The weather has played a significant role in our studies this week. We started with clouds and ended up in the rain. We embraced a new song to help us remember the water cycle and then took the challenge to make it rain in the studio. There were snowstorms, thunderstorms, light rain, and even purple rain brewing. We ventured outside to take a look at the clouds to determine the weather for the day, and guess what? There was not a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful day. We celebrated The Lunar New Year with a fun dragon parade throughout each studio, wishing our friends wealth and good fortune. Cheers to a fresh start! 新年快樂
Upcoming Events:
Friday, February 3: Field trip to Fernbank
Tuesday, February 14: Valentine’s Day Tea Party (details will be forthcoming)
Wednesday, February 15: Exhibition“Always be yourself unless you can be a dinosaur, then be a dinosaur.
We can’t wait to let the world hear us ROAR!!!
elementary studio
What do Ninja Turtles and Forest School Heroes have in common? The Renaissance period, of course.
During Civilization, Heroes learned all about Renaissance thinkers, explorers, artists, and inventors. Our learners stepped into the shoes of each, and created a mural like the Sistine Chapel, created globes on oranges, experimented with magnets to make a working compass, and created their very own utopian communities! Who knew the Renaissance could be so fun!
As Heroes thought about their own utopian society, Lower Elementary voted on council members, while Upper Elementary focused on new goal-setting ideas and Freedom Levels. It's amazing to see young people come together to create civil societies amongst themselves.
Our Jurassic World Quest had Heroes wearing their paleontologist hats as they dated fossils using stratigraphy (study of rock layers). We then moved on to decomposition and how fossils are formed. Did you know only 1% of prehistoric animals are actually fossilized? Wow!
We closed out StoryArts this week by wrapping up our writers’ room scripts. I wonder how many Heroes included dinosaurs or ninja turtles in their scripts. We've got some imaginative storytellers on our hands and can't wait to see their final product! Enjoy the weekend!
middle school studio
Alone we can do so much, but together, we can do so much.
This week began with a lot of team-building! Teamwork has been a huge success this week. Learners are learning how to lead their peers, learn from mistakes, submit their best work, and help each other out along the way. This week, many Liberating Structures were used to have all Heroes have their voices heard! We can't tell you how much value this added to the studio!
For Quest, Learners got to continue their Quest journey at the town of Trilith. Learners learned about what a Stakeholder is and what benefits they bring to a business during their Seedify Quest. They had a challenge about Value Proposition and its benefits in relation to their community and city gardens. During this process, they got to work closer to High School and understand and ask excellent questions to the Trilith residents. In addition, Heroes gained a better understanding of how to budget on a macro scale and the value of a budget for their community gardens.
For Story Arts, Heroes got to get into groups to write their own tv episodes. The storyline they decided on was very sci-fi and creative. The Heroes are very excited to bring this story to life. Looking forward, Heroes will receive professional feedback during the Live Event on February 13, 2023.
Silent Core Skills has been very helpful for them as well. Learners have been at least getting 1% in Khan and 2-3 No RED Ink topics. Their progress is very compelling, and they have seen amazing changes over a short period of time.
Flipping the script is on a role! There are three weeks left in this session, and the learners are excited to work alongside the High schoolers to make for a great Exhibition!
high school studio
What an amazing Friday, our Heroes went back into history with Civilization!
Our students experienced researching an abundance of historical events, and for some, the first time ever! They learned about the beginnings of America and how they fit into it today. In their research, they learned a plethora of unfortunate things occurring in our nation's government that directly and negatively affect certain groups only and how they can be a part of the solution and not the problem in the future.
Also, we had an expert come in for Story Arts again, our very own Ms. Q. from lower elementary! She came in, provided our Heroes with a scriptwriting platform for free, and walked our Heroes through each element of scriptwriting. They loved every min of it!
Those are just some of the highlights of the week. The next three weeks will go full throttle. We are on our way to Exhibition and have a ton to share so we will be preparing like madmen to ensure the best display thus far!