Days 15 & 16

We are extremely excited to celebrate the hard work and growth mindset of the students this week!  Yesterday in our assembly, we discussed the value of teamwork when facing challenges.  We connected all of the "Olympic" rings that the students earned over the course of the program and were able to make a chain that encircles the entire gym!  It's amazing to see how much we can do when we connect with each other!

To add to the excitement, we are having our annual Summer Scholastic Book Fair this week.  The gym has been transformed!

Each class will be visiting our book fair this week so that students can choose just-right books to continue their summer reading after the program ends Friday.  These books are provided to ESA students courtesy of the Captain, Glenridge, and Meramec PTOs.  We will be open to the public Wednesday after school, if families would like to purchase books.  All sales are buy-one-get-one free.
Summer reading is crucial to preventing summer learning loss.  Here is the clip we watched from Dav Pilkey in our assembly yesterday:

We are hopeful that students can find some fun, just-right reading at our book fair and continue daily reading throughout July and August.

Day 15

One of the great ways student can build their mindset is through exploration and creativity.  Our fourth grade teachers gave their class this opportunity by having some "Makerspace" time in their classroom.  What is a Makerspace?  Glad you asked:

This week they used Bloxels, which is a video game creation platform for kids.  The students create scenes on a physical board and then try them out on the iPad Minis. Things don't always work the way they imagine, which is where the problem solving and mindset come into play.  Then in math and reading classes, teachers refer to Makerspace time when students struggle and remind them about how flexibility and persistence were integral to that work just like in our everyday school work.  Here are some fourth graders using Bloxels during their Makerspace time.:

Have fun, be creative, explore, and enjoy a great weekend!

Day 14

We often say to our students, "Reading is thinking."  It's true.  Consider all of the thinking that happens when you read:

• visualizing the setting
• predicting what might happen next
• evaluating character traits
• making connections with the events of a story
• wondering about the meaning of a word

and the list goes on.

Encouraging this thinking as you read with your child is easy to do.  Talk about the story together.  Sometimes we also write about our thinking when we are reading to help us remember important ideas or maybe because we are reading a textbook with valuable information that we will need.  At school, we jot notes to ourselves on sticky-notes and place them in our books.  This helps us when we talk about our reading with our peers and teachers.  Here are some students in action:

Day 13

You may have noticed on your child's ESA newsletter that teachers are recommending math games you can play with your child at home.  We are often inundated by information pointing to the  importance reading with our children, but are unsure of what daily practices will support them as budding mathematicians.  Look no further than games!  

Playing math games can accomplish the following (from Why Play Math Games? by Kitty Rutherford, NCTM 2015):

• encouraging strategic thinking so students develop a wide variety of strategies for problem solving
• increasing computational fluency
• opportunities for practicing skills
• developing comfort with numbers and using number systems
• building relationships with your children with time spent playing together

Lastly, a major benefit of playing math games with your child is celebrating a love of mathematics!  You can read more about how crucial this is in this article: Instill a Love of Math.

For ideas about games to play with your children, check out the ESA newsletter that is mailed to your home, ask your child, or ask their teacher.  Have fun playing together!  I'll leave you with some of our second graders playing Subtraction Bowling:

Day 12

Today we're featuring some students using non-fiction reading skills.  Non-fiction can be a fun genre for summer.  Students can read biographies of inspiring people, learn how to do something they've always wanted to try, or dig deeper into a passion they've developed.

Today, some of our students were reading an Origami book with one of our reading teachers and used what they learned to create their own Origami.  Talk about persistence!

Students in our English Language class were writing stories this morning and using another type of non-fiction: reference books.  This morning's lesson was on synonyms and they used the thesaurus to look up synonyms of words they were using in their writing.  Here they are working on their stories:

What non-fiction are you reading this summer?

Day 11

Today in our assembly, we focused on another aspect of having a growth mindset: gratitude.  First, we learned a little about what gratitude is and why it's good for our brains by watching the following video, "The Amazing Effects of Gratitude."

Then we practiced having gratitude by learning a routine I use in my classroom called a "Gratitude Circle."  When you have a Gratitude Circle, everyone thinks of one specific and recent thing for which they are grateful (this morning I'm grateful my husband cleaned our bathrooms yesterday), then everyone stands in a circle, each person shares their gratitude as you go around the circle one by one, and we always finish with a "Power Clap."  You'll have you ask your child how that works.  :)

Here are some of our Gratitude Circles in action:

What are you grateful for today?

Days 9 & 10

Today marks the halfway point of our summer academy, and the students are all so engaged in meaningful learning.  For example, today in our assembly we heard stories from four students willing to share their mindset stories.

The first came from a first grader who was working with her reading specialist on the word "do."  She mentioned that "do" is her favorite word.  When asked why, she responded, "because you can DO anything!"  The students in the audience were able to identify her optimistic mindset.  Aren't challenges easier to handle when you remind yourself you can do anything?

The second story we heard came from a second grader who encountered a disappointing schedule change earlier in the week.  Instead of allowing this change to destroy his opportunity to make the most of his day, he used it to his advantage and worked productively on his reading and math with success.  The kids pointed out his flexibility and resilience right away.  He was beaming!

The final story came from two of our third graders.  They read a book about Helen Keller and created a character map for her.  They realized that Helen Keller really showed a growth mindset in her life, so their map was organized with bubbles for each of the five mindsets we've been studying (optimism, persistence, flexibility, resilience, empathy) and details from the story that fit these traits.  The students in the audience commented on the girls' flexibility in thinking!  

We can't wait to hear about all of the growth and successes we make next week!  We hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!