The Multiple Intelligence Classroom

Over recent decades, the idea of multiple intelligences has gained credibility within the field of education. Multiple Intelligence theory was developed by Howard Gardiner. Prior to this, many people thought that the only ways people could be 'smart' were through math or language based skills. Opposed to this old school thinking, Multiple Intelligence theory suggests there are multiple ways people can be smart. Currently, according to Gardiner's theory, there are 9 intelligences, including:





This afternoon in our classroom, during inquiry/student directed learning, I looked around and noticed something..... among our group of 11 students, I could easily observe at least 6 intelligences occurring through various activities. I was impressed with how naturally our students seemed to gravitate towards activities that suit their abilities and interests as well as how students often seemed very attuned to activities and opportunities that are beneficial to them at any given moment. For example, Khayden had been having a bit of a tough day and opted to spend some time on his own, rather than joining his peers. He naturally knew what would help him to feel better and gravitated to that activity. 

Please check out our pictures representing some of the multiple intelligences we observed :) 

Owen loves making and listening to music (musical)

Lucas, Tommy and Nathan at the science inquiry station (naturalist and mathematical/logical) 

Khayden spending some down time (Intrapersonal)

Dorian, Bhagya, Madison and Lucas creating our school banner for Special Olympics (visual spatial, interpersonal)

Rainbow Density Science!

We are learning about density in science. What is density? Students explored the concept of density by examining two same sized buckets that were filled with different things. One bucket was filled with paper towels and the other was filled with modelling clay. We asked how the clay bucket could be so much heavier, since both buckets were the same size and both filled. We discovered that it was heavier because it was more 'dense'. We said that when something is dense, it means that it has 'lots of stuff in it'. After that, we used sugar water to demonstrate density and to see it in action. 
We took 4 cups and filled each one with the same amount of water but different amounts of sugar. We then coloured each with a different colour of food colouring. Finally, we layered our sugar water, starting with the one with the most sugar because it's the most dense.  We were amazed at how our rainbow was created and thought it looked awesome! Check out our experiment in the pictures!

Dem Bones.... Bodies and Bones in FSP2

A few weeks ago, Lucas asked a question when we were getting ready for yoga. He felt a bump on his ankle and asked, ‘What is this thing?” Mrs. Morgan explained that it was an ankle bone, which Lucas thought was pretty cool. After that, students had many more questions about bones.... How many do we have? What do they do? What if they break?  We decided to get on our computer and find some answers. .....

As a teacher, it is always so fantastic to witness the excitement students display when seeking information that they are truly invested in.  This year, so many of my science lessons have been able to take a much more engaging, meaningful and dynamic direction because of student interests and inquiry. Of course, as teachers, we need to plan in order to cover certain concepts and curriculum, but it is amazing to me just how much more authentic and alive our learning becomes when we invite student voice and direction into our teaching and learning.  I’ve included just a few pictures of our students creating their own skeletons, which was a ton of fun! Our next steps will include inquiry into student generated questions about bodies, bones and organs. Stay tuned!

January in FSP2

Well, we made it through January! Our classroom team was actually surprised at how well the transition back into class went, following the Christmas Break! During the month, we engaged in a ton of learning and inquiry....
In gym, we discovered that we all LOVE hockey! We spent every gym class practicing our skills and finally moved towards some actual games. In February, we will begin a unit in dance. We're looking forward to seeing everyone's moves!
In science, we discovered that many of us are interested in learning about bones and skeletons and systems of the body. We will be exploring these interests over the next few weeks.
In literacy, we have been working together to produce media texts such as posters, videos and games relating to our Eco Schools project. We have also been developing our computer skills on our new Chromebooks!! This is super exciting!!
In visual art, we explored the concept of line. We created lines with coloured tape, with paper, plastic and finally, with spaghetti.

Over the next few weeks, we will be focusing on friendships and relationships with others and on how we can be a good friend as well as on how we can be good to ourselves. We will be practicing and learning a song about helping and being helped by others.... Once we have it polished, expect a video of us performing it!! Stay tuned!

Eco Schools Media Project

Group Work,

By;Jordan Taylor.

 
Sometimes group working can be hard because everybody always has something to say yet everyone’s ideas are very important to share now everybody has their own opinion ,but that dosent mean that their not important just because you don’t like them.

Everyone’s different in their own unique way, but you can’t blame them because they were born that way

So... Please Try Your Best To Let Other’s Know  What It Means, Cause We’ re With You!

Jordan was asked to write about the difficulties of collaborating with others and doing group work.   Jordan’s writing was independent and unedited. She asked for help in finding the apostrophe for words indicating possession, ie everybody’s ideas. Next steps will include brainstorming concrete ways we can make group work a positive for everyone.

 Eco Schools Group Work

We began working on our Eco Schools media projects today. Students reviewed data regarding what we are already doing well at our school. We referred to our graph and could see that we are doing really well recycling and using both sides of the paper when we print or copy but that we need to remember off turn off computers and work harder to bring lunches that are litterless.

Today we brainstormed ideas and talked about whether we would like to make posters or create a short movie to get our Eco Schools campaign communicated around the school. Our next step will be to draft our planned projects. Stay tuned!

Science in the Classroom with "So Much Snow"

Today, we investigated different ways to melt ice and snow. We have been reading the book, So Much Snow, by Robert Munsch. Our favourite part is when Jasmine, the main character, gets so cold that she freezes into ice! Someone comes and tickles her chin and she begins to laugh so hard that the ice cracks and she begins to warm up :)
For our experiment, we made 3 pictures of the main character and placed each one into some water. We froze the water to make ice blocks and then collected the following: a hair dryer, salt and a tub of water. After rereading our book, we talked about our favourite ways to warm up and we made some predictions about what would melt the ice the fastest.  Cameron predicted salt would be fastest, Patrick and Bhagya predicted water would be the winner, while Tommy, Lucas, Jordan, Nathan and Owen thought the hair dryer would melt the ice the fastest.  We had a blast watching the melting and in the end, the water was the winner! We had a few friends suggest that drinking hot chocolate is a great way to warm up in winter.... we might just have to have a hot chocolate party in our classroom soon!

Welcome to our blog!!!

Welcome to our class blog! We are just beginning to think about what we will include and share. We spent Wednesday afternoon talking about and experimenting with the design as well as our title. There will be many changes coming soon, so be sure to check back often!