Day: November 29, 2023

MACC TED Talks — Theme of “PASSION”

Hi Everyone!

We will be creating our own TED TALKS under the theme of “Passion” over the next month!

In preparation for this, begin brainstorming ideas about a passion you have that you feel you would like to share with others.

Also, begin watching some TED Talk examples, with live people versus animations, to get ideas about what a TED Talk is. This way, we can discuss it in class when we are together. Here are some possible options that are kid-friendly:

Ted Talks By Kids For Kids

Ted Talks to Watch With Kids

Be thinking of:

  • What makes a good TED Talk?
  • What will your key problem, question, or topic sentence be to start your talk?
  • What evidence will you use to prove your point?
  • Is your topic too big for two minutes? Too small?
  • Are you passionate about your topic?
  • Could you talk about anything you like to do?
  • Could you show us anything from home that is important to you?
  • Will you need to do any research to find out about your topic?
  • Have you thought about what other people who might disagree with you will think? How will you change their minds?

Right now, all you need to do is watch a TED Talk and begin brainstorming ideas. I will let you know of next steps as we are ready.

As we create our speeches, we will be focusing on strong paragraphs, descriptive and persuasive vocabulary, avoiding run-on sentences, and public-speaking techniques. The TED Talk speeches will be given in January, but by the time we go to Winter Break, we will have a very rough draft ready, so we will be ready to refine it when we get back. The speech will be five paragraphs in length. I will be sharing the rubric for performance with you in class.

I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Thank you!

New Unit Term 2 December to January: Our Human Creations

Hello Everyone!

Now that we have finished our first unit on SYSTEMS, we are moving on to discussing the concepts of CREATIVITY and CHANGE!

UNIT TITLE:  Our Human Creations, Running Mid-November to Mid-January

CONCEPTS:  Change and Creativity

Unit Focus Statement: We use creativity and knowledge together to make innovations that change our world.

An Inquiry Into:

  • Our learning and use of creative thinking or creativity
  • The design process and being a “maker”
  • The impact of technology on humans over time
  • Scientific forces and mathematical thinking behind our creations
  • How innovations make change
  • Change in our lives, perspectives, thinking, and abilities
  • Indigenous technologies and their connection to us
  • How we can share our creative thinking with one another and the community

Some of the Specific Topics Covered In:

All of this is subject to change or additions as we go, as needed for time and the direction students take it!

Science: Simple machines, Work, Center of Gravity, Technology, Early Indigenous Tools, Deciding which machine has had the greatest benefit/use, making catapults, creating hydraulic devices, Rube Goldberg devices
Socials:  Technology and Society — Positive and Negative Impacts, History of Technology, Timelines, Critical Thinking About Our Technology Use, Creation of a Timeline, Debate on Technology
Math:  Deeper Conversations around multiplication and division, Use of scientific formulas from physics around work and rate/distance/time, Basic Variables/Algebra, Area/Perimeter, Tiny House Creation, Math Used in Creating Buildings/Skyscrapers through the book “You Do the Math: Skyscrapers”
Language Arts: Ted Talks, Creative Writing, Careful editing, use of non-fiction features in books to do research, organizing notes for research, using key words for internet searches
Applied Design: Hour of Code, Design Process steps used in the creation of catapults, Alternative Use Tests of Creativity, “Perfect Square” structures, as well as further discussions around how creative thinking can be observed, learned, or measured.
French: Selection of one French-speaking country other than France and looking at history of how it came to have French-speaking peoples. Use of French Games. net for French Vocabulary on Greetings and Other Basics
Arts:  Maker Projects, Creative-Thinking Challenges, and continued talk about elements and principles of art.
Physical Education and Health: Brainstorming together creative options for cooperative play on the playground. Further Social Thinking discussions. Creating our own games for outside play to share.