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10/24/2019

Free Maine PD Event

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​Don't Miss It!!!! Maine TOYs 2nd Annual Pop-Up PD !!!!

Sponsored by the 
Maine State Teachers of the Year Association
November 9. 2019
1-3 pm.  The  Quarry Tap Room
(Otherwise known as Hallowell’s Deepest Watering Hole) 

Open to all educators-Bring a Colleague at no charge!!!!
This year's featured guest is Dan Ryder.  Dan is the Director of the Success and Innovation Center at Mount Blue High School in Farmington, Maine.  He is the author of Intention: Critical Creativity in the Classroom, and the recipient of the 2019 MEA Teacher Prize.  Come spend the afternoon catching up  and networking, enjoying refreshments, and learning from Dan.  
Agenda:
1-1:30 ish. Purchase a beverage, eat some food provided by MSTOYA, and network with your amazing Maine Educators

1:40-2:30 ish.  Dan Ryder, a national figure in the Design Thinking World, and educator at Mt. Blue with take us through a hands-on workshop on Critical Creativity.  

2:30ish. Time to ask questions, have another beverage, eat some more food, and continue to make connections.
click here to register

​After the event, you will receive a 1 hour contact hour certificate in your email. 

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10/24/2019

Standing on the Shoulders

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Why publishing matters...even if you get it "wrong."

As we were researching the leaf insect we saw on Day 11, we came across an amazing quote from Antonio Pigafetta in his article "The First Voyage Round the World, by Magellan"  about Magellan's trip from 1519- 1522 across the globe and his an encounter with a leaf insect on an island.   
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"In this island are also found certain trees, the leaves of which, when they fall, are animated, and walk. They are like the leaves of the mulberry tree, but not so long; they have the leaf stalk short and pointed, and near the leaf stalk they have on each side two feet. If they are touched they escape, but if crushed they do not give out blood. I kept one for nine days in a box. When I opened it the leaf went round the box. I believe they live upon air."
-scholar Antonio Pigafetta (Sailing with Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigational expedition)
It seems absurd to us today, but that's because we know more about the "animated leaf" now.  I can imagine scientists reading Antonio's account of a "walking leaf" and deciding to verify the claim for themselves!  Eventually, more observations of the  peculiar leaves would have led to the discovery that they weren't leaves at all.  They were insects mimicking a leaves!
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Watching children grow and develop their understanding of the world is a lot like witnessing the scientific process in miniature again and again.   Each failed life test or misconception can broaden a child's understanding of the world.  Over time, a child's understanding of events and phenomena gains accuracy because they are blending their own prior knowledge with new information.

Publishing is powerful because it allows us to share hard-found information so that others don't have to start from scratch, they can continue to build on what is already known.  From the technology we use to the worlds we can explore, we owe our advances not only to our own efforts, but to all those who came before us.  Clearly, all those who came before did not have it all figured out, but the fact that they shared what they did know helped advance the knowledge base.  We encourage you to support your children in sharing their knowledge too.  It may not be perfect, but that's OK!  They're helping build greater understanding for themselves AND others!

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10/24/2019

Comparing Tigers

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Same or Different?

Do you think the tigers we've seen are all different tigers or are some of them the same tigers and we are seeing them again?  Here are some pictures of those tigers so that you can compare the stripe patterns and tell us what you think!  You can click through the slide show or download the photos using the buttons below.
Download Day 6 Tiger Photos
Download Day 7 Tiger Photos
Download Day 11 Tiger Photos
Download Day 12 tiger photos

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10/24/2019

Write to Laimek!

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Global Citizenship Matters

"You can't change the world, if you don't know much about it."
- Mike Soskil
Technology makes it easier than ever to help students understand and connect to the world around them.  One reason we include school visits and cultural information in our research adventures is to help students gain empathy and practice seeing someone else's point of view.   Spending time with Jan, Tu, and Laimek certainly helped me gain a greater understanding of Thai culture and enriched my life! 
If your students are interested in communicating directly with Liamek, his parents would be happy to help!  Your students got to know him a bit in the Thailand field mission videos but getting to really know him is a true joy!  He loves books, drawing, legos, and exploring with his parents.  If you wish to connect with him, just shoot us an email at Curious@Go2Science.com and we'll get you the family's email address.  

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10/23/2019

Marvelous MiStAkeS!

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Teachable moments!  Turning "Oops!" to "Oh yeah!"

It happens to all of us!  Despite our best efforts mistakes happen.  Sometimes it's a typo.  Other times it is a tech glitch or even wrong information.  The good news is that those "oh no" moments can provide awesome learning opportunities.  My classroom library, for example, had some vintage literature in it.  I loved when kids would come to me and tell me that the T-rex in a beloved dinosaur book had the wrong posture or that the book about the "First Thanksgiving" had it all wrong!  

We want to give a big shout out to Ms. Tedesco's Scientists and Mrs. A's Superheroes for calling our attention to a couple of mistakes this week AND for turning them into teachable moments!  Plus, noticing errors and reporting them is an awesome skill for any scientist.   So what did they discover?

​Ms. Tedesco's scientists found a typo in the comic. (Week 4, panel 8) Their reaction was amazing!  Ms. Tedesco said, "I loved it because we were able to do a whole writing/reading lesson in one swoop!! It was absolutely the BEST!!"  Can you spot the typo too?  We do plan to update this ASAP, so if you want to preserve a copy with the error go download it now and tuck it into your collection!
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Ms. A's Superheroes catch was a bit more complex.  They questioned the tiger card in the "What's Eating You?" game.  They asked during livestream, "If, on the predator cards, the Eld's deer is only eaten by the clouded leopard, why are they never eaten by an apex predator?"  They had good reason to question!  As an apex predator the tiger would most certainly prey on the Eld's deer!  The fact that the Eld's deer was not on the tiger card was an oversight on our part!  We've updated the card so that the Eld's deer is included.  We removed the Asian open-billed stork to make room.  While a tiger would certainly opportunistically eat a stork, the Eld's deer is much more of a "main prey item" for tigers. 

You can update your deck with the revised tiger card by clicking the button below!
Click to download a revised tiger card!
Once again hats off to Ms. Tedesco's Scientists and Mrs. A's Superheroes for their keen observation and critical thinking skills.  Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and discoveries.  The world needs your questioning and reasoning skills.  YOU ROCK!

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10/17/2019

Week 6: Vote

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This is the big one!

This is it!  Time to evaluate all the evidence we've collected and make a decision.  Based on the evidence do your students think the hypothesis is true, false, or do they need more evidence?  This is a tricky analysis because it requires students to make judgements about the importance of each type of evidence.  If you are a Bloom's Taxonomy nerd like me, this is exciting!  I love giving young students the opportunity to engage in high level thinking.

It can be challenging to think logically about so many types of data, so we've created a couple of tools to help you organize those conversations with your students.  Use them (or not!) any way you wish.  With younger students these charts can provide a structure for whole group discussions.  Older students may be able to use them to scaffold discussions with a team or partner with less direct support from you.  
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Click to download evidence evaluation pages
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Not all evidence carries the same weight.  Some evidence may be a stronger indicator than other evidence. That is very true with this mission!  For example, I think evidence that involves a tiger marking its territory is stronger evidence that the tiger is remaining in the area than a footprint or a prey item.  Using the evaluation page, your students can "weigh" the evidence and then use the "Drawing Conclusions"  page to help guide them towards their conclusions  based on their evaluation of the evidence.  Sometimes, analyzing the evidence can be anything but straight forward! 

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10/17/2019

Just Right

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Honoring your students' developmental timeline.

Mr. Rogers is one of my all time heroes.  His respect for children was profound and he really did like us just the way we were.  As a classroom teacher, his messages took on a new significance.   I wanted my students to know that I loved them just as they were and that my job was to help them be their best selves.  It can be hard to trust that process sometimes.  What about the learning targets?  What about the bench marks?  What about the required content?  ​

​I feel incredibly fortunate that I came to teaching when I did and that I had some incredible mentors who empowered me to trust my judgement and focus on meaningful priorities.  We teach CHILDREN we cover curriculum.  Children, when given access to content and materials that ignite their passion and fuel their wonder have the tendency to grow and develop just as they should.  When pushed to do too much too soon, however, we can unwittingly create behavior and learning issues.  Likewise, when underestimated and under-stimulated, kiddos can grow restless or loose interest in learning. 

I was also fortunate to have the trust of my community.  They supported my efforts to teach the children rather than simply cover the curriculum and a funny thing happened.  My students tended to actually end up performing pretty well.  Though they usually entered school with (collectively) the "lowest scores" in my district they usually left with the highest.

Not every teacher has the luxury of that trust from their community or administration, but WE trust you!  We trust that you want to do the best you can do for your students.  We trust that if you really observe them, you'll see what they need.  We trust that you'll know that when your kindergarten kiddos are too squirmy to sit through a whole livestream in the fall that it's ok to shut it off.  Or that if your second graders need more you'll dig deeper. 

​We designed all of our materials with a core belief that you are a professional.  You know your students best and keep their developmental and social emotional needs in mind when you make choices.  And you know what? For your students you make each day a special day by just your being you!  Thank you for doing such important work each and every day.

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10/16/2019

Week 6: DCIs

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​​​​​Here's how this week's lessons can help you address DCIs.

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​​If you want to expose students to specific Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), pick and choose areas of greatest student need and frame classroom conversations accordingly.  Click on any of the colored NGSS codes below to go to the NGSS website for a deeper look at each standard.  This week's lessons can help you address the following topics. ​

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Day 11: Resident Population  This is another game based lesson that can help students think about resident populations before their final analysis of the data for this mission.  Games help build many 21st Century Skills.  This lesson also provides the opportunity to address the following DCIs.  Knowing your grade level standards can help you frame discussion and ask essential questions during game play.
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  • K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.  Examples of patterns could include that animals need to take in food but plants do not; the different kinds of food needed by different types of animals; the requirement of plants to have light; and, that all living things need water.
  • K-ESS3-1. Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live. Examples of relationships could include that deer eat buds and leaves, therefore, they usually live in forested areas; and, grasses need sunlight so they often grow in meadows. Plants, animals, and their surroundings make up a system.  
  • 1-LS1-2. Read texts and use media to determine patterns in behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive. Examples of patterns of behaviors could include the signals that offspring make (such as crying, cheeping, and other vocalizations) and the responses of the parents (such as feeding, comforting, and protecting the offspring).
  • 1-LS3-1. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents. Examples of patterns could include features plants or animals share. Examples of observations could include leaves from the same kind of plant are the same shape but can differ in size; and, a particular breed of dog looks like its parents but is not exactly the same.
  • 2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. Emphasis is on the diversity of living things in each of a variety of different habitats.

Day 12: Publishing Conclusions  The publishing lesson affords you the opportunity to revisit many standards, however, the kindergarten and second grade standards detailed below are ones of particular importance for all!  
  • K-ESS3-3. Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment. Examples of human impact on the land could include cutting trees to produce paper and using resources to produce bottles. Examples of solutions could include reusing paper and recycling cans and bottles.
  • 2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. Emphasis is on the diversity of living things in each of a variety of different habitats.

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10/16/2019

Week 6: Comic Tips!

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​​​Literacy tips for this week's comic!

Memory is like a muscle.  We can make it stronger with regular exercise!  Our comic is one tool you can use to support memory development with yours students.  Waiting for each week's edition means students must recall what happened last week to follow the story.  In the days of on demand content, waiting like this is rare!  Read on for a few ways you can use the comic to exercise that memory muscle with your students! 
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PreK: Focus on visual memory.
  • What's missing?  Print the nine large panels for large group play or cut the nine small panels apart for tabletop play.  Lay all panels face up where students can see them and give them 30 seconds to look at them very carefully.  Set a timer for added fun!  Then have students hide their eyes and remove one of the panels.  Challenge them to describe which panel is missing.  Who was in that panel?  What were they doing?
  • Memory Matching  Print two copies of the nine panel comic and cut the panels apart to create a set of 18 cards.  (Consider printing on card-stock or mounting on construction paper so students can't see through the paper.)  Shuffle the cards and arrange them in three rows face down on a table.  Take turns drawing two cards at a time.  If they match, remove the cards from play!  This version of the classic memory game challenges visual discrimination and memory simultaneously as the illustrations are complex.  Cross training for the brain!

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Download sound effect cards
Kindergarten: Focus on remembering words
  • Matching More!  Instead of matching identical cards, try downloading and printing the sound effect cards and one nine panel comic to make a set of 18 memory cards.  Play as above, but match an illustration card to a sound effect card!  A "wag, wag" card will match to either panel two or nine for example.
  • Missing Word  ​ Use the sound effect cards to play a variation of "What's Missing."  Seven of the nine cards have different words.  Lay those seven cards face up in view of students.  Give them a few seconds to look at the cards before they hide their eyes while you remove a card.  Can they tell you what was missing?  They may not be able to recall the whole word, but rather they can describe it.  What letters did it have?  How many letters, etc.  Students may even be able to play this in pairs.
Grades 1 and 2:  Focus on remembering stories and information.
  • What happened?  Before students see this week's comic take some time to recall what has happened so far.  Try using a "think, pair, share" or "turn and talk" strategy to support students in remembering what has happened in the story so far.  If time allows, try having students sketch or storyboard the previous week's comics to tap into their visual memory skills.   Now, based on what's happened so far, encourage students to predict likely outcomes.  Will Data Dog and Curiosity Cat make it home before Beth and Curtis?  How will they time travel?  How will they get out of the ball?
  • Dial it Back!  Any of the PreK and K suggestions would also work great for your older students.  It's great to have older students approach the same task as younger ones.  If you have the opportunity to work with or observe across grade levels, it can be very exciting to see how thinking changes at different developmental levels.  Looking to younger students can remind both teachers and students just how far they've come in just a few short years!

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10/10/2019

Week 5: Comic Tips!

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​​Literacy tips for this week's comic!

Things are getting pretty exciting for Curiosity Cat and Data Dog!  Are your students on the edge of their seats?  Well many of these tips get them up out of their seats and moving!  
PreK: Focus on motion words.
  • Move it!  Invite children to move like the characters in this week's comic.  There is a lot of motion in this week's illustrations.  Increase and practice your students' understanding of motion words panel by panel.  Play a game with students. Have students pick a panel, then name a character.  Can the students move like that character?  What is that motion called?  Try recording video of the students moving.  When the game is done, play selected videos and see if the students can link their motions back to the appropriate comic panel!
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​Kindergarten: Focus on short vowels!
  • Find those sounds!  Challenge students to find all of the sound effects.  If they are able, have them copy each sound effect onto a separate card.  If fine motor skills or time dictate, you can write each one as students identify them.  Use this set of flash cards to practice reading the words in isolation.  Is it harder or easier than reading the words in the comic?  Reflect on why.
  • Sound Author!  One panel does not have ANY sound effects.  (Don't get fooled, another panel has a very tiny nom, nom hiding!)  Challenge students to invent and phonetically spell their own sound effects for this panel.  Then share those sound effects with us!
  • Vowel Sort:  Use the cards you created to do a sound sort.  Go through the cards with small groups of students and challenge them to sort the sound effects into two piles.  One pile is for words with short vowel sounds, the other is for everything else!  You could also ask them to find just the short /u/ or short/a/ words and sort that way.  Have fun!
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Grades 1 and 2: Focus on comprehension!
  • Show me!  Motion is not just good for our K and PreK friends.  It's a great way to engage learners of all ages.  Split the class into teams or pairs.  Print the comic and give half the panels to one side/player and half to the other.  Have one team read the panel to the other without showing their opponents the illustration.  Can the other team act out what is happening?  Have the reading team reveal the picture and give their opposing team the chance to revise their moves.  

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    Meet Beth and Curtis!

    Presidential Award-Winning teacher and hula hoop fanatic, Beth loves bringing real world science to kids! Beth is fascinated by engineering challenges, technology, and outdoor learning spaces. After 25 years teaching kindergarten, she’s excited to share her passion and experience on-line with classrooms from around the world!

    Curtis is a lot of things: a scientist, lawyer, explorer, drummer and Ironman. His brain is always churning. His paleontological finds are in museums across the country and he even has an extinct sea turtle named after him. He loves traveling the world and immersing himself in new environments and cultures. Curtis finds joy in sparking the imagination of young learners and making them think in new ways.

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