When Does 1 + 1 Not Equal 2?

That was the question that the third grade language arts groups faced in the Resource Room.  We explored the book This Plus That:  Life's Little Equations by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  Students were then given the challenge to put on their creative thinking caps and create their own "life's equations" where things add up in unexpected ways.  We hope you enjoy the results of our creative thinking!

New Ideas Abound at Creativity Festival 2012

Sixteen students from fifth and sixth grade joined me at the Science Museum of Minnesota for the 19th Annual Creativity Festival sponsored by Success Beyond the Classroom.  Students attended three sessions each.  The sessions included African drumming, breakdancing, stop motion animation, storytelling, engineering with wind, structures, kumihimo, rhythm and poetry and more.  It was an action packed, interactive day. The students experienced and tried their hand at some new skills and ways of looking at the world around them. We even had a bit of time to explore the museum between classes. What a great day!

Making Our Brains Hurt.....

Second grade Resource Room math students are hard at work doing addition and subtraction with very large numbers.  We are continuing our exploration of "Fairy Tale Math".  Our latest story involved figuring out exactly how much candy was on the house that Hansel and Gretel found in the woods.  Adding all those jelly beans, chocolate, gum drops and peppermints meant numbers in the thousands and the need for regrouping.  Then we discovered that Hansel and Gretel ate some of the candy and we needed to subtract!  That required more regrouping.  The children used place value  cubes, rods and flats to help them with all of this.  They could immediately see the need to regroup as they solved these delicious  problems.

Junior High Math League Off to a Great Start

We have seven students in grades seven and eight who can be found each week after school working diligently on solving extremely hard math problems.  Two parents are leading the charge and providing great leadership.

The team is preparing for their competitions with other area public, private and parochial schools.  They compete every three weeks or so for a total of five competitions. The math meets consist of individual rounds and a team round. So far, the team has had two competitions--one at Capitol Hill and one at Highland Catholic.  I am so proud of this group of dedicated mathematicians....they have taken second place at both competitions!

After the Junior High Math League competitions are complete, the team will continue to work and prepare for the Math Counts regional competition.  Highland Catholic will have one team and three individuals competing.  I am already making room for a trophy to add to our growing collection.  The math team is making us proud!

Math students in the Resource Room are hard at work!  We are working on a variety of enrichment activities and also spend some time each week fine-tuning and increasing speed on basic fact drills.
Here is what each grade is working currently working on:
Grade 1 is busy exploring patterns. Students will be challenged to make quilt patterns using the pattern blocks.
Grade 2 is looking at math problems that can be found in fairy tales.  Exactly how long is Rapunzel's hair?  How many jelly beans are on the cottage in Hansel and Gretel?  How much does the beanstalk grow each day?
Grade 3 is learning about and comparing three very different number systems.  We are getting ready to jump into base-three number systems.
Grade 4 is learning about how algebra concepts can be found at a shopping mall.
Grade 5 is solving real life math problems. The students read about a specific person's career and then solve math problems encountered by that person in their job.  We will encounter a vet, sanitation worker, farmer, auto mechanic and more.
Grade 6 is busy threading needles and making geometric string designs.  They are beautiful...and challenging.

Books and a Bit of Friendly Competition

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World
Escape: The Story of the Great Houdini
War Horse
The Red Pyramid
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

These are just a few of the Battle of the Books titles!

Battle of the Books has begun in grades 5-8.  Students are challenged to read ten books on a select list.  Students in grade 5 were invited to be part of a weekly class as they read and prepare for the Battle of the Books competition.  Students in grades 6-8 are experienced with this event and work on it more independently. 

In spring, students will form teams and compete against each other to answer questions about the books.  A grade level champion will be selected for each grade and then a grand champion team will be determined for grades 5/6 and grades 7/8.  The students all look forward to this friendly competition.reading.  More information about this program can be found at www.battleofthebooks.com

Autumn Is In the Air

I know that autumn is in the air--not just by the brilliantly-colored leaves and the brisk morning air.  I know that autumn is in the air because the Highland Catholic Resource Room is in full swing and students are settled in.  The academic-based teams are close to being completed.  This year, Highland Catholic students will participate in Destination Imagination, Junior High Math League, Math Counts, Math Masters for fifth grade, Young Rembrandt Cartooning, and Battle of the Books.

The Battle of the Books group will be getting started in the next week or so.  The books have been ordered and are arriving daily.  I have already read several of them and the selections are fabulous with a wide variety of genres to pique the interest of most students.  Battle of the Books will be offered as a class in fifth grade for interested students.  They will be required to read seven of the ten titles--although most read all the titles!  Later this winter, fifth and sixth grade will compete against each other as will seventh and eighth grade.  Hmmm, maybe we need a parent group to compete too!
Wouldn't that be fun?

A New School Year!
I love September and the start of a new school year full of opportunities and excitement.  The lazy days of summer have passed, books are new and ready to be opened, crayons still have their points on them, markers are fresh, notebooks are ready to be filled with learning and creativity.  (Even though I love to sleep in the morning, I look forward to coming to Highland Catholic every day.)

The Resource Room has been re-invented in a new space--look for it in the redesigned computer lab.  All of the favorite materials--and a few new things--have been moved and are ready and waiting for the children.

The Resource Room will also be the clearinghouse for several extracurricular opportunities.  Information has been sent to each home regarding these opportunities. They include:

Destination Imagination--grades 3-8
Math Masters--grades 5 and 6
Junior High Math League--grades 7 and 8
Young Rembrandt Art Classes--grades 1-6

If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact me at c.broadnax@highlandcatholic.org

Great Successes from the Resource Room

Spring has been busy in the Resource Room!  Four of our fifth grade inventors were selected to exhibit their inventions in the Young Inventors Fair sponsored by Success Beyond the Classroom.  They were among 75 inventors from the metro area who displayed their creative ideas at the Mall of America on May 5.  Congratulations to them!

Two of the Destination Imagination teams competed at the state tournament in April.  One of the teams, "Higherarchy" is traveling to Global Finals.  This is an international competition with teams from all over the world in attendance.  They are busy raising money to travel to Knoxville, TN, to represent Highland Catholic School!  If you happen by school, check out the DaVinci traveling trophy that they were awarded for "extreme creativity".   The best part is, their DI skit and project was all about helping others through community service.  They helped Families Moving Forward both at Lumen Christi and the main organization.  We are so proud of them and all they have accomplished.

Young Inventors

 March 31, 2012
Congratulations to all the fifth grade student inventors. There were so many creative and useful ideas at our school Inventors Fair. A number of students submitted their inventions for consideration at the Young Inventors Fair sponsored by Success Beyond the Classroom. Five students from fifth grade will be displaying their inventions on May 5 in the rotunda at the Mall of America. Their inventions were a "Paintbrush Tree", a "Computer Stand for People in the Hospital", "De-Plaquinator", "Glowing Umbrella" and a "Sknee-Board". This event is free and open to the public. Stop on by and you will be amazed.

Destination Imagination-March 3, 2012

Highland Catholic had three teams compete at the East Metro Regional Destination Imagination tournament on Saturday, March 3. What a busy and exciting day! The HiC students made quite the statement in their DI shirts with a Dr. Seuss logo on their shirts and wearing "Cat in the Hat" hats. Everyone was buzzing about our teams. Every team who competes and is able to successfully solve the challenge presented is a big winner. Life skills, team work and problem solving are all fostered and developed. To that end, all the Hi C teams need to be congratulated and applauded. All three of the Hi C teams made us proud of them. The team competing in Improv took third place. The team solving the Movie Reel challenge took third place and will be heading to the state tournament.

February 10, 2012 It has been a busy time in the Resource Room. The first team from Highland Catholic to ever compete in First Lego League just returned from the State competition.....Yes, they made it all the way to State! This is remarkable but given their dedication and hard work, we knew they were on their way to great things. Not only did they compete at this level but they returned with a trophy. They were singled out for being among the top three teams for their project presentation (no specific places were announced) AND they were awarded the first place trophy for best research in the entire state. Our seventh and eighth grade math team recently finished competition through the Junior High Math League. Four students just competed in MathCounts. I am waiting for the official results but have heard that we placed in the top ten in some events. Congratulations to these students for their hard work and for making it to practice BEFORE school. Sixth grade Math Masters is gearing up for their big competition in March. I know they are working hard. They will do an awesome job. Keep practicing! The fifth grade students have just finished displaying their amazing inventions. If these items were for sale, I would have been able to use most of them myself. What a great bunch of creative problem-solvers. Many of them are sending their invention ideas to the Young Inventors Fair Program for consideration for display at their big event held at the Mall of America in May.....stay tuned for results. The Destination Imagination teams are busy building props, practicing skits and getting ready for competition on March 3. This is a busy time for them as they work to meet all the challenge requirements. Add to this, all the fun and learning happening in the Resource Room---Zoom books, mystery stories, Funkytown Funhouse, The Mystery of the Moli Stone, tangram stories and more. I am so proud of the students and all their hard work.

Creativity Festival--Grades 3/4, January 2012

A group of third and fourth grade students attended the Creativity Festival on January 10.  It was held at the Ted Mann Concert Hall at the University of Minnesota.  These students participated in classes such as The Science of Diapers, Neutrinos and Dark Matter, Paper Marbling, Sumi Painting, Andean Panflutes, Close Encounters with Bugs and more.  It was an exciting day of new discoveries!

Check out the photos from the day!  (And did you see the size of that cockroach that some of the children were holding?)