Category Archives: Learning Opportunities

#25: Sweet Math

Math Mini Sparks, Uncategorized

This math mini spark has you diving into a box of donuts and solving a variety of math problems.

“Donut” let this opportunity slip by!

Start solving these “sweet” math problems today!

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #25: Sweet Math

2.”You can think of almost anything as a math problem!” Ms. Fibonacci in Math Curse by Jon Scieszka.

3. Print out the PDF or make a copy of the digital version of the doughnut activity page. Due to the complexity of some of the questions, It’s acceptable to use your resources (ie. teacher, older brother or sister, Internet to look up a formula, etc.) and ask for help.

4. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Early Enrichment #27: Be a Famous Writer

Early Enrichment

If you like reading, writing, or illustrating stories, you are in the right place!

Each school year, you learn important skills at school that help you become a better writer. Writing a story can be challenging sometimes, but Jeff Kinney, the author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, has some great tips for you to follow:

1. Take your time writing. To become an expert, you need lots of practice!

2. Find someone to help you out. Ask an someone who can edit your work to make it even better!

3. Be unique. Try something new and make your work stand out. 

For this early enrichment post write a short story about an adventure that takes place in your school library.

 

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Share your story with the EY teacher at your school.

Calling all Doodlers! Submission due March 14th, 2024

Events & Contests, Learning Opportunities, Other Events & Contests

It’s time to start sketching, because this year’s Doodle 4 Google contest is openOnce a year, K-12 students are invited to bring their imagination to life in a doodle of the Google logo, using any medium they choose.

Doodles are the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists.

Check out the contest page to see past winners and to get some ideas! Start working on some sketches.

All information can be found  @ https://doodles.google.com/d4g/.

EY Badge link 

 

 

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#21: Inventions

Reading Enrichment, Uncategorized

Invention is transforming your wildest daydreams into reality, like a robot making pancakes! It’s about mixing ideas and experiments to create something cool and useful!

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #20: Inventions

2. Watch this intro video. Summarize a few of the ideas you liked from this video on your recording sheet.

3. Did you know a 15-year-old boy invented earmuffs back 1858?  Write the steps for how this came about on your recording sheet.

4. Watch this video and write a summary for each of the inventors.

5.  These kids all used their hearts and their smarts, and started somewhere!  Watch this video to get some ideas about the process. Take 5 detailed notes on your recording sheet.

 

6. On your recording page, do some brainstorming about how you could combine two items into one, like the examples from the video. Try to come up with 3 ideas. They do not need to be useful-but perhaps more creative and fun.

7. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

#24: The Bean

Math Mini Sparks

Math concepts are fantastically weaved into all kinds of artwork and Cloud Gate, or “The Bean”, in Chicago, IL is no exception!  Cloud Gate is British artist Anish Kapoor’s first public outdoor work in the the United States.

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Image Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rmlowe/6144649661

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #24: The Bean

2. According to the city of Chicago website, The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect Chicago’s famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a “gate” to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives. Inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture is among the largest of its kind in the world, measuring 66-feet long by 33-feet high.  Watch this summary video below and record 5-10 details on your recording page.

3. Watch a video on how they “Clean the Bean”. Record 3 sentences about what you have learned about this process on your recording page.

4. Take a look inside the Bean during construction.  What math and science was involved in creating the bean?

5.  “The Bean” is 33 feet high, 42 feet wide, and 66 feet long. It weighs about 110 tons — roughly the same as 15 adult elephants. Suppose a regular bean was sitting next to Cloud Gate. Do some research to find out the dimensions of a regular bean.  Do some math calculations. About how many times bigger is cloud gate? Record your work on your recording page.

6. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Thanks to the Hoffart boys at Sunset for inspiring this math mini spark!

#20: Open a Book

Reading Enrichment

Have you ever wondered what’s happening in your brain while your are reading to turn all these weird symbols into meaning? Check out this reading mini spark to learn more about this process.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #20: Open a Book

2. Reading is something you’re doing effortlessly right now. Ever wondered how your brain turns symbols into meaning? This video will help you rediscover the amazing process of reading.

3. After watching this video, choose 5 of these questions to respond to on your recording page. Each response should be at least 2 sentences. Remind your teacher that the answer key is in the reading mini spark folder.

  1. What secret does Joe mention about how we read?
  2. How do rounded letters differ from flat-topped letters in terms of height?
  3. Explain the “Müller-Lyer illusion” and how it relates to letter recognition.
  4. What is the “paradox of reading” that Dr. Erica Brozovsky discusses?
  5. Describe the concept of “neural recycling” as explained in the video.
  6. How do our eyes gather information when we read, according to the video?
  7. What is the “Word Superiority Effect,” and why is it important in understanding reading?
  8. Discuss the role of the fovea and parafovea in reading. How do they contribute to our ability to recognize words?
  9. How does the brain process the shapes of letters and words according to the video?
  10. What happens in our brains when we recognize a word, as described by Joe in the video?

4. Read this article about benefits reading. List your top 3 on the recording sheet.

5. On your recording sheet write title of the book you’re currently reading and write about your opinion about the book at this time. Support your decision with 3 specific examples and 3 details.

6. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Early Enrichment #26: Metric Me!

Early Enrichment

Did you know that during the Olympics things are measured differently?

At school, we learn how to measure with inches, feet and yards. However, during Olympics races are measured using the Metric System. They use centimeters, meters, and kilometers.

If you look closely at a ruler you can see the centimeters system. 

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Download and print the Metric Me! worksheet to practice measuring using the metric system.

You’ll be ready for the Olympics in no time!

** Metric Me! By Jackie Higgins, downloaded from TPT 

#23: A Yummy Infographic

Math Mini Sparks

infographic |ˌinfōˈɡrafik| noun- a visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data. a good infographic is worth a thousand words.

I went out to lunch recently with my family and noticed an eye-catching infographic at the center of each table.  I wish I could post a picture of it, but that would ruin the surprise! In this math mini spark you are going to create your own infographic using the data from the restaurant.

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #23: A Yummy Infographic

2. Explore some infographics created for kids. Write about what you noticed/liked/didn’t like on your recording page.

3. Your job is to create a picture/word combo (INFOGRAPHIC) that displays all the information.  The only requirement is that all the information below is somewhere on your 8 1/2 x 11 page.  Use colors, crayons, pencils, Canva, or another digital tool…whatever!

Data to be included on your infographic…

  • 39,598,080 mini gingerbread muffins devoured last year from this salad bar
  • 1980 was when this restaurant introduced a salad bar.  It was based on the suggestion of a radio salesperson.
  • 10,000,000+ salad bars were ordered at this restaurant in 2020
  • The original salad bar at this restaurant offered 9 ingredients.  Now there are 50+ ingredients and they include select USDA-certified organics.
  • There are 1,906,884 possible combinations for a 5-ingredient salad with a base of lettuce.
  • If you had 1 salad a day, it would take 5,224 years before repeating a salad combination.
  • No MSG since 2008 and everything on the salad bar is trans-fat free.

4. Share your minit math spark recording page and infographic with your teacher/EY coordinator.

#19: Awful (fictional)Olympic Host Cities

Reading Enrichment

 

Have you ever been frightened by places you’ve read about in books or seen in movies or on television?  What if those places were under consideration for hosting the Olympics?  Can you IMAGINE???

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #19: Awful (fictional)Olympic Host Cities

2. What cities have hosted the summer or winter Olympic games? Go to this page, read the intro and look over the list. Record 5 of the cities on your recording sheet. Find them on the map and find 3-5 facts about that city.

3. Go to the following link and read about the 6 fictional places that the author hopes NEVER hosts the Olympics. Add all 6 places to your recording sheet and explain why it would be an awful venue. If you haven’t heard of the place or don’t understand the information about the location, do some research so you can tell why it is so terrible.

4. Think about books you have read, movies or  tv show you have seen.   What fictional place do you hope never hosts the Olympics and why?  Please add 3 responses and reasoning to your recording sheet.

5. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.