February 22-26

The start of a new session always brings new things.  We have welcomed another new Eagle, began a Gardening Quest, and dove into Science-Based Fiction.  

To begin our Gardening Quest, the Eagles are learning about plant science.  They have learned about plant cells, photosynthesis, and capillary action.  Most of the learning is happening through conducting experiments. Eagles are testing if light affects plant growth and what happens when you place stemmed plants into colored water.  These experiments will each last a few days as Eagles observe the changes in their plants! Next week, we will investigate what is happening on the outside of the plant to help it grow; soil, seeds and pollination.

 

In Writer's Workshop, the Eagles are working on Science-Based fiction.  This first week has been spent researching and learning about the animal they wish to write about.  We have learned some interesting facts! Did you know rabbits hate to be bathed, it can cause them to become so nervous they break a bone? Over the next couple of weeks Eagles will work to weave the facts they have learned about their animal into a fictional story. 

Can you believe Acton Amarillo has doubled since first opening our doors in August? We now have 16 Eagles! We celebrated with another Acton Olympics test! Founding Eagles were challenged to beat their previous times, while new Eagles set a benchmark for themselves.  These Eagles never seize to amaze us....we had 5 Eagles plank for 10 minutes! 

In drama, Eagles were challenged to choose a place in nature, draw the scene, then perform a short skit.  Other Eagles were then tasked to guess the Eagle's nature scene.  We had Eagles skiing through the Arctic, seeing mirages in the desert, floating through outerspace, and tanning on the beach.    

 

We were able to add in some art this week and the Eagles loved completing some draw alongs! They followed the steps to draw unicorns, Charmander, llamas, Mario, Squirtle and other creatures.  

Friday celebration was chosen by the Eagles this week! Anyone who followed the Rules of Engagement (wait your turn, listen, be on time, agree or disagree, and explain) worked together to choose the celebration.  The Eagles chose to celebrate with some computer game time!

Another Eagle received their Level 2 Math Badge!! Congratulations Adelyn on the hard work and focus it took to earn your badge! 

February 9-12

Our last week of Session 4 has been a blast! We built and programmed robots, planned an exhibition, played games, watched cartoons, and shared our new knowledge with others!

This week in Quest, the Eagles were challenged to build a Just Dance robot and moving basketball game.  Then program them to move, play music and keep score.  We had some great discussions about technology throughout this Quest! Eagles respectfully argued how robots assist us, tasks we would prefer robots are not put in charge of, rather robots are capable of having emotions and the effect robotics is having on daily life.

  

Many Eagles have completed their letters to their hero and prepared them to be mailed off. On Tuesday, the Eagles met with their Community of Editors- a group of Eagles who work together to edit one another’s work based on punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and word choice. They also had the chance to meet with a Writing Buddy for one last look at how to improve their piece.

Eagles studied and practiced writing addresses. Then addressed their own envelope to place their letter in. After editing and revising, the letters were rewritten or typed to be stuffed in the envelopes and mailed off.  Fingers crossed for some responses! 

 

Last week during Town Hall, an Eagle brought up the idea of dress-up days. They all voted yes and made a plan for 3 days each month; pajama day, mix and match day, and crazy socks.  Thursday was pajama day, perfect for this cold weather! 

The Eagles have been loving some daily challenges (or games) given to them by the Guides. Wednesday, they were challenged to walk all the way across the church from the auditorium to the studio without a single peep! The challenge was for a fun cartoon during free time. They loved it! 

This weeks Friday Celebration was based on completed work during Core Skills.  The rules were; earn 1% mastery in Khan and IXL (1 standard for our Level 1 Eagles working in Dreambox).  Many Eagles were highly motivated by this new challenge! We celebrated with a showing of Magic School Bus Computer Programming and hot chocolate.  

*Session 4 Exhibition* 

The entire Exhibition (Showcase) was ran by the Eagles!  They worked together throughout the week to determine the needed jobs, build a schedule, create programs, and choose discussion questions.

The Eagles showed off what they have learned this session in Coding and Robotics by working with a buddy to build and program their own robots.  

   

Then, shared their progress in Code.org, Khan, Dreambox, and IXL. 

 

The Eagles finished with a technology discussion, completely led by an Eagle.  They discussed rather they would prefer robots or humans driving cars and playing football.  As well as if they worked with robots, would they rather build or code? 

What a great way to end a fun session! Eagles will enjoy a hard-earned break and join back together February 22nd. 

February 1-5

After 4 weeks of learning and practicing coding, the Eagles were finally able to apply their new skills. They built a go-cart, catapult, a duck hunt game, and a dancing robot.  Then they were given various challenges to program their creations.  

     

Eagles are putting the final touches on their hero letters as they meet with peers to revise.  In order to earn credit for this Writer's Workshop, Eagles must meet with 3 peers to receive warm and cool feedback, then make the needed changes.  Next week they will have the opprunity to edit with a group and an older Writing Buddy. 

During a morning launch, Eagles were challenged to work with their team to move a tennis ball without touching it!  They were given a round disk with strings attached for each Eagle to hold.  The challenge was very difficult, but many Eagles pushed through the frustration to find a way to move the ball further each time.  

After the challenge we reflected back to the beginning of the year. We remember Eagles yelling at one another, using unkind words with their teammates, and giving up.  We have made so much growth since then! 

  

With our Quest in the morning, the Eagles have spent a huge chunk of time outside in the afternoons.  We have loved the beautiful weather to run through the sprinklers, explore the mud pit, and play freeze tag on the playground.  We also experienced some real-life consequences of soaking our clothes and covering our arms in mud. ;) 

  

In drama, the Eagles practiced reading scripts with expression. They also practiced using expressions and emotions with a game of “Get on the Bus”.  The Eagles rotated through the bus seats and acted out various scenes; such as being late for school, being pulled over by cops, and rushing to the hospital.