St Patrick Catholic School
Arroyo Grande, California, USA
Our school is made up of approx. 350 students in grades Preschool through 8th grade. 29 of those students are 5th graders participating in the SOLE project at our school. We have had the good fortune to collaborate with students at Fairfield Public School in the past year. When we were approached by Ena Lakisoe-Mapuna to again embark on this adventure with your school, we were delighted to do so.
OUR SOLE
Students were eager to get started. On day 1, we explained the premise of the SOLE project and the discovery that we would be going on. The jobs we chose were
Students in groups of 3 used 2 desktop computers, paper & pencil and then launched into the open-ended question. As advised by the SOLE packet, we did not give our students much guidance beyond the general explanation of the task and the roles that each student would take on. Students rose to the occasion and quickly figured out who would do what and began researching.
The idea of using SOLE really intrigued us. The focus on inquiry-based questions supports the newly emerging Common Core Standards that we are using throughout the state. These standards put an emphasis on students using a variety of skills to answers open-ended questions. They also are required to use technology seamlessly and when appropriate to accomplish the task at hand. By exposing students to the SOLE model, they get the opportunity to develop a sense of efficacy, self discovery, improved group work, and continue to work towards mastering skills that will help them compete in a global economy.
Session 1: Do boys think differently than girls?
Students eagerly moved around the room creating their own groups and discussing who wanted what job. Once they got started, I noticed that students were excited about what they were learning. Lots of ideas were flying around and lots of discussion was taking place. I could see their natural sense of curiosity take over. At the end of the period, students shared their results. Here is what they came up with:
Session 2: Why isn't there a mammal bigger than a Blue Whale?
We discussed what was working and what wasn't working. Students were happy with the groups. They explained some of the problem solving strategies that they used throughout the process: rock paper scissors for dealing with students who wanted the same job, police officer reminding students of the time, recorder writing neatly so that the presenter could read the notes during the presentation, sharing good resources with each other to check out. What didn't work at times were the choices students made in selecting their group. They were reminded that there groups were fluid and that they could change at anytime. At the end of the class period and during the next class session, students shared their results. Here is what they came up with:
Session 3: What makes for an amazing and inspiring school environment?
OUR SOLE
Students were eager to get started. On day 1, we explained the premise of the SOLE project and the discovery that we would be going on. The jobs we chose were
- Police Officer - keeps students on task, manages the time, and participates in research
- Presenter - presents information to the class and participates in research
- Recorder - summarizes information and collects notes gathered from research.
Students in groups of 3 used 2 desktop computers, paper & pencil and then launched into the open-ended question. As advised by the SOLE packet, we did not give our students much guidance beyond the general explanation of the task and the roles that each student would take on. Students rose to the occasion and quickly figured out who would do what and began researching.
The idea of using SOLE really intrigued us. The focus on inquiry-based questions supports the newly emerging Common Core Standards that we are using throughout the state. These standards put an emphasis on students using a variety of skills to answers open-ended questions. They also are required to use technology seamlessly and when appropriate to accomplish the task at hand. By exposing students to the SOLE model, they get the opportunity to develop a sense of efficacy, self discovery, improved group work, and continue to work towards mastering skills that will help them compete in a global economy.
Session 1: Do boys think differently than girls?
Students eagerly moved around the room creating their own groups and discussing who wanted what job. Once they got started, I noticed that students were excited about what they were learning. Lots of ideas were flying around and lots of discussion was taking place. I could see their natural sense of curiosity take over. At the end of the period, students shared their results. Here is what they came up with:
- Men have 6.5x the amount of gray matter, compared to women who
have 10x the amount of white matter. - These differences do
not affect intellectual performance. - Men manage to do better
with localized processing such as mathematics, while women are better at
integrating and assimilating information which aids language skills. There
are exceptions to the rule. - Females are better at seeing colors,
Males are better at tracking fast moving objects
Session 2: Why isn't there a mammal bigger than a Blue Whale?
We discussed what was working and what wasn't working. Students were happy with the groups. They explained some of the problem solving strategies that they used throughout the process: rock paper scissors for dealing with students who wanted the same job, police officer reminding students of the time, recorder writing neatly so that the presenter could read the notes during the presentation, sharing good resources with each other to check out. What didn't work at times were the choices students made in selecting their group. They were reminded that there groups were fluid and that they could change at anytime. At the end of the class period and during the next class session, students shared their results. Here is what they came up with:
- The Blue Whale keeps on growing because of the amount of Krill it eats - 4-6
tons per day. More than any other animal. - Nearly all mammals have gotten smaller except for the Blue Whale.
- Large animals need lots of food and space. There are design complications with
supporting the animal. With Whales, water bares most of their weight.
Session 3: What makes for an amazing and inspiring school environment?
Students from Fairfield Public School created an amazing an innovative movie to propose the above question to our students at St. Patrick Catholic School. Our 5th grade students loved the accents and were up for the challenge. As soon as they watched the movie, they broke into small groups of 3 and started to research all of the possibilities to this question. From their brainstorm, they selected their 3-4 top choices and began researching them in depth. Their intention was to develop a detailed action plan for each and to explain why their choices would make for an amazing and inspiring school environment. They are in the process of gathering research and creating a Prezi Presentation to share with the class and their fellow collaborators in Australia.
We are also excited about hearing from the students at Fairfield Public School an what they believe makes for an amazing and inspiring school environment.
We are also excited about hearing from the students at Fairfield Public School an what they believe makes for an amazing and inspiring school environment.