Day 5: Solar Eclipse Day!

Today, we played a little catch up in some classes.  We finished up the Math Habits foldables and one group got their chance at an Estimation 180 task.  The class that is the most behind happened to occur during the eclipse so I still have a little work to do to get them caught up.  For my classes that weren't behind, today was all about the eclipse.

Eclipse Research

Students were placed in groups and each given a laptop.  I gave them twenty minutes to research and create a presentation on their large dry erase boards.  They had to include a picture and a minimum of three facts.  I was really just trying to get them excited for the afternoon, but I was somewhat pleased at their effort since I really hadn't laid much groundwork for this sort of task and they were working under a very short time constraint.  Here are a few of their boards:

The students viewed each others' boards through a gallery walk, which was a good chance for me to introduce that structure since we use them often. After that, we watched a simulation of what the eclipse was expected to look like in our area.  We then looked at a map to see how close the next eclipse (2024) is likely to come to us.  So close!

Eclipse Viewing

This was the photo I snapped through my filters.  Ehhh.

I was lucky enough to secure 120 pairs of eclipse glasses through an initiative of West Virginia University and the West Virginia Space Grant Consortium.  We had originally intended to take the entire sixth grade class outside to watch, but colleagues had a lot of concerns about supervision for an extended period of time. There was concern that some students would take off their glasses and stare at the sun just to be oppositional.  

To compromise, we took the students into the auditorium to watch the livestream and then took groups by homeroom out to witness it live. It was an excellent plan because it allowed students to share in the experience and celebrations that were going on in the path of totality and still see it live.  I wish I could've had video of the awe moment when they would see the sun through the glasses.  It was so much fun!  I took several photos of my homeroom but we are still determining who has authorized permission for published photos so I have to hold off on sharing them just yet.  I can share this photo of my amazing team:

I am so lucky to work with this group of ladies!

Closing the Day

We ended the day with our 7th period class (the one that is behind).  However, several students had to leave for band and I didn't want to proceed with the lesson under those conditions.  We decided to spend the last 20 minutes playing SET instead.  I pulled up the NY Times version and explain the game briefly.  We worked our way through two Basic Sets before playing one of the Advanced Levels. They really seemed to enjoy it.  I have the card game but I've always had to teach them in small groups.  Very grateful to discover that it is interactive online.  

It was a good day..but I am exhausted and it's only Monday.  This teaching thing is definitely a marathon.