Taking on the CreekOur last breakout was at Sugar Creek Elementary with Ms. Cannon. We helped less with her class because we felt they had high abilities and it would be best to problem solve with their classmates more than they did with us. We set up in the robotics room and did our usual routine with this class. Also, for the first time we had a Question and Answer Session with the class. They asked many questions ranging to college to elementary memories. This was a great part into getting to know the class and having them know more about us too. We have three breakouts scheduled next week and are excited to finish the fourth graders at Sugar Creek. The classes are rescheduled for next week on Tuesday and Wednesday. This group was very competitive and wanted to win. We had the choice to give them "Sugar Creek Bucks" for the kids who were respectful and who showed great leadership. The kids were excited to talk to us and to ask us questions about our interests. #MoreThanTheBox Finishing NPELast week, we finished NPE and worked hard to finish the two target grade levels we had. We are hoping to finish our second project and be back at NPE soon. Right now we are working with the great teachers at Sugar Creek and are grateful for the time we had to work with the kids at elementary. Mrs. Polster was our last teacher to do and her class was very respectful...for the most part. The worst thing to happen to us was when a kid hid our keys from us and we could not find them. But, eventually we found them in different locations hidden around the room. We are looking forward to come back again and want to work to help out the kids more with a fun learning experience. This experience not only helped the kids, but helped us grow as people too. Disney DiscoveryOur group has chosen our next theme of Disney Discovery, where we are going to put in a variety of problems in that helps the students learn what they are learning currently with a Disney theme. We want to do this to get the children excited about learning with characters from the Disney classics in the clues. We feel like this will be engaging for the ages we are looking for and would be good for both the boys and girls.
0 Comments
Continuing the BreakoutsFor our last breakout, we were put into a spare room where we set up our clues out. The class we did was Mrs. Kline and we were fortunate to do our fifth breakout. For this one, Mrs. Kline's class was split into two separate teams that she wished to compete. The first group turned out to be our best group ever beating and blowing times out of the water. They solved our challenging problems with ease. The next group, came up a bit short by a couple minutes, but were close to some of the top times we have had. Overall, this was a pretty good class that worked well together and did some of the best teamwork we have seen. Also, both groups enjoyed their sucker surprise inside the box. We have one more breakout scheduled for next week and are looking forward to it next week. We are increasing the difficulties of the problems for this class because they are an advanced 4th grade class. We want to try to challenge the kids as much as possible so we are making the problems longer to make them think a bit more than the other classes we have done. The Next PhaseThe Next Phase to the breakout box is finding a new theme and making new problems for the kids to challenge themselves. We are trying to make the clues more clever and interactive than ever before. We are thinking of many different themes and are researching problems that are listed on the Breakoutedu website. We are also trying to figure out what to do with the NPBid items we consumed over time. We are in the planning period to try to make our project better than ever. We have reached out to the teachers and have got much needed feedback on what type of problems to do next time. We are going to shift the clues to more of a reading direction for our next project.
Continuing the BreakoutsSince the previous blog post, the Breakout EDU team has had three other breakouts at New Palestine Elementary. These include three classrooms in the third grade. The best class to Breakout of our puzzle was Mrs. Rush's class. The boys broke out in world record time of around 10 minutes and the girls were not far behind. Mrs. Canada's class did bold strategies that did not pay off and they were the slowest class to breakout around 18 minutes. We had to set up in many different locations around the school with our box so we are learning to adapt and set up quicker. After we finish the fourth graders we will then begin to change our theme and make our clues more reading based instead of the heavy math we are putting on the students now. The Breakout's have been challenging for two of the classes and easy for the other two. We plan to try to make two different types of games to be a the level of the students so they can enjoy the game even more. Feedback The feedback for our project has been great! All grades were asking for us to do a Box for them according to NPE Principal, Katy Eastes. We also have gotten ideas to improve our project by adding different and unusual problems for the kids so they will enjoy it. Also, to try to incorporate the lessons they are learning into it so it will be beneficial to the students. Finally, two of the teachers have told us that when we were with the kids it was the best they behaved in weeks and we are very proud to be involved with this project. A Series of Unfortunate EventsThe Breakout Box has ran into a little bit of bad luck recently because of the amount of drills going on at the Elementary school. During our short periods we have experienced delays for our next period class do to a tornado drill and a fire drill. The worst one was the fire drill because of the negative windchill beginning to happen because of the Polar Vortex. We were fortunate enough to have coats with us this day. We hope these unfortunate events and drills will stop happening when our group shows up. Pictures:Our First BreakoutFor our first breakout we visited Mrs. Purciful's fourth grade classroom at New Palestine Elementary. We chose to do a Spongebob theme Breakout Box that we used a variety of clues for the students to Breakout the Secret Formula that has been taken. For the clues we made using google draw. The clues were mainly in the math and problem solving area. Below are a few photos of clues: First TrialWith the unknown in mind for what our project would be. We set up in a empty classroom and spread the clues away from the main box to avoid utter chaos. We split the classroom into two separate groups of the classroom. First we had them solve a silver lunchbox with a clue about perimeter (can be seen in slideshow above) to get the light up pens that they could use to help solve invisible ink clues. The kids were really excited to find the pens. Then, they separated to solve the remaining clues. This group was a very intelligent group that was good with the math problems, but we didn't know what the level would be so we will take that into consideration later on. The first group solved the box in around 14 minutes and the following group beat them with only a few seconds to spare. Overall, the experience was enjoyable giving the kids a break from their daily school work and to extend their brains even further into education with a fun game. Both groups were excited to find the Secret Formula, but were more thrilled with the suckers. What's Next?We are busy for a couple weeks because of a recent bombardment of requests by the teachers who love the idea and want us to do more with them. Word has got out about our recent success and look forward to continuing it through the next couple of weeks. We want to change the theme and the problems in a week or two to be able to give the kids fresh theme and easier problems where they don't need as much guidance. Photos of the Secret Formula Breakout #1Breaking Out The Wooden BoxFor the time being, NPBid has been temporarily shut down. We are focusing on a new area for our next project. With the help of our teacher, Mr. Large, we have picked out a new project. This project, Breakout EDU, involves a problem solving physical activity that involves creative thinking, problem solving skills, and communication. These games will be done at New Palestine Elementary do to our connection with the principal, Katy Eastes. The first couple projects we are doing will be created by our group for an extra challenge. We have created a Google Doc with our information for our first groups trying to "breakout." This first group will take place on the first Wednesday after break. Our first game is Spongebob themed because who doesn't love Spongebob. Future lessons will be planned around the curriculum around the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. We have had multiple classes want our box in their classes. My group is excited to get this game going with a focus on learning. Inside the Box.Breakout EDU is a creative way to get children thinking and having fun while doing this. We plan on putting six locks on the wooden box. Then, we plan on making clues that will be given to the students. The clues will be a mixture of brain teasers, math problems, and reading problems. The combination to the locks will be solved with the clues and some may be hidden in them. The creative twist we are putting with our game is the key in communication. We are separating the classes into two teams and having them compete. The winner will need to acquire more locks than the other. If the teams tie we have a super tie breaker with an extra challenge box. This is a box with a code and the first to unlock this wins and gets candy. But don't worry the losers will also get candy too because these days everyone's a winner. We Ready, We Ready, We ReadyCurrently, we have two clues done of our 6, but we are trying to finish all the locks before winter break. We are ready for the opportunity to help kids learn in a fun educational way. The Spongebob: Secret Formula Breakout should be ready for our first gig starting in January. We are working on adding some video to add more of an entertainment value to the students. We are making are clues ready and revamping them to make the kids think a little bit more and put more effort into this activity. We are ready to kick this project off. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2019
Categories |