1st Grade Idea Lab Update

 In Idea Lab, we’ve been focusing on how we think and how we talk to ourselves as learners. Social-emotional learning is a big part of what we do—especially for gifted students who sometimes struggle with perfectionism or fear of failure. We’ve discussed taking risks, reframing negative thoughts, and using positive self-talk through the ABRA strategy from Jim Kwik:  Acknowledge the thought, Breathe, Release, and Align with something positive.

We’ve also been strengthening our brains through hands-on thinking games—no screens needed!

Visual-Spatial Thinking

These activities help students visualize, reason, and problem-solve:

Tangrams – arranging geometric pieces to form specific designs.

Blokus – placing tiles strategically to fit shapes while blocking others.

Kanoodle – fitting 2D and 3D puzzle pieces together in hundreds of possible combinations.

Secret Code Messages – taking turns encoding and decoding messages using symbols

Q-bitz – recreating visual patterns with cubes to test memory and perception.
Puzzles – a mix of logic and visual challenges that stretch our thinking.

Katamino– a hands-on puzzle game where players fit geometric pieces together to fill a space, building spatial reasoning and problem-solving skills.

Convergent Thinking
These thinking activities focus on logic, reasoning, and finding one best solution:

Rush Hour – sliding cars in the right sequence to free the red car.

SET– finding groups of cards that all share (or all have different) attributes.

Mastermind – cracking a hidden color code using clues.

Color Sudoku – using logic to arrange pieces by color and position.

Shape Sudoku – using logic to arrange pieces by shape and position.

Qwirkle – matching colors and shapes to build patterns.

We recently welcomed some new members to the Idea Lab! 

We’re learning that a strong mind grows through creative challenges and kind self-talk. 

Idea Lab students are really getting great at both! 

Keep up the excellent work!

3rd Grade Idea Lab Update: Unearthed

 

Our third graders have been hard at work on this year’s First LEGO League Explore Unearthed! Over the past several weeks, students have completed Sessions 1 through 8, exploring the life, tools, and discoveries of an archaeologist. Students also learned about and researched other jobs that work alongside archaeologists: anthropologists, geologists, site managers, lab technicians, conservators, and curators.  

Each session brought new adventures and hands-on learning opportunities: 
 Archaeology Adventure – discovering what archaeologists do and why their work matters.

Relic Rescue – exploring how artifacts help tell stories from history.   Site Surveyors – planning and mapping excavation sites with care and precision.

 Dirt Detectives – learning how to carefully uncover clues hidden underground.

 Excellent Excavators – designing tools to make excavation efficient and safe.

 Signal Seekers – exploring how communication and technology support fieldwork.

 History Helpers – reflecting on how preserving history helps future generations learn.

Now, our teams are ready for the next big step! Each group has selected a real-world problem connected to archaeology that they want to explore more deeply. They will:

Research to understand their problem

Build a team model that shows their innovative solution

Design a tri-fold display to share their process and discoveries

Work together to write and present their team presentation

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We can’t wait to see the creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills our Idea Lab students bring to their final projects!  Stay tuned! You will be invited to see and hear the students' presentations! 

4th Grade: Unearthed!

Our 4th grade Idea Lab classes have been busy thinking like archaeologists! To get to know one another, each student created a personal artifact that represented something about themselves—along with a few clever clues. 

 

We “unearthed” these artifacts as a team and tried to figure out who each one belonged to. It was a fun and creative way to build connections while stepping into the role of archaeologists.

Next, we began our research phase, exploring four key topics: Archaeologist Tools, Types of Artifacts, Famous Archaeological Discoveries, and How Archaeologists Protect the Past. 

We discovered that we learn even more deeply when we teach others!

With our background knowledge in place, we began “digging in” to this year’s Unearthed Challenge. The 4th Grade First Lego League Challenge is more difficult than the younger teams. Students program and engineer robots to complete as many missions as possible on a Robot Table within a fast-paced 2½-minute match.



 
Some of the exciting missions on the Robot Table include a Mineshaft Explorer, Surface Brushing, Careful Recovery, Releasing Iron Ore Blocks, Moving a Heavy Artifact, and Rebuilding a Statue!  CLICK HERE to see our first successful mission on the Robot Table!

In addition to the Robot Game, students are working on their Innovation Project-- a team presentation, where they identify a real-world problem faced by archaeologists and propose a creative, research-based solution. This has been the hardest task so far! Our teams have been hard at work researching and refining innovative ideas to help archaeologists in the field. 

Stay tuned for more information about Unearthed! The kids are uncovering more and more exciting information each week!