Times2 Afterschool Reflection: Debate

This session in After School, TIMES Squared students were able to use their great arguing skills in Debate. Since many of them didn't know what debate was about, I introduced them to the subject by playing a game called "Werewolf". Students picked a strip of paper that was in a jar. There were 2 strips that had "Werewolf", one that had "Seer" and the rest had "Villager". In this village at night the wolves would come out to eat. After they chose their victims, the villagers would have a forum to discover who the wolves were. This game allowed students to form opinions and argue their standpoints with their peers. 

~ Rachel - Times2 Charter Corp Member

Highlander: Afterschool Homeroom Reflection

In one of the Kindergarten classroom's (KB) after school homeroom the students have been practicing and reinforcing materials covered during school time. We've been doing math activities where we practice addition, subtraction, patterns, skip counting, and telling time. For literacy, we've been practicing rhyming words, sight words, blending sounds, and writing full sentences with noun, verb and expander. The students are learning important skills without even realizing it because they are having fun while doing it. 

~ Lissette - Highlander Charter Corps Member

Times2 Afterschool Reflection

One of my after school programs consists of older student (7th and 8th graders) who help me create fun activities for the younger kids. The pictures I have show the older kids enjoying the playground way more than any little kids would!


~ Cyntoya; Times2 Academy Charter Corp Member

Harry Potter Club

Harry Potter Club at Highlander has really been enjoying playing Muggle Quiddich in afterschool and teaching other students to play at our teachback, and we would like to invite you to play, too!

Quiddich is the leading Wizarding sport from the Harry Potter series. It is typically played on brooms, and it includes 4 balls, including three that fly around on their own, and six hoops to score in. Because we (tragically) cannot fly, we have made some rules adjustments to make it a little easier for we muggles (non-magical people) to play. Enjoy!

You need:
1 large bouncy ball (the quaffle)
1 small ball (the snitch)
2 baskets

To play: Divide into two teams. To score a point, your team must score the quaffle into your basket. The game ends when the snitch is thrown in, and one team scores it into their basket. The snitch is worth five points.
Follow these rules:
1. You may not take more than two steps while holding the ball.
2. You may not push, hit, or touch any other players.
3. Have fun!

Dr. Seuss: Highlander Afterschool

          This past afterschool session students at Highlander were able to explore the imaginary world of Dr. Seuss in two different after school classes. One class included Kindergarteners and 1^st graders, while the other class included 2^nd and 4^th graders. K and 1 students got to read Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and Hop on Pop, The Grade 2 to 4 class was able to do activities around the books; Yertle the Turtle, If I Ran a Zoo, and The Sneetches.

          The students started out the class with competing Boys vs. Girls in a Dr. Seuss Themed Family Feud where they had to answer such questions as “Name a Famous Dr. Seuss Character”, “Name something you can do on a rainy day” and “Name an animal that lives in the zoo.”

          For the Sneetches students started the class by watching the film of the story and then as a group read a readers theater of the story and designed their own stars to show how unique and special they each are.
          In honor of Bartholomew and the Oobleck students got to create and play with Oobleck and even drew their own version of a rainy day. Students also watched "The Cat in the Hat Movie," designed their own zoo, created Yertle the Turtle out of paper plates and created a quilt featuring their favorite Dr. Seuss characters.

Try at Home Oobleck:

2 parts cornstarch (a good amount to start with is 1 cup)

1 part water (so, 1/2 cup)

Put the cornstarch in a bowl or baggie and slowly add the water. You may not need the full amount of water to get the consistency of pancake batter. Add a drop or two of green food color if desired. Once you mix it, it has a very strange consistency - like a solid in the bowl until you pick it up, then it is very liquid.

Japan Themed Freedom Friday

On Friday, the students at Highlander got to learn about Japan and the 2011 tsunami. Students were able to look at pictures from the aftermath of the tsunami and learned how to count to three in Japanese. Students were given the opportunity to reflect in their homeroom on what they can do to spread the news about what is going on in Japan, and help with the clean up after the disaster, which is still going on a year after. Students created peace cranes to donate to Japan to help with tsunami relief.

 In the students’ homerooms they continued to learn about Japan through making peace cranes, eating noodles and sushi with chopsticks, making fans, painting their own paper with watercolor and then turning the paper into an origami balloon. Students also watched Japanese anime including “Spirited Away” and “Princess Mononoke.”  Students tried some traditional Japanese food like miso soup, sushi and edamame. 

The fifth grade really enjoyed the visuals of the movie, “Princess Mononoke” and munching on edamame that they called “crunchy pods.”

iArt

This session, I have been running iART, an afterschool program for Kindergarten and First Grade where the students get to develop fine motor skills, as well as utilizing their creativity through Art apps on Ipads. We use ART SET, a really awesome app that enables the user to choose different types of paper and supplies to create a digital canvas. The students have been able to explore drawing with oil pastels, markers, paints, charcoal, and more - without the mess or the expenses.