We were so lucky to have Ellie from Acton Academy Main Campus join us for a few days this week. Ellie graduated last year and has been travelling around the country to various Actons passing on her deep knowledge of Acton and best practices. This past week, she helped our LaunchPad studio get a fuller understanding of their various paths as well as worked on self-motivation and group motivation. We are happy that she will be closer to us in the fall, attending college in San Francisco.
This week in History, Foundation got to put their mummification knowledge to the test, and went through the process of mummifying dolls. Ask your Eagles how they did it! After, they decorated their own pharaoh masks, and designed the sarcophagus that the mummy would then be buried in. Such detail and artistic craft put into this work! The Navigators continued their journey through Big History by exploring the heightened connection of the globe, Age of Exploration, and the development of currency. These topics led to many enthusiastic and curious discussions about how we value our connections (with nations and individuals), how we might reconfigure the structure of nations in the future, and how they would feel as explorers in the 1300’s, like Marco Polo and Zheng He.
In Foundation, Eagles put their investigative journalism skills to the test, and were assigned a studio mystery to solve! Learners had to use creativity, and asking the right questions, as well as judging the difference between fact and opinion to interrogate witnesses and solve the puzzle! Ask your Eagle who ended up being the pencil thief! We wrapped up the week learning the story of Nellie Bly, and writing letters to editors.
Navigator and LaunchPad spent the week learning about fake new: how to spot it, what to do with it, and how we can combat it. They drew news topics out of cup to research and write about. Then they were each secretly assigned for their article to be real or fake. On Monday they will be sharing their articles with each other and trying to guess whose is fake!
This week in Medical Biology, the LaunchPad Medical Students discovered and explored the various types of imaging and scans. These skills and know-how were put to the test by having to diagnose real patients as they came into their ‘ER’ and having to decide which medical scans to administer. The young doctors also explored blood typing and had the opportunity to show off their medical skills by aiding patients in a blood transfusion!
For PE, Eagles continued playing Quidditch. Coach Leticia led the witches and wizards through some drills, as well as some strategy meetings to grow in team work and in understanding the game on a deeper level.
Foundation also finished the read aloud book we’ve had our noses in for the past month, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate! A story about a gorilla and his animal friends held in captivity at a mall, that had us all captivated! Be sure to ask your Eagle about their favorite part.
This week, during the gaming quest, we spent a lot more time talking about probability and how our minds can trick us into going with our gut instinct and throwing probability out the window! We played games, made predictions, and got better at the games based on what we learned.Next week, we will start exploring online game design and what makes a great game!
Overall a full week! We’re looking to end the session strong next week before heading off to break!
