Adventures in After School Learning Blog

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Depending where your kid’s skills are and how much time you can devote, we’ve have a number of easy to use vocabulary extensions set-up for each Course Kit topic.

Any new terms introduced in a lesson are defined in the Instructor’s Guide and are also listed in the Students glossary.  But with many of our courses being used for enrichment, this may be the very first time students have heard the terms like “Chromatography” or “Genre” or “Idiophone.”

So if you’re inclined to take the learning further we have a number of vocabulary extensions created for preview and download  under “Vocabulary Extensions” on each Course Kit page.

 

We’ve also just incorporated a new preview feature that allows you to easily scroll through the various word searches, match games and crossword puzzles. The old way involved waiting for PDF downloads.

Take a look at the preview image above from the “Missing Money Mystery” or click on it anywhere to sample the real thing!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, May 11, 2011

 

Welcome to your orientation for The Missing Money Mystery: An Introduction to Forensic Science, an interactive curriculum designed for students in Grades 3-5.

Using real laboratory techniques and materials, students create theories about the “crime,” of a classroom burglary, and much as real detectives (and real scientists!) use their powers of critical thinking to track down the thief.

Along the way your student will practice critical thinking, acquire new vocabulary, explore careers in forensics, and become acquainted with scientific procedures and processes they will encounter in their classrooms.

The entire mystery is revealed to your students through a series of letters our fictional teacher who writes to his friend (your teacher) because his specialty is more environmental science and he feels he’s a little too close to the case to be objective.

Students begin by being introduced to Mr. Pfister, a forth grade teacher at Oakwood Elementary School. He’s a fun teacher that has a passion for environmental science. One of his favorite things to do each year is to take his class on a field trip to the nearby recycling center. To fund the trip, his students collect cans and bottles and redeem them for 5¢ each. The trip costs $50 so that means collecting a lot of cans and bottles!

To keep the students’ spirits up, Mr. Pfister plans a pizza party for when they reach the halfway mark, which he just learned they passed when he dropped everything the day before so far at the redemption center. Unfortunately, upon arriving to his classroom the next day, Mr. Pfister could see something was wrong, a number of things disturbed and the field trip money gone! Who could have done this?

Mr. Pfister was very upset when he found the money missing, but being the curious and resourceful teacher that he is, he decided that with a little research, and his spectacular computer skills, he would begin an investigation himself!
He logged on to the classroom computer and searched for information on forensic science--forensic science includes different types of science that are all brought together to solve crimes.

Mr. Pfister discovered the website of the FBI, or Federal Bureau of Investigation, which listed the steps he should take to begin his investigation. And before the students arrived, he followed one of the first steps listed: he conducted a careful search to locate clues. As for the remaining steps, Mr. Pfister needs help!

Mr. Pfister has identified four suspects who had the opportunity to steal the money. He reads how important it is for forensic scientists to leave their emotions and feelings out of their criminal investigations. But all of the suspects he identified are former students of his who were attending after school club meetings on the Monday that the money went missing.

After introducing the students to the crime scenarios, your class will get started with Lesson 1, called "The Eyes Have It: Organization and Observation." In this lesson, students will be introduced to the process of criminal investigation. It will be crucial that students observe and record accurately the details of the evidence from the crime scene.

Students will have the opportunity to work in pairs and groups to practice their own observational skills using a variety of objects. Recording will be done in the form of lists and data tables. The properties of foreign coins—size, shape, color and texture—will be used to complete the tables.

In addition, measurement and the appropriate abbreviations for specific units will be addressed. An evaluation of these skills will take place as students attempt to identify specific objects based on their peers’ data.

As your class continues on to Lesson 2, “Missing Money Map-Making: Evidence at the Crime Scene,” they will take observe a crime scene set up by your teacher. Students learn the procedures and steps in a crime scene investigation like securing the scene which I have done, is to conduct a search for any evidence that might be damaged by weather or time, such as tracks or prints of some kind.

Students are introduced to the term “chain of custody” and the importance of handling and documenting every piece of evidence found at the crime scene. They will plot locations of evidence, and they will use triangulation to determine the distance of evidence from fixed points.

At the end of the lesson Students are asked which piece of evidence found at the crime scene was most important and what is there theory of what happened? They are directed to write down any supplications in the pages called “Detectives Notebooks”.

Let us know what you think of this orientation?

 

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Across the USA, the teaching standards movement has its pros and cons. Working against it is the notion that somehow teachers need more guidelines to legitimize their practice; on the other hand, standards help uncover the wide range of things that teachers know and are able to do.

Like it or not, the standards movement is here to stay. At Community Learning, we want to let teachers know: we believe in you. We know teachers are the most important influence in students’ lives and the key to student achievement.

We’ve built our Course Kits with teachers in mind. All of our lessons are structured in ways that not only emphasizes student learning, but also extend the influence of good teaching practice beyond the school day—into after-school programs or other youth serving organizations and groups.

Community Learning Course Kits

• Take a “teaching and learning” approach, emphasizing the relationship between instructor and learners

• Promote disciplinary literacy in music, art, science, ELA

• Offer students developmentally appropriate, cognitively challenging tasks

• Encourage instructors to “coach” learners through their activities

• Help teachers strengthen professional practice; build relationships with students and parents; explore project-based approaches to teaching that are coherent and structured; and discover new avenues for quality instruction. 

• Support teachers through professional development and training.

We’ve got our eye on standards—keep checking our blog and see how we keep up with changes in your world!

-Guest  post by Shelly Rafferty Withers

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, April 20, 2011

These days, the big deal is to drive a car that can park itself. All that “hands free” convenience is great, but we miss something when we give up the relationship between our hands and our world.

Who doesn’t remember the challenge of parallel parking? The tight turn of the wheel, the twist of the neck, the furrowed brows of our driving instructors…?

“Hands-free” parking begs the question: Is “hands-on” learning going to be the next to go? Will everything we want our kids to learn eventually going to be a digital flicker on a touch screen?

At Community Learning, we don’t think so, and here’s why:

• “Hands on” means “minds on.”
• Kids groove on new tactile experiences.
• Figuring out puzzles is fun.
• Gaining control of your body means mastery and accomplishment.
• With freedom, kids’ imaginations find new homes.

What new kits might we build to keep kids engaged, learning, dreaming and delighted? That’s the question that keeps us up at night. So far, we’ve been able to get kids performing music, creating art, solving crimes, and making movies.

We’d love to hear your ideas!

Learn all about “hands-on learning” here.

 -Guest post by Shelly Rafferty Withers

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Please review and comment on this sample overview, designed for new teacher orientation.

Welcome to a brief orientation that will introduce you to a fun, hands-on and comprehensive course that will enthuse and enrich your students attending your program!
 
The Cookie Jar Mystery: A Study in Forensic Science is a project-based and well integrated set of learning activities that immerses kids in the role of junior crime scene investigators. There are four suspects and a number of clues left at the crime scene, which is a science classroom.
 
This course provides a great balance of fun and learning that has resonated with after school leaders across the country. The Course Kit comes complete with step-by-step Instructor's Guides, Student Books and all required supplies. 
 
The crime scenario starts when an unsuspecting teacher Mrs. Randall, discovers her cookie jar smashed upon entering her classroom. A bit shocked having used the cookie jar as an incentive for years, she stays calm and snaps a couple pictures with her digital camera, bags the evidence and cleans up the shards of glass before her class was due in any second.
 
Always the educator, Mrs. Randall finds a teachable moment in this unhappy situation. She gives an accurate account of what was observed when she first saw the broken cookie jar, covers some of the obvious clues, and then proposes employing forensic science to get to the bottom of this heinous crime...her class agrees and is excited to get started!
 
That class becomes your class and is exactly how your teacher introduces this fun topic to your middle school students. Great for after school because although rich with learning, it's doesn't sound like class work, they're solving a mystery....it's an idea that kids understand and embrace immediately.
 
Your students will work in teams, just like we do in the real world, examining clues, conducting experiments, analyzing results, making predictions and ultimately determining the guilty party!

In Lesson 1, called "Heads-Up: Observation Skills," The Cookie Jar Mystery opens with your teacher introducing the crime scenario to your students. This includes the who, what and where surrounding the incident of the broken cookie jar. Students will view a photo taken by the fictional teacher Mrs. Randall, as she found her famous cookie jar and evidence when she entered her classroom.

Students are introduced to what a forensic investigation really means. They first learn that one of the most valuable skills of a crime scene investigator is observation. Examining the crime scene closely and understanding what to look for is an absolute necessity. Your students will participate in a couple of activities to test their observational skills. This involves teaming up with a partner and looking at photographs of various events.

Working in pairs, students will look at the photographs briefly and try to recall specific details. From there, they'll fill in the answers and observations in their Student Activity Books, an activity that's replicated in every lesson. Then the class will get together to compare notes and discuss their findings.

This is the framework for each lesson: the Instructor introduces the evidence they will explore together, offers background information and context, then the class proceeds to a lab activity. All results discovered in the hands-on activities are captured in the Student Activity Books. These books will be theirs to keep at the end of the course, so the background information and findings will available for future reference.

Each lesson has wrap-up questions that help your Instructor prompt the students to get a discussion going about what was learned.

In the Lesson 2, "Beyond the Naked Eye: Handwriting Analysis," 
Students will examine the note left behind and learn about handwriting analysis.

They'll learn about "non-request" writing, a sample obtained before the crime, and "request" writing which is a sample obtained when a suspect is under investigation. Students will learn how handwriting examiners interpret individual style and apply these skills to the note found at the crime scene.

They will examine "request" samples from each suspect and conduct a detailed analysis of each sample to determine a match. Students will also examine their own handwriting with a partner to break down their style and tendencies.

At the end of each page will be a reference and links to the next page...please leave a comment below if you think this will be a helpful tool for your teachers!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Brian Melick, a musician and performer who we collaborated with on our “Playing with Percussion” Course Kit, is a man following his talents and almost any kind of percussion instrument he finds. 

We worked together demonstrating some of the basics behind percussion, where kids make and play instruments out of everyday objects (he's also the the star of the DVD in the kit).  In addition to performing, I've seen him work his magic leading professional development sessions and assemblies.

Brian has been making instruments out of found objects for a long time and we'll be highlighting some of his latest creations real soon. 

In the meantime, here are a couple fun clips of Brian doing his thing on a Cajinto and Cajon. Enjoy!