Black Friday… Cyber Monday…Sales! Sales! Sales! Everyone is out looking for great deals on holiday presents. Don’t fall into this shopping craze. Use some imagination and creativity with Mrs. McBride’s monthly challenge, The Holiday Challenge. All entries are due Tuesday, December 17th.

https://www.ducksters.com/history/native_american_iroquois.php

Dr. Maya Angelou wrote about this book, “The reader is shown that it is a blessing to be a blessing.” When you want to help others, you may never know or see the people that benefit.

Let’s let others know they matter too. We will create origami hearts with the words “YOU MATTER” inside. Leave it in a place for someone to find, and they will discover that you are grateful for him/her.

Heart Origami Challenge – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnV262Egucw

If you have not entered the Origami Challenge, this video might encourage you to start – Engineering with Origami.

It is time to get those creative juices going again! Mrs. McBride is offering another opportunity to put your skills to work. Find out more details for this month’s challenge here – The Origami Challenge.

Last week’s card challenge encouraged us to use grit! There were many ways to solve the 10 card investigation – work backwards, start small, find a pattern, trial and error. There’s also a program created from the math equation – Order of the Cards.

Today you will need more grit to solve many puzzles. Here’s another reminder.

Do you have the grit to solve today’s problem, The 1-10 Card Investigation.

What I love about this investigation…

1. Do you know how to put numbers in order?
2. Do you need an answer key?
3. Does everyone need to solve it the same way?
4. How will you tackle the task?

Don’t give up.  GRIT is the key to your success.

Explore:

• Use the cards 1-5 to get a grasp on the task.
• Use all the cards A-k and try the same task.
• Vary the task.  Place two cards at the bottom of the pile after each flip.
• You don’t need playing cards.  Create cards with index cards.  Use numbers 1-20.

It is time to get those creative juices going again! Mrs. McBride is offering an opportunity to put your skills to work. Find out more details for this month’s challenge here – The Pumpkin Character Challenge.

A rebus is a puzzle device which combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words and/or phrases.   Remember when you needed pictures to help your read a story – When Small is Tall.  Now you need pictures to give you clues to solve puzzles.  Here are two examples:

Let’s have fun practicing, drawing our own and/or generating with a computer – Rebus Generator.

If you are ready for a Rebus with a challenge, harder puzzles have a representation of words or pictures whose names resemble the intended words or syllables.  Here is an example.

The next level of rebus puzzles are sometimes called Word Winks.  These puzzles require you to look at size, location and direction. Try a few online – Rebus Brainteasers.

Enjoy solving rebus puzzles because they can develop your concentration, critical thinking skills and verbal reasoning.

This week we will celebrate “Start with Hello” week, which is a week to remind us how important and powerful it is to get to know one another, make new friends, say hi to new people, and make people feel good if they are feeling sad or alone. Every day you can do a special activity to remember to try and include others. Whether on the school bus, in the playground or in class, it is important to make sure others feel included and welcome.

Sometimes to do this, you need courage. Courage can mean a lot of things and people can act courageously in a lot of different situations. Listen to Bernard Waber’s book, Courage. Think about what courage means to you and how you too can act courageously in every day kind of ways.

Courage is also staring with Hello! Let’s try to be courageous by getting to know new people and by helping others who might need a friend.