Breakout Edu

Breakout Edu has come to Indian River School by way of a grant from the Friends of Mascoma! We are so grateful to them for their generosity. We recently introduced this resource to the staff, who are already implementing it in their classrooms.

What is Breakout Edu?

Breakout Edu is like an escape room, where students have to collaborate and use critical thinking skills to solve puzzles to "break out" of a box. These engaging challenges build 21st century and SEL skills, and are aligned to the curriculum standards.

Why use Breakout Edu?

Breakout Edu is a nontraditional classroom activity that activates various learning modalities. Students find them fun and engaging, and they have the power to reach even the most challenging students. There are many standards-aligned challenges across all content areas that can be used to kick off or conclude a unit of study, as a formative assessment, or even just as a team building exercise. The possibilities are endless, as students and teachers can even create custom breakout puzzles.

What does Breakout Edu look like in the classroom?

Many teachers have dipped their toes into the Breakout Edu pool with the digital version of these puzzles. You can try one here.

In addition, during their digital citizenship class at the library, Mrs. Westgate's 8th graders utilized their knowledge of digital privacy to complete one entitled: Think Before You Post.

Students were introduced to the challenge with a story:

The students related to this storyline right away. They were then split into small groups and given clues to unlock five different locks: a word lock, a directional lock, a 3-digit lock, a 4-digit lock, and a padlock (one of the puzzles led them to the location of the key hidden in the library).

The magical thing about these breakout puzzles is how well the students work together. While they are working in small groups, the entire class remains a team as they are all working toward the same goal: breaking out of the box. These students had never completed a breakout puzzle like this before, yet when all minds were put together, their combined brainpower allowed them to solve all of the puzzles and successfully break out of the box!

There were a lot of smiles behind the masks as everyone enjoyed the satisfaction of achieving their goal (and the little prizes inside the box).

World Kindness Day

World Kindness Day is observed globally on November 13th. It was introduced in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement and promotes the importance of being kind to not only each other, but also to one's self and the global community.

In honor of this upcoming special day, we worked on promoting kindness at IRS. There are reminders throughout the hallway and in our morning announcements. The sixth graders in Mrs. Dunkerton's class also helped create a bulletin board highlighting ways that they can choose kindness.

The first collection of "Kindness" books I placed in the library were snatched up quickly, so I refilled the display and these are being checked out with enthusiasm as well.

Let's remember that there is good in this world, and we can continue to spread kindness throughout.

IRS Reading Magic Challenge

Students at IRS will be participating in the Reading Magic Challenge from November until June. Students will select their own "house" (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin) with its designated challenges. Students will then develop individual goals based on their chosen house. As students work to achieve their individual goal, they will also be contributing to their "House Cup." Students earn rewards at every level: individual, house, and schoolwide.

Learn more about it here.

Makerspace

We are so lucky to have so many amazing resources at our school! The newest of which are our makerspace cart and 3D printer.

What is a makerspace?

A makerspace is a collaborative work space designed for making, learning, exploring and sharing that uses high tech to no tech tools. It's not necessarily the tools and equipment that make a makerspace; it’s more of the maker mindset of creating something out of nothing and exploring your own interests that’s at the core of a makerspace. These spaces are also helping to prepare those who need the critical 21st century skills in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). They provide hands on learning, help with critical thinking skills and even boost self-confidence.

3D Printing Pioneer

We were excited when a student offered to be our 3D printer pioneer and create a pumpkin! The students loved watching the 3D printing in progress, and were eager to see the final product. Now, students are eager to start printing their own designs. I can't wait to see what else these brilliant minds create!

Digital Citizenship Week

We just wrapped up our Digital Citizenship Week at Indian River! Digital Citizenship Week is a celebration that takes place during the third week of October. During this week, digital well-being is promoted to help our students thrive in a world of media and technology. 

Why do we celebrate Digital Citizenship Week?

In our school, teachers were given a menu of digital citizenship activities to complete within their classrooms. Students in my digital citizenship class also worked really hard to create group displays to describe what digital citizenship means and how to be good digital citizens.

Finally, there was a schoolwide poster contest. We had some incredible submissions! Voting will take place next week and the winner will be announced next Friday. Thank you to everyone who participated in this week's celebration!

Comics Workshop

As part of the CLIF Grant, 5th and 6th graders were excited to begin their Comics Workshop with Marek Bennet. Marek is a NH-based cartoonist, musician, and educator. During his first virtual visit, he introduced comics and cartooning. The students were able to work alongside him to learn about the creative process involved.

Click here to see more from the Day 1 Workshop!

After the workshop, the students selected their second free book of the year. Happy reading!

More about Marek Bennet:

His comics work includes the graphic novel series, The Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby, as well as drawing, translating, & editing for The Most Costly Journey (2021) with the bilingual El Viaje Project. His crowd-funded cartoon travel memoirs include Sharjah Sketchbook (2020) and SLOVAKIA: Fall in the Heart of Europe (2013).  Marek is the recipient of the 2021 New Hampshire Governor’s Arts Award for Art Education.

Marek plays Civil War folk music with The Hardtacks and “hot gonzo primitive folk jive” with The Cold River Ranters.

https://marekbennett.com/

Sora

Sora gives students and teachers access to borrow e-books and audiobooks from both the NH Schools Shared Collection and our school's own digital collection. Users can access Sora for free on their Chromebooks™, laptops, or desktop computers at https://soraapp.com/library/nhssdcnh. Users can also download the app for free through Apple App Store and Google Play, and on Chromebooks™ that support the Google Play Store. Read on!