Our 8th Grade AVID Scholars have been really busy in many facets of AVID curriculum. Quick writes, reflection writing on field trips and/or activities, AVID partner games and community service. They have had a big focus on service to the community with Park Pals and donating food to one of the Evanston community fridges. We are finishing our 2nd round of visits to Park School tomorrow and our AVID scholars have taken lead in developing their own projects - songs, color/shape velcro matching, personal hygiene lessons and more. There will be one more round of Park Pals culminating their service to our community.
Below you will see a photo of their last week of tutorials which occurred this week. During Tutorials (TRF's) scholars focus on Costas level of questioning and our scholars have grown tremendously. They are all asking Costas level 3 questions - this is a really big deal. Huge improvement from the beginning of the year. They have been finding their voices and gaining the courage to be able to present.
8th Grade AVID scholars recently worked on strength statements - how to talk about what you are good at. They learned there are 4 steps to working through writing a strength statement. In their lesson they learned there are 24 strengths listed by Behavior Scientists. From there they selected several and used graphic organizers to work through their individual specific strength statement. This focused on what the strength means to them, why the strength is important and how they show this strength to others. Lastly, they had to present their strength statements at the podium to their classmates. They learned a lot about themselves as well as their classmates through this activity which fostered a sense of positive community within the classroom.
One last fun activity was the AVID clap challenge. An AVID clap is a specific hand-clapping motion and accompanying chant or phrase, typically used to mark a specific event or to express enthusiasm. The goal is to add a fun and memorable element to classroom activities, fostering a sense of community and excitement. There are 15 different AVID claps. Our scholars were challenged to create their own and 3 scholars created their own 3 way clap. This activity drew in a lot of fun and excitement bringing the AVID classroom community together.
