Mrs. Fine’s Fourth Grade GATE

Go to our book blog here: and respond to the next question.

After you have responded,
download this Jeopardy game into Powerpoint. Play the game with a partner.

First, complete the next question on our discussion blog – http://readingblogs.com/chasingvermeer

When you have submitted your answer, you may go to this link – http://greece.mrdonn.org/games.html
and select activities from this page only.

So, did your child come home and say that they played a game called SCAMPER? Did they tell you the purpose for us in playing this game? No, we did not run about the room:)
Scamper was created by Bob Eberle in 1991. It stands for
Substitute
Combine
Adapt
Modify, Magnify, Minify
Put to other Uses
Eliminate
Re-arrange

Why do it? Children need to start working on their creative thinking now. As an example, imagine that you are a manufacturer of nuts and bolts, and you were looking for new products. SCAMPER would give you:

Substitute – use of high tech materials for niche markets, such as high speed steel? Carbon fiber? Plastics? Glass? Non-reactive material?
Combine – integrate nut and bolt? Bolt and washer? Bolt and spanner?
Adapt – put Allen key or Star head on bolt? Countersink head?
Modify – produce bolts for watches or bridges? Produce different shaped bolts (e.g. screw in plugs)? Pre-painted green bolts?
Put to another use – bolts as hinge pins? As axles?
Eliminate – Eliminate nuts, washers, heads, thread, etc.
Reverse – make dies as well as bolts, make bolts that cut threads for themselves in material, etc.

Using SCAMPER here has helped you define possible new products. Many of the ideas may be impractical or may not suit the equipment used by the manufacturer. However some of these ideas could be good starting points for new products.

I hope your child shared their word boggler with you. Word bogglers promote a way to combine problem solving, visual discrimination, and language. A word boggler is a puzzle, a brain teaser, and a lesson in language, all rolled into one. These clever visual puzzles use words and phrases to build flexible thinking and word literacy. Each word boggler is a word or phrase that has been written so that its meaning is conveyed via the position, number, or size of the words and letters. Some of the puzzles are words while some are familiar idioms and clichés. They bring an opportunity to develop vocabulary and knowledge of often-used phrases in the form of motivating brainteasers. Students analyze the way the words are written (size, position, and direction) to solve each boggler and match it with its definition.

Concepts – what do you mean? Last week and this week, we will be “mapping” different concepts. Just what is a concept? Concepts are connected throughout life such as: patterns, change, conflict, environment, tradition, systems, and justice. There are many more. They are timeless and apply across all cultures. Think of a concept as “the big idea.” Together we created a visual by webbing the concept “tradition.” Then students worked in small groups to web a concept they chose. This year we will include the concepts of adaptation, change, culture, environment, identify and many more through out units.