Patch Land!

(We almost held this meeting in Sweetling's room. I was pretty pumped about that possibility. It was like being invited into the Fortress of Solitude. I took my netbook in and plugged it in, but then some Mommy person went dancing up and down the hallway while humming her own spy music theme. And the netbook wouldn't see the internet. And if we held the meeting in the living room and used the media center computer, everyone could see the screen. So, no Fortress of Solitude field trip for Toa and I today.)

Here is what our meeting, and thereby this post, is about.

Tia Smurf called this morning with a rocking idea for what to do about grades. I'm super pumped about the idea, so we are meeting to work out some details we can all three agree on.

Tia Smurf's idea was this, in addition to letter grades for math tests, unit reviews, etc....why not have something Toa of Boy can earn for different aspects of schooling. Toa LOVES earning patches, jewels, badges....why not carry this into our schooling?

We are so down with this :)

So, here is our brainstorming list on patches we can earn. Sweetling is getting dragged into this too. Cause that's the kind of loving Mother I am.

1. We are going to purchase and paint a cork bulletin board for each child. We'll hang these bulletin boards at the end of the hallway to display the awards.
2. We'll buy white ribbons of different width and use permanent markers to draw and design the "patches". Tia Smurf is coming over to help with this step.
3. We will have a specific list of the types of awards, and what is required to earn each award.
4. For each category, we will have a Master Patch which will be big and cool and fancy and which can be earned whenever 10 regular ribbons are earned in that one category.
5. We will decide if we are going to call these things ribbons, patches, badges, awards, or something else.

Types of ribbons.

(Edited to organize by subject.)

General Patches:

• Discovery Patch--Independently discover and record three things you never knew before.
• All A's Award--Get all A's for a week in every subject.
• The A Honor Roll-- Get all A's for ten weeks in one subject.
• The A Average--Get an average grade of an A for ten weeks in all subjects.
• Daily Star Award--Get a star in each subject of the day for attitude. (not eligible for Master Patch individual. Instead, you need to collect 10 Weekly Star Stundent Patches to receive a Master Patch.)
• Weekly Star Student--Get four Daily Star Awards.
• Power Point Patch--Put together a power point presentation about one topic of your choice.

History Patches

• Detective Patch--Find and record 10 interesting facts about person or event in history.
• Producer Patch--Re-enact a scene from a book or from history, using live actors, paper puppets, stuffed animals or claymation. Film with video or take a series of still photos with captions.
• Historical Sketch Artist--Sketch or draw an object, event, or person from history.
• Time Traveler Award--Create a labeled and illustrated timeline with at least 10 events.
• Current Event Patch--Write a short paragraph about three different current events.
• News Hawk Patch--Publish a recreation of the front page of a newspaper from a given time or a newspaper article which could have been written about a specific occurrence. MS Publisher optional. OR write or act out a script of an eyewitness news reporter broadcasting "live" from at the scene of a historic event.
• Ripple Effect Award--Pick one event in history and explain its significance, both in terms of its immediate impact and its long term effect. List your sources.

Literature and Language Arts Patches

• Webster Award--Learn a number of new words equal to your age. You can find these words in books you are reading, in your school subjects, or anywhere you encounter them.
• Ivy League Award--Write at least one, thoughtful, in-depth response to a piece of literature you have read.
• Poetry Patch--Write, and revise, your own poem.
• Recitation Patch—Memorize and recite, with clarity and meaning, a poem of your choice. Be able to discuss the language, meaning, and poetic devices used with your audience.
• Young Author Patch--Write your own piece of fiction (or a chapter in a longer piece.)
• NaNoWriMo 1-2-3 Patch--Meet your daily writing goal for three days in a row.
• Agent "W" Patch--Write and answer five "w" type questions about a book you have read. If you are Sweetling, these five questions must be more in depth and not just factual recall.
• Script Writer Patch--Like the Producer Patch, but with your own creative fiction.
• Linguist Patch--Learn an alphabet or ten/twenty vocabulary words in another language.

Art and Music Patches

• Manga Award--Complete one manga project, or complete a discernable goal in a larger project.
• Illustrator Patch--Sketch or draw a character or scene from a piece of fiction (your own or someone else's.)
• Discovering Artists Award--Learn about one artist and their art and create a piece in that style.
• Music Patch--Learn to play a song on an instrument, learn to sing a new song, or learn about music in a given time in history.

Science, Technology, and Critical Thinking Patches

• Science Patch--Build a successful project or conduct a successful experiment.
• Inventors Award--Learn about one invention or inventor. Convey or record your learning in a format of your choosing.
• Capture the Queen Patch--Capture your opponent's queen in a chess game outside of co-op.
• Checkmate Patch---Checkmate your opponent in a chess game outside of co-op.
• Animal Patch--Put on a presentation about a certain type of animal.
• Lego Patch--Complete a Lego Quest challenge.

Health and Life Skills Patches

• Exercise Patch--Complete at least twenty minutes of exercise or physical activity on three different days of the week outside of Tae Kwon Do and co-op P.E.
• Healthy Patch--For one week (five days), keep a food log. Eat a balanced diet.
• Fruit and Vegetable Patch--For one week (five days), eat 5 servings of fruits or vegetables in each day.
• Cooking Patch--Make two new recipes. (Or assist in two new recipes).
• Bible--Pick ANY requirement for another Badge and complete it for a topic from our Bible curriculum.

AND, I just got an email from my friend Nora with a link to some rubricks. Hooray!