I can't believe that the month of January is already halfway done, but here we are! I just wanted to give a little update as to what we have been up to in Literacy and Social Studies as well as share where we are headed!
Social Studies We have been hard at work learning new vocabulary and building background related to the Age of European Exploration. Students have also put themselves into explorers' shoes by writing two letters: one from the perspective of a Portuguese explorer asking for his exploration to be funded, and another from the perspective of a sailor on an expedition, sharing the details of his daily life. In both of these instances students were also tasked with the job of incorporating into their letters the newly-learned details about the Age of Exploration. Today we took time to remember the reason we have off this coming Monday by examining some primary source documents: a photo of Dr. King during his 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, and excerpts from his "I Have a Dream Speech". In the coming days/weeks students will: - Finish gathering and taking notes on background information about the Age of Exploration and take a quiz on this information to demonstrate their understanding of the main points they have already learned. - Begin an Age of Exploration project! More information to come... Literacy: We are finishing up our integrated Literacy/Social Studies unit focused on Light & Sound! We have been discussing the parts of the eye and how these parts come together to help us see. We have also read about and discuss various inventions related to light and sound (Argus II, i.Light, The Mosquito, the makeup made to emulate the Blue Morpho Butterfly), so feel free to ask your kids about some of these incredible inventions! At the end of this unit students will take a Cold-Read assessment, or a brief reading/writing assessment that requires students to read a never-before-seen text and answer questions about the text. Some questions are multiple choice, others are open response, and ALL require students to go back into the text to find their answers. In addition, students will be taking the Reading Inventory (RI) again next week. This computerized assessment helps to measure students' reading comprehension skills and will give us an updated Lexile score for each student. I will also be doing oral reading fluency assessments and may administer other literacy assessments based on student need. When all of this testing is done I will be sure to send home the results to share with you! In memory of Emmet Manheim, the Manheim family has opened a writing competition up to Stark's fifth grade students. All students are tasked with writing a piece that conveys the theme of "Powering Through", with the purpose of inspiring young people to power through difficult circumstances using perseverance and a positive attitude. Students are in various stages of the writing process: many are still planning, organizing and developing their ideas, some are drafting, and a few students are already in the revising phase. These pieces aren't due until the beginning of March, but it is my goal to have all pieces completed and ready to submit by the 2nd week of February. Other things we have been up to include: - watching several Ted Talks and discussing/writing responses to these new ideas; -learning new academic vocabulary (words such as: principle, interpret, theory, source, distribute, structure, establish, constitute, analyze, and authority); - continuing our work with our book clubs (all of which will be ending in the coming weeks); - making sure we are all back on track, focused, and continuing to build our independent, responsible work habits in preparation for middle school! Stay warm, and please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns! -Katelyn
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