Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on January 16, 2017
I hope you had a great holiday! In class we learned about the defining moments in the life of MLK using nonfiction text, and analyzed them in terms of the character traits he displayed. We’ll next analyze the achievements of Helen Keller and other famous Americans. Besides learning about history and government, the ultimate goal of our work is to instill in children a sense of civic responsibility, so that when they take their place as citizen leaders they can make their communities, their country, and their world a better place!
Students have been doing a great job developing opinion writing pieces with explanations that support their reasons. Last week’s assignment was to tell their opinions on whether or not we should have homework on the weekend! Here are 2 “no’s” from 1) Elaine 2) Hamza, and 2 “yes’s” from 3) TJ and 4) Alana: 1) Finally, kids need time to go outside. It’s good for their bodies, and they also have a lot of fun! 2) Another reason is kids need time to relax. They need time to sleep and get some energy. 3) Another reason is you can catch up on work when you were absent. Then you can be as smart as the other kids. 4) For one thing, kids have to be ready for school on Monday. If kids do homework, they will be ready. Super!
This week’s math introduces students to a new concept in measurement: the broken ruler. Check out the example above. Here, students are being taught to develop an understanding of length that goes beyond lining up a ruler at “0” and reading the number at the end. You will see examples of it on this week’s homework. Students need to count the centimeters when measuring and comparing in order to understand what the numbers involved mean in terms of length. We will also be learning to represent lengths using bar models. For a reminder, see the bar modeling section of the homework packet from chapter 4.
