Below is our mantra for the year. We will hold fast to these virtues, for they will carry us through every obstacle!
I'm so excited to explore with these students this year! We will all grow and discover in new ways each day. Below is our mantra for the year. We will hold fast to these virtues, for they will carry us through every obstacle! As we practice these values we will become an unstoppable community of learners!
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Please do not be alarmed if you notice a low grade. Actually, do be alarmed, but do not panic. This year I'm really making an effort to have student grades reflect their CURRENT understanding of the standards.
For example, we have been focusing on determining the central idea of a nonfiction text. We've had a couple minor assignments to check student's understanding and some students struggled to show competence at this point. BUT, that is not the end of the story! We'll continue to teach and reteach the concept with the students who are still developing understanding. You'll notice their grade will change as they move to a point of proficiency or even mastery. My hope is that you are concerned, but you do not panic. Each grade is fluid as it represents your child's understanding. Peace in the process, Mr. Hershey It's been so exciting to see the new realizations students are discovering about their brain. They seemed relieved to find out that they have the power to determine how their brain changes and develops.
We explored the concept of "The Marble Theory" which states that each person starts with the same amount of intelligence or "marbles". Though we all organize our marbles into different skills or interests. Intelligence is not synonymous with solely academics. Instead we have students highly intelligent in a variety of areas, such as: basketball, baking, video gaming, caring for others, drawing, and so much more! I'm thrilled to get to learn from each of these unique minds! Each student shared their personal intelligence by showing how their marbles are organized in their brain. Each sixth grade class looked at examples of literary magazines. Each class voted on a theme for their magazine. Every individual considered what they have to say about the theme and they designed their work around it. In these magazines you'll find collections of poetry, short story, prose, artwork, and photography. Hopefully each student can communicate their perspective on the theme with their readers! The 6-4 (4th period literary magazine) The 6-7 (7th period literary magazine) The 6-8 (8th period literary magazine)
I envy the creativity of our children! Listen to a sample of some of the poems they came up with. We explored the use of figurative language. Students brought abstract words to life, using imagery and strategic word choice. Just give the kids opportunities and tools and their creativity flourishes. For this project, they chose a feeling and then brainstormed ideas and concepts that could represent that feeling. The students then created a poem from their brainstorming. Finally each student recorded a reading of their poem and put music with it to fit the tone of their work. I think they turned out out! Enjoy!
We want students to immediately recognize the uniqueness they bring and the worth they have to the people around them. To explore and celebrate our differences we participated in "The Marble Theory" activity. "The Marble Theory" states that we're all given the same amount of intelligence but we distribute it in different ways, translating into different skills and interests. Each student was given 15 marbles and had to reflect on their personal intelligence, distributing them into cups, which represented specific areas of talent or interest. Check out some samples below. In celebrating game 7 of the World Series we have declared this Baseball Idiom Day!
We've challenged the students to try to apply baseball idioms to their regular conversations today. I've been impressed with some of the ways they've used these. Try to TOUCH BASE with your student tonight, THROW THEM A CURVEBALL and continue this theme at home! I'm encouraged by how you GO TO BAT for your kids! One of my favorite units is this poetry project, where students took an abstract word or feeling and used figurative language to bring it to life. They then recorded a reading of their poem and put background music with it to match the mood. I'm always amazed with the students' finished products. Explore some samples below!
Use the following links to support your poet research:
http://www.poetrysoup.com/poets/ https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poems http://www.poetryfoundation.org/browse/poets |
Learning in ActionThe Room 14 Experience Archives
August 2020
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