I need to apologize to the parents of these students! These kids are becoming great arguers and they're really good at supporting their opinion with evidence or reasoning. So it is inevitable that these students will use this skill to get their way at home. For this I am sorry. We all researched a mystery and gathered information and evidence. Each student decided on a theory they agree with and supported it with details from the text. They then got the chance to respond to the theories of others. We're also going to study a few debatable topics and then build the strongest argument we can by finding evidence from a variety of texts that support our beliefs. These kids are passionate about what they believe and they want to be heard. I love watching them work hard to support their opinion! We'll be using a cool resource to find texts about these debatable issues. www.commonlit.org | |
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Students have been fully engaged in their attempt to represent a poet in their exhibit display. They were asked to consider the themes and moods that come through the work of their poet and then find a way to use colors and images on their poster that reflect the poet.
Each exhibit will feature a poster created by the group of 3 or 4 students. It will have a laptop and headphones for visitors to listen to student readings of the poet's work. The display will also have books and hard copies of student selected poems. Click here to listen to the student readings. They are organized in folders by poet. Kids hate poetry. And if we're honest, most adults hate poetry!
We hate things that we can't understand, and we don't like the struggle of finding meaning in something we don't care about. So what if we don't have to worry about what the poet intended it to mean, but just focus on what it means to us (the reader) and how it makes us feel. This is what we're trying to do with our Poet Study. Students were in small groups, each group was in charge of one poet. Each student selected a poem or two to read and record. Then the group collaborated to find common themes and moods of their poet. Each group is working on creating an exhibit displaying their poet and representing the themes and moods they found in their work. Hopefully through this we can find contentment with not knowing all the answers or meanings but just appreciate an interaction with the ideas and feelings of others. Stay tuned for pictures of our exhibits! Follow the link to complete the survey
SURVEY Students have been working hard to research ancient civilizations in order to create a historical fiction story that takes place in one of these settings. This unit gives them a little insight of what they'll be studying in social studies with Mrs. Smith throughout the year too! I continue to be amazed at how creative these students can be when given the opportunity! Looking forward to sharing their stories with you. They have to come up with a realistic setting, character, and problem according to their research of an ancient civilization. Peace in your exploration of the past! The sixth graders had an awesome opportunity to engage in some hands-on learning at the Columbia Metroparks Reservation. The park rangers there were looking for some assistance in catching and tagging butterflies. The monarch butterflies pass through this area of the country on their migration path to Mexico. Students learned concepts like latitude/longitude and data tracking in research. The website http://www.monarchwatch.org/ is used in tracking and researching this amazing journey that millions of monarchs take each year.
While the weather didn't perfectly cooperate, we did manage to catch and tag one butterfly (thanks to Tom)! That butterfly's tag number is UCL233. The Great Chicago Fire: http://www.history.com/topics/great-chicago-fire/print
Shark Attacks of 1916 http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-shark-attacks-that-were-the-inspiration-for-jaws-15220260/?no-ist Destruction of Pompeii http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/pompeii Joplin Tornado https://newsela.com/articles/hurricane-tornado/id/197/ September 11th attacks http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/?tfp_display=archive-date&tfp_archive_id=091201 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 in different ways, translating into different skills and interests. Each student was given 12 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.
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Learning in ActionThe Room 14 Experience Archives
August 2020
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