Week 2

We continued our quest work this week, counting ourselves down into Athens and assuming the identities of our avatars 3 times this week. We had Eagles do Socratic Smackdown discussions, make abacuses and do math with them, and make clay tablets then fill them with the Greek alphabet. We also had many Eagles begin the craft of finger knitting to make timelines about ancient Greece. The finger knitting has grown immensely and many Eagles are enjoying doing it during different times of the day and week.

In Civilization this week we focused on the Israelites leaving Egypt and the Phoenicians. We read about the baby Moses and the great Exodus from Egypt he would eventually lead his people on. We questioned whether we would continue to worship the same god if he told us to leave a place that was fertile for one that was not. The question that brought about the most discussion was if it would be ethical for the President of the United States to sign a law because his god told him to. When discussing the Phoenicians we talked about their traders and if we would rather master trading, sailing, or fighting. We then discussed the founding of Carthage and the ruthless negotiations of Dido. We then discussed the things the United States sells or provides for the world and which has the greatest effect. The Eagles ultimately decided it is the technology we create over our economic power, cars, or culture.

In Writer’s Workshop this week we focused on drafting our pitches and began the editing and revision process. Mrs. Warren even came in on Thursday and spent about 10 minutes one on one with each Eagle helping them to better organize their ideas and better communicate them to their audience. We look forward to hearing the pitches next week.

Last week the Eagles voted to have a Christmas tree and make ornaments for it. Over the weekend, I was able to collect the items required for that and we put up our tree on Tuesday and decorated ornaments during art. Mrs. Carla also laser engraved ornaments with names and the AILT eagle logo on them for each Eagle. On Wednesday, we decorated the tree with finger knit garland and handmade ornaments from each Eagle. We ended our week celebrating the passing out of 5 more badges for writing, deep books, pre-algebra, and early math!