Over the last two weeks, the 5th graders have worked on developing a deeper understanding of their personalities and how they affect group dynamics as well as getting an introduction to the human brain. Students now have 3 out of 4 of their personality profile quadrants filled with original abstract art inspired by popular styles and techniques. After reading an article about the different Myers-Briggs personality markers of the week, they learn about and view examples of a new type of art and apply that style to their profile art piece. Last week, they mimicked "De Stijl" a la Piet Mondrian and this week, they practiced the technique of pointillism in their abstract work.

The 5th graders also read an article and had a discussion on the question "Do other people's feelings feel the same as mine?" They explored the idea of using figurative language to describe emotions, and also learned the new word "neurodivergent."

For their study of the human brain, the 5th graders started a blog to track their learning throughout the unit. Their first post introduced themselves and highlighted their work from a Think-Puzzle-Explore chart they created that told what they think they already know about the brain, what they wonder, and how they might seek the answers to their questions.

This week, they completed a pre-assessment where they drew as accurate of a human brain diagram as they can. At the end of the unit, they will compare their understanding to this original assessment. As an introduction to what they will learn, they watched a brain anatomy video and took notes. We will explore anatomy in greater detail over the coming weeks!