Language Arts

We have dived into the first unit in our new curriculum from EL Education. We are reading a class novel, Summer of the Mariposas. Over the last two weeks, we been practicing multiple standards. The focus has been on:

-Writing an objective summary of both fiction and non-fiction.

-Strategies for identifying word meaning by using context clues, affixes, background knowledge. 

-Defining and identifying various figurative language devices, such as simile, metaphor, pun, verbal irony, imagery, hyperbole, alliteration, idioms, and more. 

-Students have also been paying attention to how P.O.V. shapes the tone and mood of scenes. 

Next week, students will continue reading, and we will begin working on identifying themes and motifs, while also starting to practice research skills & note taking as students learn about monsters and spirits from Latin American folklore.

An important note on HW: We need all of our class time to do activities around the novel. As such, it is vital that students keep up with the assigned reading of chapters at home. It is essentially their only HW, besides completing 2 iReady activities by the end of the week. It has been clear that a number of students are not completing or even attempting the reading. Until I see a collective improvement in this area, there will be a weekly reading quiz to ensure students are doing the reading. Please push your students to make the right choice. 

STEM and Design

IDEA:  Students are making SKIMMERS and competing the next two weeks to see who can design the most accurate low flyer.  The goal is make a skimmer that can fly straight and aerodynamically stay "stuck" to the ground.  Students need to use their skills of using a blueprint with dimensions and be able to accurately measure and be precise, the more precise, the better the final product!  Before making the real-world product students will be ramping up their game on Tinkercad using alignment and grouping features to make a CAD design. 

Social Studies 

This week in Social Studies, students continued to work on their American Revolution project while also preparing for their end-of-unit test on Colonial America & The Revolution.

Next week, as we start our unit on how the Framers went about writing the Constitution, we will explore ideas on how to create the "perfect" society, including a mini-unit on Enlightenment thinkers including Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, and Wollstonecraft. We will be discussing some big ideas!