This morning we listed to a famous spiritual to celebrate Black History Month. Then Lucas led us in the pledge.
Language Arts
We were fortunate to have Mrs. Wood volunteer for spelling groups again. Students rotated in and out and sorted words into patterns and learned spelling rules. Those with me did a difficult deed. They came up with as many reasons as they could to justify slavery. We categorized the reasons into 1/ Good for slaves, 2/ Good for plantation owners, 3/ Good for the USA. (Remember, we are in the era just before the Civil Ward and the setting is the South. The objective is to get ourselves our of our comfort zone and think about life from an opposite point of view. Most students completed a structured paragraph, backing up their reasons to continue slavery as a social practice. Of course, they knew it went against everything they believed, but just for a minute they had to try to see from another's perspective. Those who didn't complete their paragraph need to hand it in tomorrow morning. The writing outline is as follows:
WRITING OUTLINE FOR THREE-POINT EXPOSITORY PARAGRAPH
1. Topic sentence (use words in the topic and tell how many points will be used)
2. 3-point sentence (List your 3 points in the order that you will present them.
3. State your first point in a complete sentence.
4. Write a supporting sentence for the first point.
5. State your second point in a complete sentence.
6. Write a supporting sentence for the second point.
7. State your third point in a complete sentence.
8. Write a supporting sentence for the second point.
9. Concluding sentence (Restate the topic sentence and add an extra thought.)
Tomorrow we will breathe a sigh of relief and write a compelling paragraph of reasons to abolish slavery. This should be easier to organize because it feels right.
We blocked a good part of Brutus and Mrs. Frisby's "In the Rosebush" scene. Students will not be using their scripts to act anymore. All parts should be memorized. Check how well your student knows his/her parts.
Keep up with your reading! And practice that spelling! Test Friday.
Math
After school today I changed the xtramath.org programs of most students to the multiplication program. Students who are absent during math class must complete a session every day. It takes about 7 minutes.
For our lesson today we reviewed area and perimeter. Students filled in square inches to be rectangles and squares. They then found the area and perimeter of their shapes. Again we traced objects onto butcher paper and figured out the area. Next we strategized how to find the perimeter. We went out to the hall where yarn was taped down to create a complex figure. Students figured out the area. Then we learned how to "cut and slide" sections of the shape to create a rectangle and figure out the perimeter using our formula: P = (l+w)x2 Homework is a perimeter worksheet. We will stay on this concept for one more day before moving on in our workbooks.
Read Aloud
After lunch we had read aloud. Lucky's friend, Old Hunter, was deeply affected by the Big Growl and didn't want to share his food. Lucky saved him from being electrocuted and got a meal out of the experience. It always amazes me how important it is to take time to read aloud to children. Their eyes seem to shut off and their imaginations whisk them away to the world of fantasy, history, science-fiction, whatever the genre. Please take time often to read aloud to your child. (And studies show that dads have an even greater influence on reading attitudes in children than moms do! Go, Dads!)
History
We watched two short video clips on abolitionists Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. Frederick Douglass had once been a slave himself, but he had escaped to the North. He became a speaker and writer. William Garrison printed Douglass's writing. Garrison believed slavery was a great sin and was determined to end slavery immediately. He was a printer who made many people angry by his strong words, and he was very effective in changing the minds of the people from complacency to action.
At the end of history we divided into four families. These families will be earning points for family privilege time on Friday. Some "families" are planning activities together. They are helping each other with memorization and spelling. Families with 10 or higher on each spelling test on Friday will earn bonus points. Completed paragraphs, writing activities, projects, and service, reading homework etc. will earn points for family fun.
P.E and Music followed.
Tech
Students who had completed 20 minutes of outside-of-class typing time this past week were able to start immediately on their 5 minute typing test and hop on to tynker.com to work on coding. Remember to schedule two 10-minute sessions of typing for your child this week.
Students then went to Science. Science Fair is coming up quickly! Keep it simple, but work on it a little every day.
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