Dear Team 22 families,
Happy Friday! Below, you will find an update of what we have been working on in each of our core subjects over the past week. :)
Reading
In Reading, the students have continued working on poetry. They have now learned about several types of figurative language. We have studied similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, and alliteration! After learning about each of these literary devices, the students had a chance to find examples of it in their poetry books in class and also had a chance to create some examples of their own. The kids did a great job with this!
Today, we focused on "theme". We discussed the idea that not only do books have themes, but poems contain themes as well. We then returned to a poem we had read, as a class, several days before, "Dreams", by Langston Hughes. The students worked together to figure out what the theme of the poem was. Some responses that were shared were:
- "You need to work hard to achieve your dreams"
- "Never give up"
- "You need to have confidence to reach your dreams and hopes for the future"
Math
In Math this week, the students worked on partitioning a number line and placing fractions on a number line when the end points are 0 and 1. They did an amazing job with applying all they have learned about fractions so far to correctly complete their problem sets. Today, we started working with number lines that have a start point of a number other than 0. The students had to think more deeply about how to label their fractions. (It was a bit more challenging for them as the idea of using fractions greater than 1 is still a bit new).
Social Studies
In Social Studies this week, the students had a chance to learn more about Puritan communities. We spent time, as a class, talking about jobs that people in our own communities have. We thought about our parents', aunts, uncles, and family friends' occupations. We also thought about community workers we see every day. As a whole class, we made a list of typical jobs people have in our present day. Then, we read about Puritan life and compared the jobs that the Puritans held with the jobs of today. We discussed similarities and differences between these. The students were then assigned one particular job to learn about and were given a passage describing that job. The students worked in partners to pick out the responsibilities the person in each of these jobs had. They included these responsibilities in addition to an illustration on a poster which they presented to the class to teach their peers.
Today, the students learned about an event that happened in 1676 known as The Eames Massacre.
A little background on this event- In 1676, tension was rising between the Native Americans and the colonists. One day, a man named Thomas Eames, who lived with his family in Framingham, traveled to Boston to obtain ammunition and soldier protection to keep his family safe. While Thomas was away, eleven Native Americans came onto the Eames' property, burned their house and farm to the ground, killed Thomas' wife and five of their nine children. The other children were taken and held for ransom.
The students were split into two groups. Each group was assigned a "side" to be on for our class debate. The first group was given a primary source document explaining what a number of the colonists had done to provoke the Native Americans. The other group was given a primary source document explaining all the details of the massacre that occurred and what happened to the Eames family. The students on the Native American side worked together to come up with reasons that supported the idea that they were justified in partaking in the Eames massacre. The students on the colonist side worked together to come up with reasons that supported the idea that the massacre that occurred was problematic and unjust. The students shared so many wonderful points during our class debate. I was impressed with all they have remembered in regard to the early American history we have covered thus far.
Science
In Science, we have continued working with FOSS science. We finished the second session of our first investigation today where we explored the magnetic field. Students worked in small groups to build on the observations they made in session 1 and looked for patterns in data they collected to predict how far the magnetic field extends around two magnets. Students used a ruler to track and record how close or far (in centimeters) a paperclip needs to be to one, two, or three magnets in order for the paper clip to attract to the magnet(s). Students used their data in their investigation to answer the focus question, "How is the magnetic field affected when more magnets are added?"
Writing
In Writing, we are starting to wrap up our unit on realistic fiction. The students have been working hard on their stories and are taking great pride in their pieces. They have enjoyed adding in dialogue into their stories, working with friends to edit, fill out checklists, and offer suggestions for improvement. Today was used as a conference day where students were able to focus on revising.
Have a great weekend!
Best,
Miss Weinstein
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