Wednesday, January 27, 2016 – Moon Journals, Feature Articles, & Moving to the Colonies (and even a Parent Expo on the horizon)… Lots of FUN things are happening in class! Below are some highlights in science, writing and in social studies…
MOON JOURNALS ARE COMING! Even as we are winding down our study of light and the human eye, we are gearing up for our investigations into the Sun-Moon-Earth relationships. The four main goals are for students to understand the processes, causes and effects of day and night, an earth year, the changing of the seasons, and the movement/phases of the moon. Of course, our overarching theme comes in big time here – FORCE CAUSES MOTION, AND MOTION CAUSES CHANGE.
To further kids understanding of and connection to the moon and its phases, we will begin moon journaling! This project combines scientific thoughts and data, art and creative writing. Due to the home nature of this and the feature article project, we will be putting a hold on weekly reading blogs, free write logs and word study homework through February. And here’s a blank copy of both the project and the moon’s phases, so that you can see for yourself what it’s all about…)
In compelling Journalism news, the students have been hard at work writing their first and second drafts of their argumentative/persuasive pieces – or Feature Articles. They have chosen a wide variety of topics to passionately argue for. These include: the dangers of social media and over-use of technology; the greed and inhumanity behind elephant poaching; the perils of smoking; the evils of heroin addiction; the inequality between men and women in professional sports; the decline of the airline industry; and many more. Next week they will be given a copy of their second drafts to turn into a slide show that will be shared on our blog, on the Showcase: Watson’s Winners Work page. To catch a glimpse of last year’s crop of stories (which will soon be replaced with your kids’ articles), click here: https://cwatsondps.wordpress.com/about-2/. Also, below is the Feature Article Rubric, so you know how sophisticated and compelling these pieces are.
In social studies, we are “Meeting the Babies and Watching Them Grow,” which means we are learning about each of the thirteen colonies and seeing how they change and develop over time. We very much use a family metaphor in relating the colonies to their parent country, from their beginnings all the way through the Revolution. At first the colonies are in their infancy and need/rely on their parent; they then grow and develop, and start to become more independent of their parent. As the colonies reach their “tween and teen years,” tensions build to the point of rebellion. At this point though, we are just learning about the similarities and differences of each colony and region (New England, Middle Colonies, and Southern Colonies). Soon students will be choosing and further developing made-up but realistic personas of Europeans contemplating various moves to the colonies. Based on these personas, each student will then write a letter to a (fake) family member, defending their choice of a “good” colony for them, and rejecting the “bad” colony, which the family member thinks is better (this is a comparative/argumentative essay in disguise). After these letters are done, we will then group up to write songs about the different colonies, using modern day tunes (SEE LINKS BELOW). Once these are well-honed, we will be holding a “Move to the Colonies Expo,” in which parents will be invited come and tour the “booths” and learn from students who will be dressed in their colonial characters. Students will display a visual at their booths that represents their life in their colony (this will be the only home element to this project). They will also share their letters and defend their reasons for choosing the colony (and also answer questions you pose to them which will be provided to you). And finally, we will perform our songs! This fabulous event will likely be in March and I will give plenty of notice once we get further afoot into the classwork. By the time we have this Expo, we will have moved on to the Road to Revolution in the actual classwork, but we still want to share with you all that we learned and experienced about Colonial America. Stay tuned…
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