Field Trip to Blue Hills Observatory: Guest Bloggers JJ Podkowa and Michael Shih! Social Studies: Jamestown, Virginia Hello families, This week we have a special newsletter. We have two guest bloggers, students JJ and Michael from our homeroom! While everyone else was taking part in Alice and Wonderland pray rehearsal, JJ and Michael helped me by contributing to our class newsletter. They wrote about our field trip to Blue Hills Observatory From JJ: We had a field trip on Monday to the Blue Hills Observatory in Milton Massachusetts. The bus ride there was about a hour to the Blue Hills Observatory. To pass the time I talked to my fellow classmates the whole way there. When we finally got there, which felt like forever, we hiked up a hill, which was really long, to get to the observatory because it was really high in the sky. The hike was challenging because we had to carry our bags up the hill and it was a really long hill. From Michael: Did you know that the Blue Hill weather observatory is the oldest in the U.S.A? Did you know that there hasn’t been a missed day since it had been opened in February 1885? The 5th grade went to the Blue Hills Weather Observatory in Milton, Massachusetts on Monday, October 23rd. We took a hike up a hill to the Observatory. We split into 2 groups where one went on a scavenger hunt looking for different instruments the people who work there use, while the other group made kites. We switched after lunch. We got to see a short clip of the history of the observatory then looked in the buildings, and even on the roof! If there was no fog we could see the Boston skyline. We took our kites when we finished and ran down the hill we had hiked up, which was fun. The kites were harder to fly then they looked. When we got to the bottom of the hill we got to run around with our kites. We headed back to the bus. When we got back it was already dismissal. I would say this is one of the most exciting field trips I’ve been on. From JJ: The reason we made our own kids is because people used to use those kind of kites to record weather. They were very simple but worked very well and it was really fun too. The kites fabric was some kind of soft and durable paper that could stand weather and water. Throughout the week we also continued diving deeper into our Jamestown, Virginia studies. We read a comic book, (thanks, Isabelle!), picture books, and primary sources from both Native American and Englishmen perspectives. We also drew maps of what Jamestown Fort looked like. Next week we will wrap up this quick unit and begin learning more about the next permanent English settlement on the continent, Plymouth. This Tuesday we will celebrate Halloween in school with the traditional FA Halloween parade followed by a special 5th grade festive snack. Thank you room parents for organizing and spearheading it! We are looking forward to the celebration.
I hope you are enjoying the last bits of your weekend. Sincerely, Sarah
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Colonization Talks continue Partial Products Multiplication Method Blue Hills Field Trip- Oct 23 Wonder: Reader's Theatre Activity Goal Setting and Conferences This week students participated in a social studies activity during which they moved from table to table in small groups, reading articles stationed at each table about Colonization and exploration. Both Mrs. Hibbert-Kapler and Ms. Bookstein's students were involved and moved between the two classrooms. Students took notes on two key questions: 1) Who was doing the exploring, and 2) What were their reasons for doing the colonizing? Students had two minutes at each station, and they had to practice skimming the articles to search for key information. Afterwards, back in our homerooms, we worked together to synthesize our newfound information into neat notes to study for our upcoming social studies quiz on colonization facts and vocabulary, which is next Thursday. In math this week we reviewed large number multiplication problems, and deepened our understanding by using a new method called partial products method. Students were initially confused but then I began to hear, "OH! I understand now," and "Wow, this is really cool," and "I prefer the standard method, but this is pretty interesting." If you are interested in learning more about this multiplication method, I've inserted the video we watched to familiarize ourselves with the method. I want to remind families that on October 23 we are going on our first 5th grade field trip! Below is information that you and your child may need. I'll also send a hard copy home with them in their trappers early next week in the "parent communication" section. As we continue to read and discuss Wonder, we changed our reading routine up a bit this week and acted out certain scenes from Wonder in small groups. The students were thrilled to take part in a reader's theatre activity. They chose parts and highlighted their lines, practicing for one period before performing for the rest of the class. They were quite theatrical and enjoyed diving deeper into the story, as you can see in the photos below! I am so looking forward to next week's student led conferences. The kids are gearing up to share their goals for the year ahead. If you haven't yet sent in your pre-conference feedback form, please do! It helps me to have information ahead of time about your hopes and dreams for your child, as well as any concerns you may have.
See you all next week, and happy weekend! Banned Books Week Social Studies: Colonization Under the umbrella of “Banned Books Week”, this week we explored why some children’s books have been censored or challenged. Students examined a variety of books, from Hop on Pop to Harry Potter, Where the Wild Things Are, Captain Underpants, Harriet the Spy and discussed why the book might have been challenged by some countries, districts, or schools. We used some conversation starters to get discussion flowing:
Throughout the discussion the fifth grade teachers were impressed with the engagement, thoughtfulness, empathy, and reflections that we witnessed. Most students expanded their opinions throughout the discussion. For example, at the beginning of our discussion all students said that they felt that as fifth graders they should be allowed to read whatever they wanted because they could be smart about choosing appropriate books. They overwhelmingly expressed that they also feel they have adults in their lives who could give them a second opinion if they weren’t sure a book would be appropriate for them. When we gave kids age-appropriate books to look through that have been banned, kids were shocked and outraged by some of the titles that have been banned somewhere at some time. In the spirit of FA’s mission of inclusivity and empathy, and the 5th grade curriculum, we are guiding students to understand that all experiences, perspectives, and voices deserve to be represented. We hope this discussion inspires your child to appreciate their right to read, despite any challenges they face. Below are photos of them working together and discussing. Below the gallery are quotes from student conversations we overheard. Discussions and reflections following the discussion demonstrated some wonderful deep thinking. Here are some examples of what fifth graders said:
In Social Studies, we are diving deeper into our discussion of colonization. Students have been exploring more deeply what Indigenous People's day really is, and why we at Friends Academy call it that rather than Columbus Day. This week we began discussing motives behind colonization, as well as the positives and negatives about taking over new land. Students works in groups to brainstorm and discuss before moving onto another essential question and discussing again. I look forward to continuing discussions with our next unit on the Jamestown settlement.
I hope you and your families are having a relaxing long weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing the kids again Tuesday to begin preparing for our student-led conferences by setting goals across the subjects, and organizing our completed work so far. |