We had a great week after a restful Thanksgiving break. In ELA students completed memoirs after engaging in peer-editing conferences with classmates. The kids worked so hard on these memoirs and I know it was a challenging unit for them...I'm so excited to read them! We also began a unit that will focus on themes of kindness in literature. We discussed the "random acts of kindness" movement and will use this introduction to support our understanding of the short stories for the unit, which are "Thank You, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes, "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry, and "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Anderson.
In Social Studies we are finishing up our unit on the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. This week we studied the evolution of foraging patterns of early man and its relationship to collective learning and the unit's essential question - How is early man uniquely different from other species? Students learned about how anthropologists use modern societies to learn about the day to day life of early humans. The kids researched the food early humans ate and the tools they used to forage and prepare food, and then had fun creating a menu for a Neolithic restaurant.
We also worked hard planning for our Extended Learning Field Trip. Kids are brainstorming fundraising ideas, researching excursions, estimating travel and accommodation costs, and planning menus. This a huge task and gives the students an opportunity to engage with real world decision making skills. Thanks to all the parents for their continued support!
