Weeks of March 20-24 and March 27-31

This Wednesday, I was finally able to begin our ELA cycle! The 3rd graders were immersed in poetry. We read and discussed a wide variety of poems, looking at poetic techniques and meanings/messages of the poems. We learned ways to respond to poetry and took a try at it. We had many interesting discussions, like how something as simple as where words are placed on the page can convey so much about the meaning of the poem.

Students respond to poetry.

In 4th grade, students were transported back to the Globe Theatre during the Elizabethan Era. We explored the life and times of William Shakespeare and learned a lot about what life was like back then. The girls were not happy about the fact that girls back then did not go to school and could not act in plays! We discussed how the themes of Shakespeare's plays are still relevant today, which explains why he is still so well known!

Students learn what life was like in Elizabethan England.

In 5th grade, we began our unit on TED Talks by exploring what a TED Talk is and what attributes make for a good talk. We also learned that our words are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to public speaking. Our nonverbal cues can make or break a speech. While giving minispeeches to introduce ourselves, we did things like twirl our hair, sway back and forth, turn our backs to the audience, etc., and we realized just how distracting these things are when listening to a talk!