Week of March 26-29

This week, 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 the life and background of the poet affects his/her message. After reading about the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes's poem "My People" made a lot more sense!

 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!

The 5th graders became debaters, arguing the pros and cons of zoos. We learned that debates are formal arguments that are well organized and supported with reasoning and evidence. Debates are NOT people yelling at each other randomly using the knowledge that's already in our heads! We also started to practice constructing arguments using the A.R.E. format (assertion, reasoning, evidence). This will help us defend our claims in our debates!

Week of February 26-March 2

This week, the 3rd graders learned what the term "stakeholder" means. We looked at the issue of the Keystone Pipeline XL from the viewpoint of various stakeholders that were both for and against the building of the pipeline extension. After doing some research, some students changed their original opinions on whether or not the pipeline was a good idea. Below, the students take on the roles of various stakeholders (TransCanada, environmentalist, Native American tribe leader, Nebraska landowner, and Omaha Federation of Labor president) and each make their case in a modified debate.

During our final week of Lego robotics, the students attempted various design challenges, like getting the robot to move without wheels or getting it to go up an incline. It was fun to see the students go through the engineering design process many times in order to meet their goals!

The 5th graders presented their final inventions/innovations that they came up with to solve real world problems. I was very impressed with the creativity and novelty of their inventions.