Week of June 1-5

This week, the 5th graders worked on finding research for their debates.  We learned to use the acronym A.R.E. (assertion, reasoning, evidence) to help organize our information.  The assertion is the claim or thesis (the driving age should be raised to 18), the reasoning tells you why the claim is true (because raising the driving age will save lives by reducing accidents), and the evidence gives support to the reasons (16-year-old drivers have three times as many crashes as drivers aged 18 and 19).
HW: continue to research and create speeches for first and second speakers and t-chart for rebuttal

In 4th grade, we presented our persuasive speeches.  I was so impressed with the students' ability to speak clearly, use emotion and appropriate gestures, and use notecards instead of reading from a paper!  They also did a great job of using visuals to enhance their presentations.  Their presentations were lively and fun to watch- no more of those boring, text-heavy powerpoints we were used to seeing!!!

Reva persuades us that too much video game playing is bad!

This week, 3a and 3b were on a field trip, so we did not get to meet.  Unfortunately, Fun Day was rained out, so I was able to meet with 3c.  We learned about how line breaks and white space enhance the meanings of poems and really help to create the mood and rhythm.  We also read and analyzed George Ella Lyon's poem, "Where I'm From" and started brainstorming ideas to create our own poems. Click on the link below to read her poem and to see what other people have been inspired to create!

HW: create own "Where I'm From" poem

http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html