Weeks of April 23-May 4

Over the past couple of weeks, my 3rd grade poets explored aspects of poetry like repetition, lists, and surprising/descriptive language. We then tried to incorporate some of these things into our own poems. We discussed the importance of seeing the extraordinary in ordinary objects and seeing the world through a poet's eyes. I am so impressed with the sophisticated and thoughtful poems my students have been writing!

In 4th grade, we explored the language of Shakespeare and discussed his contribution to modern English. People back in Elizabethan times definitely spoke very differently than we do today, but after learning about verbs, pronouns, and some common terms from back then, we were able to start to make sense of it all! We also explored Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. After reading an abridged version, some students were surprised at how depressing this play actually is! We then focused on translating some of the balcony scene into modern day language by having Rome and Juliet text each other. I was shocked at how quickly many students were able to make sense of Elizabethan English and pick up on the gist of what was going on!

Our 5th grade debaters have been busy preparing for their first formal debate. They are making sure to have clear reasons to support their assertions and a lot of evidence to back up their ideas. The week after PARCC, we will hold the debates and evaluate how we did so we can make necessary improvements for the next one!

Week of April 16-20

This week, the 3rd graders continued to read and respond to poetry by participating in poetry stations. We painted the images poems created in our minds. We also hunted for poetic techniques we've been learning about in the books (both poetry books and short stories) scattered across the room. We really started to see how poetry is an art form; instead of paints, poets use words to make pictures or evoke feelings in their readers.

In 4th grade, we learned about Shakespeare's use of puns to entertain his audience. We explored the meanings of modern day puns and puns from some of Shakespeare's plays. The best part was coming up with our own puns! I was very impressed by how "punny" my students are!

Our 5th grade debaters continued to practice the art of refutation this week, and some classes also learned about critical literacy. We discussed how important it is to consider where information is coming from when doing research. Readers who use Critical Literacy read deeper into the information. They constantly ask: Why is this author telling me this information? What is their purpose? Are their opinions part of this source and does that make this a biased piece? Critical Literacy researchers are always looking for ways to assess a source’s credibility.

Week of April 9-13

This week, the 3rd graders read and responded to all types of poetry. We noticed that some poems rhyme, some use repetition, some use figurative language, some can be funny, and others can be pretty serious and emotional. We also read some Langston Hughes poems ("My People," "As I Grew Older," "I, too, sing America"), formulated open-ended questions about them, and had very interesting discussions. I was so impressed with my students' ability to see the universal themes of the poems that could relate to all of our lives!

After learning about life during the Elizabethan Era, the 4th graders read a modified version of Macbeth. They were shocked at how bloody and morbid it was! We will be working on putting on a kid friendly production of Macbeth during this cycle, so we chose our roles and started familiarizing ourselves with the script. We're really looking forward to making costumes, scenery, props, and learning how to direct scenes!

The 5th graders learned the art of refutation during our debate lessons this week. The four basic steps we followed are:
They say...
But I disagree. I believe...
Because...(reason and evidence)
Therefore... (prove why your argument is stronger)
We realized how important it is to do good research and really read through articles to find good supporting evidence!

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. 

Week of February 12-15

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This week, the 3rd graders improved their oil spill cleanup process, thinking about what worked well and not so well during their first process so they could make adjustments. They learned that changing the order of their steps could affect their results and that it's important to maximize their budgets. Check out the before and after picture below to see how much one group was able to improve the process the second time around!

These students carefully remove oil from a model river.

The 4th graders continue to add sensors and make their robots "smart." In the video below, the programmers use the touch sensor to change the direction of the robot. They also learned how to program the robot to multitask, or do more than one thing at a time!

Now that we've explored other inventors' patents, it was time for the 5th graders to come up with their own inventions/innovations to patent. I was so impressed with the students' creativity. In doing research on previous inventions, we realized how difficult it is to come up with a novel idea, but that didn't stop us! Stay tuned for Shark Tank style pitches on these inventions in the coming weeks!

Week of February 5-9

This week, the 3rd grade environmental engineers continued to move through the engineering design process to imagine possible methods to clean an oil spill. After coming up with a couple ideas independently, they shared these ideas with their team members and came up with one plan to implement first. These plans are scored using 3 criteria: cost score (we have a budget of $20 million), shore score (whether oil reached the shore), and ecosystem impact score (how much oil was left in the river). After we evaluate our first processes, we will ask more questions about what worked well and what didn't work, and we will improve our designs.

In 4th grade, we are learning how sensors can allow the robot to make decisions or to do certain tasks based on input from the environment. Our robots can now sense reflected light, colors, angles, and distance from objects!


In 5th grade, we learned all about patents and how detailed they must be in order for them to be granted. The following website has tons of great resources that explain the patent process and give samples (many of which have been filed by kids)! Next, we will be creating our own inventions or innovations and patents for these inventions!
https://www.uspto.gov/kids/guides.html