I think I need a coffee or a blast of fresh air maybe better. I am still feeling a little camp 'hungover' as my 'get-up-and-go' seems to have 'got-up-and-went' so if you are finding your children more tired than usual maybe they are still recovering too!! By the way if you find that you are missing a sleeping bag and ONE brand new shoe (!!??) we have them at the office.
Sorry in advance but there was a small bag of dirty, sandy single socks that went unclaimed. They are gone to sock heaven!
Wasn't it a beautiful day? Summer's promise...
General Day
A review of the Unit 1 and 2 Latin and Greek roots vocabulary was undertaken as a group
A vocabulary word puzzle was next- I call it the bi-brain challenge because apparently puzzles that 'chunk' words for recognition force us to use both sides of our brain to solve. Our brains are used to seeing words as a whole so when they are cut up into two letters at a time, our brain doesn't 'read' them or recognise them initially. This forces us to use the other side of the brain to create words that are recognizeable.
May is Holocaust Awareness month. We began a new novel today by an author called Jerry Spinelli. It is set in Nazi occupied Warsaw and is the tale of a young orphaned boy who lives on the streets and thinks his name is 'Stopthief" because that's what he hears people calling after him every day. The novel is called Milkweed and, while it is a rather harrowing tale in the development of the story, it is also a story of hope. We read four chapters together today and the students seems to be interested by it- some read it during silent reading and some asked if they could take it home. It is very encouraging when students have such a positive reaction to a novel - I told them all that I thought they were mature enough to handle the mature themes and understand the growing realization of the main character who initially thinks it would be 'cool' to be a Jackboot (a Nazi soldier) .
We had a much needed earthquake drill today. Everyone survived :)
For math we reviewed the formula and did some practice on finding the area of a paralleogram (bxh) as well as look at some practical applications for geometry in airport runways, bridge building and city planning- geometry is where sketching skills, math and hands-on building meet in the middle- namely engineering.
Track and field practice at lunchtime. (running today shot put and long jump tomorrow)
Physical Education with Mr. Parker- baseball
DEAR time - I am trying to return to a SILENT reading time- some are struggling but things were generally better than they have been :)
Socials- we continued our virtual fieldtrip out of Athens to the port of Pireus and headed on a ferry to the islands of the Saronic Gulf: Aegina, Poros and Hydra (of the monster fame) The students noted from the slide pictures how different the houses are laid out and how the transportaion (donkey and boat) are so different from home. On the island the only motorized vehicle allowed is a moped bike. At the port in Poros there were lots of ferile cats looking for food and in Hydra there is a huge memorial to the Greek War of Independence (Turkey ruled over Greece until 1821).
One temple on Aegina (the temple of Poseidon) was once used as a triangular communications lookout with the temple on the promentory at Cape Sounion and the Acropolis in Athens. Apparently they were able to use a flashing system of warning to alert each other about any unwanted activity on the water or in the cities. Very clever!
Our next stop is Delphi.
To end the day Emily agreed to read chapter four of the novel to the class- it was actually a nice way to end our day. Thanks. Emily, I think I might need reading glasses now!!!
Reminders about the grad hoodies $25
May 18th is the due date for picture portraits if wanted.
Have a great evening, everyone.
Mrs. J.
No comments:
Post a Comment