Students have been quite busy over the last couple of weeks. We finally finished our work with the story All Summer in a Day. The students had the opportunity to view the video and discuss the similarities and differences when comparing it with the story. Students also completed a homework assignment which focused on plot development. One of the tasks students had to perform was writing an ending to the story. They were so excited to share their endings with their peers, and I was extremely impressed. It was as if Ray Bradbury himself had stepped into Room 218 to share his work. Students were able to capture the tone and language of the text. We have some wonderful authors in 5PA. The students also completed a performance task in connection with the story. We then moved on to reading an article titled Beaming Good Cheer to a Norwegian Town's Dark Days. The basic premise of this article is that a town in Norway is located near a mountain that blocks the sun for six months out of the year. The decision to use mirrors to reflect the sunlight in the town changes the life of the people; however, there are those that oppose the mirrors for a variety of reasons. We investigated both perspectives of the article and began an activity called Tug-of-War. The goal is for students to think of reasons or "tugs" that either support the use of mirrors or oppose the use of mirrors. They then had to determine which reasons were the strongest "tugs" that would convince someone of a particular view. The engagement of the students was very high. We will complete this activity on Monday and then continue our work with Capstone on Tuesday. Below is a video that will provide you with information about the Norwegian town from the article.
Last week, the students spent time analyzing a piece of artwork entitled "Day and Night" by a famous artist named M.C. Escher. His work uses various optical illusions which enables someone who is observing his work to interpret it based on things that they notice. To help students examine his work, we used a strategy called See Think Wonder. First, students were asked to be good investigators and identify what they saw. Next, they were asked to make interpretations based on evidence within the art piece. Finally, students were challenged to ask broad questions that they had related to the work of Escher. The goal for students was to ask questions that Escher himself would only be able to answer. I was very impressed with all of the students' thinking. We then moved on to a wordless picture book called Free Fall by David Wiesner. Many of the illustrations found in this book were similar to the style of Escher's work. We completed a gallery walk and had the opportunity to look at each illustration from the book. I placed them in order on the floor and students were asked to think about what could be seen upside down that could also be seen right-side up. Again, they were asked to be good observers and look for things that may not be easily seen upon first glance. Below is a video of the book that I shared with students. Afterwards, they had to sequence the illustrations. We will continue our work with Free Fall over the next two days.
4PA students have been very busy over the past two weeks! We have spent a great deal of time with a text titled "Lenny's Red-Letter Day", which is about a boy named Prakash who struggles with whether or not to befriend a boy named Lenny who is different than he is. Prior to reading the text, students were surveyed anonymously and required to answer the following questions: When you choose a friend, how much are you influenced by:
What your friends or classmates think of this person?
What your parents think of this person?
How the person looks or dresses?
How much money he or she has?
Afterwards, we viewed a video called "My Shoes" that had a significant impact on the students and made them think about the perspective of someone that is less fortunate than they are. They realized that it may be extremely difficult to make friends when one is different and unable to fit in. Please feel free to view the video below.
We also spent time annotating the text and discussing literal and inferential ideas. We tried out a new strategy from a book that many teachers are reading at Gombert called Making Thinking Visible. The strategy is called Chalk Talk. We did a variation of this particular strategy and used technology rather than chart paper. The basic gist of the activity is to provide students with open-ended questions that will allow them to make interpretations about the text. The students worked at stations and responded to questions using the interactive bulletin board from a site called Padlet. Students were encouraged to link their ideas to their peers and/or add additional information. The students really enjoyed this task. Next week we will be participating in our very first Socratic Seminar and will begin creating a Google slide presentation about fractured fairy tales.
Students have been spending time reading and examining "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen. Prior to reading the text, they were given mirrors and asked to identify two things that they liked about themselves and two things that they would change. I was very surprised and amazed by some of their responses. We then viewed a video which gave students a perspective about how others in our world see themselves. The short video also connected wonderfully to the theme of the story. Please feel free to view it below. Another task they were given was to identify generalizations of change within the text. We took some time to discuss the examples of change that were found, and the students did a great job of justifying their thinking. I can tell that they are becoming more clear about how an author uses change throughout his or her work. Each individual was also asked to locate parts of the text that showed change in setting, change in a relationship and change in the main character. As we came to an end of our time exploring "The Ugly Duckling", we were able to learn about the life of Hans Christian Andersen by reading a biographical sketch. The students were shocked that he was bullied by other children and even his teachers. Students saw a clear connection between his life and the story. We then completed a venn diagram by identifying similarities and differences between the ugly duckling and Andersen's life. Next week, students will be completing an assessment which contains both literal and inferential questions. They will also be writing diamante poems which depict change. Diamante poems are in the shape of a diamond and consist of seven lines. Each learner will be required to use specific words to create meaning.
Welcome to the Project Arrow Blog. I am excited to share with you, through use of our blog, all of the wonderful learning that will be happening in our classroom throughout the year. Please come back frequently to view student photos, access educational links and to receive an in depth view of our PA world. I will also provide important tips to assist your child throughout the school year.
