5PA Update

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.


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