The new year is a time for new beginnings.
I spent a lot of time here over the holidays preparing for the new year.
We're starting the year with the following units:
Reading: Emphasis on the reading strategies of questioning and inferring combined with study of non-fiction (in social studies and science) and historical fiction genres.
Writing: We're doing a short unit on Writing on Demand (moving through the writing process quickly to produce results in one class period). Then we will move into a longer unit on writing essays.
Communication: We're doing a week-long unit on listening skills and active listening. We will be working on collaboration skills in our hands-on science activities.
Science: We're starting a unit on levers and pulleys
Social Studies: We're beginning a mega-unit on how History is Intertwined. We will study Chapters 10-15 in the Social Studies book and work to answer the following essential questions:
- What caused the Revolutionary War?
- Which side would you have chosen and why?
- When is it right to revolt?
- What does freedom for all mean?
- Why is civic responsibility required of people who live in a society based on the ideal of individual liberty?
- What skills do we need to participate effectively in a democracy?
- How important is compromise? Can compromise be wrong?
