Today we did a Socratic Seminar with Richard Wibur’s A Game of Catch. This is a particularly difficult text that requires some time to fully understand and comprehend. Although the story is pretty straight forward, the subtext or hidden message, takes some effort to get to.
To the credit of the students, they got there. They saw the symbolism of the apple tree and what it meant that Scho ends the story by saying, “I want you to do whatever you’re going to do for the whole rest of your life!”
Today we engaged in a “fishbowl” to debate the pros and cons of having classroom pets. We used materials that presented both sides of the issue and students annotated and rehearsed making claims from either perspective.
We read through three articles over the week and today we employed the instructional strategy. Students in the fishbowl debated the issue and could sub themselves out for someone on the outside who wanted to make a point.
All of this work allowed the students to complete a piece of writing on the topic. And the writing? It is pretty fabulous.
Thanks to all the families who were able to make it to our first Brown Bag Lunch. The kids seemed to have a great time and I know they were thrilled to have something special to eat.
Linked here is the PowerPoint we used. Your willingness to learn more about Word Study and how it can advance your child’s learning is greatly appreciated.
We finished our fifth week of instruction with a Pro Se Court. After spending the week reading through four different articles on the value of zoos, students were divided into three groups: petitioners, respondents, and justices. The petitioners had to argue that zoos needed to be closed, respondents had to explain the value of zoos, and justices had to weigh the evidence and the strength of the arguments. In turn, the justices had to rule in favor of either the petitioner or the respondent.
There were eight groups and the justices were split 4 to 4 on closing zoos.
Today we had our first auction. Having paid rent on Thursday, students could spend their extra cash on items donated from a number of local, national and international companies.
Some students, however, sat out the auction. This is likely because they are saving their money to turn their desk rental into a condo.
Everyone had glasses and we were able to bask in the shadow of the moon.
On Friday students completed a Structured Academic Controversy. It is a strategy that has students collecting evidence from multiple sources and using that evidence to create and support a claim. In this case students learned about how some school systems are banning lunches from home and requiring all students to eat school meals.
What is important about this strategy is that students did not learn until moments before the debate which side they would have to defend. Consequently, the preparation for the day had students attending to both sides of the issue.
Today the students went outside to learn how their shadow changes throughout the day. In the morning students traced their shadow and four hours later they returned to the identical spot to make another tracing. Students then explained how their shadow changed based on the orientation of the sun.
We finished our first week of school and managed to get a lot done. Aside from securing important routines and procedures, we completed our first Number Talk, our first Close Read, our first Writers Workshop, our first art project, our first Kahoot, and our first reading of a 9th grade reading passage. (Although, until this post, no one knew it at the time.)
We have been receiving donations all summer from companies interested in helping with our classroom economy and our auctions. Lots of great stuff has been shared and we are fortunate to be getting these things. Look through what has been donated and consider saving for those things that interest you most.
Room 360 