Hello, all!
This week in Social Studies we honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by reading a chapter in our textbook about his life, listening to his "I Have A Dream" speech in its entirety while following along with a text version (students underlined the most powerful parts of the speech), and by considering the questions: "What is 'equality'?" "How far have we come since the days of MLK Jr.?" "What work still needs to be done?"
We also wrote back to our pen-pals from Thailand! The students were very excited about this. I told the kids that they are welcome to communicate with their pen-pals outside of school as often as their parents/guardians allow; we will, however, sometimes be requiring students to write to their pen-pals in class. We will use this as an opportunity to practice the drafting and editing process in a way that is (hopefully!) less dry and more authentic.
We also began reading our novels and completing reading packets, which include Pre-Reading, During Reading, and Post-Reading activities on a chapter by chapter basis.
On Friday, students will be quizzed over some countries in central and northern Asia. Please do not forget about the following online study tools for geography:
http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/
http://www.ilike2learn.com/
If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me!
Take care,
Leah Hood
