Week 17: Becoming more complex, yet flexible thinkers

         A common thread through much of our work in language arts has been the process of gradually moving through increasingly complex types of thinking.  When we read a story or nonfiction passage, the students initially need to take in and remember the information in the text.  As they consider this information in context, they try to understand how it relates to the text as a whole.  In reading group discussions and independent assignments, students respond to questions that ask them to apply and analyze the information they read and evaluate its effect on the rest of the text.  Reading provides a valuable opportunity to practice these thinking skills that are used in all aspects of life.  As we’ve been reading the final chapters of our reading books, the students have identified how characters’ actions and specific events affect the story plot.  They’ve discussed why characters might make the choices they do, and whether or not they (the students) would have made the same choices given the circumstances in the story.  This past week we did some brainstorming activities to encourage creative thinking.   The students were asked to generate as many possible responses as they could to specific circumstances in their stories.  They were asked to think of actions characters could have been taken, but were not taken in the story. Hopefully the students are considering more closely the impact of a person’s actions and seeing connections between literature and real life.

            Our main writing assignment this week stemmed from an informational article we read in Scholastic News.  It addressed the growing trend for stores to open on Thanksgiving.  The article challenged students to reflect on the possible negative and positive outcomes of this trend and then form their own opinion about stores opening on Thanksgiving.  As a prewriting activity, the students chose a “side” (after reading the article) and worked in small groups to brainstorm arguments to support their position.  We then had a debate in which students on opposite “sides” had to respond to each other’s points and state their own points.  After the debate, the students individually made their final decision about their position on this issue.  They used an organizer to choose and sequence what they felt were the strongest arguments for their position, and finally wrote a persuasive paragraph.

            We concluded our historical study of Native Americans (before the arrival of Europeans) in social studies.  November is “Native American Heritage Month” and Mrs. Sullivan devoted a good deal of media time to this topic.  She shared extensive personal knowledge and resources that greatly enhanced our study.   This week we started reading about life in England in the 1600’s.  We are looking at several resources to determine the reasons many people in England were unhappy during this time period.  We considered this question: “What conditions would cause us to leave our homes and travel thousands of miles to an unknown area?”  People in England faced this question and their answer is the reason some of the first Europeans came to Maryland.  Historically these factors have played a role in immigration throughout the world.

       

       This week, students learned the final multiplication strategy...the standard algorithm.  After spending so much time learning the "nitty and gritty" of multiplication strategies,  many students were displeased with the standard algorithm's lack of place value applications and visual representation.  Since this is a 5th grade standard, we did not dwell on it for long, but those that caught on quickly use it frequently and enjoy trying to multiply extremely large factors...just for fun during their free time!  After our unit assessment for multiplication, most students showed incredible growth.  Thank you for your help on the home-front.

       Be ready to be amazed by the solutions your children are brainstorming for our erosion project.  They are attempting to slow the erosion on the hill outside our window.  Let me tell you that when you put CPCS students on an environmental mission, their motivation to achieve it is unstoppable.  Students are realizing the value of research, data collection, informational reading and math applications.  This is the type of learning that our Charter School Forefathers dreamed of when they started this school!  By portfolio day, their solution models will be complete and ready to share with you.