Another Year 2023-2024

 

Tracking Shadows and the Sun's Apparent Motion

 

Tracking shadow lengths and the sun’s apparent motion. Talked about angles along the way. pic.twitter.com/tOZckGtHrX

— Ms.Thelen (@thelensthinkers) February 20, 2023

Lady Liberty: An Immigration Study

Various conditions forced or inspired people to move throughout American history. Students have been exploring the various "push" and "pull" factors influencing why one would make such a life-changing decision. 

Some discussed:

Push: Lack of jobs, natural disasters, political upheaval, extreme poverty

Pull: Communities of support, educational opportunities, religious freedom

Students explored Immigration movements across time and countries. We have explored movement throughout the entire year within and outside of our country. 

Using our district text from Benchmarks alongside other materials on immigration, 

students did a deep dive into the topic.

You can access the Virtual Tour here.

Students read picture books across different decades and countries.

Students read a variety of poems. An example:

Students collected ideas, anecdotes, and academic vocabulary throughout the study to build their capacity to write immigration poems. We paired the poems with Lady Liberty, art lesson courtesy of Deep Space Sparkle.

We will continue to explore immigration and migration as we study WWI and WWII.  Can you guess what is next?

Please note the language from the Library of Congress website that is helpful to remember:

*Terms used to describe images related to the lives of African Americans in the 20th century were assigned by individuals sometimes from outside and sometimes from within African American communities. Please note that terminology in historical materials and in Library descriptions does not always match the language preferred by African Americans individually or as a community, and may include negative stereotypes.

JA BizTown

 Students have spent weeks building their understanding of finances and the basics of operating a business. Students applied for a loan from the BizTown Bank to cover operating expenses with the hopes of making a profit during their day at BizTown. 

Students worked hard and showed great professionalism and determination at their job placement. Way to go fifth graders!

Winter Open House

 Students welcomed families into the classroom to share their biographies. Students selected a person who has changed the world in some remarkable way. Students were to choose someone they did not know very well. Each student went through the research process of reading, taking notes, planning an outline, and writing in a chronological format. 

For this project, we created a "children's book" and shared them with our families and our Kindergarten buddies.

Malala Yousafzai

Dr. Chester Pierce

Fauja Singh

Aretha Franklin

Then, we shared our books with our families!