Spring has Sprung!




Language Arts

                                     

The four seasons in a city park are represented by apes in human clothing: a rich, uptight woman in the fall; a sad, unemployed man in the winter; the woman's lonely boy in the spring; the man's joyful daughter in the summer. Each one sees the place and the others differently, yet together the voices tell a story.

Students will read a story entitled, Voices in the Park.  This book is unique in that it exhibits four different points of view about people who visit a particular park. The focus of this lesson is for students to adopt a critical stance when reading. Students will work in groups, read one particular voice, and then discuss the point of view of that character.  Following this, the class will decide if any of the character's perspectives are accurate.

                                                     




                                  
                                   




 

Opinion Writing



                            



Students completed their first opinion writing piece.  After studying the Vikings as part of the social studies unit on explorers, students were asked to write an opinion as to why they would want to be a Viking?  Students were taught the format of writing an opinion piece with an introduction, followed by three reasons, and a conclusion. Below are some examples of student's work.



                                                        

Why I would want to be a Viking?

By Akshat

The Vikings were brave. Vikings discovered new lands. They had good laws and respected them. One last reason is because they were great sailors. This is why I would want to be a Viking.

The Vikings found new places. They explored Iceland and some settled there. They also explored Greenland and Vinland. The Vikings explored places to find space to live because Norway, Sweden, and Denmark (Scandinavia) were full and they couldn’t farm there so they moved. This is why the Vikings explored new lands.

Vikings had good laws and respected them. The Vikings gave women rights. Even slaves could earn their freedom. The Vikings made one of the first forms of government. They followed it without breaking the law. This is how the Vikings respected their laws.

The Vikings were great sailors. They couldn’t use landmarks to sail. Instead they used the sun and the stars. Since they thought ravens could sense land, they followed ravens who found land. The Vikings also used the winds to go fast. This is why the Vikings were great sailors.

These are the reasons to be a Viking. They explored and discovered new lands. Their government was different from others. Last they were great sailors and used nature to help them. This is why I would want to be a Viking.

 

             

 

Why I would want to be a Viking?

By Nathan

Vikings were brave. They were great sailors. They respected their government and they liked going on dangerous adventures.

They were such great sailors. They sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. Their ships were built so good. They would sail through shallow and narrow rivers. The Vikings also knew that ravens could sense land, so they let them take the lead when sailing. That’s why they were such good sailors.

They respected their government. They gave women their rights. That’s amazing because in other parts of the world at that time period that was against the law. Slaves, who were taken hostage from battle, could earn their freedom and if someone put a toe out of line they were forced to leave the land. That’s why they had such a good and strict government.

Finally, the Vikings went on dangerous adventures. One dangerous adventure was sailing on the Atlantic Ocean. Another was when they put up settlements in North America. The Native Americans sometimes kicked them out by war. When they discovered new land, they didn’t know what dangerous things awaited them. That’s why they were so brave.

These are the three reasons to be a Viking.

 

 

                                   

Mathematics

                  

                   

This week in math students will name fractions with numerators that are greater than 1. In the process of learning these fraction names students will discover equivalent fractions.  Moreover, they will explore adding fractions to equal l.



                        



                

The students are definitely blooming!