With their unit on the Salem Witch Trials, the 5th grade class decided to focus on one trial. That trial was the trial of Ann Hutchinson. After researching her biography, the students found the transcripts of her court trial and decided to create a reeanactment. Through the reeanactment, the students can begin to understand the hysteria that swept through Salem.
The 6th grade class experienced the Egyptian burial process when they mummified a chicken. First, the students bought a whole chicken from the supermarket. Once it was defrosted, the students began the burial process. They first removed the insides of the chicken, putting the organs in small plastic jars. They then thouroughly rinsed and dried the chicken. They then spiced and salted the entire inside and outside of the chicken. This was done to mask the smell of the chicken. Finall, they will wrap the chicken in guaze strips, and place it in a shoebox made coffin. The students really enjoyed this activity, as it helped them to understand the Egyptian burial process.
Currently, the 5th grade class has just read the story of Jesus visiting the synagogue, and the 6th grade class just read the parable of the lost son. The chapter activity for both selections called for the students to act out the scenes from each story. The 5th and 6th grade class both decided to dramatize the story through windowsmoviemaker. Through this software, students will take pictures to tell the story, record the dialogue, and match up the dialogue with the pictures to create a short movie. This is a project that all students are eager to begin.
The 5th and 6th grade students were all given a power point project to complete for Religion class. The goal was for all 5th graders and all 6th graders to organize one class power point presentation. To complete this project, the students organized the power point through google.documents. Through google.documents, I was able to open up a power point document and email the link to each of the students. Then at home, on their own computer, students were able to work on that document. And if more than 1 student was working on the document at the same time, students would be able to see the work other students were doing in real time. This is a great tool for group projects.
On Friday, October 9th, the 5th and 6th grade class went on a field trip to the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. Among the many exciting activities the students were able to participate in was experiencing an earthquake by standing in a simulated earthquake room. Another activity the students really enjoyed was being able to create their own roller coaster, then experiencing a simulated ride of the roller coaster that they designed. Students were also able to experience a moonwalk. They were strapped into a seat, which simulated what it would feel like to walk in space. The most exciting part of the day, however, would have been the movie the students watched in the Tech Museum’s IMAX theatre. As students found a seat, they wee almost lying back as they faced a huge, circular screen. The movie they watched was the Forces of Nature, which taught them about earthquakes, volcanoes, and tornado’s. Overall, it was an exciting day for the 5th and 6th grade class, as they were also able to spend a day experiencing the best the Tech Museum had to offer.
In an effort to improve student writing, the 5th and 6th grade class we be given an essay each week to write. When grading each students essay, I will be looking for the following creiteria: That they have clearly written a tipic/main sentence and that it is correctly placed. That they have at least 3 supporting details and that they are correctly placed. That for each supporting deatil they write, they include 3 elaborating details, and that they are correctly placed. That the essay is written in the students best handwriting. And that students use proper grammar and mechanics in writing their essay.
5th Grade: Currently, the 5th grade class is beginning an unit on European explorers. To enhance student learning, I decided to incorporate technology into the curriculum by giving the students a webquest project. Webquests serve to enhance stuent learning by giving the students an internetbased project based upon their curriculum. For this webquest, students will pretend they are members on the ships of either Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo, Henry Hudson, or Sir Francis Drake. After they decided which ship to be a part of, they had to decide upon a role. They either played the part of a mapper, a press reporter, a personal secretary, or a historian. Each role has a specific task for students to complete. As a group, students will be responsible for organizing a power point presentation on the voyage of the ship they are a part of.
6th Grade: As the 5thgraders continue their unit on European explorers, the 6th grade class is in the middle of th eir unit on the Neolithic people. The webquest chosen for the 6thgrade class has them as junior CSI investigators as they attempt to determine cause of death of the OtziIceman. To complete this task, students will form groups of 3, with students taking on the role of a forensic scientist, a historian, and a duo-techno expert. Using information they gather from various websites, and from studying pictures of the Otzi Iceman, they will try to conclude the cause of death. For the final presentation, students will work together to organize a power point presentation. They will then present their findings to the class.
One thing that I am really looking forward to this school year is having the opportunity to teach PE. I have decided that the PE curriculum will include martial arts training. Engaging students in a martial arts program will serve to build students confidence and teach the discipline I seek in the classroom.