Week in Review

Scroll through the weeks below to see what we have learned each week.

Week 1: September 8 - September 11 

We are off to a great start. This week we went over our classroom expectations and I spent some time getting to know the students.  We jumped in with a lesson about the various ways Historians learn about events from the past. The students had a chance to put their historian/detective skills into practice with a fun activity. On Friday, the 25th anniversary of the tragic events that occured on Spetember 11, 2001, we did a brief lesson about that day. Instead of focusing on the horrific details of the day, we instead focused our discussions on the selfless acts of herosim and service by our first responders and even ordinary citizens. To honor the sacrifices and service of our first responders the students were encouraged to take part in the National Day or Service and Remembrance to do a good deed/act of kindness for someone else. 

Week 2: September 14 - September 18 

5th-Grade
This was our first week together so we spent some time going over class routines and getting to know each other. Then we jumped into some Social Studies and started with some basic geography knowledge and skills. We finished the week learning about time zones and why they are necessary. 

6th-Grade
This week the students wrote mini-biographies about a fictional person. They learned facts about this person by analyzing a set of checks the man wrote out over the course of his life. They had to put their historian skills to work and draw conclusions about the man's life based on the evidence they found in the primary sources (the checks the man wrote). We finished the week discussing the imporatnce of considering perspective and point of view when analyzing sources. We listened to the story of the Three Little Pigs and then read the same story but told from the Wolf's point of view. They understood how all of the story elements were the same but the perspective of the story teller changed the entire story, They will put their point of view analysis into action next week when they rewrite their favorite stories from the perspective of another character from the story. 

Week 3: September 22 - September 25 

5th-Grade
This was a shorter week because we were off on Monday. We continued learning geography skills this week. We spent some time learning about the Compass Rose, Cardinal Directions (North, South, East, and West) and Ordinal Directions (NE, SE, SW, NW).  We also started learning about Timelines. We explore how to read and calculate elapsed time. Students were able to practice reading timelines and understanding the difference between BC/BCE & AD/CE. Students also learned how to figure our the difference in years between events on a timeline. 

6th-Grade
Shorter week this week because of the day off on Monday. This week we spent more time developing and practicing our geography skills. We learned about the Compass Rose. The reviewed the Cardinal Directions (North, South, East, and West) as well as Ordinal Directions (NE, SE, SW, NW, NNE, ENE, ESE, SSE, SSW, WSW, WNW, and NNW).  We also learned how to read a timeline and focused a lot of time practicing how to calculate the difference in years between events on a timeline. We explored the differences between BC/BCE & AD/CE. We also explore how the Earth is divided into hemispheres (North, South, East, and West). The students practiced identifying the hemisphere where various countries are located. 

Week 4: September 28 - October 2 

5th-Grade
This week we had a test on Friday. We spent a lot of our lessons this week reviewing the material that would be on the test. We also covered some new topics such as the difference between Primary and Secondary sources. We also looked at how archaeologists and anthropologists learn about human life before the invention of writing. The students got a chance to play the role of an anthropologist by analyzing an artifact. Each group received an artifact and they used their analysis skills to try and determine what the artifact is, how it could be used, who would use it, an what assumptions we could make about the people that used it. 

6th-Grade
This week we focused on seasons, time zones, and how to read timelines. We explored the difference between BC/BCE and AD/CE when measuring time on a timline. We also began our discussion of the five themes of geography (location, place, movement, human-environment interaction, and region).  We also spent time discussing and reviewing what it expected of them in regard to the weekly homework which begins next week. 

Week 5: October 5 - October 9 

5th-Grade
Busy week this week. We explored timelines, and the students learned how to read various types of timelines. They learned how years before year ZERO are considered BC or BCE and years after zero are AD or CE. They learned how to determine the difference in years between two events on a timeline and how the process is a little different when an event spans backwards from AD/CE to BC/BCE. The students began creating their own timelines of their lives. We ended the week discussing why it is important to consider Point of View when studying history. Together we read the story of the Three Little Pigs and then we read the same story from the "Big Bad Wolf's" point of view. The students worked on creating their own fairy tale stories. They picked a story they know and like but they told the story from a different point of view. 

6th-Grade
This week we continued our discussion of the themes of geography. For location, we learned about the difference between absolute and relative location.  The students got to practice determine absolute location using longitude and latitude.  We are off on Monday and Tuesday our schedules will be a little changed due to the Hispanic Heritage Month concert, so we spent some time this week reviewing the important concepts for next week's test. 

Week 5: October 12 - October 16 

5th-Grade
Short week this week. On Monday, there was no school in observance of Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day.  On Tuesday, the school celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a concert. On Wednesday and Thursday we began our unit about Landforms and the important landforms of North America. Friday, we spent our SS period learning about General John Glover, hero of the American Revolution, and Dr. Westcott's all time favorite person from history. October 18th is unofficially John Glover Day (according to Dr. Westcott) which is why we spent some time learning about this hero. 

6th-Grade
Short week this week. On Monday, there was no school in observance of Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day.  On Tuesday, the school celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a concert. On Wednesday and Thursday we took our Geography Themes Unit Test.  On Friday, we spent our SS period learning about General John Glover, hero of the American Revolution, and Dr. Westcott's all time favorite person from history. October 18th is unofficially John Glover Day (according to Dr. Westcott) which is why we spent some time learning about this hero. 

Week 6: October 19 - October 23 

Coming Soon!

Week 7: October 26 - October 30 

Coming Soon!

Week 8: November 2 - November 6 

Coming Soon!