During Writing time, our class has been taking a close look at issues, social climate, and key people involved with civil rights in southern states in the 1940s and 1950s. We began with close reading activities of Rosa and the first two chapters of Freedom Walkers. We viewed Disney's Educational Production of Ruby Bridges. Next week, we will begin reading and responding to the fictional novel of The Liberation of Gabrielle King. In The Liberation of Gabrielle King, fifth grade friends Frita and Gabe in rural Georgia help each other face their fears during the summer of 1976. This book is part of The Writer's Express (WEX) unit called Writing in Response to Fiction.
Water is the center focus in 5-5. We have been listening to an audio CD of Linda Sue Park's narrative of the life of Salva Dut, a Sudanese "Lost Boy" and Nya, a young Sudanese village girl. These two stories, experienced about fifteen years apart, are told in back and forth fashion and are found woven together near the end of the story. The need for water is a clear message in the book as well as other thought-provoking themes.
Along with the reading of this novel, our class continues to conduct experiments, this week creating layers of gravel, a coffee filter and sand to represent layers of the earth and an aquifer. Rain poured down from eye droppers into these models and was closely observed. On Friday, a small cup of water and lid were added to create potential water cycles. Observations , note-taking, and discussion will continue next week. In the Olive LMC, Mrs. Brown divided our class into groups for a Water research project. Students will study various topic such as irrigation, pollution, wells, desalination, conserving water, etc. Our first session involved note-taking, and the students will continue their research for two sessions in the LMC next week. Our class did two hands-on experiments this week. There are pictures of both under the Photos tab. One allowed the students to explore the question, "What happens to a drop of water once it lands on the earth?" They tested effects of a drop of water on materials that are porous, semi-porous, and non-porous. The other experiment involved filling water containers of different sizes to represent the amount of water on the earth that falls into these categories: surface water, ground water, fresh water, water in glaciers/ice caps, and water in the atmosphere. Ask your child about the surprises they came to realize.
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