Math:
All classes are wrapping up units for the quarter this week. The Marionettes worked on a review Monday and Tuesday and took their check-in Wednesday. Thursday they started a research project to finish out the quarter. The Saplings finished up their robots all week and took their check-in on Thursday. The Vroomshrooms learned how to factor. This included factoring out the gcf, factoring by grouping, factoring trinomials using the AC method, and factoring a difference of squares. Their check-in will be Tuesday.
ELA:
Everyone (including the teacher) returned on Monday eager to discuss the ending of Animal Farm! We started off journaling our emotional reactions to specific scenes, then we gathered in the library and talked about the tangle of lying and gaslighting and poor memory that lead to renaming it Manor Farm, its original name. Last week we learned the definitions of propaganda, satire, and rhetoric, so Monday we applied that to Animal Farm by looking for examples of each in the text. There were plenty!
Wrapping up our Q3 study of the French and Russian Revolutions, students started writing an essay to compare and contrast these two historical events. Throughout the rest of the week they worked at their own pace to outline ideas on a prewriting graphic organizer, start drafting on a Google doc, edit, revise, and publish final drafts. Throughout this time we paused occasionally for mini lessons and activities to boost their writing skills.
Theme:
Zdravstvujtye! Hello! Theme students began to wind down our look into the Russian Revolution with a couple of projects focused on political thought and Russian traditional jewelry. We began the week by creating comparisons between the theories of English Capitalist Adam Smith, French utopian theorist Charles Fourier, and the German father of Communist theory Karl Marx. Each thinker’s ideas on economics and society were researched and presented to the class by different groups. The class then compared these ideas to their application in American culture by looking at the lyrics of John Lennon’s 1971 song “Imagine”. Students saw clear parallels between Lennon’s call to bring world peace in the 1970s and the roots of those theories.
The rest of the week focused on the work of Peter Carl Faberge’ and his work in the 19th and 20th century with the Romanov family to create a series of easter eggs. The famed Faberge Egg collection presented the students with examples of unique designs that reflected the art and culture of the Russian upper class during the time of the Revolution. Students were given wooden eggs and challenged to develop their own Faberge style egg designs, complete with back stories and names. The results were STUNNING!! We look forward to closing out our look at Revolutions next week with project presentations and a Russian Feast!
Top: Ms. Kandyce reads the picture book Maybe to Marionettes during SEL Flex time.
Bottom: Marionettes scour Animal Farm for examples of rhetoric and propaganda.
Top: Vroomshrooms add the international date line to their on-going globe project.
Bottom: Vroomshrooms, like the other classes, draft essays comparing and contrasting the French and Russian revolutions.
Theme students transformed into jewelry designers this week by creating their own versions of the famed Russian Faberge easter eggs. Each egg has a name and backstory.
Theme students juggled a lot of tasks this week as our look into the Russian and French revolutions came to a close. From comparing the causes and effects of both eras to finishing quarter projects on selected topics, the Middle School kept up a busy but fun schedule!
