October Updates
October Updates
Reading
Students read Bravo!: Poems about Amazing Hispanics, biographical information they gather via research, and excerpts that address the issue of identity by America Ferrera, Mindy Kaling, and Mo’ne Davis. Additionally, they “read” the Instagram story of celebrity Will Smith, as an example of how people can construct an identity on a social media platform. The unit begins with a lesson that helps students to distinguish between what it means to “shape” versus “form” an identity. Relying on the way mathematicians and artists use the terms, students learn, for example, that a person may attend a university to shape their identity into that of “teacher,” an identity conferred by a social institution issue of a license. One then also forms, fills out, an identity as a “tireless,” “dedicated” or “creative” teacher. Select poems from the Bravo! collection are used to help develop their understanding of these definitions. They see the ways in which individuals can resist the social forces affecting the shape of their identity to form an identity that can bring change to the world. Students choose one of the subjects of poetic focus and study in more depth the way these figures shaped and formed their identity. When students read the excerpts of Ferrera, Kaling, and Davis, they take a closer look at the way that making assumptions about the a person based only on the shape of their identity—on the basis of their name, their race, their gender—can place obstacles in the path of an individual taking steps to form a successful identity. When they “read” the Instagram story of Will Smith, they discuss the way one can consciously shape an identity on a social platform and the importance of being careful while doing so. Students continue to participate in Think-Alouds and discussion, focusing on determining theme in literary texts, determining main ideas and how details support those main ideas, the difference between point of view and perspective, and how both influence the way speakers/narrators describe events, and summary of written and visual texts.
Writing
Students dive into the memoir genre. They first create a 6-Word Memoir as a way to consider how writing can lay bare the form of one’s identity. They create an interview to help them decide what are important events or events that helped them to shape and form their identities. Two memoir videos will be used as mentor texts for a video memoir: Roy and Amanda from New York Times’ “Hyphen-Nation,” and give students another opportunity to consider how one’s cultural heritage helps to shape and form one’s identity.
Math
Students build fluency with multiplying multi-digit numbers by using the standard algorithm. They use place value understanding to visualize the decomposition of factors while they multiply a single digit at a time by another single digit in the standard algorithm.
Social Studies
Students are learning all about Honduras for Hispanic Heritage Month. Students will create a hallway showcase to show what they have learned about Honduras!
Important Dates
-October 3rd- Parent Advisory Committee Meeting
-October 3rd - Cultivate Survey for grades 5-8 Opens
-October 4th - Lockdown Drill
-October 9th- Indigenous People’s Day
-October 11th- Fire Evacuation Drill #2
-October 12th- Bilingual Advisory Committee
-October 12th- Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration
-October 16th- Local School Council Meeting
-October 31st- Halloween Parade