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Week 14: Friday, December 2, 2023

Welcome:  

Welcome back from the Thanksgiving Break and into the first week of December! Our school started an amazing community outreach program called Operation Giving Tree by collecting toys for local families for Christmas. We also watched a great video about overcoming challenges and obstacles. 


This Past Week:

  • Monday: Today was all about research--the students got back into the groove of school by completing their research for the second quarter writing assignment in #013-Trails West Research. 
  • Tuesday: I was home today with a sick kid, and the students spent time completing their research without me. 
  • Wednesday: The students created their first mind map for me today. They sifted through the research of all of their classmates to pull out the top 3 dangers/difficulties for each of the four groups we've been researching. They then used that to create their mindmaps to help organize their thoughts.
  • Thursday: We continued our preparation for the quarter two writing assignment today. I told the students that we are narrowing a funnel--they finished their mind maps that they started yesterday, we went over the writing prompt/rubric for tomorrow, and then the students were given time to plan with the graphic organizer. 
  • Friday: The whole focus for today was writing--the students were given the entire period to write their second quarter writing piece on the travelers that went west during the 1800s. 

Next Week: 

We're moving on to our next big topic this week when we discuss a variety of tribes of Native Americans. The students will be working in collaborative groups to create Common Craft-Type videos starting this week. The project includes a good amount of research, planning, and creation and will take the students until the winter break to finish. Check out the directions and expectations for the project here. 

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