November/December Social Studies

In November, we will begin a mini-unit focused on The Age of Exploration and European Explorers. During this unit, students will learn about various different European Explorers. Students will research different explorers by reading non-fiction texts. The goal of this unit is for students to understand why people in Europe began to explore territories across the globe and for students to recognize that the beginnings of our country are founded on the Age of Exploration. The purpose of this unit is to prepare students for the following unit, Colonial Life in North America. 

Starting at the end of November, we will begin our Colonial unit. During this time, students will learn about why people settled in the American colonies and how they survived in a new land. Using both primary and secondary resources, students will develop an understanding for what life was like for people living in the American Colonies. As the unit continues, we will begin to focus on Colonial life in New York State and how this would eventually lead to the development of New York today. 
The unit will last approximately one month and will end with a culminating research project. Working in the classroom, students will choose topic to research and will learn how to use non-fiction texts and Internet resources to carry out their research. Using the information they gather, students will develop a generalization, or big idea, about what life was like during Colonial times (Ex: During Colonial times, children had more responsibilities than they do today). Students will then use their research findings to develop three reasons that support their generalization. Students will also be required to prove that their reasons are true by using facts taken from the non-fiction resources they used during their research. Students will present their projects in the form of three short paragraphs and sketches that depict their research findings. 

Students may also continue their research at home by using our class website: http://www.portaportal.com/ Students may scroll down to the Social Studies section of the website in order to help with their research. See login information below:

Username: 4302
Password: ps172

Character Essay Writing

Throughout this writing unit, students will think deeply about the types of people the characters they are reading about are. They will take notice what characters say, do and or think to come up with a thesis, an idea, about their character. They will identify a trait word that best fits their character and place post-its across a book to be sure that they can prove their idea with at least three pieces of text evidence. 

It is important that during this writing unit, students keep in mind that in order to say a character is a certain way, they must look at the character as a whole and form the strongest idea they can about them. Characters can sometimes be complex, act more than one way, under different circumstances or towards different people. Therefore, students have to choose a strong trait that can be proven across a book. 

Additionally, this unit requires students to include voice throughout their essay. Specifically, during this unit, voice is seen as reaction sentences. Reaction sentences are what a reader felt when he or she came across the action a character portrayed. As a writer, being able to express the feelings you had when your character said, did or thought something pulls your reader in and makes them more interested in your ideas and or feelings. 

November Read Aloud

November & December Read Aloud

What’s New in Read Aloud?

This month we will be continuing our work with the text, There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom. This will take us through much of November. At the close of the month we will begin a new novel which will take us through to December.

During Read Aloud we will be reading a novel, The Sign of the Beaver written by Elizabeth George Speare. This novel is a historical fiction text. This means that although the characters and events are fictional, the setting takes place during a particular period of history. While reading historical fiction it is important to keep in mind that the problems that the character is dealing with are specific to the time period addressed in the text. Basically, the problem that the main character is facing could not be a problem that a person would be faced with in present time.

During this unit students will be responsible for:

1) Completing assigned extended response questions in the given response packet.

These responses will be collected periodically and graded. The grading criteria for these responses is as follows:

0- point response includes:

·                    Does not answer the prompt/question

·                     No answer

·                    Hand-writing is so messy that the answer is too difficult to read

·                     Includes many grammar mistakes making the answer too difficult to read

           

1- point response includes:

·                  A literal explanation or retell of the prompt/question

·                  Little details or information from the text to support the explanation

·                   Incomplete sentences

2-point response includes:

·                A correct inference (idea) from the text that answers the question/prompt

·               An explanation of your inference (idea) in your own words

·               Specific details from the text that proves your inference, such as a quote

·               Complete sentences and correct punctuation

It is very important for students to adhere to the criteria and aim to receive a ‘2’ for their responses. This practice will get them into the habit of accurately answering an extended response question and supporting it with evidence. This skill is necessary in order to be successful on the ELA exam.

2) Completing assigned vocabulary work. Students received a vocabulary packet, containing a graphic organizer to help them apply this word in various ways. They are required to use the word in a sentence, write the definition, draw a picture of and write an example of the vocabulary word.

3)  Vocabulary Quiz- Knowledge of the vocabulary words will be assessed every week. Students should be prepared, every Friday, for a vocabulary quiz.

The Sign of the Beaver Vocabulary Words

·      Survivalist

·      Prejudice

·      Naïve

·      Clever

·      Stubborn

·      Arrogant

·      Wise

·      Skeptical

·      Competitive

·      Bitter

In addition, due to the fact that this genre isn’t what students are used to reading, this text is full of ‘tricky parts’. Throughout the lesson we will identify these parts and apply strategies to work through them in order to ensure comprehension. Students will be encouraged to apply these strategies when reading independently.