Welcome back to LES 6th grade! Wow, after almost a year of remote learning and being away from the school building, it was great to have students back at the school this week. We had a fabulous first week in person! Although the weather was challenging at times, we were able to be outside the majority of each day. Kudos to everyone for being brave and trying something new.
Reconnecting:
First day morning meeting
One of the primary goals of this week was reconnecting with one another. We spent time playing games, establishing routines, and building up our team mentality. Some of the games we played this week were: Zookeeper, BaBaBoom, Whaa!, Jedi Mind, and the Morse Hill Name Game. Games were also an important way to keep active and stay warm!
Poetry:
Each day we read 2-3 poems and students had 12-15 minutes to write poetry in our various outdoor classroom spaces. Writing in nature to the sounds of birds, the brook, and the wind was a welcome relief from the computer screen! We reviewed literary devices (alliteration, simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification) and discussed strategies for analyzing the deeper themes and messages of a poem.
Here is one of the poems we read and analyzed. What do you think about the theme or message the poem conveys?
CYNTHIA IN THE SNOW by Gwendolyn Brooks
It SHUSHES
It hushes
The loudness in the road.
It flitter-twitters,
And laughs away from me.
It laughs a lovely whiteness,
And whitely whirls away,
To be
Some otherwhere,
Still white as milk or shirts,
So beautiful it hurts.
Orienteering:
Our first integrated unit is orienteering. Early in the week, students counted their paces over 100′ in different terrain and found their average pace. They compared their pace per 100′ with their pace over 100 yards to see if it was consistent. Working in teams of four, students made box plots to represent the class data. It was a challenge to figure out how to keep a consistent scale in order to compare them accurately!
On Friday, students put their data to work and completed a beginning orienteering course in the field. They had to locate 8 cubes in a specific order using clues such as “Go North 375′.” All partnerships were successful in completing the course. Students also created courses for one another using the cardinal directions and their pacing. This was harder than many anticipated, and we realized the importance of a clear starting point and clear, consistent directions.
Math: To supplement the afternoon math work we have been doing, students completed a series of Order of Operations equations and some algebra problems that used the distributive property. Problems were taped to cones and set around the field and playground to keep everyone moving as they solved the problems.