Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

Students spent some time this week learning about changes in colonial America during the time of the French and Indian War by completing a graphic organizer web. After the webs were complete students had to create a headline to summarize and synthesize their learning. We discussed the role a headline plays in a newspaper story and examined actual headlines from the newspaper before starting the assignment. The students should be very proud of their work and we will be using this thinking routine throughout the year.

I'd like to welcome my students and parents to an exciting year! This blog will highlight the classroom activities we will be doing throughout the year as well as discuss current events and historical happenings. Thank you for following this blog and I look forward to what's in store! Mrs. Slaviero

Happy Summer!     Today marks a special anniversary--it's the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, culminating in Martin Luther King Junior's "I Have a Dream" speech.  Many people have traveled to Washington, DC to commemorate this moment in our nation's history. Here is the official event link: http://50thanniversarymarchonwashington.com/

Beginning a unit of study about something well-known, like the US Civil War, can be challenging for students. Many may feel very knowledgable about the topic and it can be somewhat intimidating for those that don't know a lot to keep up, at least at first. I began our Civil War unit today hoping to bridge the gap between these two groups of students by having them complete a group "Think-Puzzle-Explore" activity. Students generated lists of facts they think they know about the war, puzzles or questions they have about it (hypothetical questions are accepted) and then ways that they would want to explore the topic. Student "Think" answers reaffirmed the range of knowledge and the "Explore" section illustrated the need for us to delve into primary sources, which we will. The "Puzzle" portion was where deep questioning of the topic occurred and this curiosity is a great starting point to take our lesson tomorrow.

The students showed outstanding effort on their pictographs! Many put theirs in their portfolio but these were returned to me to be displayed outside of my classroom and on this blog.

Students today are demonstrating their understanding of life in the North by creating a pictograph. The factual information students draw into their pictograph will prove that they understand the uniqueness of the North before the Civil War. When students are assessed in this way they show their "Big Picture" knowledge of a topic and that will in turn help them remember history in a powerful and meaningful way. Students will complete a pictograph about life in the South after we've studied that subject and will write about the similarities and differences in both pictographs.  

Here are some of the completed haiku. The students did a very good job of capturing the essence of working in an New England textile factory in the 1800s. Their hands were destroyed Tough work in the hot summer The work was boring                                                                 --Nick, Joel, Neil and Ganesh Stuffy, hard to breathe Cotton whirls about in the light Small cuts dot my hands                                         ...