MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2025

This morning, we reunited with Mr. Joe’s class for Multicultural Monday! We started by asking students what artists they found were inspired by our big three musical icons: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Vallens, and the Big Bopper. Students shared some really interesting artists! These artists included, but were not limited to: Weezer, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran… and of course, our golden ticket answer for today’s lesson, The Beatles!

Today, we transitioned from the 50s to the 60s – which was the prime time for The Beatles. We asked students how they thought the music would change from the 50s, either in instrumentation or in theme, returning to the previously discussed main idea of the evolution of music to reflect on current events. We talked a bit about historical events happening in the 60s: The Vietnam War, The Civil Rights Movement, etc. To assist in making this connection, we talked about different genres of music, such as rap and rock music – specifically, Green Day. Students reflected on the idea of protesting through music, a theme we will continue to explore throughout the rest of our Multicultural Mondays.

We then introduced today’s music icon: Bob Dylan! We listened to his song “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965) and did a group discussion of themes, moods, metaphors, and musical techniques they noticed. Students returned to this idea of the loss of innocence, they noticed the vocal tone being harsh/angry/passionate, they pointed out this idea of being poor and discussed how that can be both literal, as well as, a metaphor for feeling alone/abandoned. We then played “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (1964), and asked students to discuss with a partner some connections between the songs. These connections could be historically, lyrically, instrumentally, metaphorically, themes, symbols, etc.

Their homework was to dig deeper and beyond their partner brainstorming discussion of those connections, with the intention to further analyze connections between the two songs. Students are welcome to use research of historical events and context to aid in their analysis.

After snack and math, we had our silent reading block where I check in with students about their independent reading novels they are reading for homework. In our later afternoon class, students were introduced to their new set of vocabulary. We got familiar with the words together using Quizlet Live, and had a discussion of the different studying techniques people used to prepare for the last vocabulary test. We talked about what study techniques were helpful and why they worked. Students who did not get 100% on their previous test will continue studying vocabulary set 1 for a retake on Friday. Students who received 100% on vocabulary set 1 will study vocabulary set 2 for their test on Friday.

We then had an introductory discussion for tomorrow’s activity – making your own WWI propaganda posters! We reviewed the different propaganda objectives that were present in the posters we studied last week, and talked about assignment expectations to allow students to brainstorm tonight about what they might do on their posters tomorrow morning.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2025

This morning, we learned about rhetorical appeals – an important persuasive tool. While the propaganda posters used propaganda objectives to convince the public of a wide variety of war support, they were only successful due to understanding how ethos, pathos, and logos could strengthen their persuasive posters. So, before creating their own WWI posters, students needed to gain understanding of these rhetorical devices by learning what they were, and practiced identifying their persuasive impact in a variety of modern day commercials.

Any student who was not able to finish their poster during class was assigned it for homework.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2025

Students learned all about pennies this morning!

Students read the above article, from Scholastic ScienceWorld Magazine, and answered various comprehension questions that tested their reading comprehension skills of the article, and their ability to use their math skills to answer various questions about the statistics presented to them. While this is great for their mathematical development, it is also an important ELA skill to be able to thoroughly interpret data that accompanies informational text.

Students learned about the history of the penny: how it came to be, why Abraham Lincoln is the face of it, cost of production, the metals they are made of, comparing pennies to other coins, etc. Using all they learned about coins, it was time for the fun part, where they got to create their very own coin!

Next week, we will be doing a science lab with pennies – stay tuned!

In our afternoon class, we had our Ketchup, Mustard, Pickle day of the week! These days are always helpful for students because it allows them class time to catch up on anything they fell behind on completing recently, and puts them in good standing for the rest of the week/following week. This way, students don’t feel the pressure of remembering extra things on their to-do list at home.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2025

Earlier this week, students created their own propaganda posters, many for the objective of recruitment. So, today, we talked about how the success of these propaganda posters affected millions of people’s lives – we talked about what life was like for soldiers in the war.

We started with an introductory slide show activity where students made inferences about what each image was depicting (such as alliance maps and what it meant for smaller countries, images of the trenches and the advantages and disadvantages of them, etc.) As a full circle moment, students went around the room on a scavenger hunt to read primary sources on what trench warfare was like. We then watched a couple of videos to strengthen our understanding of what trench warfare was like. These videos and sources prompted deep discussion questions posed by various students, covering a wide variety of topics. The primary conversation students kept returning back to was this idea of mental health.

One of the videos we watched covered shell shock. It was a concept that made many students uncomfortable and sad for those affected by it. Students then made the connection that this was one of the first labels for what we know now as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Vasia asked if people could die from shell shock – to which the answer is, unfortunately, yes. This lead to a deep discussion about mental health, and the taboo concept for this time that men could also struggle with mental health. This lead us to a discussion of sexism and this harmful idea that men were strong, they could never cry because that would make the weak (like women). However, the trauma from WWI unveiled this idea that these strong, heroic men struggled to cope with the horrors from war, and needed resources. We talked about veteran support and resources for those who suffer from PTSD have improved, but are often still considered limited. This not only deepened their understanding for what these men and families went through, but deepened their empathy and respect for those affected by both historical and modern wars.

We then took a brief snack break to allow students some time to process everything they saw, many carrying over classroom conversations to their snack circles. Once they returned, it was time for them to realize exactly how many people were truly affected by these conditions.

It is estimated that about 1/3 of the soldiers that were in the trenches passed from trench warfare. WWI was an extremely brutal war, but its brutality is often overshadowed in student memory due to widespread knowledge of WWII, and desensitization to violence over the course of history. To help students understand the ways soldiers died in this war, without playing overly graphic reenactments, I placed 4 death scenarios of common ways soldiers passed away during trench warfare (1/3 of our class) into a bowl. If students “died” they were to read their scenario and silently move to the back area of the room to sit, while our surviving soldiers stayed at their desks. Our class went from 12 students, to 8. Students calculated how much of our class died from our reenactment, leading them to 33% of 1/3.

1. Teddy passed away from typhus (essentially, salmonella) in the trenches due to lack of medical resources/advancements, and ultimately, dehydration, due to the extremely small amounts of dirty water they had access to.
2. Gigi passed away from an infected wound from artillery.
3. Leo passed away from drowning in the knee deep water and thick mud that surrounded him in the trench.
4. Vasia passed away from the poison gas used against our troops, by Germany.

Students learned that, approximately, 15.4% to 17% of soldiers who fought in World War I were killed, with the total number of military deaths ranging from about 8.5 million to over 10 million globally. Many of their jaws dropped in horror due to it being such a large number.

Students were then assigned to imagine they were a soldier in the trenches, and that they had the opportunity to write a letter home.

They were reminded that due to the lack of technology, these letters (like the primary sources they read around the room) would be one of the only ways we knew exactly what happened during the war. Students were encouraged to sit with the uncomfortable details and “expose” them, as it would almost be disrespectful to those who were affected by these things to ignore them due to our discomfort. Here are some quotes from each of their letters:

“I killed someone and I am confused. I don’t know what is right, we are forced to fight and kill the Huns for peace.” – Vasia

This excerpt highlights the internal struggle many soldiers faced of doing what was required of them, but gaining moral consciousness of their actions, and the confusing struggle of processing both set of emotions. This also highlighted the harsh and inhumane treatment soldiers faced by their superiors in having no say in continuing to fight the opposing side with the argument/idea of fighting the war would bring peace to everyone else, and therefore, they must continue even when they feel uncomfortable doing so.

“I don’t think I can bear seeing his [Nathaniel – friend who died in the war] cold, motionless body one more time. I want to leave. I want food. I want clean water. I want my life back.” – Maggie

This excerpt highlights the idea of soldiers reminiscing of what life was once like before the war, wishing they could get it back. However, also highlighting that these terrible memories will follow these soldiers, and at times cause PTSD, to where they will never get their life completely back.

“The smell of bodies are now a part of my memories, and I have to pretend I don’t see the bodies. Sometimes, I want to die.” – Nefeli

This excerpt highlights a soldier’s mental health and reflected on the following question: Is it better for a soldier to die in the war a hero, and to be lovingly remembered by their “old self,” or live uncomfortably with the memories of the war, where they become unrecognizable and dysfunctional to those who love them? In which scenario will people suffer more?

“I hear bombs and gunshots every second. I cannot sleep when I know I killed someone.” – Teddy

This excerpt highlights the guilt some soldiers began to feel, and the brutal living conditions and lack of peace/rest due to constant war threats.

“Life in the trenches has been horrible. We’re struggling to remain standing as rats devour our fallen.” – Lily

This excerpt highlights the filthy living conditions within the trenches, and brutal decomposition via rats feasting on the fallen soldier’s corpses.

“There are wet mud piles up to our knees with buried dead human limbs sticking out of the Earth.” – Leo

This excerpt highlights the thick mud within the trenches and how it was so difficult to climb out of them that many soldiers dead bodies were buried within the trenches walls, with limbs easily dug up or exposed during combat.

“I hope I don’t get it [shell shock]. I have to go, I heard a boom.” – Kosta

This excerpt highlights how even in moments of “peace” within the war being taken by soldiers as time to write letters home… that peace never lasts long due to never ending counter attacks, creating more and more trauma for soldiers to process.

“I had some good friends, but unfortunately, they all died. Some got stuck in the thick mud, died in the trenches, and were seen being eaten by rats.” – Becky

This excerpt highlights some of the brutal ways soldiers were killed within the trenches, and the traumatic experience of surviving soldiers witnessing it and telling their stories to ensure the war was properly documented in history textbooks.

“These trenches are disgusting, there are rats everywhere and they are huge! It smells terrible, it smells like hell.” – Mina

This excerpt highlights the lack of cleanliness in the trenches, and the unpleasant smells of war – gun powder, decaying bodies, bodily waste/sewage, etc.

“A lot of people got PTSD [shell shock] and were shaking when they hear a bomb. I love you all, be safe.” – Jason

This excerpt highlights the risks of war reaching home for many soldiers, and the unknown fear for if their families will be affected in the same horrific ways they (the soldiers) have been.

“I am so exhausted and hungry. I have blisters on my feet, hands and legs from kneeling.” – Gigi

This excerpt highlights the poor living conditions within the trenches, as well as, some of the discomfort soldiers has to push past and ignore (on the smaller scale of blisters) throughout the war.

“Our feet swelled up to 3 times their size and some men had lost feeling to all of their legs. Our trenches are filled with water up to our waist. Our food is rotten, moldy, and infested with rats that are sometimes as big as cats.” – Adrian

This excerpt highlights, again, the poor living conditions; but it also introduces the idea of trench feet. The condition of trench feet was learned and described in the third primary source the students read, a quote from a postwar interview from Sergeant Harry Roberts. “If you have never had trench feet described to you, I will tell you. Your feet swell to two or three times their normal size and go completely dead. You could stick a bayonet into them and not feel a thing. If you are fortunate enough to not lose your feet and the swelling begins to go down, it is then that the intolerable, indescribable agony begins. I have heard men cry and even scream with the pain and many had to have their feet and legs amputated.”

Some students were asking to watch a movie about WWI. While I cannot in good conscience show the full films at school, due to many containing incredibly graphic violence, I also recognize the power of analyzing film as literature as an aid in developing student understanding. If you and/or your student would like to watch one as an extension activity at home for a family movie night, here are some great ones to consider:

1. All Quiet on the Western Front
   • 2022 version is available on Netflix, but please know it is quite brutal and heavy viewer discretion is advised; the 1930 version is a lot more tolerable and available on Tubi. We watched an extremely small clip from the 1930 version in class and it’s a great film that highlights what the war was like without being overly traumatic. However, despite it being the most tame I could find… it is still about a brutal war, so please review if it would be a good fit to watch with your student before letting them watch it. Viewer discretion is advised.
2. War Horse
   • Filmed in 1971, but unfortunately, I was not able to find it available for free streaming on any platforms. The cheapest appeared to be on Prime Video. It is PG-13, so it is not nearly as graphic as some of the newer films and could be a good choice if they want a film in color but not overly intense graphics; however, please review the film before showing it to your student to gauge if it is a good fit for them to watch. As with any war movie, viewer discretion is advised.
3. 1917
   • This was filmed in 2019 and is also available on Netflix… however, the newer the film, often the more violent and brutal they are to watch, so please preview it before watching it with your student. Similarly to the 2022 film above, heavy viewer discretion is advised (great film, but quite graphic/intense).

This extension activity completely optional as it may be too overwhelming for some students!

Please know, I completely understand if your student is uncomfortable watching any of these films and if you, as parents, feel that this extension activity is too intense for your student. Each student has different maturity levels and tolerance/interests in films about war. Even without watching a WWI film, please rest assured your student has a great understanding of the brutal aspects, and impacts this war had on the world as we know it today, based on the activities we did in class.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2025

This morning, we did our weekly quick write activity. At the beginning of our quick write journey, it was challenging for students to incorporate these challenging vocabulary words from New York Times Word of the Day. However, after all of our practice, their writing skills are gaining great strength and complexity. So, what once was hard is now a bit too easy… it was time for a new challenge! Students were now given the restriction of only being able to repeat the vocabulary words once, rather than using one word in 5 different sentences. So, each word could only be included 2 times in their stories. This, in addition to ensuring they are writing with a clear plot structure challenged them to be more intentional with their word incorporation. I also increased the time they had to write as this version of our quick write would take more thinking and planning before they started writing their stories; which is great for increasing their writing stamina. Our student who used the most words in a way that was intentional with an easy to follow sequence of events and plot was: Becky! She used 26 words total in her story.

In the afternoon, it was time to reward everyone for their hard work yesterday. We work hard everyday, of course, but yesterday was hands down our most intense class yet. We got through a lot of content, and students were focused and respectful for the entirety of the serious activities.

Ever since students discovered Scrabble Monopoly, they haven’t stopped begging to play it again… and who am I to deny them a rematch with all the challenging skills Scrabble Monopoly helps to develop!? So, as a reward for all their hard work this week, we returned to the extremely enriching activity of Scrabble Monopoly to end our week on a high note! (:

REMINDER: YOUR STUDENT’S FINAL DRAFT OF THEIR CHILDREN’S BOOKS ARE DUE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1ST! THEY SHOULD BE WORKING ON THEM AT HOME, FOR HOMEWORK, AS THEY WILL FINISH AT DIFFERENT TIMES AND SOME MAY WANT TO USE SPECIAL MATERIALS THEY HAVE AT HOME! THEY WILL NOT BE RECEIVING ADDITIONAL CLASS TIME TO COMPETE THESE AS WE ARE MOVING ON TO NEW PROJECTS AND CONCEPTS!

I look forward to sharing more of our learning with you next week! (:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2025

This morning, we continued our Multicultural Mondays with Mr. Joe’s class! We started by answering the question: Is music a form of history? Students began making connections of how music documents historical events, such as, the day the music died. They also talked about how it documents an evolution as the music we listen to today is very different from the music of the 1950s. We talked about the purpose of learning history being to evolve, either as a country or a person. If something we did in the past went poorly, we learn from that mistake and try our best to not repeat it… because we evolve!

Keeping that in mind, and focusing on this idea of analyzing music to see how it evolved through time, we listened to the music that died. We started with Peggy Sue and That’ll Be The Day by Buddy Holly. Students picked out similarities of both themes and moods between Buddy Holly’s songs and American Pie from last week. One of the big things that was highlighted was this idea of upbeat instrumentals with somber lyrics, a technique we recognize in today’s music scene! We then went on to listen to La Bamba by Ritchie Valens, and Chantilly Lace by Big Bopper. We noticed, once again, similar upbeat and bouncy instrumentals. At this point, we started to really get into the music and some students were seen dancing and singing along to parts they knew – which was a lot of fun! Students were able to see that across all the songs, there was a level of this innocence we talked about dying alongside the music in the plane crash, and we talked about how that loss of innocence/simplicity changed music and society forever.

We ended our discussion by revisiting American Pie and singing along to it. This deepened student understanding of the song as we built up this huge understanding of cultural events and significance, along with additional historical context of events that were happening during this time in history.

As homework, your student should research a popular music artist that they know and love that has been inspired by one of the musicians we talked about today: Big Bopper, Buddy Holly or Richie Valens. Even if their favorite artist wasn’t inspired by them, odds are, whoever that artist was inspired by was inspired by one of them! Students should come prepared to share with the group which artist they found was inspired by these music legends.

Then, we had a quick snack to rejuvenate our brains for Math! After Math, students spent some time getting cozy with their independent reading novels from home (the books they should be reading for 20 minutes every night for homework). During silent reading time, students were pulled to talk with me about their books. This is where I check for reading comprehension, making sure the books they’re picking has appropriately challenging vocabulary, talking about different reading strategies and techniques they can use to strengthen their understanding of literature, etc.

In the later afternoon, students completed a mini-quiz on commas, and once they were finished, were given time to work on their Art To Remember masterpieces!

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2025

Since we are starting to get back quite a bit of work, we started by doing some organization of our binders and making sure everything was filed in the right section. We then explored Quizlet to learn about the awesome features students can use to practice their vocabulary at home for their first vocabulary test on Friday! After reviewing our first set of vocabulary, we played some Quizlet Live together, building up to harder formats as we practiced our words.

We then practiced our spelling alongside our critical thinking skills with some Scrabble Monopoly! While this is a game I love playing with my family, it’s also an incredible game for our class to play with the following added rule:

1. If you use a vocabulary word in your scrabble board, you can either double the spaces your character moves around the board or inherit a property grouping of your choice.

While nobody was able to get a vocabulary word into their scrabble boards today, they still learned a lot:

1. At the end, they calculated their overall value (money wise and property wise). Our winners from each group were… Vasia, Teddy, Jason and Becky! We then asked our winners what strategies they may have used to help win, and a popular strategy was pre-calculating the word values and testing them on the monopoly board before playing the words to avoid paying rent to other players. Another popular one was getting as many points as possible with the Scrabble words to get around the board (to pass go) as many times as possible, as passing go was the most consistent way to get the most money in the game. Jason was our class champion today, ending with a value of $11,500! Next time we play, hopefully we get a new record!
2. They practiced problem solving. Scrabble is hard! It’s hard to build off other words with limited letters, sometimes it takes a long time to see a word you can spell. This is great in building their ability to pause and look at problems/puzzles in a new way when your original method isn’t working, which builds their dedication to figuring things out when they first seem difficult (which is helpful for standardized tests, reading a hard book, solving a difficult math problem, etc.).
3. They practiced key elements of the scientific method on a small scale; and even if they didn’t realize they did it, they did! Their hypothesis was a strategy they wanted to use to try and win. Their experiment was using the strategy as they played the game. Their result was if their strategy lead them to success! We then had a discussion of what strategies were successful, and we talked about why they were successful, which is a bit of error analysis where they could learn where their strategies fell short in helping them win. This is great because it helps them realize the scientific method is not limited to science – it can be applied to day-to-day life/tasks!
4. They grew their vocabulary by learning words from each other and practiced proofreading by double-checking each players spelling of their Scrabble word submissions.

BONUS LEARNING MOMENT!

After our class, they went off to Art and regrouped for Lunch. During Lunch, students were challenging themselves to correctly use some of our previous New York Times word-of-the-day words in their lunchtime conversations. Some words I heard used successfully were: cacophonous, amalgamate, gaggle, arachnid, iconic, furtive, gobbledygook and edify! This is awesome because the best way to know if your student is learning and understanding their vocabulary words is to hear them integrate them into their day-to-day conversations… it’s even better when they decide to incorporate the words without being prompted. Of course, they are encouraged by earning Dojo points when they do it correctly, but I wanted to highlight it today, as today was the most seamless and most successful vocabulary integration I have heard/seen them achieve so far this year! (:

After lunch, we joined Ms. Pam for Science and ended our day making more memories at Recess.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2025

This morning, we started with a brief class discussion of how WWI started, as a recall of their timeline activity. Teddy remembered there was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand that ignited the conflict, and Leo remembered there were many alliances between different nations that escalated to a large war in desire of expanded territories. We then did a more in-depth review by watching How World War I Started: Crash Course World History. The video is linked here if you’d like to watch it: https://youtu.be/Cd2ch4XV84s?feature=shared

We then learned what propaganda meant, and discussed what kinds of things are needed by the government when entering a war as a hint to the persuasive techniques used in our propaganda posters we would be analyzing next. A big idea Adrian pointed out was that we need resources in a war. We then did a group brainstorm of what those resources might be, and came up with the following list: food, money, medicine, citizen support, military equipment and soldiers. This list covered almost all 5 main objectives of wartime propaganda:

1. Recruitment of Soldiers
2. Financing the War (war bonds/taxes)
3. Nationalism
4. Conservation of Resources
5. Participation in home-front organizations to support the war effort

After explaining and defining what each objective meant, students were asked to float around the room and look at 15 propaganda posters. They would then identify which main objective each poster was promoting. Students were encouraged to talk to each other as they looked around, explain to each other why they thought the specific poster was each objective with evidence and reasoning. This reinforced the importance of supporting your claims with evidence and reasoning (argumentative structure). Once students finished their initial votes, they were told to review their answers with a peer who they did not yet speak to during the activity, and see if they got the same answers. If they didn’t, they were told to convince the other person they were correct using their evidence and reasoning.

We then reviewed and discussed the correct answers as a class, continuing this trend of explaining our claims with evidence and reasoning from the lesson/posters.

We took a snack break and went to Math, but we then returned to some reflection/review questions about what we learned from the activity. This was done through a Ketchup, Mustard, Pickle period to give everyone plenty of time to think independently about their reflection questions.

To ensure all students do their absolute best work on their Final Drafts of their children’s stories, and that they look super professional and polished, they are typing their story text in a Google Slides document. They will be finishing their illustrations on the printed pages of their story next week for homework. Their completed final drafts of their stories are due October 1.

If they are choosing to create them fully digitally, they need to be done and submitted to me by October 1. If they are creating them digitally, they are welcome to use AI to create their images (they have been warned that they need to describe every little detail of their book illustration in detail for each and every page to get them looking consistent), they can use Canva, they can use Google Slide shapes to create their characters, they can draw it on an ipad and insert the images digitally, they can also use various PNGs (photos with transparent backgrounds) to create their illustrations. Regardless of their method of digital creating, it should look like a real children’s book. That means, I shouldn’t see 3 random photos from Google added to a slide and say it’s done. Their images should visually reflect the part of the story that their written text is explaining.

While students worked independently, we listened to our class playlist. Students are always welcome to submit more school-appropriate songs to the Google Form in Google Classroom to continue to expand our classroom playlist! (:

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2025

Today, we learned how to calculate the area of irregular quadrilaterals and irregular polygons. We started by reviewing the formula for area of a rectangle: Area = Length x Width. We then discussed different ideas we had for how to translate this prior knowledge of finding the area of a regular quadrilateral, like a rectangle, and how we can use it to help us calculate the area of an irregular quadrilateral. Students began referencing techniques we used as skeptics and using other shapes to prove the validity of their claims that they created the assigned shapes through origami (specifically the connection that was made of how two right triangles can create a rectangle). After the initial brainstorm, groups were given the following irregular quadrilateral:

They were then tasked to work together and discover as many different methods as they could to calculate the area of the irregular quadrilateral. Students were encouraged to use different colors to help visually depict their methods.

Here’s a close up at the 5 methods we discovered together:

Students then presented their different methods and helpful techniques they discovered!

We then took a brain break with snack to ensure our brains were refreshed for the second half of today’s lesson. After we learned different methods from each other, our groups of 4 were split into teams of 2! Our pairs were given various irregular polygons to use the different techniques in calculating the area of the different shapes.

Here’s a close up of one of their solutions/techniques they used for each polygon:

Our pairs then presented the different methods they used to calculate the area of the irregular polygons:

Below is a summary of what we learned from today’s lesson:

1. I can find the area of irregular shapes by finding familiar shapes and patterns within the irregular shape to find the area of. I can then use the area of those familiar shapes to add the relevant units all together to get the irregular shape’s total area.
2. I understand that there are multiple methods I can use to simplify the irregular shape for my calculations.
3. I can check my answer by attempting to calculate the area of the irregular shape using a different method because different methods should receive the same answer when used correctly.

Students then enjoyed chess, P.E., and Science before ending our day with the best brain break of all… Recess!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2025

This morning, we started with our word of the day and quick write. We talked about how far they have come with being able to incorporate these challenging words a lot easier, but now they have a new challenge: using them intentionally, rather than randomly to get points. Our winner of today’s quick write was Teddy!

We then moved onto our vocabulary tests. Students who did not get 100% on them today, will continue studying the same words next week and try again. Students who mastered this weeks vocabulary set will study a new set of words next week, and take their new test on Friday. Students were reminded that it isn’t about how quickly they master their skills, but about their determination to do so! (:

During our afternoon class, students revisited their final drafts of their children’s stories and both individually and peer reviewed it for CUPS and ARMS.

REVISE – ARMS

A – add details

R – remove unnecessary details

M – move things around to make the story flow better

S – substitute words that may better fit your story and/or your intended audience

EDIT – CUPS

C – capitalize

U – Usage

P – punctuation

S – spelling

They have until Monday (if needed) to double check their grammar before it is sent to print, for those completing their books by drawing them. Some were ready to print today, and they were given the printed copies of their books to begin illustrating over the weekend.

In the middle of our work block, we got a visit from Ms. Lisa’s class! They are collecting data throughout the school to various questions, and learning how to plot them on a graph. We were very excited to be a part of their project! (:

I look forward to sharing more of our learning with you next week! (:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2025

This morning, we started our first Multicultural Monday lesson where we combined with Mr. Joe’s class to learn about “The Day the Music Died” – Exploring 1950s Rock ‘n’ Roll and American Identity.

The lesson first started with a historical overview where students were asked the following question: What do you know about the 1940s – 1950s? Students immediately made a connection to World War II. We then asked who the winner was in World War II, which students remembered was the United States. We talked a bit about how the 50s were a time where the United States felt a sense of prosperity/pride from their recent victory, and that society was filled with peace and joy for a bit… that is, until the Korean War and the Vietnam War took place. Students were informed of “The Day the Music Died” being the plane crash in 1959, which killed early rock and roll performers Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. We laid this important historical foundation before listening and analyzing Don McLean’s classic: American Pie. We focused on this theme of a “loss of innocence” throughout the lesson, as there was a tonal shift in both the song and in society’s view that we were going to explore throughout the discussion.

I walked around the room as the song played and I noticed students jotting down notes of “sad to happy” and/or “nostalgia” for the mood of the song. I saw students underlining lyrics that stood out to them along with their notes of their initial interpretations. To further aid in their analysis, students were split into pairs, working with someone in the other class to discuss and analyze their initial notes and instincts during the first listen. After some partner discussion time, we regrouped and had a group discussion of the different interpretations.

During our group discussion, one of the lyrics in the chorus that was highlighted was “And them good old boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye / Singing, ‘This’ll be the day that I die’,” which students shared their interpretation of the lyric was to highlight the idea of drinking for comfort of fear of the plane crash/drinking to feel better about mourning the death of his musical friends, in contrast to the celebratory drinking and joy that was present throughout society when celebrating the win of World War II. Students picked up on biblical allusions and the analogy of God and Satan throughout the song representing the good and evil in the world, the high ups and downs within society, etc. A popularly revisited lyric that highlighted these connections was in Verse 5, “No angel born in hell / Could break that Satan’s spell / And as the flames climbed high into the night / To light the sacrificial rite / I saw Satan laughing with delight / The day the music died.” As we discussed the lyrical connections, I asked them the following question: How did the instrumentation helped deliver the song’s message? Students picked up on the idea of different tempos, but when we went to re-listen to the song together, we noticed a more specific instrumental shift from a minor key to a major key. This was done through the instrumentation of a ballad piano (minor key) to an upbeat guitar (major key). We highlighted that mood some groups had initially picked out of nostalgia, and how nostalgia can be gloomy and reminiscent, or uplifting and happy – even at the same time!

We noticed it started gloomy, got upbeat, and returned back down to gloomy at the end. When asked why, students realized this was to emulate the emotional roller coaster of grief and how there are highs and lows, consistently, and they are unpredictable. Some students also picked up it was to highlight and reflect on this idea of the “loss of innocence” we discussed earlier… which lead us to the full circle moment we ended our discussion with: the song started reflecting on the innocent lives lost in the crash, and the innocent joy that was lost from society when it happened. It then picked up in tempo to mimic a flashback to the innocent times they had lost, almost like we were reliving them. That is, until, we returned to reality and the reflective somber tempo returned, where that innocence remained dead and missed by those who remember what it felt like to have. We talked about how this innocence and peace that was lost was the American Dream to those alive during this time, which we reflected about being much simpler than what students would now identify as the current-day American Dream. Recognizing how much more complicated the American Dream became in today’s society, compared to then, only further highlighted the loss of innocence these events caused.

However, the analysis didn’t stop there, as it was snack time for my students, and I overheard more analytical conversations! One conversation I overheard was a group picking out how long the song was, and how that was intentional to represent how long grief lingers, and how that continues to be true for society of the long after effects are of things like war. Another was talking about how Don McLean ended on the chorus after saying the music was reborn, where the last lyric was presumed to be the last words of those on the plane crash (their presumed last words and last song they sang) “Singing, ‘This’ll be the day that I die’.” They talked about how this highlighted both the loss of hope for Don McLean, but also how this highlighted the central topic of the “loss of innocence” in the United States and revisiting the literal day the music died.”

In the afternoon, we had our Monday check-in time where students did some silent reading and met with me to discuss the progress in their independent novels. Parents, please help hold your students accountable by ensuring that if they are currently reading a graphic novel, their next independent novel should be a chapter book they have NOT read before. Some students are reading repeat novels, as well as graphic novels, due to their comfort and familiarity… and while I am not against them doing that every now and then to keep reading enjoyable rather than a chore – I want them to branch out and explore harder novels on their own to help develop their reading comprehension and vocabulary further!

After lunch and Greek, students returned to their final class period to work on their rough drafts of their children’s books. For the few students who did not complete their drafts by the end of class, it became homework to bring back completed on Thursday for peer feedback.

We then ended our day in the best way: Recess!

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2025

Who said grammar can’t be fun!? Today, we started out with guided notes on the 8 comma rules before practicing them in an escape room! During our guided notes, we used a song (linked below) to help us learn about coordinating conjunctions in a way that also felt like a brain break between all the note taking. Students sang along, some danced, and we all shared a good laugh!

Feel free to listen to the song here! https://youtu.be/Z6xHUYTvquY?feature=shared

For the escape room, your students transformed into explorers of the Mayan Pyramids. Here is their story:

As a world-renowned anthropologist and explorer, you are thrilled to be in the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula in search of fabled Mayan ruins and treasures. It is your third day on the expedition, and you have decided to break apart from the rest of the team.

As you are walking, you come to an old, stone staircase climbing what could easily be mistaken as a jungle knoll. Upon closer inspection, you find the hill is, in fact, a highly dilapidated Mayan pyramid, cracked and crumbling, and covered with creeping vines and other lush vegetation. A quick search around the perimeter reveals a heavy wooden door, not entirely rotten, behind which is a passage that appears to lead into the heart of the pyramid. Too excited to go back and find the team, you ignore protocol and immediately head into the pyramid with a flashlight in hand. As your eyes adjust to the dark interior, you are relieved by the cool, underground air. You soon come to a large chamber. The floor of the chamber is covered in wide stone tiles, and in the center of the room sits a perfectly preserved Mayan treasure chest. You quickly cross the stone floor and, reaching the chest, open it.

Immediately, a deafening groaning sound fills the room. All of the stone tiles making up the floor slowly begin lifting up. Suddenly, the unseen mechanism driving this stops: the stone tiles are now raised a couple of inches higher than they were. Strange, you think to yourself. Looking in the treasure chest, you are somewhat disappointed to find no jewels, gems, or gold. The only occupants of the treasure chest are various small manuscripts. Being fluent in the Proto-Mayan language of the ancient people, you immediately retrieve the manuscripts to begin translating. What you find instead is a hand written note, in plain English:

Dear Explorer: Congratulations on finding the Yucatay Pyramid, the hidden home to one of the most prized artifacts of the ancient Mayan people. Unfortunately for you, I found it first. More unfortunately is that, by now, the raised tile lethal defense system has been activated. Each of these raised floor tiles is equipped with an ancient pressure sensing system. Step on the wrong stone at the wrong time, and you will trigger the mechanism which will initiate a lethal attack on your position. I am not without a kind heart. There is a way out of this maze of stone tiles, a secret path known only to me. In the spirit of the Mayan protective function of this pyramid, I will not simply provide you with the way. You must prove your worth and pass my test. In this chest, you will find a treasure more valuable than anything else: the chance to live. The riddle you need to solve involves reading various passages I have written for you. In these passages, I have intentionally made some errors by omitting needed commas in series. Count up how many commas are missing from each card (Don’t forget the Oxford comma). Use this number to complete the instructions for you to follow on the bottom of each card. Count the commas correctly, complete the required steps in order, and you escape without harm. Make a mistake, and you will occupy these halls for all time. For your convenience, I’ve included a floor plan of the chamber as well. Good luck, weary traveller. May the Mayan Sun god, Kinich Ahau, guide you back to his domain of light. ~Madeline the Bold

Your task is abundantly clear. You had better get started immediately. Who knows how long your flashlight batteries will last, and your team will be wondering where you are. Good luck!

Lily was the first explorer to successfully solve all the comma puzzles and escape safe and sound! She then became my assistant, demonstrating true mastery of her knowledge of proofreading and punctuation by helping others who found themselves stumped on some of the more challenging passages.

By the end of the class (or before their flashlights died), all explorers successfully escaped!

As a celebration, we played a couple rounds of snake… just for fun! (:

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2025

This morning, students had a quiz on plot, theme and mood – which they have been, learning, studying and reviewing as they have worked on their children’s stories. We started the quiz off with some group affirmations, and after their quiz, it was time to have some fun and review our comma notes from yesterday through a game of jeopardy review! They worked in teams, with access to their notes from yesterday, to answer a variety of review questions related to our lesson yesterday. Students were given access to the jeopardy game in Google Classroom to review at home in preparation for their comma rules mini-quiz on Monday.

Our winning team with the most points accumulated won 5 dojo points! Below is a photo of our champions:

All this comma review had our class craving an encore performance of our coordinating conjunction song, so before we went off to P.E., we had one more sing-a-long/dance break to our new class jam: FANBOYS!

After lunch we returned to work on our Art to Remember projects. Students were given time to browse the internet for inspiration and/or create draft ideas to ensure they make their Art to Remember projects true masterpieces!

We ended our day with recess and a reminder about PICTURE DAY tomorrow! (:

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2025

This morning, we started by holding a discussion about the importance of remembering and honoring those affected by 9/11. I shared a couple of stories from those close to me who were directly impacted, and we joined together for a few seconds of silence to honor and respect the many others impacted by this tragedy.

We then moved into presenting our first drafts of our children’s books! Students practiced their presentation skills when reading their first drafts, and those who were in the audience learned how to properly provide peer feedback. We talked about the sandwich method: start with something you enjoyed, gently give something constructive they could improve in their story, and end with another compliment of something they did well/was successful for their story. We also talked about how the peer feedback is important for entering the next step in our writing process: Revise.

REVISE – ARMS

A – add details

R – remove unnecessary details

M – move things around to make the story flow better

S – substitute words that may better fit your story and/or your intended audience

The peer feedback they are given directly applies to their revision process as our stories are often very obvious to us as the authors… but the true test of a successful story is if our audience can clearly understand our story. By receiving peer feedback, it can tell us how we need to revise our stories to make them fully successful. As we all gave feedback, the author took notes of the suggestions – both what they did well to make sure they keep in their final piece, as well as what they need to improve upon for their next draft. After the class gave feedback, I gave them my final feedback for their stories either highlighting key feedback peers gave that I felt was incredibly strong, or lingering feedback I had of my own to help them make their children’s books the best it could be!

However, giving feedback is hard work! It takes a lot of focus and brain power to ensure each author is getting the highest quality feedback possible. So, out of respect for the hard work everyone put into creating their first drafts, we saved about half the class to present tomorrow when our brains would be refreshed and ready to go! Here are some photos from today’s presenters:

We look forward to hearing the rest of our stories tomorrow!

After snack, students learned a new game for our class: Sparkle! Sparkle is similar to the idea of a spelling bee – but with a lot more fun! Students line up, and after they are given a word, they go down the line spelling it letter by letter. If a student says the wrong letter, they are out. However, if the entire word is spelled correctly, the person at the end of the word says “sparkle” and the person next to them is out. Throughout the year, we will learn more complicated versions of Sparkle to make the game more interesting… but for right now, we enjoyed some classic Sparkle!

At the end, students were informed that, starting next week, they will receive vocabulary words and take vocabulary tests. They will receive 6 words on Monday, through Quizlet, and test on the words on Friday. If they do not get 100% on the test, they will keep those same 6 words to study and re-take the test on the following Friday. Those who get 100% will receive new words the following week. These will not be tons of absolutely wild words they’ve never heard of before, but they will be words intended to build their academic vocabulary and strengthen their spelling skills. Studying for these tests should be considered part of their weekly homework moving forward. The student(s) to get through the most vocabulary lists this year will receive the Vocabulary G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) award at the end of the year!

We then took our pictures, since today is picture day, and students enjoyed the following classes: Chess, Greek Dance, and Science. We then, of course, ended our day with recess!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2025

This morning, we did our Friday quick write competition to see who would use the most word-of-the-day words in a creative story. Doing this allows students to practice grammatical structure, spelling, development of a plot to a story, and many other creative writing techniques. Today’s champion was: Vasia using 33 words! WHICH IS A NEW CLASS RECORD!

We then continued delivering peer feedback for each other’s first drafts.

Later in the day, we played with a seemingly simple image… and used our critical thinking and Math skills to notice different patterns within it.

We started by individually working towards finding patterns, and while doing so, found many simple addition and subtraction patterns. Below is a summary of these patterns.

As each student shared the simpler patterns they saw, we noticed new ones through collaboration of ideas, and started playing with multiplication, division, even square roots. Each idea sparked something new in what each other noticed, and we noticed so many incredibly complex patterns by working together! It would be impossible for me to summarize every single one we discovered together. So, instead of making a sad attempt at doing so, I’d love to encourage you to ask your student to explain one of the more complex patterns we discovered. Here are some action shots from our teamwork:

Below is a copy of our thinking process from class. Beware… it’s going to be a lot to take in, and may not make a ton of sense without asking your student what some of the marks meant. However, we ended our class by talking about how we had to get creative with our mathematics and created our own kind of art together through our collaboration of discovering patterns, and I wanted to share that with you all.

This activity not only reminded us that Math could be more than formulas, but also about discovering them and analyzing why or how they work. It also highlighted how important it is to collaborate and listen to other people’s ideas because it lead us to incredible discoveries we wouldn’t have been able to reach on our own, which further strengthened our understanding of the importance of our classroom community.

I look forward to sharing more of our learning with you next week! (:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2025

Today, we started our adventure into the fascinating world of history! We started by asking if anyone knew anything about WWI – which we then learned many were confusing details between WWI and WWII. Students then went on a WWI scavenger hunt to learn more about the main events that took place during the war.

Students were given a Google Slide document with main event prompts that were scattered throughout our classroom. Once they found the main event prompt they were looking for, they flipped the page to reveal the date it took place. They then copied it down to their master list.

After the scavenger hunt was complete, we then had a snack break, and revisited the question of “What do you know about WWI?” Students were now able to tell me the years it took place, who was at war with who, who died during the war (soldier, leaders, civilians, etc.)… and we started practicing our inference skills to answer the question: why?

Why did all the countries seem to gang up against Russia? Well, we can infer that they needed to all go against Russia due to Russia having the largest military!

FACT CHECK OUR INFERENCE: Yes, Russia had the largest army at the beginning of World War I, with around 1.4 million men in its peacetime standing army that expanded to over 5 million upon mobilization. While vast in number, Russia’s military was ill-equipped, poorly supplied, and had significant infrastructure challenges, which hindered its effectiveness on the battlefield despite its large manpower. 

Why did the Germans execute British nurse Edith Cavell? Well, if they wanted to win, they needed to work towards eliminating soldiers of opposing sides in hopes of leading to a surrender… and who helps the injured soldiers get better? Nurses!

So, why might they want to execute health care workers? We inferred it was to eliminate resources in helping opposing soldiers get care and heal, limiting the strength of their opposing military forces.

FACT CHECK OUR INFERENCE: As a nurse in German-occupied Belgium during WWI, Cavell ran a nursing school and clinic. Under this, she and her network assisted Allied soldiers and civilians in escaping to neutral Holland. So, we were about 50% correct… she was helping the opposing side, like we inferred, but it was by funneling out their own soldiers rather than providing aid to opposing injured soldiers. This, obviously, gave the opposing side the upper hand in battle by weakening their military by attacking their size, which they didn’t want, as they wanted to be stronger and bigger than their opposing forces.

Even though our inferences weren’t 100% correct, what it did was get students thinking deeper about the events as opposed just reading them at face value, which made them connect more with the content they were learning about. Many times, students ask what the point of learning history is… and that’s because they see the subject as just learning the facts of the past. By attempting to infer how these big events connect to each other, it made the subject creative, and it involved them as historical theorists and detectives!

After we practiced thinking more about how each event caused the next, and forming those inferences, it was time for students to order the events into a timeline to help them see how each event lead to the next in chronological order. The scavenger hunt helped them skim over base details and dates, but ordering them into a chronological timeline forces them to really read what happened during these dates and see how each event lead to the next. The scavenger hunt gave lots of details, but the timeline will help them pick out key details from informational text – giving them practice with an important ELA skill! Anyone who was unable to finish the first page of their timeline during the class period was assigned to complete it for homework using their scavenger hunt events master list. For students who needed to work on it at home to reach this checkpoint, it should have been very little if they were using their time wisely, as they had over an hour to work on it in class and many students were already halfway through their second (and final) page of their timeline.

Students then let their creative juices sore in Art, socialized during lunch, and finished off the day with Science and Recess!

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2025

Today, we took some time to revisit our timelines and finish them up! Students who finished their timelines were able to move onto working on their children’s story first drafts, those who were still working were very close to done and were told to complete it for homework by Friday’s class.

In our later afternoon class, students demonstrated various skills through game play:

Station 1: Upwords!

Students demonstrated spelling skills, critical and creative thinking during this game by creating words with 7 random letter tiles. They were able to link the words like a traditional crossword puzzle, or they could build them UPWORDS by stacking them on top of each other to replace letters and create new words. If a student was able to spell any of our vocabulary words with their random tiles, they could earn 2 dojo points!

Station 2: Suspend!

Students used some of the skills they learned when building their spaghetti towers in Science to attempt to work as a team to build their sticks to be the longest length. The winning group would earn 5 dojo points each for their excellent teamwork and ability to show off all they learned about engineering! Our winning group was: Adrian, Maggie, Jason and Lily with 18.5 inches!

Station 3: CAP!

While this game has quickly become a class favorite due to how much fun it is, using critical thinking skills to develop and execute a successful strategy is something we are still working on mastering. So, if anyone could figure out the best strategy against their group mates to run completely out of cards and win the game – they could earn 3 dojo points in exchange for sharing their successful strategy with the class.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2025

TODAY WAS FIELD TRIP DAY!

We started out entering the planetarium dome to learn more about constellations. While it was super cool, it was also very dark; so the photos don’t do it justice! I encourage you to ask your student more about it.

We then had the privilege of attending an assembly showcase. Out of respect for our amazing presenters, I didn’t take many photos… but I couldn’t resist snapping some action shots when Kosta was chosen to join Do Art on the stage! Do Art was all about teaching kids that anyone can Do Art, and that all interpretations and creations are beautiful. It started by the presenter drawing a well-known character: Spongebob. However, he then asked the audience what he should add to Spongebob. He gave an example by suggesting he give Spongebob and afro… and when one student said to give him a mustache, he put the mustache on Spongebob’s knee and called it a leg-stache! He then added more silly things like armpit hair, fart bubbles and stink lines to further encourage students to get weird with their drawings and artistic expressions. To demonstrate how fun it was to get weird with their art, Kosta was selected from the audience to draw the presenter, as a chicken, while he juggled and rode a unicycle around the stage. While Do Art was an awesome presentation, there were so many more that I couldn’t possibly manage to do justice in summarizing for you. I encourage you to ask your student what their favorite presentation was that they saw today.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2025

Today we started with our word-of-the-day weekly quick write, and crowned a new champion… using 26 words total… LEO! As we get further into the year, their stories are gaining in length – which is great! We are getting those creative juices flowing! So, even though I will not be typing today’s winner’s story out, it was read out loud and your students can summarize it for you (it’s good practice for them anyways as summarizing is an important ELA skill for them to practice). Students were allowed to use prior words for points after they included all our new words this week in their story.

We then practiced some informational text comprehension by learning about frequency and amplitude through our Schoolastic Science World magazines! Not only did they answer a quick few multiple choice questions, but they practiced comprehension and finding textual evidence to support their answers to a written response question. In our afternoon class, we had fun testing out what they learned from the article with an experiment. We learned that even though the frequency of the same materials hitting each other will always remain the same, we could adjust the amplitude through applying force.

REMINDERS FOR NEXT WEEK: Your students have materials to study from in Google Classroom for a quiz on Plot, Theme and Mood. We will also be working more with their completed WWI timelines next week.

I look forward to sharing more of our learning with you next week! (: