Class Work #1

All 4th grade classes on Friday completed Class Work #1. The results were mixed, and in some cases I was a bit disappointed give the open-book nature of the assignment.

That said it was a learning experience for everyone, the first stab at it of the year.

We will be giving a total of six Class Works, and will not count the worst of the scores, so if you did not do great on this one there are plenty of opportunities remaining.

Final Countdown to Class Work #1

One 4th grade class (4B) did some introductory work on Ancient Egypt yesterday while the general focus for 4th graders was to prepare them for today´s Class Work #1. To this end there was review of the question of "what can we learn from Early Man," as well as time near the end of the class to review Chapter 1 in their books.

Some of the review time in 4C was used to try to get the teacher to speak in Spanish.

Student-Led Brainstorming on Lessons from Early Man/Current Knowledge of Ancient Egypt

Today the 4th graders took charge of the classroom, creating lists or basic "mind maps" for the following questions;

1. What can we learn from Early Man? (to wrap up Chapter 1)

and

2. What do you know about Ancient Egypt? (to preview Chapter 2)

This brainstorming seemed to be a very effective "transition out" and "transition in" activity.

Wrapping Up Chapter 1

On Tuesday the 4th graders reviewed Chapter 1 by answering the review questions in the text and then by getting a bit more creative, brainstorming ideas for why Early Man domesticated animals and chewed gum.

Students also answered the written questions of;

1. What can we learn from Early Man?

and

2. What would you bring back from present to the prehistoric past if you could bring one thing?

Ancient Egypt awaits.

Reviewing and Adding Relevance-Why Gum Chewing and Animal Domestication

Students reviewed Chapter 1 Lesson 2 and brainstormed reasons why prehistoric humans chewed gum and domesticated animals . . . 4A was a kind-hearted bunch, as many of the first answers were along the lines of having pets, having company, and other loving pursuits. One student finally came through with probably a more central reason; to raise and use for meat.

Wrapping up "Domino Effect"-Reviewing Chapter 1, Lesson 2

Powerful and often violent protests continued in the Middle East and North Africa, which prompted a wrap-up of the previous day´s discussion of the "domino effect." We continued defining words from the CNN Student News transcript, learning how to more effectively use a dictionary along the way (to normally use the first definition offered, but also to use context from the document to determine whether subsequent definitions might be more appropriate).

Moving back to the text book, with 4B we posed the wrap-up question of "why did people move around" in prehistoric times, while with 4A we went over answers from the Chapter 1, Lesson 2 review.

"Domino Effect" in Middle East-Current Events Day

Yesterday we began work on a CNN Student News transcript covering the ongoing events in the Middle East. We began the lesson by using the political map in our text to identify the countries involved (Egypt, Tunisia, Iran, and Algeria, among others) before students read parts from the transcript aloud.

The question was asked, "has anyone played dominoes before?" and many students raised their hands. We then briefly discussed the concept of the "domino effect" in the context of Middle East unrest.

We then began work to identify 5 words from the transcript that we didn´t know and to define them, using our dictionaries.

Life Was Hard-Keeping Moving

We introduced our class today with a discussion on ¨life expectancy¨--for the ancient caveman and for today´s Costa Rican. The point being that people died young then, because life was not easy.

Students did a great job of using the glossary to define new terms and showed discipline in their highlighting strategies.

One of the words that came up frequently was ¨gatherers.¨ This jived with the key question of ¨why were people nomadic?¨ Well, it took many years for Early Man to learn to farm, so he had to hunt for his meat and gather (collect) all other types of food. In any given area, the meat and non-meat food resources were eventually exhausted, forcing Man to move on to new territory.

Strategic Highlighting and Finishing ¨History´s Stage´´

Our 4th graders are well on pace so far in their study of Ancient History, finishing ¨History´s Stage¨ and moving on to the First People.

Class participation is strong and we are making sure that the students are kept ¨on their toes.¨

One key overarching theme that we discussed--one relevant for any subject, but particularly for history--is the importance of thoughtful highlighting. The purpose of highlighting--we agreed--is to isolate the most important facts and concepts for later study. As such, the importance of being selective in what we highlight was stressed.

Setting the Foundation-Ancient History to the Present

In Friday´s class (a shorter day) we defined "ancient" and covered a good deal of vocabulary. We set the foundation between linking the distant past to the present. We are ready for the first full week of class.

Launching the 2011 school year

We did a lot today on our first day of class; we handed out the textbooks, discussed the syllabus, and introduced ourselves. We defined "ancient history" and discussed its relevance. In short, we paved the way for a productive year. The real work begins tomorrow!