Close Reading- "Lizzie's Morning"

For the first part of this week, we have been working on a close reading of a story originally published in National Geographic entitled, "Lizzie's Morning." This story helps students understand the importance of cultural diffusion and helps them appreciate the fact that so many cultures impact their every day activities without them even knowing it. Our procedure for performing the close reading was as follows: 1.) Students read the selection twice SILENTLY 2.) Students complete a graphic organizer including "Words I do not know," "Words I cannot pronounce," "Phrases I do not understand," and "Questions I have." 3.) Students will list one AMAZING fact over the story. 4.) Students will follow along as the teacher reads the story out loud. As I read the story, I interject probing questions to stimulate thinking. After performing these four steps, students will be asked to respond to four in-depth discussion questions over the reading. We also are adding two supplemental activities to this story including a comic strip illustrating Lizzie's morning. The comic strip will be grading on the following rubric: 1-3 points for content, 1-3 points for creativity, and 1-3 points for neatness. The second supplemental activity will be a friendly letter to Lizzie. The letter should use SPECIFIC EVIDENCE from her story. The purpose of the letter should be to EDUCATE Lizzie about how so many different cultures have affected her every day life and CONVINCE her to understand the importance of learning about different cultures. A copy of the story and the original assignment are attached below. Lizzie's Morning Activity
Close Read Activity

National Holidays and Celebrations (SPI 5.1.3)

Below is the video lecture for SPI 5.1.3, entitled, "National Holidays and Celebrations." Please watch this video and be prepared to begin activities on it on Friday, August 16. Feel free to leave feedback through comments. Thanks!

QR Code Activity Sheets!

This week we will be using QR codes to analyze articles, primary sources and solve issues relating to the Components of American Culture that you have learned about from the video posted on Friday. Students will be grouped and each group will begin with a different component of American culture. Groups will continue the activity until they have researched and completed the activity sheet for each component of American culture. Each activity sheet is posted below. Thanks!(Note: This activity correlates with Tennessee State Performance Indicators 5.1.1 and 5.1.3) QR Code Activity- ART
QR Code Activity- Clothing
QR Code Activity- FOOD
QR Code Activity- HOLIDAY
QR Code Activity- LANGUAGE
QR Code Activity- MUSIC
QR Code Activity- RELIGION

Components of American Culture- 5.1.1, 5.1.3

Hello everyone! This is our first attempt at "flipping" our classroom. Please watch this video and be prepared to share what you have learned on Monday. Also, on Monday, be prepared to really dig in deep and evaluate the impact that these components of American culture have on our nation as a whole. Please email me with any questions. Have a great weekend!

Open House!

The "Flip"

Throughout the school year, we will be experimenting with the idea of the "flipped" classroom on a semi-regular basis. Many educators are experimenting with this model across the country with much success. You are probably asking yourself, "what is a flipped classroom?" Simply put, direct instruction (i.e. lectures, etc.) are given outside of class in the form of online videos and presentations during the time usually set aside for homework. In the flipped classroom, class time is set aside for activities, project-based learning, and other assignments. This allows the teacher to become more of a facilitator in the process of mastering content. Accommodations will be made for students with limited or no internet access. I've attached an infographic as well as a couple of videos detailing the idea of a flipped classroom. Please remember, we will be implementing this slowly but it is my goal for it to become a regular practice for this class. Thanks!

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

Welcome!

First of all, welcome to my blog. I will update this page regularly with important class information regularly throughout the school year. We are going to have an awesome year. I've attached my syllabus below. If you need to get in touch with me, please feel free to email me with any concerns. Thanks! 5th Grade Social Studies Syllabus 2013-2014