Cluster 1 Newsletter

And juuuuust like that, it’s nearly December. Time flies when you’re teaching literacy skills to 11 year olds. In ELA news, we finished our first book! Students have been working so hard to identify signpost moments in the story, develop their CER writing skills, and build their independent reading practice along the way. I’m so proud of the kids for all the work they put in this unit. I would say that, generally speaking, kids enjoyed reading this book even if it didn’t give the happy ending that a lot of them were looking for. We’ll begin our first round of book clubs after Thanksgiving break where students will have choice in what they read.

I hope you were all able to see my independent reading expectations that went home last month. I got many signed contracts returned to me, but I’m sure some got lost in lockers or backpacks. I’ll link my expectations here in case you haven’t seen them. Thank you so much for all the support you give our learners at home. Have a great break!

Yours,

Welcome! This week we kicked off the second half of unit three titled Unit Rates and Percentages. We started the unit off by determining whether a certain unit measures length, area, time, mass, or volume. Then we compared the relative size of different units of measure for one attribute (i.e., length, volume, weight, or mass). We sorted cards with pictures of everyday objects to help us make connections between units of measurement and the best way to measure those objects. We are now onto calculating an unknown percentage and explaining why an unknown percentage can be calculated using fraction logic. We are building connections between fraction, decimals and percentages.

To stay in tune with our work in Unit 3, please check out the Unit 3 Family Resource.

As a reminder to students and parents, Google Classroom is utilized in math class to provide links to the students' Desmos lessons. All work is completed online in Desmos or on paper depending upon the activity. All grading and grading information can be found in PowerSchool. Homework is still optional in term 2 but I encourage all students to complete it in order to help support the learning that is taking place in the classroom.

Thank you for reviewing Ms. Palermo’s Math Smore!

Hello!

November has been a busy month! We dove deep into the study of ecology, focusing on how one species can affect an entire ecosystem. This culminated in our mock town hall meeting, where students took on various roles within a community to discuss whether or not wolves should be reintroduced to an area to curb the expanding elk population.

When we return from Thanksgiving break we will be doing an owl pellet dissection! This is such a fun way to finish out our Ecology unit - students will excavate bones and other non-digestibles from the pellet to discover what was eaten by the owl.

Thanks,

Miss Daigneault

Unit 6.1 Human Origins

Essential Question

What were the most important turning points in early human history?

Enduring Understandings

Students will begin to understand that:

1. Modern human beings (Homo sapiens) developed from hominids, shaped by the forces of evolution and shifts in the climate. In turn, they shaped their environment through foraging and hunting, the use of fire, migration, plant and animal domestication, metallurgy, and the building of permanent settlements.
   
   

2. Humans experienced many transformations on the way to becoming Homo sapiens, not least physical changes to nearly every part of the body and an increase in the size and cognitive complexity of the brain. The latter led to a capacity for symbolic language and expression through music and art, and greater possibilities for learning and cooperation, distinguishing features of modern human minds.
   
   

3. Spread across many thousands of millennia, the turning points of the Paleolithic Era created modern human beings, while the innovations of the Neolithic Era, condensed into the past 12,000 years, created the conditions for complex societies to emerge.

Learning Targets:

I can practice creating timelines to illustrate how these tools are used to measure and represent the past.

I can apply knowledge about the work of different social scientists to a reading about prehistory.

I can apply knowledge about the work of different social scientists through an exercise in archaeological thinking.

I can argue a conclusion about how toolmaking was a turning point for hominins.

I can draw evidence from texts to describe and analyze the effects of changes to the human body and brain during the Paleolithic Era.

I can identify the effects of fire on human development

I can explain how cave art illustrates changes of the Paleolithic Cognitive Revolution.
I can form a conclusion about how Paleolithic artmaking represented a turning point in human activities.

I can accurately characterize elements of the Paleolithic lifestyle and argue which turning point of the era was most important.

Core Grade-Specific History/Social Science Practices for the Unit

Key Practice Standards