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What a great year we have planned!
American History from prehistoric times to the Civil War is the focus of our Social Studies Curriculum this year. Each year we start out with a study of the US Constitution, culminating in the writing of our Room 17 Constitution. We will be working on a major project for the spring on the topic of Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History in conjunction with Michigan History Day. Students are invited (but not required) to participate in this annual event by submitting their completed website, exhibit, documentary, performance, or paper to the MHD competition. AALC has participated for the past several years, and we have had many winners from our class as well as the rest of the Intermediate and Middle School, including sending three students to the National History Day Finals. It's a great opportunity to learn how to research, plan and present a major project.
We begin our science studies this year with some great hands-on activities exploring electricity and magnetism. We'll move on to the Solar System, nutrition and the human body. The Intermediate teachers have teamed up to achieve one of our charter goals, Sustainability. Students spend one out of every three weeks working in our herb gardens or classroom gardens; one week is spent learning about habitats and basic needs through Project Wild activities; and the third week is spent learning about water quality and stream conservation at Mallett's Creek. In addition, this summer the Intermediate team attended a workshop on how to build a Submersible ROV. We came back with a working ROV to use in our water studies, and this year's science club will focus on building one for an annual competition to be held in April.
Language Arts gives us an opportunity to hone our writing skills as we use techniques such as 6+1 Traits, 4 Square, and the Writing Process to become excellent authors. Trade books in Literature Circles allow us to use Inquiry to increase comprehension of what we read, and projects allow us to creatively show what we have learned. "Liver and Onions", something that is good for us but we don't necessarily like, represents our grammar and vocabulary lessons. This year our class is also implementing Handwriting Without Tears, a program designed to make students comfortable writing in cursive. In addition to weekly spelling lists and activities, this rounds out our Language Arts program.
Our class splits in several different directions for math, enabling every student to receive instruction at his or her current level. I am teaching a 4th grade math class this year.
Our afternoon ends with a variety of activities. Some students are in band or recorder, everyone is learning to type correctly, and students are learning to do research as they work on special projects. In all, it’s a day full of learning, activity, and fun!
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