LANGUAGE ARTS 

Last week we discussed the purpose of writing, learned a helpful acronym, and created an anchor resource in our Interactive Notebooks on Persuade, Inform, Entertain (PIE).  We also examined Character Traits. These are a description of a character on the “inside.” We looked at a Harrow, one of the protagonists from City of Ember, and described him as intelligent, brave, stubborn, thoughtful, angry, loyal, and more. The students were amazing in being very analytical and attributing both positive and negative character traits to one of their favorite characters. 

We are on the last chapters of City of Ember. Next week we will be discussing Author’s Purpose and identifying the big themes (“thematic concepts”)and main ideas of this book as we wrap it up.

• Author’s Purpose - every writer has a purpose and point of view, every writing has a tone or attitude set. Recognizing the author’s purpose, point of view, or tone helps you understand the story. Basically, “Why did the author write this?” 
• PIE (Entertain, Inform, Persuade!!) 
• Theme - life lessons, meaning, moral, message about human life or human nature that author is trying to communicate through their work 
• Author’s message - main idea, theme, or lesson Author wants to communicate

Persuasive Writing was introduced. We read an article on Debate! in Time for Kids on field trips. In order to prepare to read this article, we practiced reading the multi-syllable words in segments and then blending the segments together. We practiced reading some phrases pulled out of the article fluently. The students took the position that field trips are always educational and are a much better reward for hard work than any other type of reward. They would know! 

MATH

Last week, we spent time discussing and diagramming different multiplication models; we reviewed multiplication and place value vocabulary, the rule of zeroes,
discussed and demonstrated the Commutative and Distributive properties of multiplication in preparation for this week's work on multi-digit multiplication.

Each student did individual work related to their interests and/or inspiration; Tommy and Will continued with space and air traffic control math;  Bella was a long, long, long division machine and a finder of running paces;  Dmitri looked at patterns in the number of equal multiplication combinations as an adjunct to the Commutative Property discussion and did some work on soccer stats.

After discussing number lines, timelines, units, increments, and the meaning of negative numbers, we took a detour back into number lines, this time with increments of time, and integers and translated an EEI written timeline to a Paleolithic Period timeline.  We discuss rounding and estimation to support our calculations, and constructed of a very long paper timeline that will took form around the upper reaches of the classroom.  We started in 2013 and counted back a decade to the time when the students were tiny. We then compressed our timeline into a century, and counted back by tens to 1913, then identified events that had occurred such as parents' births, important World War II battles, and the publication of the first crossword puzzle.  Our third timeline represented a millennium, enough to go back to medieval England when the crown was constantly being fought over and claimed by the winner of the latest series of battles, Forkbeard of Sweden over Ethelred the Unready in 1013.  All of this was designed to help gain a sense of the magnitude of the Stone Age timeline we built on Tuesday and Wednesday.  In the end, each of us assembled and labeled fifty ten-thousand-year timelines into five (5) hundred-thousand-year timelines which, counting back from the beginning of the "Common Era", went back to 2.5 million years BCE when the first stone tools were used by our distant ancestor, Homo Habilis, tying back to our Paleolithic studies.

Out and About in the City reinforced our Paleolithic studies by showing the students how they too can connect with our surroundings to find herbs and seafood......

Students participated in a herb walk finding Lavender, Mint, Rosemary and Stevia. They experienced touched, smelled and tasted herbs from the garden. They also took the dried herbs from the garden and made Chamomile & Mint tea. They looked at the nutrient cycle from the national gardening association - learned about the life cycle of old plants, composting and new plants.

And, the big outing for the week was the great adventure near Chrissy Field foraging for eels, crabs and other delicacies! The fearless leader, Kirk from Seaforaging, showed the students how to cast, throw nets, and search under rocks for the SF Bay marine life. The photos illustrates the great fishing success! (No animals were harmed .... We released everything back to the Bay.)

The kids launched into the EEI with enthusiasm and perseverance. We started the first EEI unit with Paleolithic Man and laid the foundation with a YouTube screening of the National Geographic documentary The History of Earth - the kids will probably enjoy re-watching it at home. We started the exploration with a California Connection that covered fishing since the time of earliest man in California. This will be followed up next week with a SeaForaging tour of the Bay to put the learning in action.

During mid week lunch the kids found obsidian, geodes, and other rocks behind the Randall - the same kind of rocks that Paleolithic people used to make tools. Next time you are in the classroom, check out their collection. The kids are all eager to make their own arrowheads and rock tools with these new found treasures. (Side note: it turns out these rocks were dumped there from the now-defunct lapidiary lab)

It is worth talking to your kids about Petra, the early paleolithic girl that they are reading about in the EEI curriculum. She will be contrasted next week with Peter, a late paleolithic boy. The class got quickly engrossed with Anooka's Answer, a coming of age story set in the Stone Age.

Finally, Dwight, our Digital Sound Arts Teacher, introduced the class to GarageBand which was a big hit. This week, he got the kids up and running on their new guitars! We definitely have some budding musical interest in this group of students, and will seek parent advice on how to support and extend this type of enthusiasm.

At MCS, learning through direct experiences is intended to inspire life long learning in our students. This week, Día de los Muertos was the focus of our direct experience.  After the tour of elaborate altars and interactive art installations at SOMArts, each MCS student discussed the altar that had the most meaning for them.  A common interest was a digitally interactive altar that predicted people who would die from cancer, launching a conversation about how and why 25% of the population dies from cancer.   Another altar was designed as the inside of a traditional Syrian home, decorated with children’s artwork from Syria, prompting a rich conversation about events in Syria and our connection to them.

We also connected past work with our observations of the Giving Tree Altar, which can be viewed from above and below.  It reminded us of last week’s Plant and Carbon lab at the California Academy of Sciences. The roots were ‘giving life’ as the tree breathed to take in carbon dioxide and exhaled the oxygen we breathe.  Tying an arts experience to our science learning seemed like a particularly powerful learning moment, where science knowledge can give significance to artistic expression. The students all agreed that the movement of the roots made them visual a lung.

At the Mission Cultural Center our middle school class joined a high school Spanish class for the tour.  Our kids engaged in the conversations and answered question from the docents with thoughtful confidence.  Incredible mandalas were made out of foods such as lentils, fruits and grains. They learned about the significance of the Marigold and how their scent increases after their death. The docent was amazing as he brought the heavy topics of gentrification, femicide, and the cultural traditions that honor past generations into the realm of understanding for his audience.

We attended a 95 minute single act play, “Underneath the Lintel” where our MCS class truly rose to the occasion with respect and exceptionally mature conduct.  Our dramatic arts at ACT ties in with participation as an audience to see professional actors practicing their craft - there is no question our middle schoolers had an appreciation of the quality and skill needed to perform this one act, which was also extraordinarily popular.  Our New Conservatory Theater drama teacher made it possible for our students to attend this matinee.

In our science module, students dissected owl pellets to identify prey based on the characteristics of skull fragments. They tested their own hypotheses about what barn owls eat and discussed common prey of barn owls while using a key to identify components of the owl pellets. As part of the EEI science curriculum unit, they explored the resources animals need to survive and the impacts of natural and human activities on animal populations.

Finally, PE this week involved energetic futsal and elegant fencing as well as a new recess favorite: stomp hoop. Kids really enjoyed the new addition where stomp rockets are modified into a group effort - be sure to ask them about it, and if you do be ready to play!