In Reading and Language Arts, we experienced a difficult assimilation period for Ha and her family as they settle into life in Alabama. Our novel taught and challenged us on many topics and themes: comparing typical family week night to our own, siblings looking out for one another, self-defense vs hurting someone, being teased no matter what grade in school, growth of sibling relationships, racial intimidation, hiding at school to avoid fear and embarrassment, appreciating a friendly and helpful neighbor, and choosing a new faith and missing your former traditions.  The quote of the week, provided by John Rushkin, was a perfect opportunity for us to study how the weather can affect our mood and why there really isn’t bad weather. “The River Cannot Go Back” by Kahlil Gibran, a legendary Lebanese author and poet, laid a foundation of anthropomorphic imagery about how a river only travels one direction and endures so many challenges all its ultimate journey to the sea. We reflected how the river is similar to our own lives, that we can only go forward and remind ourselves to truly cherish the journey. This week’s movie clip originated in the charming Disney classic, “Finding Nemo” and taught us about not only believing in ourselves, but that our individual efforts and gifts will always make our group that much stronger and richer in skill.

Chalkboard Questions of the Week

-What makes you feel brave?

-If you could give $100 to a charity, which would you choose?

-What makes you feel energized?

-What makes you so awesome?

-If you were in a play, what would you character be?

In Social Studies, we read and studied the powerful story of “Malala’s Magic Pencil” as she began her journey to bring education for all to not only her native Pakistan by children around the globe.  We began digging deeper into our studies of The Middle East with three independent empire studies on The Assyrians, The Byzantines, and The Ottomans. These fascinating and important empires provided rich detailed for our informative journal writings. We learned that The Hagia Sofia is perfect culmination of 3 culturally significant empires and has now been transformed into a museum so all faiths and cultures can be represented. Our Data Talk focused on the Immigration to Greece (1920-2020). We had studied which nations were represented that immigrated to the US, so this was a fun comparision. This week’s Riddle is considered by many experts to the be the hardest logic puzzle ever. We learned a more valuable lesson, that using logic and patience can help you unlock the mysteries communicating in an unfamiliar language.  

Map Location Current Total: 52 (countries or cities)

In Science and Math, we strengthened our Geometry skills by learning how to calculate the area of parallelogram and also learned the intricate and beautiful history of Islamic Geometric designs. Our class also dove into the complex world of PEMDAS (Order of Operations). We found out rather quickly that once you understand the rules of anything in Mathematics, it isn’t scary anymore. We tackled the world of measurments (Metric vs. Imperial) and how to convert from one to another as well as how measurement systems play such a large role in our lives. Math Mindset brought a unique and rather popular activity to our class; we studied 4 Quadrant Coordinates (Fast vs. Slow and Fun vs. Not Fun) and how to classify various modes of transportation. Our class begin their own classification quadrants and will reveal their final product next week. We explored why people have food allergies, how they affect our bodies and from where did they originate. Our class ventured into world of computers as we discovered what the first computers were like and how they evolved into the incredible hand-held devices that impact nearly every aspect of our lives. Finally, this week’s Science experiment allowed us to explore how the complexity of the human body is a wonderful template for the study and development of robots. We created our own robotic finger to have a great understanding of how our own hand works and why we are the most impressive machines on Earth. 

We Create and Control Robots

In Reading and Language Arts, our class continued on through Ha’s new American adventure in Alabama. Over the course of the past week, we engaged with so many complicated themes and subjects: the struggles of learning a new and confusing language, cultural assumptions about their sponsor (wearing a cowboy hat doesn’t necessarily mean you ride a horse), repeating a grade in school, first day of school, unfamiliar school routines, being the lone representative of a group, and knowing the anger and helplessness of being teased. Booker T. Washington provided the sage words of wisdom in our Quote of the Week. He guided us to reflect on why hard work is important and makes our accomplishments that much more enjoyable. “Teevee” by Eve Merriam, an American poet, provided our class with a chuckle and opened our minds to what makes us laugh, why are there different personal levels of humor, and why some people are funnier than others. This week’s movie clip was from, “Footloose” and assisted us in why learning something new can be embarrassing, how music makes a want to us move, why some people are afraid of learning or wanting to dance, and why asking for help or admitting you don’t know something can be embarrassing. Our class has found a new educational outlet, Nitrotype. We agree that our typing skills could improve to help us complete writing assignments quicker and build confidence during our editing and revising of current and future essays. 

PE highlights (Thanks to Coach Medinah)

Chalkboard Questions of the Week

-What do you like Daydreaming about?

-What’s a memory that makes you happy?

-How do you show people you care?

-How do you best like helping others?

In Social Studies, we studied Our VTS (Visual Thinking Strategy) examples for this week brought us back to the NYT selection of a group of people out on and in the ice. The first of our two Data Talks focused on the curious and fun choices US Pro and College teams make in deciding their mascots. We looked for what types are most popular and discussed why teams have them. Our second Data Talk helped us study the locational preference and success rate of NBA Scoring Superstar, Steph Curry over the course of an NBA season. Our class joined the nation and viewed the Presidential Oath of Office and the President Biden’s Inaugural address. Socrates, the Greek sage, was our guide in our study of Rhetoric (persuasion). We explored how Ethos, Logos and Pathos provide lifelong interpersonal skills. I’m so proud of the growth mindset that is catching on in our class. Our school day is loaded with great questions; we are curious class. We studied and reflected on ways to boost confidence and realized that mistakes are good; helping us grow. Our class has been exploring through our novels and global studies immigration and how it affects people around the world. We finally began to venture into our own familial story with the creation of Family Trees. Our class will be connecting and interviewing family members over the new few weeks to create a rich story of where their family came from, why they eventually landed in the Chicago area, and what made them leave their ancestral homes. 

An American Class Event

Playing in the Snow: Essential Midwestern Childhood Activity

Map Location Current Total: 50 (countries or cities)

Recreating Sound Waves

In Science and Math, our class explored sound and vibrations as the focal point of our experiment. We learned that sound isn’t just noise that is received in our ears, but physical waves. We linked our experiment with a fundamental understanding of what is music and how to read notes. Our class also connected scientific sound knowledge with why certain sounds create different emotional responses across cultures and throughout human history. We also tested our new sound knowledge with  an impromptu class experiment by playing “Cha Cha Slide” and seeing how many students spontaneously joined in to have a late afternoon dance session during indoor recess. Our conclusion is sound and specifically music brings people together, no matter ability or background. We explored why ice is so slippery, how we try to manipulate the amount of slippage it produces, and that the transitional states of water still baffle us. Math has created such a supportive and curious buzz in our classroom. Each day we find that numbers are not scary and learning new components and skills are just something outside of our comfort zone. We studied the mathematical and philosophical reasons why you cannot divide by zero? This past week, we deeply explored multiplying and dividing decimals (two and three digit). Our class began learning vertical angle measurements and how to understand the relationship of numbers within a given space. We also found that graphing may have been confusing, but is now fun because it truly is merely a number map. Finally, Algebra gradually is becoming more familiar as each equation is merely a short numerical puzzle and our class is full of scholarly sleuths.

Dividing Decimals with friends = FUN!

Math Mapping

In Reading and Language Arts, we finally landed with Ha and her family at an American-led Refugee camp in Guam and then finally Florida. Our class learned that Ha’s mother chose America over France for opportunities. We learned that sometimes family strength and survival means having to sacrifice even your own faith for a potential better future. “Romiosini” by Yanni Ritsos was the identity exploring poem we studied and journaled about this week. Mr. Ritsos, is one of the most famous modern Greek poets of the 20th century. We used his reflective words to explore what values, traits, and objects reflect who we are. This week’s movie clip was provided by the Disney’s Pixar, “Wall-E”. We reflected about what are robots, how they have become more common in our lives, the differences between robots and humans, and also how do we feel about the ever increasing presence of robots. 

Chalkboard Questions of the Week

–If you were a Fruit Farmer, what would you grow?

-If you Could Talk to One Type of Animal, Which Animal would it be?

-Which Mythological Creature Would You Be?

-What is the 1st thing you Do in the morning?

–What is a favorite song of yours that your parents also like? 

In Social Studies, we studied The Great Migration, African-Americans moving from The South to the North and Midwest, in connection with Dr. MLK Jr.’s birthday observance. Our VTS (Visual Thinking Strategy) examples for this week were of two different mediums: a photograph of the March on Selma and a painting (Jacob Lawrence’s famous Great Migration). We investigated and compared 2 US Internal Migration maps for a fascinating Data Talk; The Great Migration (1917-1970) vs. The USA in 2020. Our class compared and contrast Presidential Inauguaral addresses and Farewell addresses from FDR, JFK, George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower. We were able to take virtual tour of Alabama so we could truly understand the landscape of where Ha and her family had landed in the USA to start their new lives. Students were surprised at the varied beautiful landscape and also compared it that of Vietnam. The Three Gorges Dam in China provided a cultural and environmental study for how we balance population needs with being good stewards of the Earth. Our class capped off the week, by challenging ourselves to a Kahoot on countries of Asia; many of us are a bit rusty and missed our huge classroom map giving us a daily reminder of where all of our studies and stories take place. 

Map Location Current Total: 49 (countries or cities)

In Science and Math, our class challenged itself with another round of exploring types of triangles and calculating the missing angle value. Students are beginning to use their prior knowledge over the course of our own school year to help themselves solve difficult math problems. We continue to hone our multi-step 3 digit multiplication and division skills. YouCubed provided an inspirational opportunity to learn “And I’m a Mathematician” collage activity that Math is all around us and everyone is a “Maths” person. This week’s riddle brought concept of Infinity (who knew their were low level’s of infinity?) and how can you use calculations to unlock the mysteries of forever. We learned from 3 master Mathematicians (Euclid, Hilbert, and Cantor).  Algebra and specifically solving for a variable provided a wonderful opportunity for students to share their math strategies with each other via Annotation feature on Zoom.  We explored the scientific reasons for varying skin colors (geographical adaptations) and tones. Students rated their own skin tone and also took into account how many of us may flucuate in appearance over the course of the year. Our class viewed a catchy Division Song video to help reinforce the many steps that lead us to our quotients. Science brought us so many interesting topics and physical experiments to charge our online learning environment. We explored why are people so afraid of bugs and then we created our bugs. 

In Reading and Language Arts, our class is emotionally aboard a crowded refugee vessel with Ha and her family. “Inside Out and Back Again” has provided many challenging and emotional issues for us to discuss and reflect in our journals. Some of these topics were: loss of one’s home country, fear of the unknown, honoring a beloved pet, severe hunger, regret for not missing a parent, and the strength of familial support. “Caged Bird” was the poem we studied and journaled about this week. Maya Angelou, a legendary  American poet and author, presented this powerful poem about how our spirit is like two different birds. We realized that the brilliance of this piece is that the main character of a poem can also be a complex metaphor. This week’s movie clip was provided by the classic Capra film, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”. We pondered and journaled about what symbols and buildings represent freedom/liberty to us, how we feel when we experience “Old/B+W films and TV Shows”, and finally why does every child need time to explore nature.

Exploring our novel 

Chalkboard Question of the Week

What is your favorite cartoon character?

In Social Studies, an interactive graph offered us with our Data Talk; helped us better understand Asia and provided a solid culture link with our current novel.  We studied and verbal debated, “The Top Fish Producers in the World from 1950-2018”. Our class was rather intrigued and surprised that besides Asia, South American countries were more than represented in the list. We connected that the more coast line your country has the higher the country was on the list. Our class took an aerial tour of Thailand to take a glimpse at the natural beauty of this Southeast Asian country that, Ha, the main character in our class novel, and her family fled Vietnam via crowded ship and this was the first country they past on their emotional voyage.

Map Location Current Total: 48 (countries or cities)

In Science and Math, three digit multiplication and division made an appearance during our Math Challenge. Our class also revisited measuring the angles of triangle and classifying various triangles. Students, even during Zoom, continue to offer their classmates with educational and technological support to make our school days even better. We explored how do polar animals survive the cold and what adaptations people have borrowed to build warm homes in frigid regions of the world. Students designed their own homes (above and below ground; fully furnished) and even shared what structural supplies would be necessary to construct their toasty abode. Our class also studied how cartoons were first created using optical techniques to trick our minds. We took these artistic skills and sketched our cartoons characters and brought them to life.