I honestly cannot believe it is week 13! Where has the time gone?
During Reading time this week, we have been focused on different reasons why people would resisted the status quo. To examine this we read the books, Si Se Puede! Janitor Strike in L.A., Separate is Never Equal, Her Right Foot, We March, Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type, and Sometimes People March.
While reading these, students were focused on the vocabulary words strike and protest. My favorite activity we did was when reading, Her Right Foot. This is such an excellent book, as it teaches students historical information about the Statue of Liberty, but it also poses such a wonderful question. The book asks the reader, "Why do you think Bartholdi designed the statue with her foot in motion?" Everyone had such lovely ideas and they all surrounded the ideas of justice and rights for all people that we have been doing so much work learning about. One of the students very beautifully said, "I think it is because you can't have change if you stand still." We were then reminded of all the change makers we have read about throughout the week and how much effort goes into effecting real and meaningful change.
We ended the week reading Sometimes People March, lent to us from Augustus and their family. This book does a wonderful job explanation on why people march and gives real world examples of said marches. When we were done reading, we used these marches as inspiration for our activity. Students created protest signs for causes they were passionate about. As always, I am blown away by them and their ability to empathize with the world around them. Below are some examples, but all of the posters were uploaded onto Seesaw! We also posted them outside to share with the community what is important to us in the 1st and 2nd Grade Classroom!!
This week, we also began our city planning for our community. We explored Ann Arbor on Google Earth, trying to get an idea of where cities put certain buildings and why. Afterwards, we began mapping our own communities out using four pieces of graphing paper. They have been so thoughtful about where they are putting government buildings, places of shelter, hospitals, fire stations, etc. They have even been thinking about how to connect the roads so there is not a lot of traffic in their communities!! It's been amazing to see what they are coming up with. This portion of the project will extend into next week and we will begin constructing after the Thanksgiving Break!
Here are some other photos of our week together:
Okay, now it's time to jump into the weekend like ....
Warmly,
Tate
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