As we continue studying current events this week we are going to look deeper into the text features that help us understand what we’re reading. Like we’ve learned before, text features are anything other than the main paragraphs of the text, that help us better understand the author’s intended message. Today, we are going to read a Newsela.com article on the Bighorn sheep in California. These sheep had almost become extinct and only 105 were left. Now there are 500 sheep! Read the article to discover how scientists helped save the Bighorn sheep!
The article comes with a great map to help you understand where these sheep are located. Study the map and see what you notice. Is there a key or legend to help you out? Do the different colors and shadings mean anything? Is it important to read the text on the map as well?
Today, as you read from a Scholastic News magazine of your choice, notice how the text features help you better understand the text!
We know that our actions can hurt other people. If I hit or pinch someone I can immediately see the hurt on their face. But what about our words? Can our words hurt others? Can our words really cause any true problems? NBA Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, learned a lesson about using kind words this week. He lost his job and can never be a part of NBA basketball for the rest of his life because of things he said. You can read more on this topic here.
So what do you think, can words hurt as much as a punch or pinch?
Yesterday, we finished reading the interactive e-biography of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and today, January 15th, is Dr. King’s birthday! Our interactive biography contained the entire “I Have a Dream” speech that Dr. King gave in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. We have been badly wanting to hear the speech, so here are some of the greatest highlights from Dr. King’s speech.
Yesterday, we researched our entrepreneurs and inventors on the internet. We found some valuable information, but internet research is never as easy as it seems. Let’s take a step back to see what we did well and where we need support.
1. What key words did you use to do your search?
2. How many websites did you visit?
3. Did you stay on websites that were too hard to read?
Currently, we are studying how events, individuals and ideas have influenced the history of local and regional communities, and why people become entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur is a person who creates a business or product for profit. There have been many famous entrepreneurs, like:
We have read an interesting article on Rosa Parks from the Duckster website this week. Today, students will have the chance to compare and contrast the article with another article from the Scholastic reading site below. Here are some things to think about the articles when comparing and contrasting:
– Is there any new information presented by the Scholastic article?
– Did the authors write these articles for the same reason?
– Are the articles both organized in the same way?
We have been working on writing down small notes after reading a chunk of text to check our comprehension because, “The most important thing is to comprehend!” (We say that a lot in here!) Check out Ixell, Francisco, and Amorie’s great notes. We can tell they really understood those paragraphs.
A primary resource is a first hand document from the time period you are studying. Because primary resources are from the time you are studying, they help you understand the time better and picture the events in your head.
Yesterday, we read a wonderful book about Rosa Parks. We learned that she was arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus to a white bus rider. In her book, Mrs. Parks discussed going to jail and being finger printed. Below are some primary documents from her court case. She was charged with a fine of $10.00 (which was worth more back then), but she never paid it because she did not believe it was a fair law! A year later the buses were integrated.
As we continue our study on the Civil Rights Movement, we move away from North Carolina and head south west to the state of Alabama.
Just like in North Carolina, citizens in Alabama fought to end segregation by sitting down, and then by refusing to sit… ok this is getting confusing! Check out the life of Rosa Parks below, the woman who started the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Leave a comment below:
1. Why was it hard for Mrs. Parks to go to school?
“Do not give up!” is a phrase we hear Mrs. Felter say all the time. Things are going to be hard sometimes, we all know this is true. We have to decide what we are going to do when things get tough. Are we going to say, “This is too hard, I quit!” Or are we going to say, “This is hard but I can do it!” Imagine if the four men who started the Greensboro, North Carolina Sit Ins had said “This is too hard I quit!”
An amazing thing happened in our state of North Carolina in the decade of the 1960s- people stood up for what they believed in! Actually, they sat down. Like we have studied this week, the schools in the Southern states were segregated. But other places like restaurants and buses were segregated as well.
Many people wanted this separation to end. In Greensboro, North Carolina some citizens found a creative way to protest segregation.
Watch this video below to learn how the people of Greensboro, North Carolina fought back against segregation. What did they do to show they didn’t want to live with segregation any more? Do you think their actions were effective?
