“Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.” James Baldwin
Students have been exploring their family history as part our Heritage Unit. As the unit wraps up, the final project has been assigned- “The Living Family Tree”.
Through completing this project, students will get a better understanding of where one of their ancestors came from, and how the relatives in their lives have had a part in shaping who they become.
Please know your son and daughter has been asked to interview a family member. They have brainstormed appropriate questions that will hopefully uncover more about family traditions, customs, and history.
I also extend the invitation of sharing interesting family history out to our families. If you have any interesting family traditions, customs, or stories to share please feel free to e-mail me, and we can work out a way to have the history shared.
I look forward to the students sharing their family history.
Debate is an effective and enjoyable learning activity. This age group loves to argue. Many students who may be embarrassed are feel awkward sharing ideas can suddenly come alive through sharing their viewpoints related to an argument. Debate gives students a “meaningful voice” and builds voice and the skills necessary in order to begin to consider differing points of views.
Why did I want to incorporate debate? Debate offers a chance for students to analyze information in order to facilitate critical thinking. Getting students to think deeper and critically about information is necessary. Students also work cooperatively, brainstorm ideas, develop vocabulary, and read to support an opinion. In essence through debate students work on speaking, researching, reading, and writing skills, while promoting reasoning as well as communication skills.
Should schools have recess? was the argument. Students began by brainstorming reasons why and why not schools should have recess. Once students brainstormed the “pros” and “cons”, research began. For this, I provided the students with base articles, so students could understand and evaluate the evidence for both sides of the argument. Before students can truly make a claim for one side of an issue and argue it, it is important to understand both sides or point of views of the argument.
I split the students into groups to support one side, but if students were not truly happy with the side they were given, I allowed them to change. The purpose of this assignment was for students to support their claim with valid evidence and relate the evidence to their reasons and claim.
Step 1 Research: Students took notes (annotated the text) to summarize points. They questioned and clarified the information. They collaborated in small groups to discuss the most important information critical their claim (statistics, expert opinions, facts, etc.). It was encouraged for the students to find additional information to support their claim or rebut the other side if needed.
Step 2 Organize Your Information: Students critically analyzed the information. In other words, they went back through their notes/annotations to find the most important information that would support their claim.
Step 3 The Debate: Students were split up into two sides and started the debate. The video that follows highlights some of the points raised.
