Monday, January 7th, 2019

This is our first almost full week of the new year.  Wednesday is an early release day, the third of the year and the final one isn't until mid-March.  But, it is still a five day week so we can be pretty productive.

We are still integrating social studies into literacy and having students look at differing points of view.  Understanding another's view point is essential since it not only leads to a better understanding, but also in debates where one can anticipate things

Students will eventually begin to take a stance on an issue in history and debate from that point of view.  I haven't yet decided whether or not to assign a point of view or allow them to choose.  I am leaning more towards assigning it to create a balance in case too many students take one viewpoint over another.

For today's activity, students read an excerpt from a journal entry dating from 1608.  It described a brief battle with some native warriors.  Students read the text and listed a couple of phrases to describe each side's perspective of the conflict.  I had to make it brief because it is not easy to write using the Smart Board pen.

For JA Biztown, we did page 2 in their workbooks, which involved filling out a mock bank account.  Every lesson leads to the part where jobs will be applied for, and then assigned.  Everything leads to the culmination of putting everything into action at JA Biztown itself.