Champs!

Standing up for what you believe is RIGHT

Today in class the students devised a still picture, a visual image to capture the essence of David Logan's message, "stand up for what's RIGHT."

A man of many talents

The Struggle For Canada

Here is another video that focuses on the battle for Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rnDj0QpfmY&safe=active

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cr
Chapter 8
For Your Discussion Group

Mr. Granger says the following to Mary
Logan in her classroom:

“I don’t see all them things you’re
teaching in here.”

Reread the conversation Mary Logan had
with Harlan Granger. 

Divide your group into two teams and debate the following question: Should Mrs.
Logan be teaching her students a version of history that’s different from what’s in the textbooks? Have one team argue from the school board’s viewpoint. Have the other team argue from Mary Logan’s viewpoint.

After your debate, discuss how the parents of Mary Logan’s students might feel. Why might some parents object to Mrs. Logan not teaching history straight from the approved textbooks?

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

• How does Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry relate to current society? Is the novel still relevant?

Writer’s Craft: Suspense

One way Mildred Taylor makes her characters seem real is through their conversations.
She uses dialogue, the words people say to each other, to give the reader clues about
the characters’ personalities. Here is how Big Ma made Cassie apologize.
Big Ma looked at me again, her voice cracking as she spoke. “Go on, child . . .
apologize.”
“But, Big Ma—”
Her voice hardened. “Do like I say.”
I swallowed hard.
“Go on!”
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

Think about how the characters in this book speak and react to each other. As a group,
discuss what happened between Cassie and Lillian Jean on the sidewalk in Strawberry.
What do you learn about Big Ma from the conversation she has with Cassie? What do
you learn about Cassie?

Defining patterns using algebra

Today we focused on geometric and number patterns. We used manipulatives to to build simple growth patterns and recorded our data in a t-chart. Next we described the pattern and wrote equations using variables to solve for the nth term. 

Exploring relationships on a grid

Today the students discovered relationships between numbers and variables by exploring patterns on a grid. We measured the heights of stacks of cups, then created an algebraic equation to solve for the nth term.