Upper Elementary Homework Due May 8, 2018 - Twin Cities Festivals

Three large, annual festivals take place in Minneapolis and St. Paul every year on the first weekend in May - the May Day festival and parade with Heart of the Beast puppet theater, the Cinco de Mayo festival and parade in West St. Paul, and the Festival of Nations at the St. Paul River Centre.  These cultural celebrations draw large numbers of Minnesotans and showcase a wide variety of art, history, food, and community in our neighborhoods.

Options:

-   Attend the May Day Parade or Tree of Life Ceremony at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis.  The event starts at noon and continues throughout the afternoon, concluding with the Tree of Life ceremony.  There are puppets, jugglers, amazing floats, drum lines, dance troops, and food vendors. For more details about the event, go to: https://hobt.org/mayday/

-   Attend the Cinco de Mayo Parade or one of the many other related events on the West Side of St. Paul.  There are crafts, dances, a car show, food vendors, and even a jalapeno eating contest. For details about the event, go to: https://www.cincodemayosaintpaul.com/parade.html

- Attend the Festival of Nations event at the River Centre.  This festival is a four day long series of art, dance, music, and other performances from every culture of people living in the Twin Cities Metro Area.  Many of our students have performed here in the past with dance or music groups! For more details about the event, go to: http://www.festivalofnations.com/

-   Hold your own Cinco de Mayo or May Day celebration.  Research how these cultural holidays are usually celebrated.  Cook food, make decorations, and invite guests. Write about your planning and party, and please include pictures!

- Make May Day baskets for your neighbors!  Research the tradition of gift giving for May Day and distribute small gifts to at least five of your neighbors.  Include photos!

Requirements:

Write about your experience - what did you see, hear, eat, notice, participate in, and learn?  If you have attended the event before, what stood out to you as new or unusual? Did anything surprise you at the event?  Think about the fundamental needs. Which fundamental needs did you notice people meeting at the cultural celebration you attended?  

All essays must be edited for grammar, spelling, and punctuation.  It is okay to ask an adult or older student to help you with this work.  Fourth grade students should write a minimum of two paragraphs, fifth grade student should write at least three paragraphs, and sixth grade students should write at least four paragraphs.   

If you are unable to attend an event or host your own, please propose an alternative homework that addresses similar ideas to your guide by Friday, May 4th.  

No early work this Wednesday, 5/2

Hello Crow Wing Families, 

We will not be available to receive students early this Wednesday, May 2nd.  Please send students at our normal arrival time, 8:15-8:30.  

Thanks, 

Andrea and Cate

--

https://crowwingriverclass.blogspot.com/

Update 4/25/18

Hello Crow Wing Families, 

Happy World Penguin Day!  Two students in our community are very excited about this day emphasizing conservation and education about penguins and climate change.  They have asked us to wear black and white today and will offer a penguin-themed lesson today.  It's a nice opportunity to reconsider our use of single use plastic products like sandwich bags and straws as well.  

With the sudden onset of warm weather, we're seeing many children with light sunburn after recess and park times.  Please encourage your child to wear sunscreen and bring a hat to school if they are at risk for burning.  

The fourth and fifth graders are in the midst of a project on human body systems.  Students are working in pairs to research a system, prepare a model, and teach their peers about that system.  We will head to AxMan next week for students to buy supplies for their model.  The project is also an economics exercise - students must keep to a budget of $10 at AxMan and may use only a limited number of supplies.  We will have a trading day for supplies as well.  Cate will notify you by the end of the week with details about when your student will be away from school next week.  

Fourth year students are also writing biographies about chosen explorers.  While we have a number of resources in the classroom to assist, they may wish to visit a library to gather additional resources.

Thank you to the parents, friends, and faculty members that attended the Sixth Grade Immigration Project share Monday!  Students worked hard and stretched themselves to use primary sources, and the A1 faculty had many positive things to say about their efforts!  Sixth graders are starting on their final UE project - a study of the US Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Civil Rights Amendments.  Their challenge is to balance this work with finishing up Imaginary Island.  We're encouraging students to use their calendars to plan deadlines for each week so they do not procrastinate!

Thank you for your ongoing support!  

Andrea and Cate

--

https://crowwingriverclass.blogspot.com/

Upper Elementary Homework Due May 1, 2018 - Natural World News

Scientists recently discovered that some deep ocean fish, like a species of Pacific dragonfish, have skin that is raised in complex geometric patterns in order to trap the few photons from the sun that make it to their depth like a ball in a pinball game.  Trapping the photons makes the fish essentially invisible in the ocean - they appear to be the darkest black, darker than pigments we can manufacture. There is a bird of paradise species that is a tiny bit better at absorbing light (99.9% effective vs. 99.95%), but their feathers use a different formation to absorb photons, making the deep sea fishes’ strategy completely new to science.  You can read about it here if you’re curious: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/04/fish-black-oceans-deep-sea-animals/

For your essay this week, find a news article about the natural world that fascinates you.  

Summarize the article: describe the main idea of the story, include at least three supporting details, and make sure to emphasize why this news is important to science and our understanding of the natural world.  Write about why you chose this article, what surprised you about it, and what you learned.

These websites might be helpful to you as you search:

National Geographic News: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/latest-stories/

National Geographic Kids: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/nature/news-bites/

DOGO News for Kids: https://www.dogonews.com/

Smithsonian Magazine News: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/

Expectations:

Essays should be edited for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and clarity.  An adult or older student can help you with editing if needed. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence.  Please cite your source, including the title, author, website/publisher, and date of publication.

Fourth graders should write at least two paragraphs, fifth graders should write at least three, and sixth graders should write at least four paragraphs.  

Remember to write your name on your work, please.  

Upper Elementary Homework Due April 24, 2018 - The Return of Winter

As northern climate residents, we must be prepared to experience long winters.  The latest I personally recall seeing snow in the Twin Cities is May 18. However, the heavy snowfall last weekend was unusual.  According to the National Weather Service, it was the first time since 1983 that both Hennepin and Ramsey counties were under a blizzard warning.  While shoveling upwards of a foot of snow, I wondered what ancient peoples would think of such a late, severe snowstorm. I also thought of Will Steger’s current expedition - a solo trek into Canada’s Barren Lands, a place known for high winds and harsh landscapes.

Options:

1. Research an ancient culture’s ideas about winter.  You could look into the Norse myths about Jotuns and Ullr, the Greek myths about Demeter and Persephone, the story of Jack Frost, how Coyote stole summer, or the Anishinabe story of Biboon, the spirit of the North Wind.  Summarize the myth and how it explains winter, then write how you think that culture would explain our current long and snowy winter.

Helpful links:

Norse Mythology - https://norse-mythology.org/

North American Native Peoples’ Winter stories:

http://www.native-languages.org/legends-winter.htm

History of Jack Frost:

https://writinginmargins.weebly.com/home/a-brief-history-of-jack-frost

2. Research a bit about Will Steger’s current expedition.  Map his intended route, summarize what his goals and challenges are for this trip, and provide a bit of information about his big trips in the past and his current work for climate education.  

Helpful links:

Steger Climate Change Education Center:

https://www.stegerwildernesscenter.org/

Star Tribune article about Steger’s current trip:

http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-explorer-steger-will-take-unprecedented-solo-trek-in-canadian-arctic/475559763/

Expectations:

Edit your work for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and organization.  An adult or older student may help you with this. Use topic sentences for each paragraph.  Your work should be neat and legible. Fourth graders should write at least two paragraphs, fifth graders should write at least three, and sixth graders should write at least four.  Cite your sources!

Math MCAs today and Wednesday

Hello Crow Wing Families, 

I hope you have all successfully shoveled, plowed, and played your way out of the snow!  We will continue with our scheduled MCA math tests this morning and will finish Wednesday.  Please try to have your child at school on time - having kids come in late disrupts others and makes getting everyone online challenging. 

Thanks, 

Cate

--

https://crowwingriverclass.blogspot.com/

Upper Elementary Homework Due April 17, 2018 - Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month.  We’ll be doing poetry lessons in class, but this homework is a way for you to explore some poetry on your own.

Options:

- Keep a poetry journal.  It can be themed (write poems about the weather, a color, an animal, or a person in your family each day) or you can write poems that are unrelated.  You must make at least five entries in your week’s poetry journal. Illustrate your poems and do not repeat forms. For instance, you cannot turn in five free verse poems or five haiku.  You need five different kinds of poems.

- Find a poet you like.  Try to make it someone new to you, not an old favorite.  Record at least five of his or her poems in a small book and illustrate them.  I like the Poetry Foundation’s online poetry library: www.poetryfoundation.org

- Memorize a longer poem that you like.  The poem should be at least 5 stanzas long.  Let us know if you’re willing to recite it to the class, otherwise, plan to recite it to a guide.  The Poetry Foundation is a good source for this option as well.

- Analyze a poem.  Write a short essay about why you think the author chose to write the poem, the main point or message of the poem, and the images in the poem you think are most impactful.  If you use a source to help you in your analysis, please remember to cite it.

Expectations:

As always, anything you write and turn in for homework should be neat, organized, and checked for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  The rules of poetry are a little looser on punctuation, but you should still have proper grammar and spelling.