Moss Teaches

Viewing: January, 2015

Jan 29

January 29, 2015

Starting Number the Stars

This morning, fourth graders at PGS started a unit of study about the Holocaust.  Throughout this week and next week, theater educators from the Hartford Stage will join our class to teach the kids about the novel Number the Stars, which tells the story of a fictional family in Denmark that helps to hide a Jewish family that tries to escape from the Nazis.  Following the Hartford Stage residency, we will begin reading this novel as a class.
This will be an advanced unit that covers mature content matter.  Fourth graders at PGS have had this unit for many years, and I’m always impressed by how maturely students are able to participate in the lessons.
When we teach this unit, our focus is more on characters and situations in the novel, with general background information provided to students.  We do NOT discuss any of the graphic or gory details, and we always work very hard to make the unit “kid-friendly” and age-appropriate for fourth graders.
As the unit progresses, I will be in contact with you to keep you informed about class discussions and content so that you can be prepared for follow-up discussions at home.
As always, please feel free to email me if you have any questions about this unit.

Posted in Class Updates|By

Jan 22

January 22, 2015

Simplifying Fractions

OnCore 4.49

CC.4.NF.1

Posted in Learning Resources, Math, Unit 4|By

Jan 20

January 20, 2015

Respect for all races, religions, and cultures

This is my favorite time of the school year, not because of the beautiful weather (yuck) but because of the terrific units we are starting in class.  Our class recently read a book called As Good As Anybody, which tells the stories of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel – two men who had very different lives but experienced very similar adversities, and who ended up working together to make our world a better place.  We always start this a week or two before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and it gives us a terrific opportunity to explore the wonderful contributions that Dr. King made to our society.  As a class, students identified ways in which the two gentlemen were similar and different, and they used that comparison document to write short answer responses (in small groups) comparing and contrasting the men.  This gave students the background so that they could write their own responses to a similar story, The Other Side, independently.

All the kids were familiar with Martin Luther King, Jr, but none of them knew who Abraham Joshua Heschel was.  (At that age, I didn’t either.)  He grew up in Europe and was a persecuted Jew during the beginning of the Holocaust.  He fled to the United States and, along with Dr. King, he worked to promote a world in which everyone was treated with respect and dignity.  Although the kids don’t yet know this, our study of As Good As Anybody launched our study of the Holocaust, which will really kick-off next week, as we begin work with the outstanding novel Number the Stars.  In the coming days and weeks, you’ll hear much more from me about this unit.  Some parents understandably are concerned about their children being taught things that are frightening or upsetting.  Rather than focusing on the disturbing events that took place during this infamous time in history, we instead focus on the feelings and attitudes of people – the persecuted Jews, those who secretly supported the Jews at their own risk, those who did the persecuting, etc.  We steer clear of the graphic details.  As I said, stay tuned for more information coming your way soon.

Have a great week!

Posted in Class Updates|By