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Welcome back!

Welcome back and Happy New Year! 

It was a busy first week back, but the fifth and sixth graders jumped right back into work! In fifth grade, we continued our discussion on globalization in Social Studies. You may have seen your child walking around the house this week, examining tags or labels on miscellaneous items to see where they were made -- they were completing their Home Inventory Chart, which we will discuss next week. This activity lends itself to a discussion on our individualized connection to globalization, as we take a closer look at where our possessions come from and how that can impact different socioeconomic and culture groups around the world.

In Language Arts, fifth graders analyzed an informational text ("Quest for the Tree Kangaroo") and myth ("Why Koala Has No Tail") to study the tree kangaroo. As a culminating writing activity, they are in the process of developing their own myths on the origin story of an animal or element of nature. The twist? They must also have a moral or lesson that is taught by the end of their myth.

Here is a sneak preview of what you could read in the coming weeks:
Why giraffes have long necks
Why bees sting
Why Autumn is also called Fall
Why penguins can't fly
Why the t-rex has short arms
Why hyenas laugh
Why leaves fall from trees
And many more!

To find some quiet in the midst of the busy week, we also spent our first class session practicing Mindfulness. The teaching staff at HCA was introduced to form of meditation in our faculty meeting before returning from the break. As a result, many of us will continue to use mindfulness breathing techniques and forms of meditation and rest to help the students learn to cope and decompress during stressful moments during the day, If you would like to use the tool that we are implementing in our classroom, please visit Insight Timer.

Fifth graders enjoying a quiet moment during this week's mindfulness activity.

On Friday, students were visited by the Three Kings, who blessed our doors and wished us well in the new year.


Sixth Grade - January Visit to Sonshine Academy

Please enjoy several photos and a video clip from this month's trip to Sonshine Christian Academy. In addition to sharing stories with their young friends, the sixth grade also made New Year's hats with their friends as an art craft!


 

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