PNA's MLK Day ON!
1/25/2019
As is tradition, this past week Pacific Northern Academy hosted its' annual DAY ON in honor of the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Students participated in a student-directed, -written and -run assembly focused on informing and inspiring the entire school. But the special day wasn't all just talk -- it also involved a lot of action, and later in the day students moved in groups from station to station working on mini-projects to help around the community. At one station, students filled plastic bags with healthy snacks and hot hands hand warmers, while at others they made sandwiches and participated in activities designed to build awareness about inclusion and exclusion in our everyday lives. In this video, Fourth and Fifth Grade's own Piper and Keeva discuss the ways that discrimination affects our lives as Americans and as Alaskans. Following that, the seventh grade's Maggie introduces us to her grandfather, the writer, politician and lecturer William Hensley, who was kind enough to take some time out of his day to talk to PNA directly about his own personal experiences with discrimination. And, if you'd like more information on William Hensley and what he's done for both Alaska and the United States, please click on the link below: And finally, for more information on Martin Luther King, Jr and his life, his work and his legacy, please follow the link below. Brown Baggin' It!But that wasn't all that we did this week and once again Pacific Northern Academy participated in another yearly tradition -- the Brown Bag Lunches. During Brown Bags, students are allowed to show off their skills and talents in front of peers, parents and faculty and the Third, Fourth and Fifth Grades all represented their classes fantastically! Please be sure to look for your student in one of the videos below! Just For Fun!And, lastly we have something just for the heck of it.
In this photo, David takes some time out to relax in formal attire and snow jacket... on the ice?! Learning Resources
1/18/2019
At PNA, teachers aim to facilitate high-quality learning experiences for students. After considering the learning goals, students are provided with resources to maximize learning experiences. Here are some examples of resources for learning: 1. Content Experts - In 4th/5th grade science, Dr. Lorenz, an ophthalmologist, was invited to the class as a guest speaker to provide students information about how eyes work. According to S. Boss and J. Larmer, "to boost student motivation, and make real-works connections to learning, involving adults from outside the classroom real helps". Students were engaged during the entire science class. Student inquiry was impressive that one hour was not even enough to answer all their valid and intelligent questions. 2. Within-Reach Books - To create engaged readers, third grade students were taught how to find "within-reach" a.k.a. "just right books" so they could read long and strong. These books help students develop fluency and comprehension. These are the books students read independently during reading workshop or whenever they read for pleasure. 3. Children Turns into Experts - Third grade students have completed the mystery unit and have become experts on reading fiction / mystery books. Using explaining voice, gestures, and their knowledge, they were able to teach second graders. This learning opportunity had third grade students role-play their way into positions of academic importance. Cookies, History & Hot Chocolate!
1/11/2019
So, the last week just before the holiday, the Fourth and Fifth Grades were the hosts of another fun parent lunch, expertly set up by several parents! The theme was a cookie exchange, and with the holidays coming up the mood was festive! Students brought in cookies made at home and then help themselves to a veritable smorgasbord of every flavor of cooking under the (midnight) sun! The students also discussed the topics of their Language Arts and Social Studies papers with parents. They outlined their ideas for the direction in which their stories were going, as well as discussed things they uncovered in their research! The Third Graders got in on the festivities, as well, hosting their own parent lunch up in Mrs. Orbase's classroom. In the photo below, please check them out in their holiday-themed sweaters and hats! As you can tell by the smiles on their faces, a fun time was had by all! Merging Language Arts & Social StudiesOne of the coolest thing about Language Arts and Social Studies is how very well the two subjects compliment one another. You can't have Social Studies without Language Arts, and you can't have Language Arts without Social Studies. The value of the stories of our past depend on the clarity of our language in telling them, as well as the accuracy and depth of our research. This week, Third, Fourth and Fifth grade studies both of these as they discussed how to read and interpret texts in order to get the fullest and most accurate picture possible. What is a heading? What are captions? How does a map serve the story? How can we read the events of a story on a map. We addressed all of these questions this week in Language Arts and in Social Studies. We also built timelines in both Language Arts, and Social Studies, in order to better take a look at the context of the historical fiction pieces that we're working on. In the photo below, a student takes a look at the events before and after the time of her story in order to better understand where people were coming from, and where they were going... in order to write more accurate characters and situations. In the photos above, students read through their stories not with the eye of a writer, but with the eye of an historian. They looked for possible flaws and anachronisms within their stories, and did their best to correct them. They didn't always have the answers, but that's okay -- the point of the exercise was to find those questionable items and then further research them for accuracy. In Third Grade Social Studies, we followed a similar theme, looking at the land bridge that connected Alaska with Eurasia about twenty thousand years ago. We also took at look at Alaska Native construction techniques, studying the particular sod house and igloos built by Native peoples thousands of years ago. We discussed the ways in which their construction kept people warm and allowed them to survive the harsh climate. In the photos below, we compared the way that a sod house traps heat with the way that the hood of a jacket traps heat. Later, at recess, we also took a look at how the tire toys set out on the playground trapped heat when we pulled a tarp over the top. A few Third Graders even had to jump out in order to cool off! Just For Fun...And, just because we felt like doing it... |
Jessica GrahamMs. Graham graduated from the University of Alabama with a BS in Early Childhood/Elementary Education, and is currently working on her master's in reading. She enjoys hiking, traveling, arts & crafts, and playing the ukulele. Archives
April 2021
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