Farewell to Ms. Gonzales and best wishes!

With a heavy heart we bid farewell to Ms. Bianca Gonzales, our Chaminade O & P student (student teacher) who was with us every Monday, Wednesday and Friday since the beginning of March.  We will miss her very much and wish her all the best as she continues the next chapter in her journey to becoming a teacher!  
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Here is a summary of what happened in our classroom:

​In Langauge Arts... 

• Before doing any reading, we used a circle map to brainstorm what we know about heroes.  It was very interesting to see the responses.  We listed everything from heroes are strong and professional at fighting to heroes can be normal everyday people.  Wow!  How insightful.  Everyone had different ideas about who our heroes are and what they do.  Many of our ideas are jotted down on the following circle map:  The ones highlighted are items we added to the chart after completing some reading assignments.  

• We read a biography about Cesar Chaves and learned that he was a hero to many migrant farm workers.  Not because he was physically strong or fought bad guys, but because he worked hard to change the lives of many people and made a huge positive impact on his community by leading people to peacefully solve problems.  

• The essential question this week was What do heroes do?  Students also read a biography about Bessie Coleman called Brave Bessie by Eric Velasquez.  Using this biography, students continued to learn how to sequence major events using time-order words.  The following standard was addressed: 2.RL.3 Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.  Students learned that Bessie Coleman inspired many people and in doing so, she is a hero to many.  

• Students read about another hero named Rudy Garcia-Tolson.  We learned that he overcame many adversities in his life, the first being that he was born with physical challenges that crippled his legs, then when he was 5-years-old he had his legs removed.  He had to learn how to use artificial legs.  He worked hard everyday to get better and soon discovered his love for swimming.  He started racing in swimming competitions and beat people with legs.  His determination did not stop there.  He went on to competing in the paralympics, triathlon and ironman competitions.  The following quote is a testament to his courage and positive attitude: "I have a responsibility to show the world that having no legs is nothing, the real disability is having a bad attitude"  

​In Writing... 

• Students are publishing their final drafts on a google doc where they can make any last revisions. 

​In Math... 

• Students learned how to draw 3D prisms, which helps students with spatial awareness and visualization.  Students can more easily identify the shape's attributes.  
• Using play money students identified the names of each coin and their values.  Students also got to compare their sizes and determined how many coins can be traded for $1.00 or less.  
• Students learned how to calculate different amounts of coins and make various combinations of coins.  Students learned that there are so many combinations of coins to make a $1.00.  Students applied these skills to solving money word problems.  

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 In Social Studies... 

• Students learned about scarcity and its effects on daily life.  We read a story called A New Coat for Anna, which was about a girl living in the Netherlands.  The town is enduring hardship due to the devastating effects of the war.  The town's shops remain empty.  Despite this scarcity, Anna still needs a new coat for winter.  Her mother decides to trade many of her valuables to get the materials for a coat.  For example she trades a gold pocket watch with the farmer for his sheep's wool.  After gathering all the materials needed she finally trades a porcelain tea pot with the tailor who sews a beautiful coat for Anna.  This book taught many economic concepts such as scarcity, trading and limited resources and choice (capital, human and natural resources).  
• Students wrote down ways they can be good citizens in speech bubbles and are now on display in front of our classroom.  Students votes many things from picking up trash even when it's not mine, donating food to people in need, to voting when I'm 18 years old.