We have begun our new inquiry unit with great enthusiasm. It is called "Back in Time" and falls under the theme of Where We are in Place and Time. The central idea is "Ancient civilizations contribute to our modern day societies and technologies."
Students will inquire into:

·       Time period, location and similarities of ancient civilizations around the world

·       Inventions reflect the needs of people (past and present)

·       Implications for the modern world

In addition, in Guided Reading, we will focus on myths and legends that reflect the beliefs and values of the ancient civilizations. We will focus on a variety of skills such as summarizing fiction (we have just finished up summarizing non-fiction), inferring character traits and themes, and comparing and contrasting.

We will also do a lot of map work and timeline work in order to understand where we are in place and time in comparison to the ancient civilizations. In preparation, students have a homework assignment to complete a personal timeline. They should have brought the guidelines home today, but I posted it under the Newsletters section. These are due Dec. 5.

Finally book orders go home Friday and are due Wednesday, Dec. 5th as well. Sorry to make the deadline so short, but I want to get the books back before the holiday break, but also didn't want to send the book order home during the recent book fair. If you would like to submit a book order in order to give the books as gifts, you can order online (see link on the Index page). Then send me an email and we can arrange to get the books to you without your child knowing.