We've been busy in Ms. Hensley's classroom!
Check out what we've been working on...
Black History Month
February is Black History Month! We've been learning all about many different influential African-Americans by reading non-fiction texts and responding in our BHM journals. Important figures we've learned about so far include Benjamin Banneker, Bessie Coleman, and Joseph Winters. We have lots of new influential African-Americans to learn about next week! Students have been writing awesome responses to the texts we've been reading.
Novel Study
I've been working with some of my students on a novel study of Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown, which has been an awesome learning experience. Novel studies are typically done in upper elementary grades, but I have students who are ready for it! They've been working on improving their fluency and ability to read with expression.
Abstract Art
We learned all about the characteristics of abstract art and how we can apply them to our own work. We made abstract art pieces inspired by different artists we learned about like Mark Rothko and Robert Delaunay. Students followed my verbal instructions, yet everyone's art pieces turned out completely different due to the composition, line, and color choices they made!
A Blast to the Past!
In social studies, we've been learning about how life was different in the past compared to modern day. One cool activity we did involved a lot of teamwork and collaboration; students were split into four groups and each group was given a ✨mystery suitcase✨ to explore! There were unique artifacts from the past in each suitcase (each with its own specific category) and students had to make inferences in order to make discoveries about the past just from observing these objects. The most successful groups were the ones that really worked together as a team!
Writing with Love 💕
In celebration of Valentine's Day, we did a fun writing project where we wrote about what we love about ourselves, our families, and our school. Students did an awesome job brainstorming together and came up with some great ideas. Promoting self-love is important to me as a teacher and I loved hearing my students share things they loved about themselves. They also had some wonderful ideas to share about why they love learning at Alma Fuerte and also about the people in their families that they care about! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
