What a week it’s been for our learners! This week they got their hands dirty with
more planting and even experimented with soil during Quest. In Writer's Workshop, they explored how to write haikus and odes. This week also brought new challenges in Civilization and Town Hall.
In Quest this week, each learner took a closer look at what makes a flower. While last week focused on building and making models, this week one activity involved taking flowers apart and dissecting them. The process allowed the learners to take a closer look at the parts of a plant and compare/contrast these parts with different types of flowers. They also planted bean seeds this week, but without soil! The learners wondered if the seeds would be able to sprout without having soil in the cup. Many of them believed that the seeds would be able to grow because the paper towels would act like soil to absorb the water for the
seed. The last Quest activity of the week explored soil! The learners discussed the importance of soil in the launch and then mixed soil with sand to take a closer look at how the layers of soil form.
Writer’s Workshop focused on haikus and odes this week. After taking a closer look at the metaphors they wrote last week, each learner chose metaphors from their list and used them in writing poetry. For many of them, haikus were a favorite because of their short length, but interesting structure. Other poets found it easier to write odes because there are no syllabic restrictions with an ode. They felt this allowed them to express their creativity more freely.
In Civilization this week the learners discussed the history of Ancient Greece and the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. Many argued that the Athenians were cowardly for hiding behind their city walls and should have actively fought Sparta.
