What is a Berkeley?

This week we began our Weekly Word Study spelling program. The students brought in the five words that they chose from their personal spelling list, and working in pairs, they self administered the quiz. Any words that were spelt incorrectly will go back on  the list for their next quiz.


In Writing Workshop students are working on, or finishing up the first draft of their personal memoirs. After the first draft the students get a peer edit from another student in the class, and then they show their work to the teacher, who offers edits, suggestions, and assignments for them to use in a second draft. 


Since we have finished the novel Maniac Magee, the class has been choosing the novels they want to read for their next unit of Literature. In this unit the Literature groups of no less than three and no more than five students, will choose their own books. A couple of the novels we are looking at are Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring, Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeffery Kinney.


In Cultural Studies the sixth graders have turned their attention to the city of Berkeley. They looked at images and brought in artifacts of the city, and using the answers to the earlier questions about what is a community, the students have tried to define the identity of Berkeley.

Homework: 
Language Arts, due Tuesday, November 23rd. Write five sentences using the words for your Weekly Word Study quiz in a way that makes the meaning of the words clear. Please remember to write in complete sentences, making your best attempt at correct spelling and grammar. Work that is neat and clean is required. 

Cultural Studies, due Tuesday, November 30th: Finish your identity chart of Berkeley.

Gather new information about Berkeley by talking to your parents, neighbors, or other community members, or by doing research on the Internet.

Ask the following questions, which are related to the concepts

of membership, community, and belonging that you will be exploring in the next lesson:

1. What are important or defining moments in the history of Berkeley?
2. What is an example of a moment when you feel that the residents of Berkeley came together as a community around shared goals?
3. What is an example of a time when you feel that the Berkeley community was divided?
4. How would you describe Berkeley to others?

In addition to these questions, you can contribute your own interview questions.