The Otters are developing their reading and writing skills along with their knowledge of history during an interdisciplinary unit on Harriet Tubman. They are studying her life and contributions to our country by reading biographies of her in two separate reading groups. One group is reading I Am Harriet Tubman, a detailed account of her life that includes illustrations, a timeline, a glossary, sidebars with related facts and other non-fiction text features. The other group is reading a story-like narrative called Go Free or Die: A Story About Harriet Tubman. This biography uses facts about her life along with some creative license on specific conversations she might have had in order to give the reader a more vivid representation of her life experiences. Students are also using other sources to enrich their understanding. For example, one group is listening to excerpts from audio tracks for a driving tour called "Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway." These tracks accompany visuals of significant places in the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman's life, and therefore provide rich details on what Harriet Tubman might have seen and experienced. Both groups are writing outlines and summaries of each chapter as they read.
Once the Harriet Tubman books are finished, the Otters will be applying their understanding of biographies and summarization to write their own report on a historically significant person of their choice. The students will be guided to choose an African American or a woman to study in honor of Black History Month and Women's History Month. We look to sharing their work with you soon after the break. The Otter class got a taste of sweet success this Valentine's day. Each year at Gillen Brewer, the oldest class runs a one-day school store as the culminating project for their economics unit. This year, it was the Otters' turn to apply economics concepts and skills such as "demand," "raw materials," "mass production" and "marketing" to the exciting task of planning and running a Valentine's Day Store. They selected products based on what they felt would be in demand among the GBS students and staff, they created posters and employed word-of-mouth marketing, they borrowed capital from Linda, and they manufactured delicious chocolate-dipped pretzels. The Otters also enjoyed learning about Henry Ford's invention of the assembly line and seeing famous spoofs by Charlie Chaplin in "Modern Times" and "I Love Lucy" chocolate factory scene. They then used assembly line production techniques to put together over 150 Valentine's cards, featuring wonderful (and hilarious) sentiments written by them. In math, they worked to figure out costs and set sale prices, and practiced cashiering. Finally the day of the store arrived. The students took shifts in pairs and the store was busy from opening to closing. In the end, they calculated their profit: $240! After two weeks of research and discussion, the Otters decided to split the proceeds equally between ASPCA and Doctors Without Borders. Congratulations to the Otters on a job well done. |