Studies in Culture (which is a History focus, at the moment) continue to be the thing that connects much of our learning. This week’s writing task asked the students to pretend that they were the leader of a Stone-Age tribe, and had to persuade their tribe to pursue either a farming or hunter-gatherer way of life. How do you structure an argument? What are your reasons? How do you explain them clearly? There was MUCH discussion all week among the students as they wrote their own opinions.
On Thursday, students all participated in a Great Debate: Be It Resolved That Farming is better than being a Hunter-Gatherer! There was lots of learning about both small and large group work: What are the best arguments for our ‘side’ in the debate? Who will present them? What should they say? Some people were presenters, some were judges (rating presenters on a debating rubric), some assumed responsibilities of timekeepers and facilitator. We did pretty well for our first time debating! This will be a really great structure for learning throughout the year (to learn about both sides of different issues) — and a great practical application of organized thinking and speaking.
Learning skills that Early Humans needed, like rope-making and tying useful knots, has been a real highlight this week. Ask us how to make a Figure Eight With a Bight, or a French Sinnet! Some of us have even been seen roping and knotting outside at the Forts, with grasses and stems.
We got to play with ukeleles and drums on Wednesday, which was a great surprise! We also combined poetry and art. In our effort to always be mindful of serving our community, we helped to clear rocks from the berm out in front of the school, to get it ready for seeding. Glad we did this job later in the week, when the weather got cooler! We are also thinking of ways we can make our playground more interesting by building/making some simple games outside (gaga ball, tetherball).