Social Studies: Bean, Egg, or Carrot - You Decide!

John F. Kennedy

by Amanda Perkins

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, MA. He had 8 brothers and sisters. His nickname was Jack.  John was sick as a child. When John was 3 years old, the family moved to a new home. John’s father, Joseph, was a good father. Joseph was a businessman. He fought discrimination because he was Irish Catholic. John’s great-grandfather came to the United States from Ireland. John’s grandfathers had both been politicians..

The family lived a happy life. They had a vacation home in Hyannis Port on Cape Cod. John’s family had a nanny to help care for the nine children. John went to Choate, a school for boys. In 1936, John graduated from Choate. He went on to Harvard University. John graduated from Harvard in 1940. After college, he joined the Navy. He fought in World War II.

After returning from war, John’s dad pushed him to run for Congress. He won in 1946. John served a 6 year term in the House of Representatives. He was elected to the U.S. Senate. As a senator, he married Jacqueline Bouvier. Soon, the couple had a little baby girl, Caroline.

John decided to run for president. At the age of 43, John became the youngest president ever elected on November 8, 1960. He was first Catholic president. John and Jacqueline’s second child was born right before the inauguration.

On January 20, 1961, John became the 35th president. In his speech he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” During his presidency he started the Peace Corps, helped to fund a mission to the moon, and worked to end racial segregation.

President Kennedy worked with Dr. Martin Luther King to help end segregation. On June 11, 1963, Kennedy proposed the Civil Rights bill to Congress. He stated that, “One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free.” Sadly, President Kennedy was shot and killed on November 21,1963 while riding in a parade in Dallas, TX. 

In life, people choose to be a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean.  A carrot seems strong but then falls apart after being boiled.  An egg starts with a moldable center but changes and hardens in the heat of the action.  A coffee bean actually changes in hot water.  When the water gets hot, the coffee bean releases the fragrance and flavor.  The coffee bean, when things are the toughest, makes things better and changes the situation.  

Your mission, if you chose to accept it, is to write an opinion paragraph about and illustrate the following prompt.  In your opinion, was President Kennedy a coffee bean, an egg or a carrot?  Push yourself to the edge!

Social Studies: What Kind of Government Would You Want Ruling You?

What Kind of Government Would You Want Ruling You?

In our world, many people have different visions of how people should be governed.   In early civilizations, a monarchy was the way groups of people were ruled.  In a monarchy, a monarch, a king or queen, would rule over the people of a state or country.  This leader was born into this position and held the position for life or until the next of kin was ready to assume the throne.  The monarch would make the decisions he or she thought was best for the people or even primarily for the monarchy.  The king or queen would not listen to, and some didn’t care about the people they led.  Some countries do have groups of men and women who will help the monarch make laws and other decisions that will be in favor of the people.  Ultimately though, the monarch makes the absolute decisions.

There were some citizens who abided under the rule of a monarch, did not appreciate being told what to do and how to live.  Sometimes these citizens would rise up and revolt.  The fighting might result in a change in the government to a democracy.  Others would just up and leave their home country to find a new land to begin a democracy, a type of government where the people have an active role in voting for those taking part in the government.  Ancient Greece was one of the first countries to have a democracy.  Their form of democracy was called a direct democracy.  This meant that each person was able to have a voice as to what going to happen and the rules that would be put in place.  The majority of countries with a democracy now have a representative form of democracy.  This allows the citizens to vote for those they want representing, or speaking for, them.  The candidates, men and women wanting to run for a place in the government, tell the citizens the ideas they have for the state or country.  Then, the citizens are encouraged to vote for the candidate they feel would do the best job.  While they are some stipulations to holding an office in a democracy, most any citizen can hold some kind of office in the government unlike a monarchy.  Time limits called, terms, were also set so one person is not always in an office.

While some citizens fought the monarchy for a democracy, some citizens wanted to be in complete control or to dictate what happened in the government.  In this form of government, a dictator would come in with force and use their armies to wipe out the leaders that were presiding.  When the dictator would gain complete control, they would make all decisions without consulting the citizens of that country.  He or she would not listen to the citizens of the country when making decisions that would affect them.  What made a dictatorship different from a monarchy was the laws made by the dictator were usually very unfair to the citizens.  Plus, the dictator rarely followed the rules himself even though punishment was given to citizens who broke the laws.  A dictator was usually in office until another person or group of people were able to take back control.

Each of these kinds of governments is found all over the world.  While some of these are better than others, no type is perfect.  Which do you believe is best?

Prompt:  Which government would you want to live in?  Why would you choose this form of government for your life? 

Veterans Day: We Remember.

This is my dad.  He is a Veteran.  His name is George Washington and he served his Country.  I think that days like we had on Friday at East Chester take on a particularly special meaning when someone you know and love has served.  We remember.

This is our principal Mrs. Kim and our assistant principal Mrs. Spring who believe that school is about growing academically as well as growing as a person.  This is why we are able to have a Veterans Day program.  Our administration serves the whole child.  We remember.

  These are the students who participated in the Veterans Day program.  Some of them had speaking parts, all of them sang 'You're A Grand Old Flag', and all of them stood tall as they said the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Flag.  We Remember.

 

These are just some of the Veterans who took time out of their day to come to East Chester and allow us to honor them for their service to our Country.  We are thankful to each man and woman who have served.  You are the reason we have the freedom to learn at East Chester.  We remember.

  

            

                            

This is the future of America.  At East Chester, we believe it is our duty to empower the future.  Our future are these students.  We are blessed to teach in a Nation that believes in the future.  We remember the past so that we can build a better future.  We remember.

To the wonderful 3rd graders at East Chester, what do you remember about Veterans Day?  Write your memories in the comment spaces below!  See you at the edge!

Social Studies: Exemplar Text Exploration

Exemplar Paragraph by Kendyl:
      
     This is about if Nancy Ward knew Susan B. Anthony or not. Susan B. Anthony never knew Nancy Ward. It was possible that they could have known each other but they did not. The possibility could have been when Anthony was 1, 2, 3, or 4. Ward was born in Tennessee. She lived from 1738 - 1824. Anthony was born in Massachusetts. She lived from 1820 - 1906. 
      In 1738, Nancy Ward was born. In 1751, Ward married Kingfisher. In 1756, she was awarded the title “Beloved Woman”. In 1776, she rescues a english woman, Lydia Bean. In 1819, she opened an inn with her 2nd husband, Bryan Ward. In 1824, sadly Ward died after all her accomplishments. 
       In 1820, Susan B. Anthony was born in Massachusetts. In 1826, Anthony’s family moved to New York. In 1846, she began teaching for $110 a year. In 1851, she met Cady Stanton. In 1868, she began “The Revolution Paper”. In 1869, she formed the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. In 1872, she voted illegally and was fined. In 1905, she met with President Roosevelt. In 1906, she sadly died. 
       Nancy Ward’s accomplishments did inspire Susan B. Anthony, in my opinion. Ward did many great things and that’s what inspired Anthony. 

Take a look at the above paragraph.  This is an example of an excellent opinion paragraph that answered our prompt from http://thirdgradetotheedge.blogspot.com/2015/10/social-studies-writing-ward-and-anthony.html

Your task is to go to our Google Drive.  Find your folder.  There is a Google Doc enclosed that asks you to find the OREO in this paragraph.  After you follow the instructions within the Google Doc and highlight everything then you need to revisit your paragraph in your Google Doc.  

Does your paragraph deserve an OREO?  Please take this writing week to sweeten up your paragraph in order to meet the OREO standard!  See you at the edge!

What should Mrs. Belinda be for Halloween!

This is how you know who you are as a teacher.  You ask your students what you should be for Halloween!  This was by far the best part of Fall Fun Day.  I was a queen so I could boss people, a fairy queen so I could boss people with magic, a singer because I sing so much, a witch so I could make stew from my students, frankenstein, a zombie because sometimes I look scary, a vampire because I bite, a dog because dogs are best friends BUT the best one of all was...

Scary Mary - because both Scary Mary and Mrs. Belinda know how to get people's attention however, whenever! You have to admit that my students are the best!  See you at the edge!

Social Studies Writing: Ward and Anthony, Who They Are To History

The prompt for the week of October 27th is in red.  Before you can answer the prompt, you must complete 3 stations:

• Susan B. Anthony QR Task Cards
• Nancy Ward Reading and Timeline Examination
• Susan B. Anthony Reading and Timeline Examination

and you must spend at least 20 minutes on a rough draft or a graphic organizer about the prompt.

Nancy Ward was a Cherokee Indian born at a crucial time in Cherokee history.  She was raised by her mother and her father.  At a young age, she realized that her Cherokee people were in turmoil with the English.  Ward wanted to find ways to keep peace between the Indians and the English.  In her early teen years, Ward married a Cherokee man name Kingfisher and went to the battlefield with him.  She earned the title of 'Beloved Women' which was the highest honor a Cherokee woman could have.  

Susan B. Anthony was educated by her father.  When the economy collapsed, her father lost most of his money so Anthony began working.  She worked as a teacher to help her father with money.  When she began teaching she realized that woman were paid less than half of what the men were paid.  She thought this was unfair and began a movement to give women the same rights as men.

After reading the information and exploring the timelines, answer the following questions in paragraph form:
1.  Did Nancy Ward and Susan B. Anthony ever know each other? How do you know?
2.  Do you think that Nancy Ward's life choices had an impact on Susan B. Anthony's life choices? Please provide a 'why' to your answer.

See you at the edge...

Keep Sharing. Couldn't See the Edge. Reflecting on Writing.

These 3rd graders think reflection is just a piece of the writing process.  These are just 3 of 16 students that were asked to write a paragraph about one food chain within a food web.  Check out the original post here.  Needless to say when the first paragraphs showed up on the blog, I was not blown away by the quality of writing from these students.

It was at that point that we spent some time in our class discussing the words self-discipline and to the edge. We discussed our jobs and what a good paragraph looks like when it is completed. When I say we, I mean the students.  They brainstormed each area on their own, divided into groups to talk about each area and then jigsawed to share their ideas with the class.

After all this, they wrote again.  The 2nd time around, the writing greatly improved.  BUT the best pieces of work are the reflections.

 

This is not even a readable sentence.

Now, we have a paragraph.

Then she figured out that what she had at the beginning was not a paragraph - growth!

Absent or didn't get the first draft on the blog.

A paragraph.

Used her 'how will I improve the next time' recording sheet in order to reflect on how this paragraph was different from her last paragraph.  She found a way to reflect even without the first draft.  She grew.

No punctuation.

There are sentences in this paragraph with punctuation.

He recognizes that he didn't have a paragraph when he began.  He realizes that he could have done more the first time around.  He grew.

That is what pushing to the edge is all about - growth.  You can't grow unless you can reflect.  None of this was in my lesson plans for the week.  When I saw the first writings and saw that the students thought they had done well, I knew we had to stop and reflect.  While this whole reflection lesson threw our pacing guide out the window, the end result will benefit the students far longer than keeping up with the pacing guide.  In the end, it's not the subjects that matter, it's all about teaching the child.  See you at the edge.

Keep Sharing. 3rd Graders Peer Review about Paragraph Writing.

As educators, we know that when we communicate with someone else we pay more attention and learn more.

In February, our 3rd graders will be challenged by an extended response question that will require them to write in paragraph form using prior content knowledge as well as knowledge about the writing process.

We are encouraging our 3rd graders to communicate through opinion paragraphs about various topics of interest in reading, math, social studies and science.  More importantly, we are asking them to reflect on their own writing and then on the writings of others.

Peer Review is a strategy that requires one 3rd grader to read another 3rd grader's writing and then provide a review.  This constructive feedback is then shared between the reviewer and the writer with the hope that the writer and reviewer both grow.  A good peer review can reveal what the reviewer knows about writing.

This 3rd grader understands that a strong paragraph needs a closing sentence.

This 3rd grader knows that a first draft is important to a final draft.

This 3rd grader knows that you need a strong ITT (introduction of topic).

These are 3 strong examples of Peer Reviews that show that the reviewers understand the necessary qualities needed in order to be prepared for the challenge that awaits them in February.  Peer review allows students to communicate with one another.   With this communication, they pay closer attention to the writing and then learn more about themselves as writers.   Keep growing.  Keep sharing.  See you at the edge.