Immigration and Biographies – May 25

Dear Third Grade Families,

Can you believe it’s already the end of May? Time is flying and, boy, are we having fun!

During the end of April and beginning of May, each student took the time to read through the biography of his or her important person in history. As previously mentioned, students took notes about their person (be it King Tut, Steven Spielberg, Helen Keller or Ruth Bader Ginsburg), and placed those notes into at least four categories. These categories became the chapter titles for the biography each student is writing, and the chapter titles look different for each student. Some of their headings are:

• What Ruth Stood For
• Growing Up
• The Beginning
• Sally + Life
• Helen In Pictures
• The First Elizabeth
• Legacy and Mummification
• The American Revolution
• The Roosevelt Museum of Natural History

This week, we focused on the process of creating a draft. We took the notes already written and, similar to our Lenape project, turned those words into our own to create a flowing narrative. Through discussion, we decided that each chapter can look different. One way some students are doing this is by including diagrams, such as of inventions or musical instruments, and labeling the different parts of them, as well as including a small caption. Another way is to have a t-chart list including the political opinions of the person (pro on one side, con on the other). Some students are making timelines of their important person’s life. Others are writing and drawing their chapter as a graphic novel. Each student is individualizing their writing to fit their needs best.

In Social Studies, we are learning about the immigration process from the old country (specifically Europe and Russia) to the United States during the third wave of immigration — from 1880 to 1920. We have been studying aspects of what immigrants experienced through two read alouds: Journey to Ellis Island: How My Father Came to America, by Carol Biermam; and When Jessie Came Across the Sea, by Amy Hest. In these books, we are exploring the push-pull factors for why the protagonists traveled to America, how they got across Europe, what the boat ride was like, the experiences at Ellis Island, and life in New York City. This week, students watched a portion of a video about what the experience was like, featuring interviews with immigrants from the Third Wave. The link to view this is: https://youtu.be/8X4CypTaOQs  In the beginning of June, students will be able to hear the oral history of Hilary’s maternal great-grandparents, discussing what their immigration experiences were like in 1912.

Conversation starters:

• What is your important person most well known for?
• What is a little known fact about your important person?
• How was the immigration experience the same for the Dutch, in the 1600s, as it was for immigrants in the late 1800s? What were the differences?

Dates to remember:

• Monday, May 28 → Memorial Day (no school)
• Wednesday, May 31 → Ellis Island Trip for the purple group
• Sunday, June 3 —>Celebrate Israel Parade
• Wednesday, June 13 —> Third Grade’s NYC Play
• Friday, June 15 —> last day of school

Get ready for next week’s blog, where we will be writing ALL about our class trips to Ellis Island!

Shabbat shalom,

Hilary and Talia

Judaics with Aliza

This week in Judaics, we began finishing up our last unit of the year, learning the latter Brachot of the Amidah. Students are looking forward to completing this unit (and their Siddurim) so that we can concentrate on our end of the year review games and our super-secret mystery lesson in June! Shabbat Shalom!

Hebrew with Ilana

This week the third grade reviewed and worked on writing verbs and infinitives such as: “I eat” and “I want to eat.” We also finished work on the song “God Gave a Present” and the students talked and wrote about what is the most important gift that God gave us, and what gift they want to give, and to whom.