Expedition Express
Expedition Name: Redcoats and Rebels – The Pursuit of Life, Liberty, and Happiness on American Soil

Description:
What are the uses and abuses of power that people demonstrate? How did people at the forefront in establishing a democratic nation go about their business of the day to day, back in the day? Students in the Brisbin Crew are embarking on a study of the establishment of the United States via the inception of it all: The American Revolutionary War. Case Study 1: Colony Vs. King springboards off of the initial break from Britain and King George’s rule, students explore the human desire for independence through efforts made by our founding American mothers and fathers, by analyzing and making inferences through complex text of primary documents. Students will learn the geography of each established colony, as well as the colonial regions of early America. By learning about the behaviors and characteristics of the populations of each region, students will understand the risks that the Rebels took to create a new life for themselves, as well as the choices they faced.

Questions to Ask Your Child:
Who are and what is the difference between the Redcoats and Rebels?
Who is King George and why did the British decide to leave to start a new life?
Sing the 13 Colonies song!
Why is Ben Franklin such an important leader in our studies of the American Revolution?
Why are you reading Ben and Me as the kick off to your Redcoats and Rebels expedition?
Describe the 4 Mystery primary documents you analyzed. What were they, and why are they important?
Who was John Allan, and why was he important in your studies?
What would you do if you were faced with the issues the British faced when under King George’s rule?

Crew News
Math:
Both 4th and 5th Math Crews have been launching Unit 1 of Bridges. In week one and two, students learn how to be student mathematicians by discussing and reflecting on how math is integrated into their daily lives. The 4th graders will work on methods and models for multiplication and division, learn about composite and prime numbers, build arrays for multiplication and division problems and use perseverance to solve math problems. They are trying to beat their own time in daily mad minutes as well as use a spiral math practice sheet, which covers many standards, then on Fridays, have a short quiz over what was covered on the daily pages. We will also get the students set up of Front Row to take a math assessment and start practicing at their own math levels.

Make sure to sign planners every night. 5th grade students are learning about multiplication through factor pairs 1-100 and multiplicative relationships. In Unit 1, an exploration of volume serves as a bridge between fourth and 5th grade. Working with volume provides the context in which students review and extend skills and concepts from fourth grade, while introducing skills and concepts that are central to this year’s studies. In this unit, students are exposed many strategies for multiplication. In repeating these strategies through spiraling throughout the year student will become proficient in volume concepts. Each Friday, students will take a short quiz on their learning, as well as participate in reteaching groups throughout the week. Front Row practice will be applauded at home and will be used when applicable at school. Math Night for 5th grade is on September 27 from 5:30-6:30.

ELA:
In book club, students are reading our kick off text Ben and Me, and creating on-demand Responses to Literature. All students are being assessed for reading via the DRA, and will conference with me to learn specific strategies to grow their reading skills. We will also work on specific strategies during our Reader’s Workshops twice a week. For our first official long-term write, students will learn complete Case Study 1 with a Historical Narrative on Colonial Times. In the interim, we will practice the mechanics of hamburger paragraphs; the importance of developing solid topic sentences, supporting ideas, and concluding sentences, as well as grammar and spelling. We develop all of our great writing ideas through solid brainstorm sessions, research, collaboration….and fun!

Character:
The Brisbin Crew has been learning the ins and out of classroom procedures in the first weeks of school. We are learning how to document our successes and goals through the HOW’s tracker. Currently we are working on HOW’s tracking as a Crew through documenting progress on our daily crew clip chart, and then documenting our progress on our tracking sheets. Students participated in a stone ceremony to set our strengths and goals for the year and collected our intentions in a jar that lives in our classroom. Our crew is amazing and works so well together already! Our fall fieldwork will provide an opportunity for even more Crew building at Independence Lake, where we will work together in teams to complete tasks in a simulation based on our expedition. We will also participate in equine studies- health, care, and sport- to build community and crew through re-enacting how the colonial peoples completed daily tasks with their VIP family members- their horses!

SELS News
Mark your Calendars with September Dates (and refer to our website for future months, here):
September 9: Community Meeting @ 9:15
September 20: Picture Day
September 14: Minimum Day (released at 1pm)
September 23: All School Dance

Highlights
Thank you so much to the students for coming in, ready to learn every day! Your enthusiasm is very contagious and I really appreciate your efforts!

And thank you so much to the parents who have come in to help out in the classroom already – the work night was so successful for both our Crew Room and our campus. Thanks also to all of the parents who have signed up to help both at school and at home.