Murals

In the new reading program, there is a great deal of stress on learning to read nonfiction well, particularly “real world” nonfiction. So the third week in each unit is devoted to selections from Time for Kids. This week’s selection focused on the so-called “Great Wall of Los Angeles,” a mural painted in the San Fernando Valley between 1974 and 1984 by Judy Baca and a small army of volunteers. 

The mural was recently restored and updated. I pointed out to the students that at Third Street we have a number of murals, and one of these could be restored and updated, too. The mural in the lunch area showing Third Street School in the past, the present, and a somewhat fanciful future, lost one of its panels during some school construction.

I asked the students to devise their own visions of our school in the past, present, and future. 

A couple of the students were clearly influenced by our superintendent’s ideas about technology in the classroom. 

Tomorrow I will also have them do some writing about the idea of how the school changes over time.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 11-15 ten times each in cursive and do a sentence for each one. (2) Do pages 221 and 223 in the Practice book. (3) Do Dividing Fractions 3 worksheet. (4) Do pages 322-323 in the math book on multiplying and dividing in algebra problems.