During the next several weeks, our class, along with Mrs. Behm’s 3/4 SWAS class at Roy Gomm, will be focusing on the driving question:
What characteristics needed for survival will enable you to be successful in life?
Throughout this unit, we will be looking at various topics of survival, from natural disasters, examples of survival from a historical perspective, as well qualities to achieve personal goals.
To kick start the unit, we will participating in a mock drill game next week. The purpose of the mock drill is to spark their thinking and discussion on what steps should be followed during an emergency situation. While this is a simulation, we want to approach it as a game to alleviate any stress. We feel this will be a fun and educational experience. When the students come home the day we conduct the simulation, please ask questions about how they felt, what they learned, and what steps their team came up when placed in that given situation.
In ELA this semester we will be reading several fiction and non-fiction stories on the topic of survival. Embedded throughout the literature, we will analyze the text to identify characteristics necessary for survival. They will also learn how to accurately cite sources and create a bibliography of their sources.
Some of the ELA, Science and Social Studies activities students will be participating in are:
Creation of a public service announcement
A first-hand experience of surviving in the “wild” through a field trip
A Pioneer Simulation
A field trip to Donner Lake to learn about the historical events that occurred
Writing Pen-Pal letters between the classes to share learning experiences
Writing an essay to answer the driving question with text support from a wide variety of sources
This is an exciting unit that will tie many essential academic skills together with fun and realistic content. I feel strongly that each student will walk away from this unit more prepared for learning deeper content next year, but also with a clear understanding of how to be successful in life.
If you have any questions about this unit please don’t hesitate to contact me. If you have any resources you’d like to contribute to our class just let me know.
