Hello everybody!
This week, the class has been busy expanding on ideas.
We are finally finishing the rough drafts of our scripts for Ashes of Roses. Next week we will begin the revising and editing process to make sure that all of our scenes fit together properly and to double check grammar and spelling. The class is so excited to move onto this next step.
To continue to answer our question, “where does our stuff come from and why does that matter,” we looked at the supply chain involved in making our clothes. To do this, we used music. We listened to the song “Are My Hands Clean?” by the a capella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. This song outlines each step of the process: where the cotton comes from, where the polyester comes from, where the shirt is made, where it goes when it’s finished, and how the workers in each of these places are treated. We analyzed the song to determine what exactly the lyrics meant. We then used the lyrics to create a route on a map showing how the materials travel throughout the process. We then examined the figurative language in the song, figuring out what the question, “are my hands clean” is actually asking. We decided that the question isn’t asking about our hygiene, but about whether we are guilty of buying products and not giving thought to the people that make them and supporting companies that treat these people poorly.
In addition to this, we learned about the collapse of Rana Plaza, a factory building in Bangladesh that collapsed in 2013, killing over 1,000 people. We watched videos showing the working conditions of factories in Bangladesh and saw that while some factories have gotten better since 2013, many smaller ones have not. The students noticed many similarities between the Bangladesh factory we saw and the Triangle factory. For example, they noticed that many of the fire extinguishers that were supposed to be in the Bangladesh factory were missing, like how at the Triangle factory the water buckets that were meant to put out fires were all empty. They also noticed that at both factories the emergency exits were either locked or blocked and that they were using child labor. It was shocking for the class to see that very little has changed in terms of factory safety on a global scale.
In math this week, we explored some pretty complex ideas. For Dynamath, the class was introduced to the idea of decimals as another way to represent parts of a whole. We examined decimal place values and learned how to determine if a decimal is greater than, less than, or equal to another decimal. We created a giant decimal number line and worked as a class to put our decimals in order. For Mindset Math, we are expanding on our work with the Fibonacci sequence. Students are now working together to create their own number patterns and figuring out how they can represent them visually. We will continue developing the patterns next week. Eventually, the students will get the opportunity to figure out each other’s patterns and figure out what number would come next.
We have also been busy practicing our performance for the holiday program next week. The class is working super hard on singing and dancing at the same time. They can’t wait to show off what they have been practicing!
Looking ahead: Next week we will have our normal library day on Monday. On Wednesday, we will have our rehearsal for the holiday program at the Bridge Community Church. Please make sure your student is on time that day, since we will be taking the bus to the church early in the day. Friday will be the holiday program. We will not be meeting at Plato first. Please bring your student directly to the Bridge Community Church dressed in holiday attire. After the performance, students will be dismissed and will not be coming back to Plato. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone there! Wednesday is also Lillie’s birthday!