Highlighting

Hello,

We worked in pairs this morning highlighting information from a science article in a Scholastic News magazine.  The article posed the question: Should we bring extinct animals back to life?  Before reading the article, the majority of the kids believed that we should, to some degree, bring extinct animals back to life.  After reading the article and then hearing from different students about their opinions and their supporting evidence, the majority of the class was much more wary of bringing many animals back to life.  Outside of cloning pets, most were against any artificial manipulation of living things.  As one child said, "When something dies, it is supposed to be dead."  I was pleased that they were opened minded enough to change their opinions.  Several kids weren't a firm "yes" or "no," but somewhere in between. 

Top arguments for changing evolutionary history included increasing the world's biodiversity and because it would be fascinating.  Top arguments against bringing them back to life were the threats to our current ecosystems, because it wasn't natural, and because it was like "playing God."  We had a very mature discussion about it that I don't think we could have had a couple weeks ago before we started thinking about evidence to support our opinions.  Please ask your son or daughter for their opinion and chime in with your own.

The class started reading Choose Your Own Adventure Books yesterday.  We started writing one today.  We wrote an opening paragraph as a class:

The alarm was blazing as I ran out the door.  I was carrying a heavy bag full of jewels and cash.  I knew the police were right behind me because they were yelling over the sirens.  I saw an open door to an empty house.  Just as I started to run up to the deserted house, I noticed a blue Mini-Cooper convertible with the keys in it.

If you think I should run into the house, turn to page 10.
If you think I should try to make my getaway in the car, turn to page 16.

Your child's homework tonight is to make a choice, and then write the next two paragraphs that would follow that choice.  So if your child chooses to run into the house, they are to write page 10.  The two paragraphs that they write should be followed by two more choices.  We will get to those tomorrow.

I noticed that the open house will follow our first Movie Club meeting.  I'd love for you all to come in, but it seems silly to make more than one trip here.  Consider our room open for open house anytime after five.  If you have other siblings in the building so you'll need to wait until six anyway, your child is welcome to stay here until the scheduled six o'clock start.  I'm just trying to save you the back and forth driving. 

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea