Learning History Through Cuisine

Last Friday the students learned more about the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia, through an in-depth look at the area's cuisine. The students made an ancient Persian winter dessert known as Halva, and were exposed to ingredients indigenous to the area, like pomegranates and pistachios. They also used ingredients that people of the area would have traded for, like saffron, the world's most expensive spice. All-in-all the students had a great time with their first cooking lesson of the year. 

The day was not without a couple minor casualties. 

Alisar taught the class a new trick for de-seeding pomegranates. 

Malin blooming some saffron. 

Lucas demonstrating some impressive knife skills. 

Tyler didn't want there to be picture evidence of his dish washing prowess. 

Enjoying the final product. 

Puzzling Plates Project Presentations (try saying that twice!)

In science the past few weeks, the sixth graders have been diligently working on researching information about plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains and more! They made presentations with accompanying handouts and models to teach their fellow sixth grade friends about the information they gathered. The past few days we've been presenting and WOW did they do an incredible job! Below are some pictures of the models used for some of the presentations. More pictures to come soon!

More Learning Buddies

Over the past few weeks, we've spent some time with our learning buddies helping them finish their globe projects as well as have some Thanksgiving fun! Last Thursday, we read "The Plump and Perky Turkey" with them and then devised an alternate ending with our buddies. It was a ton of fun and some of the stories were very creative!

6th Grade Current Event Picks of the Week

A huge part of humanities is understanding the current state of the world, not just studying the history of it. With that in mind, the students have started reading news articles as part of their weekly homework. At the beginning of every week they share their selected current event article and discuss it with their classmates. Finally, the class votes on their favorite articles of the week. Below are links to some of the picks of the week.

Ryan P. - "Train riders too consumed with phones to see gun before shooting."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/10/tech/san-francisco-shooter-phone/index.html?hpt=us_r1

Lucas M. - "Rare hybrid eclipse graces the sky."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/03/us/irpt-rare-hybrid-eclipse/?hpt=zite_zite1_featured

Max C. - "Mystery barge will be google glass showroom."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/01/tech/innovation/google-barge-glass-mystery/