Dear Parents,

We will begin reading Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood next week after having completed Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.  The two novels are connected in that the character of Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird was based on Harper Lee’s real-life childhood friend Truman Capote.  In real life, both grew up to be authors of considerable renown.  In addition to In Cold Blood, Capote is perhaps best known for his novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s which was later made into a movie starring Audrey Hepburn.  In addition to the connections between the authors of To Kill a Mockingbird and In Cold Blood, I’m choosing In Cold Blood because it belongs to a genre that didn’t exist before the publication of this seminal book – namely literary journalism, also called historical non-fiction and a non-fiction novel.  In this genre the author inserts him/herself into the story, offering their personal insights into a real event.  This type of writing is commonplace today, but that was not the case in 1965 when the book was first published.  We will also be viewing the following films that depict the novel itself, a documentary outlining the events depicted in In Cold Blood and a film named Capote that explores not only the Clutter case but the relationship between Truman Capote and Harper Lee.  Here is a quick explanation of the story upon which Capote based his novel:

https://www.gcpolice.org/about-gcpd/history/famous-cases/clutter-family-murders

Additionally, below are some links to some of the films we will be viewing:

https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Blood-Robert-Blake/dp/B000X9ZFRG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=WATSJJIP3UM5&dchild=1&keywords=in+cold+blood+movie&qid=1605547562&sprefix=in+cold+blood+movie%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00C0CZI0I/ref=atv_dp_b00_det_c_UTPsmN_1_1

https://www.amazon.com/Farm-Family-Slain/dp/B076ZXLCQD/ref=sr_1_7?crid=WATSJJIP3UM5&dchild=1&keywords=in+cold+blood+movie&qid=1605547635&sprefix=in+cold+blood+movie%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-7

Monday

Chapter 26 To Kill A Mockingbird

Film: To Kill A Mockingbird

How Latitude and Longitude Help to Locate Places on Earth

Review Math Skills

• Addition and Subtraction of Mixed Numbers
• Multiplication and Division of Fraction and Mixed Numbers
• Mean, Median, Mode and Range
• Long Division
• Triple Digit Multiplication

60 Minutes Interview with Barack Obama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAFv55o47ok

Tuesday

Chapter 27 To Kill A Mockingbird

Film: To Kill A Mockingbird

Review Math Skills

• Addition and Subtraction of Mixed Numbers
• Multiplication and Division of Fraction and Mixed Numbers
• Mean, Median, Mode and Range
• Long Division
• Triple Division Multiplication

Science News

• Frozen Snot
• Low-Burp Burger
• Noisy Hand Dryers

Wednesday

Chapter 28 To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird film

Complete To Kill A Mockingbird crossword puzzles

Load work on to Google Slides

Science: The Coriolis effect

Thursday

Complete reading of To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird film

Scholastic Math: Escape the Titanic – Proportions

Science: Science World: Yum, Mac N’ Cheese

Friday

To Kill A Mockingbird Exam

Capote film

Book Fair

24 Game

Dear Parents,

We will be completing Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird next week.  We have been looking into what might constitute a jury in the deep south in the 1930’s in the United States.  After completing TO Kill a Mockingbird we will begin Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.  I would be most appreciative if you could obtain the book as soon as possible.  Here is the Amazon link:

 

At the same time, we delved into a present-day story in which African-Americans were convicted of crimes of which they were subsequently exonerated.  Known as the “Central Park Five” 5 African-Americans were convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in Central Park in New York City in 1989.  Several years later, the real perpetrator confessed and the Central Park 5 were exonerated.  We looked at two videos about the Central Park Five.  The first was a simple explanation of facts with a timeline.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUdFd-KAaEc

The second video that we began watching was a dramatization of events in a Netflix series entitled, “When They See Us.”

https://www.netflix.com/browse

We’ve also been following the aftermath of the presidential election closely, noting that President Trump, using the power of the Attorney General’s office has launched investigations into voter fraud.  We also read about the president’s firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper less than a week after the election.  We also reviewed the predictions that we made on Monday November 2^nd a day before the election.

Biden – 349

Trump – 189

We came close. Missing on only two states – North Carolina and Florida.

We’ve continued to study the U.S. Civil War, having gotten through the First Battle of Bull Run (also known as Manassas) in Virginia about thirty-five miles outside Washington D.C.  We’ve also investigated the timeline with respect to when southern states made the decision to secede from the Union and John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia on October 16, 1859.

We also watched a short video on Bill Maher’s Real Time with Tristan Harris on how social media manipulates its users for the purpose of keeping people at odds and reinforcing their sometimes flawed beliefs.  I would recommend that all parents watch this as well.  It is only five minutes long:

In Math we worked on ratios all week and learned how they are intertwined with fractions and percentages.  We also had a spirited 24 Game.

In Science, we conducted the following dry ice experiment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOgUpI4c2yk

Just for fun, we listened to a comedy routine that was first performed by the duo of Abbott and Costello in 1938 entitled “Who’s on First” while following along with a transcript.  The routine demonstrates the myriad ways in which language can be both used and misused and understood as well as misunderstood.  Here is a video of the routine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTcRRaXV-fg

Take care and have a restful weekend.

Dr. Michael

Dear Parents,

We are now 3/4 of the way through Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.  We have been focusing on Jim Crow laws in the southern part of the United States that were used to disenfranchise African-Americans.  I’ve been emphasizing the suppression of black votes in the 1930’s as it remains a relevant issue today. We have also completed painting our scenes of the novel which will be permanently displayed in the corridor leading to our classroom.

We’ve also been following the presidential election closely, using polling information from a variety of sources including Real Clear Politics, 538 and Rasmussen Reports. After digesting all of the polling information available to us, we predicted on Monday that Joe Biden would win the election with the following Electoral College totals:

Biden – 349

Trump – 189

As things stand today, we do not yet know where we stand.  We did watch a video Friday morning in an attempt to sort things out from DW News.  I used DW News because it emanates from a foreign country (Germany) that has no clear stake in our election.  I find that the three major news networks, Fox, CNN and MSNBC demonstrate some degree of bias (either left or right) in their reporting.  Here is a link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUYKkBesHfU

We’ve also begun studying the Civil War.  I believe it is important that we understand the American Civil War if we are to better understand To Kill a Mockingbird in that it provides context for explaining the type of virulent racism that permeated the deep south following the war.  I believe it is also important that we understand that slavery was what many call America’s original sin in that when we formed this nation we permitted white human beings to own black human beings while concurrently declaring that all men are created equal and how the ramifications of that decision are still felt in our society today.

In Math we worked on percent all week.  We began by learning how to tip a waitress 20% and continued by determining the percentage of males in our class to females.  Next week, we will expand upon with percentages and move on to ratios.

In Science, we looked into the causes and effects of the wildfires that devastated the state of California earlier this year. We also looked at a device called a “smart ring” that helped keep NBA players safe as they finished a season suspended by the Covid-19 virus. We also investigated how animals seem to practice their own version of democracy in the wild.

Take care and have a stress-free weekend.

 

Dr. Michael