Dear Parents,
We have begun reading Arthur Miller’s The Crucible this week. Along the way, we have learned the following things about the Salem community in the 17th century including:
- There was an incentive for townspeople to accuse their neighbors of a capital crime in that if someone were executed, their land would be seized by the state and sold at a more than reasonable price.
- The Puritans despised the color red
- The Puritans had no ritual capable of washing away one’s sins
- Puritans founded Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1635
- Puritans did not celebrate Christmas
- Puritans believed in fairies
- Adultery was sometimes punished by execution
- Puritans like to drink alcohol. The Mayflower had more alcohol aboard than water
- Pilgrim hats did not have buckles, contrary to the common depiction
- Pilgrims named their children after the morals they wished them to uphold (Faith, Goodness, Praise God etc.)
- Puritanism died out in the mid-1700’s
- Puritans believed in predestination – the idea that God had already decided who would and would not be going to heaven upon their death
https://study.com/academy/lesson/hypocrisy-in-the-crucible.htmlhttps://www.ducksters.com/history/colonial_america/puritans.php
https://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/11/10-things-didnt-know-puritans
We also did a virtual tour of Salem, Massachusetts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmSQA0cFF3Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eio5waWGwcs
In Math, we investigated percent using hot air balloons. Additionally, we learned how to determine supplemental angles by looking at the development of roller coasters.
On Friday, we played the 24 Game.
As the year comes to an end, I will be reviewing all the Math concepts we’ve learned over the course of the past three years. I may even send some worksheets home if I feel that it may be of some help to individual students. These skills will include, but not be limited to the following:
- Long division
- Multiplication of mixed numbers
- Multiplication of fractions
- Division of fractions
- Sequencing
- Division of mixed numbers
- Area and circumference of circles
- Mean, medium, mode and range
- Algebraic concepts
- Perimeter
- Area
- Types of polygons
- Triangles
- Quadrilateral
- Pentagons
- Hexagons
- Octagons
- Triangles
- Right
- Acute
- Isosceles
- Equilateral
- Scalene
- Obtuse
- Types of Quadrilaterals
- Rectangle
- Square
- Rhombus
- Parallelogram
- Trapezoid
In Social Studies, we continued reading a New Yorker article about Senator Joseph McCarthy entitled, “Joseph McCarthy and the Force of Political Falsehoods.”
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/08/03/joseph-mccarthy-and-the-force-of-political-falsehoods
We also watched a video of the McCarthy hearings and discussed similarities and differences between them and the Salem Witch Trials which we are covering in The Crucible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svUyYzzv6VI&t=43s
In Science, we learned about how bottles containing Covid-19 vaccines are being made with stronger glass so as to insure that they will not be damaged in transit. We also visited the world’s deepest indoor diving pool which is located in Poland and is 148 feet deep.
We continue to accept any books you wish to donate to Bernie’s Books. We are already donated the books that I have purchased for the class over the course of the past 3 years. If you have any books that you would like to donate, please send them to school with your child ASAP. Once all books have been donated, I will be bringing them to a Bernie’s Books drop off location in Mount Prospect. Books for all age levels are welcome. Thank you in advance for any contribution you may be able to make. in which we will attempt to get books to less fortunate children. For a brief overview of the program please visit their website at:
https://www.berniesbookbank.org
Have a great weekend!
Dr. Michael