Cerrito Student Council Speeches
Politics, Literature Circles, Refugee Update, and Halloween Costumes
The student council election this year is closer aligned with the national process than ever before. Candidates are working to elaborate their views using writing prompts and then sharing them in “debates,” the first of which we held on Friday. Truth be told, very little was argued – it was more of a practice forum for public speaking. Students spoke of proposed changes to the schedule – more lunch and recess, surprise, surprise – ways to make our school more inclusive, and new ways to raise school spirit. We are encouraging them to write speeches, which they’ll deliver on Wednesday. I performed the rap I wrote for my fourth grade student council election (“Hello there, and my name is Mike, and it’s me for V.P. that you’re gonna like…”) to demonstrate how we all push out of our comfort zones to develop new skills. It was still embarrassing and hard to do that rap, publicly.
Last Thursday, we had the good fortune of having the mother of fifth-grader visit Strawberry and Cerrito to talk about her work as an immigration lawyer. We listened to her family story about escaping from WWII Ukraine, and brainstormed what it means to have basic human rights. Students contemplated a hypothetical but realistic scenario about a boy immigrating from Honduras with his uncle to escape the extortion of a local gang. The boy was separated form his uncle when he got to the US and couldn’t understand the judge. His diabetic sister was not provided medicine. As we move from trying to understand the moving stories of our own families to the moving stories of the wider world, students will gain a deeper understanding of human rights and how they play into immigration policy.
Lastly, ask your child about their state map. They’ve been working on following an extensive checklist of requirements for how they will represent the US state they were assigned, including date of statehood, compass rose, state bird, etc. The maps will hang around the periphery of the classroom, just below the ceiling. The real challenge–the highest order skill–is for students to manage themselves as they work through a longer project without having to ask a teacher what to do every five seconds. And that’s big work for this age, let me tell you!
This from the admin on Halloween:
1) The K-8 Parade begins at 8:45 on Friday, 10/28 and lasts 20- 30 minutes minutes. Families will gather in the central courtyard to watch.
2) We encourage children to arrive in costume since there will be little time to change prior to the parade.
Students should bring a change of clothes to school; costumes can become a distraction or uncomfortable throughout the day.
3) The parade at TBS includes young children. Guidelines for costumes are as follows.
- Please, no masks, weapons or violence.
- Please make sure face-paint is not too scary for younger students.
- Characters from history or literature are strongly encouraged, as are those that are fun and just plain wacky.
- Please be mindful of offensive stereotypes or cultural appropriation which is often overlooked in Halloween costumes. For example, while it may feel like cultural appreciation to wear a native american headdress, in fact, using it as a costume is insulting to those for whom it is a traditional or sacred piece. For more information and as a good discussion with your children, we recommend this site: Anti-defamation League
4) Candy, gum, or sugary treats are reserved for Halloween night, and should not come to school on or after Halloween.
Thursday Homework
Math
- 4th: Fraction packet
- 5th: study the notes in your notebook for the assessment tomorrow. “Study” means to read them over, think about the hard parts, and set up some practice problems for yourself.
Spelling/Cultural Studies: This is the last week to learn your 50 states! You should have 40 memorized by now, and this is the week to memorize the last 10.
Reading: Sign of the Beaver, Chapters 14-16, and your reading group job. Not due until next Tuesday
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