Theme Study

Social Studies

We are beginning our study of the Colonial Period with studying the Native Americans that were living here before the Pilgrims came.  Most of our focus will be on the Wampanoags that lived near the shores of Cape Cod.  The Mahicans are the Native Americans that were living in Berkshire County at that time so we do discuss it.  However, the Massachusetts State Curriculum Frameworks focus primarily on the Wampanoags, so we will as well.  We are also beginning discussion of the Pilgrims, what prompted their voyage and the voyage itself.  We should be quite solidly in this unit by the time Thanksgiving comes.  We will learn about what life was like back in the early 1600s for both the settlers and the Wampanoags.

Future units are:

• Puritans settlement in Massachusetts
• biographies of people from the Colonial Period 1600s and 1700s
• events that led up to the Revolutionary War
• the beginnings of the Revolutionary War

At home you can enrich your child's knowledge of this topic by reading stories that connect to this period of our history.  Even simple stories can provide the hook for some understanding for your child.

Science

States of MatterWe have completed our study of this topic.  We reviewed what students remembered.  The topic was covered in 1st grade, but students don't remember "states of matter"; they do remember Solids, Liquids, and Gases.  We have worked in groups to sort materials into their appropriate state of matter.  Students were very insightful, noting that a balloon was a solid while the air inside of it was a gas.  We are striving to identify the properties that make a solid a solid, a liquid a liquid and a gas a gas.  Later we will clarify these properties and move on to sort a whole list of items into their appropriate state of matter.

Future units:

• solar system
• earth
• rocks and minerals

Again, these topics provide more areas for you to supplement your child's learning with reading.