PS/IS 686 | Brooklyn, NY

Happy Thanksgiving from 4th Grade Humanities

Dear Families,

I wanted to wish you all a happy long weekend.  I haven’t officially spoken about the “myth” of Thanksgiving, but if you would like to begin a dialogue with your child here is a short piece that might make your child think twice about the reason we celebrate certain holidays.  Critically thinking is an important part of my curriculum.

 

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The image above is probably not an accurate depiction of the “First Thanksgiving” at all.  In fact, it probably is mostly false.

The myth of Thanksgiving.

We will cover this content later on in the year.

Another book that I love about Thanksgiving is “Thank You Sarah:  The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving.”  It is written with great style.  It is fun to read and it provides context for the “invention” of holidays.

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Housekeeping 

  • There is no Read Works due this Friday.
  • I will not be checking HW Wednesday November 29th.
  • It has come to my attention that there has been some mean words and actions on part of some of the students.  I am aware of it and I spoke to them today.  I told them that if the certain behaviors happen they must let me know.  I asked them to put a secret note on my desk or ask to speak with me privately.
  • Thank you Jeffrey and the Ratner family for the book “Wonder!” Thank you Nadia, too!
  • I bought a bunch of new books for our class library from the Scholastic points I had.  The next Scholastic order will be due on November 29th.  I don’t have the flyers yet, but you can go ahead and order online.  url-2.jpg