Grade 5 Category
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 2, Day 4) – The Art of Fiction
Jun. 23, 2016—We began today’s class by freewriting and then read a selection from Sandra Cisneros’s “House on Mango Street.” We looked specifically at setting in this selection. Setting can tell us so much about a character’s history and personal goals. We examined the way the story would change if it was in the third-person perspective instead...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 2, Day 4) – Page to Screen
Jun. 23, 2016—Phew! Today was a whirlwind of interpretations. Students started the day as a class, picking apart both adaptations of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. While the earlier one brought the lightness of the text to life, the later one brought the rude darkness forth that makes Dahl so unique. The end result is that neither...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 2, Day 3) – Engineering Policy and Urban Design
Jun. 22, 2016—The day started with a case study of Mexico City’s sewage infrastructure problems. Ask your child about it. We have finally learned enough to be able to think critically about urban design. Today’s challenge was to design a city in such a way that minimizes dirt and nutrient pollution and is still able to grow. ...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 2, Day 3) – The Art of Fiction
Jun. 22, 2016—We started today’s class with a freewriting session and then broke up into small groups to discuss memorable characters. We made a list of the traits we found in memorable characters, which included characters who change in interesting ways, characters with a sense of adventure and a sense of humor, and characters who surprise us...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 2, Day 3) – Page to Screen
Jun. 22, 2016—Some people could make the mistake of saying that today was more of the same. Students read texts and watched adaptations of those texts. They talked about it. Same ol’, same ol’. Those people would be wrong. Today, students analyzed the nuances in camera angles. In True Grit, camera placement can make a world of...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 2, Day 2) – Engineering Policy and Urban Design
Jun. 21, 2016—Today we hosted Ms. Julie Berbiglia, the Education Specialist from Metro Water Services. Ms. Berbiglia taught is about how wastewater and drinking water treatments work. We learned about how the concept of a watershed is related to water pollution, and how the various ways in which we use land contribute to water pollution. Stakeholder roles...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 2, Day 2) – The Art of Fiction
Jun. 21, 2016—We began today’s class with our first morning free-writing session, during which writers were encouraged to keep their pens moving across their page, even when they weren’t sure where they wanted their writing to go. Afterward, we finished reading Karen Russell’s “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised By Wolves.” Writers were broken up into groups...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 2, Day 2) – Page to Screen
Jun. 21, 2016—The challenge increased exponentially today, as students went from analyzing how a story could be captured in eight single images to how words can be captured on film, made up of thousands of images strung together in a series and set to audio. Not only that, but due to time constraints, students were limited to...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 2, Day 1) – Engineering Policy and Urban Design
Jun. 20, 2016—Today, students were introduced to the problem that they will be solving: The Harpeth river is polluted with excess nutrients, and withdrawing water from it exacerbates the problem. A nonprofit organization – Harpeth River Watershed Associated is suing the city of Franklin, claiming that Franklin is polluting the river with inadequately-treated effluent and withdrawing too...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 2, Day 1) – The Art of Fiction
Jun. 20, 2016—Critics, readers, and authors often talk about the craft of a story, but what does that really mean? Today’s class focused on thinking about what drives us to write, what stories we love, and what techniques authors use to create characters (both protagonists and antagonists) with whom we can empathize. We started off class by...