Biography: Hidden Figures – The Women who Changed NASA Forever – Monday – Spring 2023 – 10 Weeks – Grades 5 – 7
Monday, April 17 2023 @ 3:00PM – Monday, June 19 2023 @ 4:30PM EDT
Instructor:
Eva Goldstein-MeolaInstructor Email:
eva@opententacademy.comGrade/Level:
5 – 7Day of Week:
MondayClass Times:
3:00PM – 4:30PM (ET)Terms/Semesters:
Spring 2023
Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rulers, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space.
Hidden Figures is the powerful story of four African American female mathematicians at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in our space program; however, until now, did not receive the credit they deserved.
This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who lived through the Civil Rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality, and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country.
In this multi-disciplinary class, students will analyze and discuss the novel while incorporating historical events and learning about the science and math the female NASA heroines used! At home, students will keep an interactive notebook where they will record their thoughts and non-fiction information about this amazing time in history.
BONUS: If available, Aerospace Engineer, Shayna Hume, PhD Candidate, will visit class sharing her experiences as a female engineer, who has worked with NASA!
The class will be a combination of reading comprehension, discussion, lecture, interactive notebooks, writing, and projects (timeline and map).
BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF THE TOPIC, STUDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO READ AHEAD OF THE CLASS.
Students will receive approximately two to two and a half hours of homework weekly in the form of reading, keeping an interactive notebook and writing (informal journaling).
NOTE: Registration deadline is April 1, 2023.
There must be a minimum of 5 students to run this class.
Excellent class with clear and detailed guidance
I believe my rising 7th grader has greatly benefited from taking the summer Powerful Paragraphs class from Eva. There were precise and detailed instructions on brainstorming, constructing varied and expressive sentences, and usage of transitional phrases, all in the context of the different writing structures they studied each week. The weekly reviews of past lessons and the incremental addition of new stylistic techniques were great reinforcement for the concepts being thoughts. It was also useful to have the numerous sample writings provided for reference with each lesson. Through out the class, they kids had a growing list of “banned” words to encourage them to choose more expressive and nuanced alternatives (started with one or two and grew to maybe ~15). Overall, a great class for my child who is still in the early stages of honing his essay writing skills.
Unsung Heroes
My daughter loved learning about “unsung heroes” of the Civil Rights Movement: individuals who deserve recognition, but receive little in the history books. Ms. Eva ties in historical background information extremely well to the book to help understand the bigger picture to further appreciate Claudette Colvin’s courage.
10 out of 10!
My son just finished ESSAY INTENSIVE, a 10-week course focusing on Critique Writing, Expository Essays, Persuasive Essays, Compare/Contrast Essays and Narrative Essays.
I really appreciate what you have accomplished in the course of 10 weeks!
What a change I saw in my son’s writing.
He would never admit it, but I think that he even likes writing a little now that he understands how to write!
As with our original OTA class, this experience has been incredible!
Forget 5 Stars – it is a 10 out of 10 in my book.
Eva’s Literature Classes are Amazing!
All of Eva’s Literature Classes are amazing.
My daughter MOST RECENTLY loved learning about “unsung heroes” of the Civil Rights Movement: individuals who deserve recognition, but receive little in the history books. Ms. Eva ties in historical background information extremely well to the book to help understand the bigger picture to further appreciate Claudette Colvin’s courage.
She has taken HIDDEN FIGURES, TWICE TOWARDS JUSTICE, AMERICAN GIRLS, WONDER, FISH IN A TREE, TO HOPE AND BACK and REFUGEE with Eva.
Each class was better than the one before!
Do not miss out on Eva’s literature classes!
This class should be mandatory!
I signed up my 8th grader for this class because I wanted him to start thinking about his future.
What I didn’t expect is him initiating meaningful discussions about our cost of living inflation, budgeting, work-life balance etc.
My son will be attending a college prep high school this fall and has already told me he won’t “going to be an idiot who blows over $100 a month on lattes at the cafeteria”.
I am so thankful for this class.
It really got my son thinking about the future.
