8th Grade Project

Weekly Wrap

photo 1This week has been all about projects! Monday and Tuesday were a days of furious editing for the 8th graders, and it was great to see their efforts pay off in their presentations. I was impressed by everyone’s ability to answer questions and discuss their research, and their creative 3D/visual projects! Thanks to all those parents, staff, and siblings– community!– who came on Tuesday afternoon and braved the heat of the classrooms. It does feel like a culmination of their Language Arts work, and an impressive accomplishment for everyone! Students are immersed in their study of Shakespeare, and have been practicing lines and memorizing, memorizing, memorizing.

photo 2In the sixth and seventh grades, students have been drafting and refining their research reports. We’ve talked about structure and what questions each paragraph answers, especially about how to make an effective conclusion that answers “so what?” about the topic as a whole. We’ve also returned to the persuasive writing starters and completed essays about The Book Thief or The House on Mango Street.

Work Due Dates:

8th Grade–

  • work on your memorization of lines!

7th Grade and 6th Grade–

  • Rough Draft of your research report– shared with me by Monday, May 5
  • Final copy of your research report– turned in on Monday, May 12
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Weekly Wrap

photo 1 It’s been a busy two weeks of researching, researching, researching, writing, writing, writing! Students have demonstrated real persistence and resilience while finding sources, re-evaluating their structure and outlines, and organizing their ideas onto paper for their History Fair research reports. Student engagement in the research and information gathering process has been high, and I’ve learned a lot about a wide variety of topics. Did you know that the Swiss keep their sheep in igloos because it is so cold? Now you do!

 

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Students are also working on their second large essay in response to the novel, and are currently in the final editing stage. We discovered that both The Book Thief and The House on Mango Street have pdf versions available online (google search the book’s title +pdf to find them!)– which is very helpful to search for quotes.

It’s been a lot (A LOT) of reading keeping up with and commenting on students’ work (essays and reports), but I can see the improvement in student writing from the beginning of the year, so it’s worth it. Dominic and I have structured the History Fair project so that the research report is part of the Language Arts grade and curriculum, while the board, presentation, and 3D/visual element will be part of the History grade and curriculum. For information on the board and 3D/visual elements, check out the History blog!

Work Reminders:

6th Grade:

  • Final copy of The House on Mango Street essay (including self-check [Self and peer Check Lists – essay writing] and brainstorm) due Monday, April 28
  • Checkpoint for the History Fair report– 2/3: Two pages written by Monday, April 28

7th Grade:

  • Final copy of The Book Thief essay (including self-check  [Self and peer Check Lists – essay writing] and brainstorm) due Monday, April 28
  • Checkpoint for the History Fair report– 2/3: Three and a half pages written by Monday, April 28

8th Grade:

  • Final 8th Grade Project ALL due Tuesday, April 29th! That’s your research report, self-check and self-reflection, board, 3D/visual project, and presentation from 4:30-6:30!
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8th Grade Project Night!

ImageThe final copy of the 8th Grade research report, as well as the 3d/visual aspect and the board, are all due on Tuesday, April 29th. I looked over everyone’s rough drafts this week, so you should have corrections and improvements to make. Your parents, friends, and Synergy staff are all invited to the Project Presentation from 4:30 to 6:30– I’ve already learned a lot about such a wide variety of topics, from Led Zepplin to Al Capone, and I can’t wait to see the finished products and hear everyone’s articulate presentations!

This self-check list (and self-reflection) is also due on Tuesday– Self and peer Check List – report writing

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Weekly Wrap

photo (5)This week, we spent a lot of time researching and writing! We are doing two things in the 6th and 7th grades right now: writing novel response essays about themes and researching for the history projects. I’m impressed by how students’ qu
estions about their essays show an understanding of the structure and purpose of the essay, and how students are really trying to explain and integrate quotes in their body paragraphs. Remember to assume that your reader hasn’t read the book: make your ideas and points really, really clear! We have been looking at books and also online resources (websites, videos, articles) for research, and students are taking notes by source with a note-taking guide. Next week, we will build on this by organizing notes by topic and creating outlines.

photo (6)In 8th grade, students have begun writing their report about their eighth grade project topic, and I am already learning a lot about a variety of things: from peanut butter to the Titanic! Mark your calendars for Tuesday, April 29th from 4:30 to 6:30 for their presentations: it should be an informative evening!

Checkpoints and work due:

6th Grade:

7th Grade:

8th Grade:

  • 2/3 of your research report (about six pages) by Thursday, 4/17
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Weekly Wrap

photo 1 photo 2This week, in sixth and seventh grade, we finished our novel projects– both individual, mini assignments ranging from poetry to movie trailers and back through text messages and language techniques and group projects taking popular board games and reinventing them as “novel games”– Clue with all the different locations from Liesel’s life in The Book Thief or Candyland with all the different worlds that Esperanza encounters on her journey in The House on Mango Street. I was really impressed with the connections that students made and their ability to interpret and present the information from the books in a so many different ways! All of the individual projects have links to different themes from the novel and students used quotes in their games to support their examples.

In the 6th and 7th grade writing classes, we have begun writing brainstorms and paragraphs about persuasive topics in preparation for our next writing unit: persuasive essays. We will also begin brainstorms for the novel essay next week (hint: the topic will be about themes!).

Eighth graders really got stuck into Shakespeare and research this week. The play rehearsals are helping them understand Shakespeare’s language and the ideas in the play. Casting was given out on Friday, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone develop their characters! We spent a lot of time during class finding quality sources for the eighth grade project research and structuring note-taking.

I submitted the yearbook this week! It looks fantastic! Thanks yearbook committee for all your dedicated effort– fingers crossed we caught all the double pictures and typos!

Work reminders–

6th Graders–

  • No homework this weekend! Memoirs and novel projects should be already turned in; work on literary essays and history fair topics begin next week!

7th Graders–

8th Graders–

  • Note-taking!! Keep working on this. You should be ready to begin writing next week!
  • Thursday, 3/28-– Visual project checkpoint: have your idea fully thought out & ready to explain to me, with some evidence you have begun (a photo or the thing itself would be great!). I know this is the day of the Spring Concert, but we still have classes in the morning!
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Weekly Wrap

photo 1

A week of drafting, editing, novel games, silly Shakespeare, research, wrapping up, and pi!

Sixth and seventh graders are working on their final copies of their memoirs– adding sensory and specific details and making sure that they are “showing, not telling” about their experiences. They’ve also finished reading and responding to the class novel, and are working on in-class group projects to demonstrate their understanding of plot, setting, characters, and themes. In small groups, students are creating their own creative versions of classic board games with details from the books.

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I love seeing what “weapons” students have brainstormed that go with the Book Thief version of Clue, and also the characters that match the different cartoons in the Mango Street version of Candyland! Very impressive creative thinking and interpretations that show a sophisticated understanding of the novels!

photo 2

In eighth grade, we have begun our investigations of Shakespeare by talking about the layers of meaning in his language, investigating Shakespeare’s life and the theater of the time, and discussing the convoluted plot of As You Like

It. We’ve also continued our research for the 8th Grade Projects– I love seeing the enthusiasm that students have for their chosen topic and also the impressive amount of work they’re putting into their research.

Work reminders–

6&7th Grade–

8th Grade–

  • Due Thursday, 3/20-– Note-taking check point: five sources, five pages of notes.
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8th Grade Project info

8th Graders:

Upcoming important date!

Friday, 3/7– Topic brainstorm, signed intention form, and outline due!

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