Weekly Wrap

 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!

 

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!

Weekly Wrap

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.

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:

• Complete at least three paragraphs on your essay draft by Monday, 4/14 (essay brainstorm sheet: Essay Planning Sheet— theme or idea)
• At least two pages of notes from two sources by Tuesday, 4/15 (note-taking sheets: MLA_Page_from_Website MLA_interview MLA_Journal_Magazine MLA_film MLA_Book)

7th Grade:

• Complete at least two paragraphs on your essay draft by Monday, 4/14
• Your outline for your research paper for Wednesday, 4/16 (outline sheet: 7th grade History Fair Project– outline & notetaking info)
• Four pages of notes from four sources for Wednesday, 4/16 (note-taking sheets: MLA_Page_from_Website MLA_interview MLA_Journal_Magazine MLA_film MLA_Book)

8th Grade:

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

Weekly Wrap

So amazing to see the hard work you’ve all been putting into your music pieces come together last night at the Spring Concert! What a wonderful way to finish up the third quarter and start off our Spring Break.

This week, we brainstormed for our novel essays (6&7th Grade), chose History Fair topics (6&7th Grade), talked about how to craft a research paper thesis (8th Grade), wrote introductions with strong hooks (8th Grade), finished novel projects (7th Grade), presented Novel Games (7th Grade), wrote persuasively about super powers (6th & 7th Grade)… And also talked a lot as a group about how to maintain friendships, keep the school a safe environment for everyone, and really be our best selves.

Phew! I’m ready for a week to look over your poems, quotes, maps, essays, memoirs, blogs, and also, honestly, catch up on my sleep! I hope you all get a chance to recharge and relax as well, and I look forward to hearing all your adventurous or lazy stories when we’re back.

To make sure we’re all starting from the same place when we’re back after Spring Break, here’s what you’ll need to finish up!

All due the Monday we return: April 7

6th Grade:

• Complete novel essay brainstorm (download here: Essay Planning Sheet—THMS theme or idea)
• Complete History Fair topic brainstorm (download here: History Fair 2014)

7th Grade:

• Complete novel essay brainstorm (download here: Essay Planning Sheet— theme or idea BT)
• Complete History Fair topic brainstorm (download here: History Fair 2014)

8th Grade

• Complete 8th Grade project introductory paragraph (handout here: Project- Introduction handout)
• Begin your visual/ 3D aspect! (email me if you have any questions)

Weekly Wrap

This 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–

• Tuesday, 3/25– Novel projects due! List of options here: Activity Options— book thief

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!

Weekly Wrap

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.

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!

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–

• All– Due Friday, 3/21— Novel projects (pick three! Full list here: Activity OPTIONS The House on Mango Street  Activity Options— book thief)
• Block II– Final memoir (& self-check, & peer-check, & sell-reflection) due Wednesday, 3/19 (sheet here: Self and peer Check Lists – memoir writing)
• Block III– Final memoir (& self-check, & peer-check, &sell-reflection) due Thursday, 3/20 (sheet here: Self and peer Check Lists – memoir writing)
• Block I– Final memoir (& self-check, & peer-check, & sell-reflection) due Friday, 3/21 (sheet here: Self and peer Check Lists – memoir writing)

8th Grade–

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

Weekly Wrap & Shameless Self-Promotion

The auction is tonight, and here’s my plug for my teacher item– Come to the movies with me (bring a friend, too)!! Let’s all go see something great at the Metreon (I’m very interested in seeing Divergent, but I’m open to other suggestions) and then have delicious tea and snacks at Samovar (check out their menu— mmm, fancy snacks), while we look out over the city. Here’s the link for the auction bidding (open until March 11th!): bid here! Excited!

But what have we been up to in class other than day dreaming about dystopias and darjeeling? Research projects, reading responses, novel projects, guided close readings, persistently proofreading the yearbook, and discussions! Check the due dates in the previous posts, but here’s a reminder for next week–

6th Grade–

• Tuesday, 3/11– All novel work (quote notes, blog posts, questions) due (THOMS packet NK)
• Tuesday, 3/11– Memoir final draft due
• Friday, 3/21– current due date for final copy of memoir & self-reflection (Self and peer Check Lists – memoir writing)
• Friday, 3/21– current due date for novel project (Activity OPTIONS The House on Mango Street)

7th Grade– 

• Tuesday, 3/11– The Book Thief part nine (all) due
• Friday, 3/14– The Book Thief part ten & epilogue (all) due (The Book Thief Quote Notes & Questions -all)
• Friday, 3/21– current due date for final copy of memoir & self-reflection (Self and peer Check Lists – memoir writing)
• Friday, 3/21– current due date for novel project (Activity Options— book thief)

8th Grade–

• Wednesday, 3/19 — check point for research and notes (five sources and five note taking sheets minimum completed)

6th Grade House on Mango Street

Hi all–

Upcoming due dates & packet:

Tuesday, 3/11– Part 8 due (all)

Packet (all): THOMS packet NK

Activity options (all): Activity OPTIONS The House on Mango Street 

Work reminders Week of Feb 24th–

7th Grade– 
Part Eight work due Wednesday 3/5

6th Grade–
Complete Section Seven blog post & read section seven by Tuesday, 3/3

• Blog post topic: What parts of your life would you most like to escape?  Can you escape these elements at some point in your life?  If so, how?  If not, why not?

8th Grade–
Final copy of To Kill a Mockingbird essay due Friday, 2/28

6&7th Grade–

• Blocks I&III– peer-check (both the list and the chart) completed by next week’s writing class (Block I- Thursday, 3/6, Block III- 3/7).
• Block II– self-check (both the list and the chart) completed by the next writing class, Wednesday, 3/5

Everyone— Complete your yearbook page by this Friday, 2/28!

Just for fun: Everyone loves puns, right? Check these out.

Weekly Wrap 2/14

A productive but quiet week– missing the eighth graders! We made some great progress with the novels in both classes, and also spend some time working on adding detail and substance to our memoirs.

I hope you’re having an amazing mini break with your four days off– I went camping over the weekend and am getting back into the swing of school today with grading and giving feedback on drafts!

Work reminders–

6th Grade: Blog post about gender roles & expectations by Wednesday, 2/19— (here’s the prompt: 

• Should parents/guardians raise their teenage girls in the same way that they raise their teenage boys?  Why or why not?  What rules should be the same for girls and boys?  What should be different?  Do you have brothers, sisters, cousins, etc. who are treated differently from you because of gender?  Explain.)

7th Grade: Part Six work (vocab, quote notes, questions) done by Wednesday, 2/19 (here’s the link to download the packet again: The Book Thief packet Parts one- eight)

8th Grade: Get some sleep! Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday!

Just for fun– Better than flappy bird: Flappy Space Program

Weekly Wrap 2/9

Another busy literary week!

In sixth grade, we continued our reading and discussion of The House on Mango Street, focusing on when we feel free and trapped, and comparing our experiences with those of the narrator in the novel.

I enjoyed hearing about when students feel like they are in a state of flow and talking about how we can create that sense of being immersed in a task in our daily lives.

Both sixth and seventh grade choose their starter piece to develop into their memoir creative writing, and spent time adding detail and discussing how to make an impact with language choices.

In seventh grade, we continued our close reading of The Book Thief with a focus on building vocabulary, comprehension, and textural analysis. We have been learning vocabulary words that appear in the book, and we also spent some time building our vocabulary with the great game on freerice.com.

The novel uses a book within the book to demonstrate the development of relationships between characters, and we considered the power of images by drawing on our memories of childhood picture books.

In eighth grade, we focused on connecting quotes from the novel to characters and themes through a group brainstorm, which lead into our essay drafting process.

Students completed their first draft of their essay, and are now off to Costa Rica! When they return, we will look at editing and revising their writing into powerful final essays.

Looking forward to more work on our novel studies and honing our memoirs next week!

In case you’re looking for something to read, I thought this list of best books in 2013 was really fantastic– I’m trying to read ALL the young adult fiction, and I’ve added a lot of these to my holds list from the library:  http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/the-best-ya-books-of-2013