We are kicking off the week with a new list of vocabulary words. Students have recorded them in their binders, and there is a link below to a deck set on quizlet. In addition to the activities we do with the words in class, students can use quizlet to study and play games with the words.
Tomorrow we will read a short story by O. Henry titled "After Twenty Years". It has a little twist at the end that spurs the reader to think about the characters and issues of loyalty and friendship. Students will work in small groups to examine setting and tone, characterization, foreshadowing and the twist ending, and themes, and they will present their findings to the class.
Students will take a benchmark test three times this year to help me monitor their growth and progress with ELA concepts. The test was created by ELA Department faculty, and it mirrors MCAS/Parcc style. This is not only good test-taking practice for students, but teachers use the benchmark data to inform their instruction. These scores will not be inputted into Aspen nor counted towards students' report card grades; they are merely informational for teachers. That being said, I plan to administer the first session of the test on Thursday.
As I read students' reading responses this weekend, I was pleased to see that, for the most part, they seem to be enjoying their choice novels. They also demonstrated in their responses that they understand the difference between summary and response, as well as the elements of fiction. The icing on the cake for me was that many students wrote about the author's use of language--and words from vocabulary list #1 were popping up, too!
Homework:
Monday: read w/sticky notes; response #2 due Wed.
Tuesday: response #2 due tomorrow (preferably typed)
Wednesday: read w/sticky notes; bring choice book in tomorrow
Thursday: read w/sticky notes
Friday: read w/sticky notes; next response due Tuesday 10/10
Quizlet: Vocab list #2
