Working Toward Closure

This week and next students will be wrapping up in a couple of different ways.  First, we are finishing up our preparation for the ELA MCAS test which will take place on April 2 and 3.  Students worked on a practice essay, analyzed essay exemplars, and are taking the online practice test provided by the MA Department of Education.

Secondly, students are finishing up reading their nonfiction books and their final log is due on Wednesday.  On Thursday, they will begin preparing slide show presentations.  These will include an analysis of text features, author's purpose and point of view, and language.  Next week, after MCAS, students will present their slide shows so that they get a taste of each other's topics, and maybe are inspired to pick up another nonfiction book to read!

Homework:

Mon-Tue:  finish reading book; submit log 3 to google classroom (due WED)

Wed-Fri:  work on slide show as needed (you will work on these in class Thurs, Fri, Mon; presentations begin Thursday 3/4)

Nonfiction Slide Show

Signs of Spring!

Signs of spring were evident in my yard this weekend.  A flock of bluebirds was followed by a flock of robins flitting through bare branches and pecking in patches of grass emerging through the snow.  A small herd of deer gathered for a raucous game of chase that left large divets in the thawing earth and a pungent scent of zoo.  And a large owl has been stealthily perched on low lying branches, its head swiveling to scan for rodents waking from their winter's nap.

Spring is an exciting time at school, too.  We begin to see the home stretch and realize there is still so much to do.  We will glide into poetry next month, then set sail for ancient Greece in May.  But before those adventures take flight, we'll pass through the MCAS exam in the first week of April.  Students will engage in practice activity, this week with paper and next week with the online practice test.  That will familiarize them with the format and tools so they are ready to take the test the following week.

Besides the MCAS practice we are doing in class, students are reading their nonfiction books and writing their log responses for homework.  They are also playing with new vocabulary words; today they played "Sell It!" in which they worked with a partner to create an ad or infomercial for their word(s) in order to sell it/them to the class.  Next up...charades!

Homework:

Monday-Thursday:  read nonfiction book; LOG #3 due FRIDAY.; study vocab:  QUIZ Friday.

Friday:  read book...

Vocab quizlet

Exploring Author's Purpose and Perspective

Last Friday, students explored the meaning of "author's purpose" and considered purpose in The Giver, the "Shamwow!" infomercial, and an article on drones that they had read during our reading of The Giver.  Overall, they identified three main purposes of writing:  to persuade, to inform, and to entertain (remembered by the acronym PIE).  Students are now working in groups to create posters and radio ads aligned with a secret purpose.  Presenters will see how effectively they communicated their purpose as audience members attempt to guess at it.  Finally, students will be thinking about the author's purpose in their nonfiction books, as well as the author's perspective:  is it objective or biased and how do you know?

Students will be reviewing prepositions and prepositional phrases this week in preparation for a quiz on Thursday.  Quizlets to review and practice are linked below, and students can use their class activity sheets from last week as well.  Finally, students will be treated to a new vocabulary list later this week!

Homework:

Monday:  nonfiction reading log #1 due tomorrow!

Tuesday-Friday:  read; log work (next log due Monday 3/18)

Tuesday-Wednesday:  review for preposition quiz (use quizlets and class activity sheets from last week)


Preposition Quizlet #1

Preposition Quizlet #2

Switching Gears: Segue from Fiction to Nonfiction Reading

I hope that students enjoyed some down time during our snow day yesterday to play in the snow or just hang out.  I also hope that this found time helped them complete their Giver projects.  We've been enjoying a gallery walk through projects today.

This week we will segue from fiction to nonfiction reading.  Today we looked at differences between them as well as features they have in common.  Tomorrow, students will visit the library to choose a nonfiction book (or they may bring one from home if they have one waiting to be read!).  On Thursday, they will do a scavenger hunt in their books for nonfiction text features, and they will consider how each of these helps to convey information to the reader.  One aspect that students will be considering as they read their books is the author's purpose in writing it, and the author's perspective on the subject.  On Friday, students will engage in a mini-lesson to better understand author's perspective and viewpoint.

Students will be dividing their book into sections and completing reading logs four times throughout their reading.  For the logs, students will pull at least two quotes for which they write responses.   These will be submitted through Google Classroom.  After finishing their books, they will compose slide show presentations based on the unique features of their book.

Meanwhile, we continue to study prepositions and prepositional phrases leading up to a short quiz, perhaps later this week.

Homework:

Tuesday:  finish preposition activity; finish and turn in anything owed.

Wednesday:  finish scavenger hunt chart if needed; begin reading to make sure you like your book!

Thursday/Friday:  Read book; log #1 due: 3/12

Reading Log Due Dates

Prepositions and Projects

We have been reviewing uses of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs within the context of our vocabulary work.  This week we will take a close look at prepositions, those little words that pack a lot of responsibility in giving meaning to both oral and written language.  Students will hopefully come to understand the ways in which parts of speech function and work together to produce effective communication.

In lieu of a final test on The Giver, I would like students to engage in one final activity that is hopefully meaningful and interesting to them by which they can demonstrate their understanding, analysis, and interpretation of the novel.  I have suggested several options for a final assessment project, and they may work individually or with a partner.  The instruction handouts are linked below. 

This week will be a combination of work with prepositions and projects.  The final project is due next Tuesday, March 5.

Homework:

Monday:  brainstorm/makes notes for your project

Tuesday-Friday:  work on projects--due next Tuesday 3/5!

The Giver: Final Assessment

The Giver: Storyboard Instructions

The Giver final assessment rubrics

Writing to Learn and Learning to Write

This week we are exploring the difference between writing to learn and learning to write.  Students are coming to understand that writing can be a tool of thought and expression; that they can use writing to dive deeper into text.  Students are choosing a sticky note thought that they recorded during their reading of The Giver, and they are extending it into other areas of thought as a way of responding to the novel.  Thus, they are using writing as a tool to deepen their thinking and comprehension of the story, characters, elements of literature, and literary devices.  Before beginning their work on this, I led them through a model of my own sticky note and response to one of the short stories we had read.  We worked backward from the finished response to fill in the brainstorming web so that students could trace the way in which my thoughts shifted to new ideas.  The web and the finished response serve as a model for their own work.  After drafting their responses, students will practice learning to write by editing and revising their work.

In addition to our writing activity this week, we will engage, I'm sure, in lively discussions about the ending of The Giver.  We will examine parts of Lois Lowry's Newbery Award acceptance speech in which she explains some aspects of the story and characters.  Students will also be offered choices of follow up activities in which they can further express their understanding of the novel.

Homework:

Monday:  finish reading (or review) ending of book; finish web started in class

Tuesday:  finish web or review and add to it

Wednesday:  get a solid head start writing your response (use your brainstorming web to guide your writing!)

Thursday:  finish response draft

Friday:  HAPPY WINTER BREAK!  HAVE FUN!  (if you didn't finish your response, do so and submit to Google Classroom)


Giver Grammar: Editing for Punctuation

Response Writing Model

Response prompts in case you are stuck

Response editing checklist
Response Writing Rubric

We Join Jonas in the Race to the End

As Jonas races against time to execute his plan with The Giver, we can feel the urgency and sense the danger that lies ahead for him.  Students delved deeper into his experience of receiving memories by interpreting chapter 16 through a variety of lenses.  Today, super summarizers and language lovers, word wizards, amazing actors, illustrious illustrators, and super text sleuths presented their work to the class.  This multilayered activity fostered not only deeper comprehension of the text but speaking and listening skills as well.

We are on course to finish our reading of the novel this week (by next Monday).  Students are analyzing plot events, characters, and themes through collaboration and presentation of their answers to thought-provoking questions.  Next week students will embark on some wrap-up activities to further demonstrate their comprehension of this novel, including elements of fiction therein as well as genre and themes.

Homework:

Monday:  catch up on reading (through ch. 18); use sticky notes while reading...

Tuesday:  read ch. 19 

Wednesday:  read ch. 20

Thursday:  read ch. 21

Friday:  read ch. 22-end!