We had to stop everything to help prepare for Career Day today - Each LA teacher was given a day to work with students on a very large interest and skill survey. Students can always revise this at www.careercrusing.net.
Homework:
* Movie permission slip due Friday (it's on Edline if you "lost" yours)
* Independent reading process = Read 20 min each night, and post on the blog by Friday night each week.
* BRING something to read the next two days!
Monday, March 12, 2012
We made it! Today is the day we start typing our final papers for Phineas Gage. All of our hard work will make it's way into a document that can be shared with other students and they will help each other edit, using the editing sheet on the back of the rubric.
This work will take TWO days in class, to be sure to give students enough time to edit thoroughly before "turning in" the paper via GoogleDocs. (We're saving trees this time.)
Homework:
* Independent reading process = Read 20 min each night, and post on the blog by Friday night each week.
* BRING something to read on Thursday and Friday!
This work will take TWO days in class, to be sure to give students enough time to edit thoroughly before "turning in" the paper via GoogleDocs. (We're saving trees this time.)
Homework:
* Independent reading process = Read 20 min each night, and post on the blog by Friday night each week.
* BRING something to read on Thursday and Friday!
Friday, March 9, 2012
We're getting close to wrapping up our response to nonfiction essay... Today's Lesson 17 was about logical structure again - Writing Transitions and a Conclusion. We had a work session on writing transitions, and writing a conclusion. We are focusing on NOT writing "first, second, third," for transitions, and NOT just repeating what we've said throughout the essay for the conclusion. We focused on sophisticated transitions and thought-provoking conclusions.
Homework:
* Review the rubric for the response to nonfiction essay (found on Edline - will be handed out on Monday).
* Independent reading process - 60 min.
Homework:
* Review the rubric for the response to nonfiction essay (found on Edline - will be handed out on Monday).
* Independent reading process - 60 min.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Lesson 16 today was about Logical Structure - Revising and Writing the Introduction... We first reviewed strategies for writing leads, and then experimented with different ones. We then shared the beginning of many nonfiction pieces, to see how other writers used various leads.
Next, we went right into writing the introduction for our response to nonfiction essay. Our introductions included three items (see picture).
Homework:
* Independent reading process / 20 min.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
We experimented more with our writing today - Lesson 15 from Phineas Gage was "Adding Evidence From the Text and Experimenting with Paragraph Sequence and Logical Structure."
We revised once again! We then looked at a set of three paragraphs, and held a discussion on which paragraph should go first, second or third, and WHY. Students then had time to look at their own three ideas for their essay and "moved them around" to see which should be first, second, third, and WHY.
Homework:
* Independent reading process / 20 min.
We revised once again! We then looked at a set of three paragraphs, and held a discussion on which paragraph should go first, second or third, and WHY. Students then had time to look at their own three ideas for their essay and "moved them around" to see which should be first, second, third, and WHY.
Homework:
* Independent reading process / 20 min.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
We're getting into revision, preparing to write our final essay. The essay prompt will be: Explain three effects of Phineas Gage's accident. Be sure to include evidence from both texts that help show these effects in detail.
Today, Lesson 14 found us looking at a sample paper - response to nonfiction. We looked at the lead, the introduction, the claim, evidence, direct quotes, and the conclusion. We then looked back at the prompt from Lesson 13, and noticed where students bracketed their own writing. We then added more detail and another direct quote from the book or article for the revision assignment.
Homework:
* Independent reading process / 20 min.
Today, Lesson 14 found us looking at a sample paper - response to nonfiction. We looked at the lead, the introduction, the claim, evidence, direct quotes, and the conclusion. We then looked back at the prompt from Lesson 13, and noticed where students bracketed their own writing. We then added more detail and another direct quote from the book or article for the revision assignment.
Homework:
* Independent reading process / 20 min.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Today we finished Lesson 11 (Citing from Multiple Sources) and then went back and completed Lesson 12 - Analyzing and 
Writing Conclusions. (I wanted to move this so that we wrote our three effects first! It just seemed more natural that way...) We looked at word choice in conclusions. We read the last seven paragraphs of the Blakeslee article again, and filled in the chart here. We then did the same for Phineas Gage, reading the last five paragraphs.
When we were finished, we completed the bottom of the chart, which encouraged students to fill in their own ideas about their own conclusion.
Our prompt was narrative again (so it will only be graded for completion), and it was, "Think of a time when you did something that had a consequence, good or bad. Write about that time, including what you learned as a result of that action. Be sure to include a conclusion in which you show some details about what you learned in the course of writing your entry.
Homework:
* Read 20 min.
* Independent reading process.
Writing Conclusions. (I wanted to move this so that we wrote our three effects first! It just seemed more natural that way...) We looked at word choice in conclusions. We read the last seven paragraphs of the Blakeslee article again, and filled in the chart here. We then did the same for Phineas Gage, reading the last five paragraphs.When we were finished, we completed the bottom of the chart, which encouraged students to fill in their own ideas about their own conclusion.
Our prompt was narrative again (so it will only be graded for completion), and it was, "Think of a time when you did something that had a consequence, good or bad. Write about that time, including what you learned as a result of that action. Be sure to include a conclusion in which you show some details about what you learned in the course of writing your entry.
Homework:
* Read 20 min.
* Independent reading process.
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