Welcome to the new school year... It seems as though time is flying by. The focus for september was to establish our reading habits and goals. Though students count the pGES THEY READ IN CLASS AS PART OF THEIR WEEKLY READING GOAL, SOME READING OUTSIDE OF CLASS IS REQUIRED TO MEET A WEEKLY GOAL OF 150 PAGES.
Students are busy scouring their NOVELS looking for the vocabuLARY words we have studied used in context. a handful of students noticed some vocabulary and root words we studied on the nWEA test. It is refreshing to see students use these words in their writing as well.
Our first unit of study is short story and we have been busy reading and analyzing many stories for their literary elements and use of writer's craft. We have read ten stories and studied Character types, characterization, character motivation, character change, irony, tone and mood, and theme. The next step is to take what we have gleaned and write our own short story. So far we have planned out a couple of ideas and will soon be drafting.
#living the dream Last friday, our classroom was transformed to a next gen model to support a two week mini project we are working on. The project consists of working ith the 4C's (communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.) Students had a small taste of the 4C's the first week of school when they worked with small groups to take on the cup challenge. Now we are again working in small groups to take a short story we read and class and create a "short story" trailer. so far groups and story's have been selected and last friday we pRACTICED CREATING SHORT TRAILERS USING DIFFERENT APPS. EACH GROUP BECAME AN EXPERT WITH THEIR ASSIGNED APP AND PRESENTED THEIR TRAILER TO THE CLASS, AND DISCUSSED THE FEATURES AD BENEFITS OF USING SAID APP. THE SUBJECT WAS "THE BEST WAY TO EAT AN OREO" AND THE FINISHED PRODUCTS WERE TREMENDOUS.
We are in need of tissues. Donations would be greatly appreciated.