What a week we've just gone through!
Since we'd finished Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, we wrote reflections about it - students had 20 choices about which to write! You'll find these on our student blogs (see tab above). In addition, we began the Global Read Aloud and read 74 pages of The One and Only Ivan! Ivan's "voice" is very much his own, and we can tell what type of silverback gorilla he is.
We had a visitor last week - Miss Tillander. She helped us figure out how to take notes for our monument projects in social studies. And, of course, we had Genius Hour on Monday. But I think students' most favorite part of the week was Thursday, when we completed the cardboard challenge set by Caine Monroy of Caine's Arcade. Students were productive, creative, and very cooperative! Some reflections from the day will be on our blogs, but students are turning them in in various forms. But you've GOT to see our video of the day! Enjoy the energy exuding from it!
Showing posts with label Wonder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wonder. Show all posts
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
This past week, we dove into Maya Angelou's "Sister Flowers," encountering our first challenging text of the year. Students recognized superb narrative writing in her story, and hopefully will be inspired to create more writing such as hers when we write in class. We did write two days this past week, and were able to share each of those days, and on Friday as well.
One thing we started this week (and will continue next week) was blogging about our community. Students were given one of four subjects (school, suburbs, economy, activities), and began to blog. We will be sharing our finalized blog posts with our Skype friends in Granville, IA, and will use them to share with other students around the globe when we connect.
Next week, we will continue to have Genius Hour on Monday (students are beginning to create their own goals for our 1-1 conferences!), and two days of narrative writing, along with two days of reading. We will be finishing Wonder (by R.J. Palacio) this coming week as well. Hopefully, our blog posts will be edited for content, grammar, and voice this week, so we can share them soon.
Coming up...
* Culture blog post editing
* Read each night (of course!)
* Whatever writing or analyzing of reading done in class should be finished at home
One thing we started this week (and will continue next week) was blogging about our community. Students were given one of four subjects (school, suburbs, economy, activities), and began to blog. We will be sharing our finalized blog posts with our Skype friends in Granville, IA, and will use them to share with other students around the globe when we connect.
Next week, we will continue to have Genius Hour on Monday (students are beginning to create their own goals for our 1-1 conferences!), and two days of narrative writing, along with two days of reading. We will be finishing Wonder (by R.J. Palacio) this coming week as well. Hopefully, our blog posts will be edited for content, grammar, and voice this week, so we can share them soon.
Coming up...
* Culture blog post editing
* Read each night (of course!)
* Whatever writing or analyzing of reading done in class should be finished at home
Sunday, September 9, 2012
What a busy week we had last week! Our first Genius Hour, a visit from the Author of Bystander, practicing how to use our readers' notebooks, starting our blogs (thanks to Mr. J.), and creating our bulletin board. Phew!
This coming week, we are once again going to have Genius Hour the first day. During this time, we'll see two more inspirational videos, and then Mrs. Kirr will have one-on-one conferences with students she didn't see last week. On Tuesday, we'll be practicing in our reader's notebooks again, and begin narrative writing. On Wednesday, we'll practice blogging on paper before we really get into our Kidblogs. Thursday, we'll write more narrative writing, and then get ready for our first classroom Skype call the next day. Friday, we'll start with a Skype call to an 8th grade classroom (block 2/3) or 7th grade classroom (5/6 and 8/10). We'll be talking about the book we've been reading aloud - Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, as those classes are reading it aloud, too! We'll also be celebrating International Dot Day this Friday. First we'll read The Dot by Peter Reynolds, then try to make our own mark in some fashion, or recognize those of others!
Remember, homework every day is to read for at least 20 min. Here's a preview of any additional work, in a simple format...
Monday - You'll need your book. Homework will be to write 1 to 2 paragraphs about something you are passionate about... something you could do all day, every day, and not even realize time had passed. It could be your favorite sport or hobby, or a topic that's of particular importance to you. Rough draft due Wednesday. Blogging and commenting contract is also due on Wednesday.
Tuesday - We should finish our work in class. Remember to read!
Wednesday - You'll need your 1 to 2 paragraph rough draft. We'll be reading each others' "blogs," and learning how to comment on them, as well. Remember to read for at least 20 min.
Thursday - Be thinking of what questions you would like to ask another class about Wonder.
Friday - Come with questions for our Skype session!
This coming week, we are once again going to have Genius Hour the first day. During this time, we'll see two more inspirational videos, and then Mrs. Kirr will have one-on-one conferences with students she didn't see last week. On Tuesday, we'll be practicing in our reader's notebooks again, and begin narrative writing. On Wednesday, we'll practice blogging on paper before we really get into our Kidblogs. Thursday, we'll write more narrative writing, and then get ready for our first classroom Skype call the next day. Friday, we'll start with a Skype call to an 8th grade classroom (block 2/3) or 7th grade classroom (5/6 and 8/10). We'll be talking about the book we've been reading aloud - Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, as those classes are reading it aloud, too! We'll also be celebrating International Dot Day this Friday. First we'll read The Dot by Peter Reynolds, then try to make our own mark in some fashion, or recognize those of others!
Remember, homework every day is to read for at least 20 min. Here's a preview of any additional work, in a simple format...
Monday - You'll need your book. Homework will be to write 1 to 2 paragraphs about something you are passionate about... something you could do all day, every day, and not even realize time had passed. It could be your favorite sport or hobby, or a topic that's of particular importance to you. Rough draft due Wednesday. Blogging and commenting contract is also due on Wednesday.
Tuesday - We should finish our work in class. Remember to read!
Wednesday - You'll need your 1 to 2 paragraph rough draft. We'll be reading each others' "blogs," and learning how to comment on them, as well. Remember to read for at least 20 min.
Thursday - Be thinking of what questions you would like to ask another class about Wonder.
Friday - Come with questions for our Skype session!
Saturday, September 1, 2012
What a first week of school in LA/LIT!
Genius Hour was introduced on Monday, we learned how to use our reader notebooks, and continued to build connections by reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio and creating reflections of Bystander to hang throughout the hallways at TMS for when James Preller comes to visit.
We were able to get our LMC orientation and Mr. Goldstein came to help inspire us to read about our passions, or even start a trend by reading a brand new book and spreading the word about it.
Next week, we'll be visited by James Preller, we will set up our blogs, we will begin writing, and we'll start off the week with Genius Hour, as will become the norm. If you haven't yet completed the Interest Survey, please click on it now!
Genius Hour was introduced on Monday, we learned how to use our reader notebooks, and continued to build connections by reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio and creating reflections of Bystander to hang throughout the hallways at TMS for when James Preller comes to visit.
We were able to get our LMC orientation and Mr. Goldstein came to help inspire us to read about our passions, or even start a trend by reading a brand new book and spreading the word about it.
Next week, we'll be visited by James Preller, we will set up our blogs, we will begin writing, and we'll start off the week with Genius Hour, as will become the norm. If you haven't yet completed the Interest Survey, please click on it now!
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