We've had a few strange days because of teacher absences. They are probably just going to get stranger because I will be out on Tuesday and Wednesday. We ended up meeting just once on Monday and you had more time than usual to complete your literature circle work. Unfortunately, many people did not take advantage of this and were unprepared for Monday's meeting. I hope those of you struggling with due dates can turn this around before the end of the book.
I hope you liked your extra day off! Both Wednesday and Thursday are shorter ELA classes (for library and conferences), but we are going to start thinking about narrative writing. On Wednesday, we started by looking at WHY Eleven is a successful story. Being a good writer begins with being a good reader! You took some beginner's notes on personal narrative writing, but we quickly ran out of the time. On Thursday, we focused on a story called The Bike by Gary Soto. Your job was to look at this story as a personal narrative and to think what Soto did well. We will continue this work over the next few weeks.
Thursday and Friday of this week were literature circle days. Thursday's class was a bit different because meeting time was cut short. Instead of discussing with your entire group, you met with someone from the other group who had the same role. You also had a little longer to work because of the back-to-back meetings that were scheduled for this week. Friday ran as usual.
We are more than halfway through Eleven already. Can you believe it?! I can tell that you are enjoying this book from the interesting discussions we are having. Our next meeting will not be until NEXT Friday (1/25). We will have some writing lessons next week. Plus, it is a shortened week. Enjoy your long weekend! Today was a shortened class because of library. You completed the text structure work we started yesterday and then we reviewed the answers. You all did a really nice job applying these notes to your reading of Eleven. You had some time to work on your chapters for tomorrow. We will have two normal literature circle days to end our week.
Please remember to do your best when transitioning from specials. I spoke with all four advisories today about remembering what you can control (and that is yourself and your actions). Do your best to get your space cleaned up and your personal belongings ready to make it to your next class. Your teachers know you can do this! Today was a lesson day. We spent the class discussing text structure in literary texts. This basically means how stories (of all kinds, including movies and TV shows) are organized. You all did a nice job taking notes on sequence, alternating points of view, foreshadowing, parts of a whole, and flashback. After the news, you applied all of these terms to Eleven. Many of you worked with partners, but this was a choice. Tomorrow you have library. During the shortened ELA class, we will finish this work, check answers, and have time to prepare for Thursday's literature circle meeting.
These were our first two literature circle days for Eleven! Both days began with a Do Now (Friday was part two of Thursday's article and Monday your "hero voting" was revealed). We went into literature circle meetings with our new discussion routines. So far, so good! There was also a silent work time after our meetings. Let's keep up the good work!
Today we started our class by reading an article about a young girl who was in 6th grade on September 11th in NYC. This is part 1 of a two part Do Now assignment. You will finish the second part on Friday. We spent much of this class discussing discussions! This is strange, but we want to move towards a more authentic conversation during literature circles. I reminded you of our expectations and routines. Then, you got your materials and started your work! We've spent the past two days building background knowledge for our new unit. On Tuesday you investigated the concept of heroism AND became an expert about one well-known hero. Each of you was assigned an article about either Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Clara Barton, Jane Goodall, or Mother Teresa. On Wednesday you used your expertise about one of these people to teach the rest of your group about them. Then, we took a vote about who was "most heroic." You will hear the results by the end of this week. We switched gears on Wednesday to focus more on the tragic events of September 11th, 2001. Much of what we did involved video analysis and reflection, but I was impressed by your questions. I know the topic is sad, but much of what we talked about was the celebration of the hero's legacy. You all handled yourself with maturity and compassion. I am proud of all of you!
We've spent the last few days testing. Most people are done. Those of you still working will take time during Enrichment to finish this work. I will have feedback for you soon! After your assessment, many of you moved on to creating your own superhero. As we begin Unit 4, we will shift our focus to think about heroes. Often, the word "superhero" comes to mind. This will be a common idea throughout the next several weeks. You will get your new literature circle materials on Thursday!
WELCOME BACK! I hope everyone had an enjoyable break! Today was a library day, so our classes were a little shorter. We spent the entire class reviewing PEEL+. You read a story called "The Lost Dog" and worked to find strong evidence that supports the point that I provided for you. Tomorrow will be Part 1 of your Interim Assessment. You will have Part 2 on Friday. Part 1 will be all multiple choice, while Part 2 will be both multiple choice and PEEL+. I will return the PEEL+ that you are doing for homework tonight with a grade. You will be able to use this resource during Part 2 of your test.
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