The Future....

We began today's class with a discussion of the items we would include in a time capsule, to represent 2013.  We listed music, movies, clothes, electronics, photographs, election results, and fashion items, that we felt best represent our life and society today. 

We then read a short story called "The Choice" about a man who travels into the future.  We discussed the evidence presented to us in the story that he has traveled through time, and we had just began to talk about why the man would have chosen to not remember anything about the future.  We will continue this conversation next class.

Paragraph on Internet Safety Rules

We spent the last couple of classes reading and discussing an article on internet safety.  Students were asked to determine the three most important rules of internet safety, according to the article, and to share these with a few peers.

Then, we took a look at the importance of transition words and phrases when writing a paragraph, and to illustrate the importance of these words, we followed step by step instructions on how to build a paper airplane.  We noticed that words such as "first," "next," "after that" and "finally" really help clue us in to which step would come next.  After building the planes we had to test them out, so we had a little competition on the grass outside, to see whose plane could fly the farthest.

Finally, we began planning our paragraph, using an outline.  The outline forces us to think about the importance of providing support details for each support point.  So, it's not enough to present the three rules you think are most important... you must also say WHY they are important.  This evidence/explanation will make your paragraph stronger.

We will finish these paragraphs next class.

CSI: Fact or Fiction?

We finished watching the episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation today, and then we summarized the two victims' stories.  We discussed that the go-kart racer's death was accidental, even though at first it seemed suspicious.  The revenge killing of the gentleman in the "Dark Restaurant" was of interest to us... we thought it interesting that someone would kill out of revenge, but kill an innocent man to get back at the woman he was really angry with!

We then began brainstorming ideas for a paragraph on whether we think this episode is more fact, or more fiction, with respect to the crime scene investigation practices.  We spent time discussing whether all that happened in the gathering and analyzing of evidence could have actually happened, in real life.  We will begin writing our paragraphs next class.

Our Narratives are Complete!

We spent today's class putting the finishing touches on our narratives.  Most students were either typing on the computers in the classroom, or on the computers in the library.  I am excited to read what you have created!

I will return your narratives to you next week, with some feedback.  Enjoy your weekend!

And we're back!

Welcome back!  I hope you all had a restful, fulfilling Spring Break, and that you are energized and ready for the rest of the school year.  I'm sorry I have not done a good job keeping this blog updated.  I vow to update it every day from now until the end of the school year. 

Today, we began by writing "Six Word Spring Break Summaries" and then sharing them with the class.  It sounds like our Spring Break activities were quite varied: some people took it easy, and some people went on some great adventures!

We then used the first two chapters from a book called Street Pharm to learn how to make a double-entry journal.  I modeled for the class how to read and choose quotations from the book (recorded in the left column of the journal) and then respond to with my own thinking (recorded in the right column of the journal).  The double-entry journal is a great way for me to be able to see what you are thinking as you read.

After we completed a class double-entry journal for Street Pharm, students created their own journals for their Lit. Circle books.

Character Paragraphs

We spent more time today reading our novels.  One group has completed their book and has begun a second one.  Congratulations!

We then used the second half of today's class to work on our character paragraphs.  These will be completed and handed in on Tuesday.  Enjoy your weekend!

Writing about Character

Our groups are making great progress on their books.  In fact, one group has finished a book and is ready to begin a second one!  We spent the first half hour of today's class in our groups, continuing with our reading.

Then, students came back together and each student began writing a paragraph on a character from his/her book.  We had our character maps to guide us, as well as the paragraph we wrote as a class last day (the one about Danny, from Riding the Tiger).  Students will have time next class to complete this paragraph, if they weren't able to finish it today.