*Note: If there is not a link to an article, it is because it is not readily available online. If absent, students may request a hardcopy of these articles in class.
Semester 2:
Week of 6/6-10 2016:
This week students…
- Continued with creating their book trailers. See the last two weeks’ information about the final project.
Week of 5/31 – 6/3 2016:
This week students…
- Continued with creating their book trailers. See last week’s information on the final project.
Week of 5/22-26 2016:
This week students…
- Continued gathering photos for our culminating book trailer project, focusing on theme in a work of fiction. The trailers are also a way for students to share a book they really enjoyed, spreading the love of reading.
- Student previewed our BookTalk site (requires BSD login to view), which is where finished trailers will be posted.
- Book trailers are due June 10th, Friday.
Week of 5/16-20 2016:
This week students…
- Started the culminating book trailer project focusing on theme in a work of fiction.
- Students learned about copyright for the education environment, including accessing public domain and creative commons resources.
“Get Creative” from the folks at Creative Commons (6:37)
- Students started collecting photos and building their storyboards, accessing all resources from our Google Classroom. (See Mrs. Blattner for the Google Classroom code.)
- Photo sources:
Week of 5/9-13 2016:
This week students…
- Finished examining samples of Grade 8 student writing (“Should football continue as a high school sport?”), using the I.C.E. checklist (introduce, cite, and explain) for embedding text quotes in your writing.
- Semester Assessment: Students completed the semester assessment on drawing conclusions from a text and citing textual evidence to support claims. Please see Mrs. Blattner if you were absent.
Week of 5/2-6 2016:
This week students…
- Scored and gave peer feedback on SURE responses to “Should football continue as a high school sport?”
- Constructed rules and tips for embedding and citing text quotes as evidence in writing.
- Used the I.C.E. checklist (Introduce, Cite, and Explain) to examine sample passages of Grade 7 student writing.
- 8th Grade Writing Samples — Put Your Quotes on I.C.E. (Activity Sheet)
- Burger Quotes (Guide to embedding text quotations)
Week of 4/25-28 2016:
This week students…
- Composed SURE responses for the topic, “Should football continue as a high school sport?”
- Mrs. Blattner collected all supporting materials for the argumentative writing.
- Reflected on their progress in Enrichment class this semester.
- Participated in a book chat on the genre “memoir” with our librarian, Ms. Anderson. Students had an opportunity to check out books.
Week of 4/18-22 2016:
This week students…
- Constructed a graphic organizer, ranking and sorter the side of the issue they will defend: “Should football continue as a high school sport?”
- Students practiced verbal debate with a partner.
- Students verbally defended their side of the issue.
- Students composed a “SURE Response” to the issue at-hand, supporting their ideas with facts and text quotes.
Week of 4/11-15 2016:
This week students…
- Explored the argumentative topic “Should football continue as a high school sport?”
- Read closely the following articles:
- “Hard Hit” by Kirsten Weir from ReadWorks.org
- “Study shows positive results for Heads Up Football youth program” from USA Today
- Used post-it notes to gather facts on both sides of the issue
- Watched and took notes (post-its) the following videos to inform our understanding of issue:
- CNN: “High School Football Player Andre Smith Dies of in Illinois” (1:53)
- KBOI Channel 2, Idaho: “Tackling Concussions: Coaches teaching kids to play ‘Heads Up‘” (3:44)
Week of 4/48-8 2016:
This week students…
- Composed “level 3” questions for their article of choice.
- Responded in writing to their “level 3” questions.
- Use the “S.U.R.E.” checklist to include the following in their text response:
- State the question in the answer
- Use several examples (at least 2)
- Refer to the text (1 text quote)
- Explain (explain text quite and how it is relevant)
- The S.U.R.E. Way Checklist
Week of 3/28-4/1 2016: Welcome Back!
This week students…
- Closely read an article of their choice, and then composed (2) questions reflection each level of “Costa’s Questioning”
- Completed Reading Logs and participated in a class book chat activity. Students will turn in logs early next week, once they have a chance to find a few book titles at the library on their own.
Week of 3/14-18 2016:
This week students…
- Continued with Cornell Notes for the Flint, MI texts
- Learned about Costa’s Levels of Questioning and Thinking
- Collected all Flint, MI materials: Blue notes pages (multimedia texts); Costa’s Levels of Questioning (superhero painting activity); Cornell Notes; Original text article
Week of 3/7-3/10 2016:
This week students…
- Finished chunking the article “How tap water became toxic in Flint, MI“
- Added 4 additional “texts” to the subject matter of Flint’s water crisis. We practiced taking notes and chunking these multimedia texts:
- Reviewed format for Cornell Notes and began organizing and synthesizing notes from multiple sources on the Flint, MI water crisis, using the Cornell Notes format, beginning with the notes column only.
Week of 2/29-3/3 2016:
This week students…
- Read, marked, annotated, and chunked the article “How tap water became toxic in Flint, MI“
Week of 2/22-26 2016:
This week students…
- read articles in small groups, based on their interests.
- practiced marking and annotating the text, with a focus on CHUNKING the text
- turned in the marked text, “Superman and Me” for a classwork score.
- were assigned a Reading Log, which is due 3/28.
Week of 2/15-19 2016:
This week students…
- practiced marking and annotating the text
- responded to an essay using evidence from the text
- Resources: “Superman and Me” [essay] by Sherman Alexie and Marking and Annotating the Text Guide
Week of 2/8-2/9 2016:
This week students…
- took a benchmark assessment that measure students’ abilities to draw conclusions from a text and cite relevant evidence to explain and support ideas. (Note: If you were absent, you can make up the assessment during class.)
Week of 2/1- 2/5 2016:
This week students…
- played some icebreaker games to get to know each other and our classroom community.
- participated in a brainstorming process to identify and create reading themes, which will be the basis for non-fiction article content and “reading groups” this semester.
- participated in daily SSR (silent sustained reading)
- logged their reading in their planners (daily!) — Planner checks occur weekly!
Semester 1:
Book Review: Students are writing a book review for our student, co-authored web site, BookTalk, which will be a book review site for the Stoller Middle School community. We will be meeting in the U2 Computer Lab next week. This is our culminating project for semester 1. (1/4-20)
- BookTalk – Book Review Format
- The Giver – Sample Book Review
Book Review: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling,” review by Michael Winerip, The New York Times, February 14, 1999 [Skill: Identifying structure of a critique in preparation for writing own book review] Week of 12/14/15
Op-Ed Article: Students’ Choice — Students chose ONE op-ed article to read from The New York Times 2015 Essay Contest winners. [Skill: chunk and chart text; identify loaded words and how they function as persuasive technique] Week of 12/7
Op-Ed Article: “Why we stayed up until midnight finishing this editorial” by Jean Z, Sarah X, and Gjeorgjinio B from The New York Times Annual Student Editorial Content, Top 10 Winners, 2015 [Skills: Chunk and chart op-ed article structure; Cornell notes on “How to write an editorial”] 11/20 and Weeks of 11/23 and 12/1
- “How to write an editorial” by Andy Rosenthal, editor of the editorial column, The New York Times (scroll down page to access video)
- Chart and Chunk Op-Ed Article – Activity Sheet
- Video: “Hackschooling makes me happy” by Logan LaPlante (11:13), Tedx Talk
- Students wrote a response to the op-ed article, offering their suggestions for either “fixing the system” or their viewpoint on why things are not as stressful as this op-ed pieces makes them out to be.
Essay: “Is Harry Potter Evil?” by Judy Blume from The New York Times [Skills: Marking and annotating the text; analyze another form of argumentative writing; citing the text in written responses using “S.U.R.E.” answers]; Week of 11/16
- S: State the question in the answer
- U: Use examples
- R: Refer to the text
- E: Explain
Essay: “Banning Books-An Un-American Act” by Sarah Darer Littman [Skill: Chunking and charting text for persuasive essay – finished]; Week of 11/9
Essay: “Banning Books-An Un-American Act” by Sarah Darer Littman [Skill: Chunking and charting text for persuasive essay]; Week of 11/2 – Note: On Thursday, students heard presentation from librarian on challenged and banned books and checked out a book.
Essay: “Showering With Spiders” by Clay McLeod Chapman [Skill: Micro-charting the text for imagery]; 10/26, 10/28, 10/30
Essay: “Creative Solutions to Life’s Challenges,” by Frank X. Walker from This I Believe [Skill: Examining the authors craft through perspective, tone, voice, and diction; Compare/Contrast treatment of theme “creativity” in both the Walker and Gates essays and in Robinson’s TedTalk; 10/12 and 10/14; 10/15 (Sir Ken Robinson’s TedTalk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?“)]
Essay: “Unleashing the Power of Creativity,” by Bill Gates from This I Believe [Skill: Examining the author’s craft through perspective, tone, voice, and diction, 10/5 and 10/7]
- Perspective | Tone | Diction | Voice Activity Sheet
- Self-Evaluation: Students reflected on their learning and student habits. If you were absent, please see your teacher for the self-evaluation.
“It’s Time to Get Serious About Reducing Food Waste, Feds Say” from NPR’s The Salt [Skill: Sketchnoting With Cornell Notes, 9/29, 10/1]
“Handcuffed for Making Clock, Ahmed Mohamed, 14, Wins Time With Obama” from The New York Times [Skill: “What? And So What?” – Finding the main idea, 9/21, 9/23]
“Scientists and volunteers track trash in the ocean” from Smithsonian TweenTribune [Skill: Boxes and Bullets, Finding the main idea, 9/15, 9/17]
“Apparently, you shop like your parents” from Smithsonian TweenTribune [Skill: Marking the text, 9/9 and 9/11]