*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 creating their book trailers. See last two weeks’ information about this 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 7 student writing (“Should Stoller Middle School allow service dogs on campus?”), 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 Stoller Middle School allow therapy/service dogs on campus?”
- 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.
- 7th 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 Stoller Middle School allow therapy/service dogs on campus?”
- 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…
- Continued with the argumentative topic, “Should Stoller Middle School allow therapy/service dogs on campus?”
- Students worked with a partner and gathered facts, sorted and ranked facts, and created a graphic organizer for the side of the argument they will defend.
- Students practiced verbal debate and verbally argued the week’s topic with their partner.
- Next week, students will compose a “SURE Response” to the argumentative topic.
Week of 4/11-15 2016:
This week students…
- Began to explore the argumentative topic, “Should Stoller Middle School allow therapy dogs on campus?” (Note: This is not a topic that is actually being considered by the school — it is hypothetical.)
- Read closely the following articles to explore both sides of the issue:
- “Animal Influence” by Chris Hayburst from ReadWorks.org
- “Service dogs in the classroom pose a challenge for city’s public schools” from Silive.com
- “Dog helps stabilize autistic boy’s life, but Hillsboro school says not in the classroom” from OregonLive
- “Beaverton School District: Animals on District Property” (policy)
- Use post-it notes to track key facts for both sides of the issue
- Watch (1) video clip: Meet Lucie, Therapy Dog (3:52)
Week of 4/4-8 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
Personal Narrative: “The Chase” by Annie Dillard [Skill: Marking and annotating the text; Vocabulary; Responding to a text with a “SURE” answer] Week of 12/1 and 12/7
- Activity: Own the Word (vocabulary)
- Activity: S.U.R.E. answers
Article: “Is there a link between gratitude and happiness?” from How Stuff Works – Science [Skill: Practicing citing text in written responses using “S.U.R.E. answers”] Week of 11/23
Essay: “The Jacket” by Gary Soto [Skills: Figurative language; marking and annotating the text; citing the text in written responses using a “S.U.R.E.” answer.] Week of 11/16
- S: State the question in the answer
- U: Use examples
- R: Refer to the text
- E: Explain
Essay: “Tuning” by Gary Paulsen [Skill: Citing text as evidence using “SURE” answers] & “The Jacket” by Gary Soto [Skill: Close reading of a text using annotations; Sensory imagery]; Week of 11/9
Essay: “Tuning” by Gary Paulsen [Skill: Imagery and sensory description; charting the text]
Essay: “Showering With Spiders” – Finished activity from last week, focusing on imagery and figurative language; 11/2
Essay: “Showering With Spiders” by Clay McLeod Chapman [Skill: Micro-charting the text for imagery]; 10/27; 10/29 Career Information System activity in computer lab
Essay: “Greetings” by Sefa Mawuli from This I Believe [Skill: Examining author’s craft through perspective, tone, diction, and voice; Comparison of treatment of same topic by Mawuli and White essays; 10/13 and 10/15]
Essay: “The Power of Hello” by Howard White from This I Believe [Skill: Examining author’s craft through perspective, tone, diction, and voice, 10/6 and 10/8]
- Perspective | Tone | Diction | Voice Activity Sheet
- Self-Evaluation – Students reflected on their engagement and learning habits. If you were absent, please see your teacher to complete the self-reflection.
“Everyone’s a Superhero” from TIME Edge [Skill: Sketchnoting with Cornell Notes, 9/28, 9/30]
“Safe to Eat?” from TIME Edge [Skill: “What and So What” – Finding the Main Idea, 9/22 and 9/24]
“Life is Sweet, but we’re eating too much sugar” from Smithsonian TweenTribune [Skill: Boxes and Bullets — Finding the Main Idea, 9/16 and 9/18]
“Australian firefighters ‘happy to help’ in the Northwest” from Smithsonian TweenTribune [Skill: Marking the Text and Cornell Notes, 9/10 and 9/14]