Hello!
We are back from Thanksgiving Break and continuing with Phineas Gage. For homework on Tuesday, they had a concept circle activity to practice summaries. This week students have worked on identifying text structures in nonfiction texts and explaining why authors utilize them. I have collected reading logs and response entries from the past week. Today they recieved details for their Independent Book Project. For most students, they are using their fiction book. They will write a book review (Due Dec 8) and select 1 of 4 mini projects (Due Dec. 13). Details are attached to this post. This week we will also select a question for their research paper. To help them decide an area of focus, they have an article about the brain to read and answer questions on. This is assigned Wednesday and will be used in class on Thursday.
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For homework this week, students have recieved an independent reading packet. They should work on finishing their independent reading books by next Monday. Over this next week, they need to read 5 times. Each time they read, they should jot down the pages they read and then answer one of the response questions. These notes will help them when they complete their Quarter 2 book review. In class, we are working on close reading skills by solving various cases. We'll return to the case of Phineas Gage in the next weeks. Enjoy the time off!
Hello everyone!
It was wonderful to see so many of you at Report Card Conferences on Wednesday. My appologies for the lines that started to develop. If you were unable to attend the conference or if a line kept you from meeting me (or any other teacher), please feel free to reach out via phone or email. Many of you expressed interest in getting more information moving forward regarding homework and projects. I will use my weebly site (msapgarlanguagearts,weebly,com) to post regular updates. I will continue to send emails around projects and other due dates. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me. Email will often get you the quickest response, but I am available by phone as well (Just call the school!) We are a few weeks into marking period 2. In class we have wrapped up The Lightning Thief, completed our personal narratives, and spent a lot of time on readers' workshop. We've spent time over the past week, reading books of our choice and practicing various strategies. Students will write another book review on this independent book later in December. Right now they should continue to read the book at home. A strategy we have discussed is using sticky notes to mark areas where they have questions or notice something important. I will send a follow up email when the direction sheet is sent home! (Look for it after Thanksgiving). We are also moving into non-fiction. We have spent time this week on several brainstorming activities and working on strategies for content-specific vocabulary. Our CORE text, Phineas Gage: a True but Gruesome Story Behind Brain Science involves a lot of scientific terms. We'll read the book in class, but there will be several extention activities sent home. Tonight, (Thursday, Nov. 16), they will have an assignment called Inquiring Minds Want to Know. It is another brainstorming activity getting them to think about how the brain works. For the weekend, they should continue to read their indpendent books! Progress reports will be sent home in early December. I will send a more specific date shortly. Please let me know if you have any questions! |
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