Week 11/27-12/1

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing time with family and friends last week! The next few weeks are going to be busy as we close out the end of the semester (we have only 18 more school days until winter break--it is crazy how time flies).

This week, students will research and plan for their Holocaust Hero's Journey Illustrated Research-Based Narrative (that is a mouthful!). This in-class project will span from now until the end of the semester with checkpoints throughout (all dates are in Parent Portal). Students will be expected to write an illustrated narrative essay that follows the hero's journey archetype and brings a voice to a fictional hero from the Jewish Holocaust. They will need to incorporate cited evidence from their research and include images that capture the overall theme of the narrative (for each part of the hero's journey). Students will be allowed to work with a partner of their choice or they can choose to work alone--each narrative will be graded as a whole (if they choose to work with a partner, they will each receive the same grade).

Monday
Holocaust Research/Hero's Journey Outline
Tuesday
Holocaust Research/Hero's Journey Outline
Wednesday
Holocaust Research/Hero's Journey Outline Due
Holocaust Hero's Journey Illustrated Research Narrative: Departure
Thursday
Holocaust Hero's Journey Illustrated Research Narrative: Departure
Friday
Holocaust Hero's Journey Illustrated Research Narrative: Departure
AR Log Check (Log-5 entries/Signature)
*Students need to be reading an AR book that has a reading level of 3.5+ for 30 minutes 5 nights per week. Students need to earn 35 points at every checkpoint (12/13, 03/14, and 05/30). Please see the AR Log for more information. GOOD NEWS: Students only need to complete the front side to take an AR quiz!

Week 11/20-11/24

Last week, students completed their Hero Definition Essays and reflected on the process. I have enjoyed reading these essays for multiple reasons: 1) the growth that I have seen in their writing is AMAZING, 2) many of the students chose to write about their families as their personal heroes (I hope they share them with you or have shared them with you), and 3) their true personality was able to come out in this essay a little bit more than the previous two essays. You can check out their essays and their reflections on their blogs by clicking here!

I have left comments for the students in Google Classroom as a private comment for what their next writing steps should be and the main focus to improve their future essays. Please click here to see exemplar essays from the following students: 1) Annelise, 2) Madi, 3) Sharleen, 4) Sajda, 5) Julianna, 6) AnnMarie, 7) Shayla, 8) Erin, 9) Danielle, 10) Tanisha, 11) Melissa, 12) John, 13) Briana, and 14) Payten (these are not in any particular order, but all of these students met or exceeded the standard on this essay).

Since this was not a guided essay, students that did not meet the standard that they intended to meet are able to redo the essay using this sheet. The redo will be due Wednesday, November 29 to Google Classroom (resubmit essay) and turn in a paper copy of the filled out redo sheet.

Happy Thanksgiving
No School 11/20-11/24

Week 11/13-11/17

Last week, students wrote their Hero Definition Essay during class and received both peer and teacher feedback to improve their writing during the draft process.

This week, students will peer edit their essays in groups of four and then conduct a final revision of their writing before turning it on on Tuesday, November 14 by 11:59 p.m. The rest of the week, students will share and reflect on their essay by posting it to their blogs, commenting on the writing of students in other periods, and reflecting on the writing process via FlipGrid. I will hopefully have these essays assessed by the time of the next blog posting--if not, I will finish assessing them during Thanksgiving break.

Monday
Peer Edit and Self-Reflection: Hero Definition Essay (Groups of 4)
Tuesday
Self Editing/Revising HyperDoc: Hero Definition Essay (Due by 11:59 p.m.)
Wednesday
Share and Comment: Hero Definition Essay
Thursday
Reflection Script/Video: Hero Definition Essay
Friday
Reflection Script/Video: Hero Definition Essay
AR Log Check (Log-5 entries/Signature)
*Students need to be reading an AR book that has a reading level of 3.5+ for 30 minutes 5 nights per week. Students need to earn 35 points by every checkpoint (12/13, 03/14, and 05/30). Please see the AR Log for more information. GOOD NEWS: Students only need to complete the front side to take an AR quiz!

Week 11/6-11/10

Last week, we discussed the concept of a "hero" in order to prepare for the definition essay that students will write this week. This essay is all about defining the concept and using personal, historical, and fictional heroes to prove the definition that they have constructed. If students didn't finish the outline on Friday, they had homework this weekend. It would be great if you could look at their outline and ask clarifying questions--what does this mean? why did you choose this person? why did you choose to focus on this example? how does that make this person a hero? how does that prove the definition you outlined in your thesis? These are all analytical questions that should get students thinking about adding more commentary to their writing in order to prove their conceptual definition of what a "hero" is to their audience.

Students will write the rough draft of the essay from their completed outline. This is not a guided essay; therefore, students will have the opportunity, on their own time, to make corrections to their essays and resubmit, if they do not reach the standard and/or earn the grade that they want. The final essay will be due Tuesday, November 14 at midnight. 

Monday
Definition Essay: What Is A Hero?
Tuesday
Definition Essay: What Is A Hero?
Wednesday
Definition Essay: What Is A Hero?
Thursday
Definition Essay: What Is A Hero? Due Monday--Beginning of Class
AR Log Check (Log-5 entries/Signature)
*Students need to be reading an AR book that has a reading level of 3.5+ for 30 minutes 5 nights per week. Students need to earn 35 points by every checkpoint (12/13, 03/14, and 05/30). Please see the AR Log for more information. GOOD NEWS: Students only need to complete the front side to take an AR quiz!
Friday
Veteran's Day Observed