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