This has been an exciting week. Challenging, but exciting. We have partnered with Ms. Heineman's Social Studies class since the students are writing essays in both classes to explore and attempt a variety of introductions. Yesterday, while my classes hosted Ms. Holland, the counselor, for one of her lessons, I taught with Ms. Heineman. Today, our classes went to the library together and had a combined seminar-like class. Both days we explored the value of essay beginnings, looked at several examples and then attempted several different kinds of beginnings on our own.
If you talk to your student about their essay beginning, I bet they will tell you it was hard to write. They should also be able to tell you why essay beginnings are so important. We discussed how some employers will ask applicants to write an essay as part of the interview process and as students apply for scholarships and to colleges, writing strong essays will be important too. Students seemed to know all of these facts, however the realization that their writing didn't just have to be good to be accepted did not appear to come as easily. We explained to the classes how their essays would have to stand out as exemplar so they would be accepted over the numerous other candidates applying for the same positions or scholarships.
Once this was realized, students understood why the development of their introduction paragraph was so important. In groups, we explored numerous examples of essays to study how the authors developed their beginnings. Students chose three or four of their favorite beginnings and modeled their essay beginnings after these. Once students had several different beginnings, they chose the one they liked the best, the one that made them want to write more.
I watched as students went from confused, to trying, to frustrated and ready to quit and then to persistence. With a little encouragement and feedback, students kept writing and rewriting until...THEY GOT IT! They were so happy and proud of themselves. It truly has been two days of repeated confirmation of why my job is so amazing.
I realize that some students may still be struggling with the concept or exactly how to write a strong and interesting beginning. I will continue to work with them on the essay for my class as we revise and edit. I fully expect that one to be much easier because the writing piece is about themselves. Please ask your child about the essay beginning they have for Social Studies. I am sure they would love to talk about the experience they had today.
I wanted to give a few shout outs: Calah S., I know you were frustrated and ready to give up. I am so proud of your effort. I think you came up with some good writing today. Nakayla, I was very impressed and could tell just how hard you worked when you asked me to read your introduction and told me, "I'm kinda loving it." Jordan D., your intro was so strong that I want a copy of it for an example for next year. There are so many more of you who impressed me with your efforts and hard work today. Hold your heads high...you guys did something great today.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
We Changed Directions
Technology is a wonderful thing when it works, but when it doesn't, well you have to do your best. We were going to go on to non-fiction summarization and post reading strategies, but our Promethean board has decided to take a mini-vacation, so we are changing plans slightly until it can be repaired.
I moved up our personal narrative/writing process unit so we could move forward. We will come back around to the summarization lessons once we can use the Promethean and all of the activities I had already planned that utilize the technology available to us. (In other words, I worked hard on the lessons we were going to do and I am excited to see how the kids like them and the technology played a big role in those lessons.) So, that means that students should be talking about their past experiences with reading and writing instead of summarizing things they have read.
They may appreciate a few reminders of what they were like as beginning readers, so they have more material to work with. Tomorrow I will be checking to see if they have made some progress on their rough draft as Mrs. Holland, the counselor is in doing her lesson. I will also make sure that everyone is caught up with everything. Later this week students may ask to interview you about their progress as a reader and writer has been from a parent's perspective. This will help them add more specific details to their writing. for a good example of what students will be writing, please check out the amazing short selection written by Alexis on her blog, Alexis soccer girl 15. Her piece is titled, "The First Time I Wrote my Name".
Homework:
Read 30 minutes and work on the literary history rough draft.
Parents:
Don't forget to sign up for parent/teacher conferences October 13th-15th. Call Mrs. Kroll in the 7th grade office at 953-7532 to schedule.
I moved up our personal narrative/writing process unit so we could move forward. We will come back around to the summarization lessons once we can use the Promethean and all of the activities I had already planned that utilize the technology available to us. (In other words, I worked hard on the lessons we were going to do and I am excited to see how the kids like them and the technology played a big role in those lessons.) So, that means that students should be talking about their past experiences with reading and writing instead of summarizing things they have read.
They may appreciate a few reminders of what they were like as beginning readers, so they have more material to work with. Tomorrow I will be checking to see if they have made some progress on their rough draft as Mrs. Holland, the counselor is in doing her lesson. I will also make sure that everyone is caught up with everything. Later this week students may ask to interview you about their progress as a reader and writer has been from a parent's perspective. This will help them add more specific details to their writing. for a good example of what students will be writing, please check out the amazing short selection written by Alexis on her blog, Alexis soccer girl 15. Her piece is titled, "The First Time I Wrote my Name".
Homework:
Read 30 minutes and work on the literary history rough draft.
Parents:
Don't forget to sign up for parent/teacher conferences October 13th-15th. Call Mrs. Kroll in the 7th grade office at 953-7532 to schedule.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
SchoolTube - Wish You Were Dead by Todd Strasser
This is a very cool, very current book that highlights web safety and the various impacts of current social technology.
SchoolTube - Wish You Were Dead by Todd Strasser
SchoolTube - Wish You Were Dead by Todd Strasser
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Helping Your Kids at Home
I have had a couple of parents ask how they can help their student be successful. I wanted to share the information with everyone, because what I have learned this week is very cool. There have been changes made to Tungsten that will facilitate your efforts to be an involved and supportive parent in a more content specific manner.
1) Tungsten has changed the format to a Web Based system called eValuate. This means that you can now access completed tests from home and review them with your child. This will show you their score for the month, allow you to review the test and discuss their answer choices with them and analyze their data personal strand data.
2) The personal strand data will show you your child's content strengths and weaknesses. You will be able to determine what their struggling points are in both reading and math. From there, you can ask the teachers or even research strategies for helping your child in these areas. Students in my class will become very accustomed to using this data to improve their learning as the year progresses.
3) To access this information you go to https://assessments.edisonlearning.com/ where you will be prompted to enter a user name a password. All students should know this information. If they do not, please send the teacher an e-mail and they will be able to provide it to you.
When working with your students on improving their performance there are a few key strategies that have proven helpful in the classroom that I would like to share with you. Reminding students to set small, realistic goals, this gives them the opportunity to see improvement and feel success which builds up their confidence. Make goals specific. A goal such as, "I want to do better," doesn't give the student an idea of what they need to know and do to make this goal happen. Goal statements that are more like, "This month I want to increase my score by 5% by rereading the text before I answer the questions," is a lot more specific and will help the student focus their efforts. Students can also set goals based on a certain strand they are struggling with. "This month, I will practice summarizing a text so I can increase my performance on the summarizing questions by 10%." These goals give the student something tangible to work with to increase their learning and performance.
Please let me know if you need any additional support or information as you explore this learning tool with your students. As a parent, I've been playing with my son's Tungsten. We had a great discussion about his choices last night and he now wishes I didn't know how to get to this information because these conversations will happen often.
Homework: Read 30 minutes. Students in 4th and 5th block are still working with vocabulary words from last week. They need to study for the test on Friday. The words are noble, insinuate, integrate, eloquent, shrewd and cynical.
1) Tungsten has changed the format to a Web Based system called eValuate. This means that you can now access completed tests from home and review them with your child. This will show you their score for the month, allow you to review the test and discuss their answer choices with them and analyze their data personal strand data.
2) The personal strand data will show you your child's content strengths and weaknesses. You will be able to determine what their struggling points are in both reading and math. From there, you can ask the teachers or even research strategies for helping your child in these areas. Students in my class will become very accustomed to using this data to improve their learning as the year progresses.
3) To access this information you go to https://assessments.edisonlearning.com/ where you will be prompted to enter a user name a password. All students should know this information. If they do not, please send the teacher an e-mail and they will be able to provide it to you.
When working with your students on improving their performance there are a few key strategies that have proven helpful in the classroom that I would like to share with you. Reminding students to set small, realistic goals, this gives them the opportunity to see improvement and feel success which builds up their confidence. Make goals specific. A goal such as, "I want to do better," doesn't give the student an idea of what they need to know and do to make this goal happen. Goal statements that are more like, "This month I want to increase my score by 5% by rereading the text before I answer the questions," is a lot more specific and will help the student focus their efforts. Students can also set goals based on a certain strand they are struggling with. "This month, I will practice summarizing a text so I can increase my performance on the summarizing questions by 10%." These goals give the student something tangible to work with to increase their learning and performance.
Please let me know if you need any additional support or information as you explore this learning tool with your students. As a parent, I've been playing with my son's Tungsten. We had a great discussion about his choices last night and he now wishes I didn't know how to get to this information because these conversations will happen often.
Homework: Read 30 minutes. Students in 4th and 5th block are still working with vocabulary words from last week. They need to study for the test on Friday. The words are noble, insinuate, integrate, eloquent, shrewd and cynical.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Vocab Masters
Today we really attacked these vocabulary words. Students utilized context clues to help them figure out what the words meant. At no point have they been allowed to look the words up in the dictionary or thesaurus and yet they should know at least three other words that mean the same thing as the vocab word. These kids are also learning that they are smarter than they thought. Camille had an amazing moment today when she connected the prefix inter- with the word integrated to figure out that it meant within or together. This was so very cool! I think she stood a little taller the rest of the day after that one. Other students in all the classes put their Science vocab to good use when we were talking about the word insinuate. They said it means to hypothesize. I was so proud of them for applying their knowledge from another class. We will be predicting and questioning tomorrow and Friday we will read The Noble Experiment, the story of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey. There is also a vocab test on Friday over our six words.
Homework: Read 30 minutes and complete the Shabooya Raps
Homework: Read 30 minutes and complete the Shabooya Raps
Monday, September 13, 2010
Previewing
Today we explored the use of previewing a text before reading it. All week we will look at the different pre-reading strategies that strong readers use when they approach a new text. Today we looked at how the special features of a text help us make some determinations about the content of the text before we even read it. This really wasn't so hard once we realized how much we could learn from just a few captions.
When you see your child begin to read a new non-fiction text, ask them what they think it is going to be about. If they can't tell you, they are not ready to begin reading it. They should look at the headings, maps, captions, graphs, pulled-out text, bold type and other highlighted texts. Then they should be able to give you an idea of what they are about to read. Doing this will help them begin to think of questions, make predictions and connect the text to any background they have about the topic.
We have begun exploring new vocabulary words. We won't learn definitions exactly; we will focus more on synonyms of the new words. We do this because it is easier to learn a word faster if you attach it to a word you already know. Students will know how to correctly use the new words through this strategy as well.
Here are our words for this week: noble, insinuate, cynical, eloquence, integrated, and shrewd.
Homework is to read for 30 minutes. Check out our blogs! The kids are creating some great stuff independently and would love feedback.
When you see your child begin to read a new non-fiction text, ask them what they think it is going to be about. If they can't tell you, they are not ready to begin reading it. They should look at the headings, maps, captions, graphs, pulled-out text, bold type and other highlighted texts. Then they should be able to give you an idea of what they are about to read. Doing this will help them begin to think of questions, make predictions and connect the text to any background they have about the topic.
We have begun exploring new vocabulary words. We won't learn definitions exactly; we will focus more on synonyms of the new words. We do this because it is easier to learn a word faster if you attach it to a word you already know. Students will know how to correctly use the new words through this strategy as well.
Here are our words for this week: noble, insinuate, cynical, eloquence, integrated, and shrewd.
Homework is to read for 30 minutes. Check out our blogs! The kids are creating some great stuff independently and would love feedback.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
We Are Public
Many of you may have noticed the increase in student blogs to the right. Over the past few days we have been creating and posting our sites for the world to see. Please take some time to read and enjoy the writing of our class.
We would like feedback and comments as we are growing as public writers. If there is anything you want more of, please let the authors know. As their teacher, I ask that you be kind and praise the courage it takes to create for a public forum, but also offer guidance when you see places that require growth. There have been a few guidelines given to the students.
Students need to remember that their blogs are attached to my site which is attached to the school website. This means that their work directly represents our school, our values and our academic performance. This is a huge responsibility that should be handled with maturity.
1) There should be NO text talk unless the piece they are writing is about texting. If you see it, please point it out. This has become such a dominant part of how they write, they may not even notice they are doing it.
2) The blogs are for respectful dialogues and we must follow the old adage of, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Feedback should be constructive, allowing the writer to learn and grow. Mean comments will not be helpful or tolerated.
3) Spelling, homophones and capitalization need to be checked closely. So many students are slacking with these rules that we need to focus on them, so keep your eyes out for these mistakes.
4) Any use of material that does not belong to the student must be cited. You may not put the work of someone else on your blog without giving them credit for that work. A citation should include the author's name and the source/location of where the work came from.
Mistakes will happen and we hope to support one another as we learn to watch for these. If you see any problems or concerns with the blogs, please let me know. We hope you enjoy reading what we all have to say about the world and that you help us with our journey to become budding writers.
We would like feedback and comments as we are growing as public writers. If there is anything you want more of, please let the authors know. As their teacher, I ask that you be kind and praise the courage it takes to create for a public forum, but also offer guidance when you see places that require growth. There have been a few guidelines given to the students.
Students need to remember that their blogs are attached to my site which is attached to the school website. This means that their work directly represents our school, our values and our academic performance. This is a huge responsibility that should be handled with maturity.
1) There should be NO text talk unless the piece they are writing is about texting. If you see it, please point it out. This has become such a dominant part of how they write, they may not even notice they are doing it.
2) The blogs are for respectful dialogues and we must follow the old adage of, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Feedback should be constructive, allowing the writer to learn and grow. Mean comments will not be helpful or tolerated.
3) Spelling, homophones and capitalization need to be checked closely. So many students are slacking with these rules that we need to focus on them, so keep your eyes out for these mistakes.
4) Any use of material that does not belong to the student must be cited. You may not put the work of someone else on your blog without giving them credit for that work. A citation should include the author's name and the source/location of where the work came from.
Mistakes will happen and we hope to support one another as we learn to watch for these. If you see any problems or concerns with the blogs, please let me know. We hope you enjoy reading what we all have to say about the world and that you help us with our journey to become budding writers.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
This is Growing Up
For three Sundays, James had found himself hiding in these bushes by the pond. Taking cover was purely instinctive; he was used to hiding when he heard someone coming. The first time, three weeks ago, however, he was caught off guard. He had not realized how close he was to other people until the sound of their laughter had already disrupted his focus, causing him to drop the rocks he had been levitating. Startled and disappointed for letting his guard down, James hid behind the large evergreen bushes near the shore of the pond. Trembling in fear, he listened to the voices, trying to hear if the intruders had caught a glimpse of him before he could hide.
Hearing nothing that sounded like surprise, James mustered his courage and peered through the bushes to see who had almost discovered him and his secrets. He saw two kids, about his age; crest the top of the hill on the other side of the pond. Their formal dress made them look very out of place in the secluded area. “Maybe they have run away too,” thought James as he considered his situation. The two children played around, talked and skipped stones while they visited the pond. James could hear their voices, but he could never make out what they said. After a while, the boy pulled out what looked like a pocket watch and the couple climbed the hill, disappearing from sight. James had kept up his guard, waiting for them to return, but it was a full week before he heard them again. They seemed only to visit the lake on Sundays.
This Sunday, the fourth Sunday, James still sat in the bushes, but he had a plan. He had observed the boy and girl for an hour or so during their past three visits and decided that there was something special about them. He argued with himself about this decision because he was unable to say what it was that he found unique, but for some reason he kept feeling as though they could be trusted. Crouched in the bushes, he went through the dialogue of this self-talk one more time only to be interrupted by the sound of voices approaching the hilltop. It was now or never.
Anna and Ian crested the hilltop laughing and calling to each other as Ian dropped to roll down the grassy decline. “Come on Anna! What, are you too good for a roll down the hill,” sneered Ian as he positioned himself carefully.
“No!” she replied, indignant. “You know I can beat you down this hill anytime, but I’ll be in enough trouble for skipping Sunday school and running off from Granny like that. Besides, I don’t want to go back grass stained and muddy,” Anna stated absently, pushing her long hair off her face.
“Say what you want, I know you’re chicken,” grinned Ian. He knew he had pushed enough to make her mad.
“Ian! Your mom could care less what you do. You just don’t get it…”simpered Anna as she dug her toe in the grass. Granny was always pressuring her to behave more ladylike and Anna had lately found herself struggling to resist the urge from within to comply with Granny’s requests.
Ian did not witness Anna’s little tantrum, he had already decided rolling down the hill was more fun than picking on Anna. The hill was steep, fast and a bit frightening. Every time he rolled down, he was sure he would pick up enough speed to land him in the pond. Even though he secretly hoped he would “accidentally” fall in so his mom would notice him, the hill was only half of the reason Ian skipped out on Sunday school with Anna. The two had been best friends since they were babies. They grew up laughing together, sharing secrets and finding adventures filled with trouble together. She had been like all of his other friends except she was easier to talk to and trust. Ian noticed moments of awkwardness between the two of them lately, and, somehow, he knew their relationship was changing as they grew older. He wanted to spend every minute they still had before the change was undeniable.
James sat, alert, in the bushes across the pond. He started a bit as the boy picked up speed down the hill. The boy had made his entrance the same way the last three times, but each time, but James was still certain the reckless boy would roll right into the water. As the boy came to a stop and brushed off his Sunday pants, James wondered when and how the situation would allow him to reveal his presence. He had still found it necessary to hide in case the two did not come alone as before. Revealing his existence felt daunting, but also necessary for some reason. Watching the girl take her time, pacing her steps down the hill as her white Sunday dress flounced at her knees, James somehow felt reassured that he was making the right choice.
James saw the boy turn, pretending to look for a skipping stone as he stole a glance at his friend holding her hair against the slight breeze. Then the boy stood up and skipped a stone across the surface of the water. The pond was relatively small and the boy a good rock skipper. The stone skipped five times and had almost landed on the shore near James’s hiding place. Observing the boy’s throws a couple of times, James considered his strength and decided this was how he would do it. That way, he would know for sure if they could be trusted.
Anna finally arrived at the bottom of the hill where Ian was looking for another rock to skip. “You skip rocks like a girl,” she said, challenging him. She picked up the perfect, flat, smooth skipping stone that was resting on the boulder in front of her. Climbing up on the boulder, she positioned herself just so, grasped the rock between her thumb and index finger and flung her right arm towards the water. She threw so hard that she lost her balance almost falling in the small, sparkling pond. Ian was put off a bit by her overbearing competition, but before he could throw his rock to put her in her place, Anna screamed.
“What, did you break a nail,” Ian whined and glanced up at his friend perched on the boulder. He was startled. Anna’s face was transfixed on the water and pale. He whipped his head around in time to see the stone she had just launched across the surface of the pond gliding delicately back in their direction. “Anna,” he whispered, “are you seeing what I am?” He heard no response, but could see her shadow slightly nod. Anna sat mesmerized.
“Why…wha…how…” she choked after the rock had begun to gently spin in mid air. The two of them gaped at the impossible occurrence in front of them, neither daring to move or breathe if they could help it, as the stone moved closer. The rock rested itself gently on the shore at Ian’s feet and still the two did not move. It was Anna who first flinched. Shakily, she grabbed for Ian’s shoulder to steady herself as she climbed down off the boulder. Ian tugged on her hand to hold her back, but she knelt down rebelliously to investigate what she had just witnessed. The skipping stone felt unusually warm and she felt the sort of shock you feel from static electricity when her finger touched the smooth surface of this stone she had earlier chosen to skip. She hadn’t noticed anything strange about the rock when she had initially pick it up to skip it, but she had been so intent on showing off that she also had not taken the time for observations. “Maybe it is a trick stone,” she thought, trying for any rational explanation.
James had carefully studied the reactions of the two young people as he performed his stunt with the stone. He saw the two of their eyes meet in fear as they realized what they had seen. He recognized the look as one from his past and it made his stomach ache. He had been wrong; these were not the right people to reveal himself to. He sighed to himself as he watched them look around, bewildered. He knew they would not tell anyone, they were too unsure of the experience they had just shared. James lost himself in his own thoughts of disappointment but he felt no self pity as he absently gazed out at the pond. “Would he ever find others like him?” he sadly wondered. He glanced out at the two kids as they grew louder, arguing about what they experienced. Somehow he knew, and this time he was sure, he would find the others like him. Disappointment may come again, but he would find happiness eventually. For now, he decided, for now he would continue the journey he had begun months earlier and focus on perfecting his skills.
Anna continued to accuse Ian of setting up the trick and she pressured him to tell her how he had done it. Ian, of course, had no idea what he had just seen, but he knew he had never seen Anna look at him like this. Her eyes sparkled in the sun and her smile seemed to lift him out of all of his fear of what he had seen and his dark feelings about his mom. It wasn’t a deliberate thought, but he accepted it anyway and went along with Anna’s assumptions. Either way, they would never be the same and this new emotion felt better than the fear he had been feeling.
Anna pressed again for an answer, and Ian shook his head and grinned at her. Until that grin, she hadn’t been convinced he had done it but had no other way to explain what she witnessed. Quickly, she turned her eyes away and looked back down the hill at the water. She felt the changes coming more quickly and she wanted to look out at the pond one more time before the appearance would change forever. Anna knew that things would be different between her and Ian. “Somehow,” she thought as they reached the top of the hill “this place will be different too.” She turned back to Ian and smiled, catching the calm in his eyes, and felt a peace come over her. She no longer needed the truth about his prank.
Hearing nothing that sounded like surprise, James mustered his courage and peered through the bushes to see who had almost discovered him and his secrets. He saw two kids, about his age; crest the top of the hill on the other side of the pond. Their formal dress made them look very out of place in the secluded area. “Maybe they have run away too,” thought James as he considered his situation. The two children played around, talked and skipped stones while they visited the pond. James could hear their voices, but he could never make out what they said. After a while, the boy pulled out what looked like a pocket watch and the couple climbed the hill, disappearing from sight. James had kept up his guard, waiting for them to return, but it was a full week before he heard them again. They seemed only to visit the lake on Sundays.
This Sunday, the fourth Sunday, James still sat in the bushes, but he had a plan. He had observed the boy and girl for an hour or so during their past three visits and decided that there was something special about them. He argued with himself about this decision because he was unable to say what it was that he found unique, but for some reason he kept feeling as though they could be trusted. Crouched in the bushes, he went through the dialogue of this self-talk one more time only to be interrupted by the sound of voices approaching the hilltop. It was now or never.
Anna and Ian crested the hilltop laughing and calling to each other as Ian dropped to roll down the grassy decline. “Come on Anna! What, are you too good for a roll down the hill,” sneered Ian as he positioned himself carefully.
“No!” she replied, indignant. “You know I can beat you down this hill anytime, but I’ll be in enough trouble for skipping Sunday school and running off from Granny like that. Besides, I don’t want to go back grass stained and muddy,” Anna stated absently, pushing her long hair off her face.
“Say what you want, I know you’re chicken,” grinned Ian. He knew he had pushed enough to make her mad.
“Ian! Your mom could care less what you do. You just don’t get it…”simpered Anna as she dug her toe in the grass. Granny was always pressuring her to behave more ladylike and Anna had lately found herself struggling to resist the urge from within to comply with Granny’s requests.
Ian did not witness Anna’s little tantrum, he had already decided rolling down the hill was more fun than picking on Anna. The hill was steep, fast and a bit frightening. Every time he rolled down, he was sure he would pick up enough speed to land him in the pond. Even though he secretly hoped he would “accidentally” fall in so his mom would notice him, the hill was only half of the reason Ian skipped out on Sunday school with Anna. The two had been best friends since they were babies. They grew up laughing together, sharing secrets and finding adventures filled with trouble together. She had been like all of his other friends except she was easier to talk to and trust. Ian noticed moments of awkwardness between the two of them lately, and, somehow, he knew their relationship was changing as they grew older. He wanted to spend every minute they still had before the change was undeniable.
James sat, alert, in the bushes across the pond. He started a bit as the boy picked up speed down the hill. The boy had made his entrance the same way the last three times, but each time, but James was still certain the reckless boy would roll right into the water. As the boy came to a stop and brushed off his Sunday pants, James wondered when and how the situation would allow him to reveal his presence. He had still found it necessary to hide in case the two did not come alone as before. Revealing his existence felt daunting, but also necessary for some reason. Watching the girl take her time, pacing her steps down the hill as her white Sunday dress flounced at her knees, James somehow felt reassured that he was making the right choice.
James saw the boy turn, pretending to look for a skipping stone as he stole a glance at his friend holding her hair against the slight breeze. Then the boy stood up and skipped a stone across the surface of the water. The pond was relatively small and the boy a good rock skipper. The stone skipped five times and had almost landed on the shore near James’s hiding place. Observing the boy’s throws a couple of times, James considered his strength and decided this was how he would do it. That way, he would know for sure if they could be trusted.
Anna finally arrived at the bottom of the hill where Ian was looking for another rock to skip. “You skip rocks like a girl,” she said, challenging him. She picked up the perfect, flat, smooth skipping stone that was resting on the boulder in front of her. Climbing up on the boulder, she positioned herself just so, grasped the rock between her thumb and index finger and flung her right arm towards the water. She threw so hard that she lost her balance almost falling in the small, sparkling pond. Ian was put off a bit by her overbearing competition, but before he could throw his rock to put her in her place, Anna screamed.
“What, did you break a nail,” Ian whined and glanced up at his friend perched on the boulder. He was startled. Anna’s face was transfixed on the water and pale. He whipped his head around in time to see the stone she had just launched across the surface of the pond gliding delicately back in their direction. “Anna,” he whispered, “are you seeing what I am?” He heard no response, but could see her shadow slightly nod. Anna sat mesmerized.
“Why…wha…how…” she choked after the rock had begun to gently spin in mid air. The two of them gaped at the impossible occurrence in front of them, neither daring to move or breathe if they could help it, as the stone moved closer. The rock rested itself gently on the shore at Ian’s feet and still the two did not move. It was Anna who first flinched. Shakily, she grabbed for Ian’s shoulder to steady herself as she climbed down off the boulder. Ian tugged on her hand to hold her back, but she knelt down rebelliously to investigate what she had just witnessed. The skipping stone felt unusually warm and she felt the sort of shock you feel from static electricity when her finger touched the smooth surface of this stone she had earlier chosen to skip. She hadn’t noticed anything strange about the rock when she had initially pick it up to skip it, but she had been so intent on showing off that she also had not taken the time for observations. “Maybe it is a trick stone,” she thought, trying for any rational explanation.
James had carefully studied the reactions of the two young people as he performed his stunt with the stone. He saw the two of their eyes meet in fear as they realized what they had seen. He recognized the look as one from his past and it made his stomach ache. He had been wrong; these were not the right people to reveal himself to. He sighed to himself as he watched them look around, bewildered. He knew they would not tell anyone, they were too unsure of the experience they had just shared. James lost himself in his own thoughts of disappointment but he felt no self pity as he absently gazed out at the pond. “Would he ever find others like him?” he sadly wondered. He glanced out at the two kids as they grew louder, arguing about what they experienced. Somehow he knew, and this time he was sure, he would find the others like him. Disappointment may come again, but he would find happiness eventually. For now, he decided, for now he would continue the journey he had begun months earlier and focus on perfecting his skills.
Anna continued to accuse Ian of setting up the trick and she pressured him to tell her how he had done it. Ian, of course, had no idea what he had just seen, but he knew he had never seen Anna look at him like this. Her eyes sparkled in the sun and her smile seemed to lift him out of all of his fear of what he had seen and his dark feelings about his mom. It wasn’t a deliberate thought, but he accepted it anyway and went along with Anna’s assumptions. Either way, they would never be the same and this new emotion felt better than the fear he had been feeling.
Anna pressed again for an answer, and Ian shook his head and grinned at her. Until that grin, she hadn’t been convinced he had done it but had no other way to explain what she witnessed. Quickly, she turned her eyes away and looked back down the hill at the water. She felt the changes coming more quickly and she wanted to look out at the pond one more time before the appearance would change forever. Anna knew that things would be different between her and Ian. “Somehow,” she thought as they reached the top of the hill “this place will be different too.” She turned back to Ian and smiled, catching the calm in his eyes, and felt a peace come over her. She no longer needed the truth about his prank.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Truth can be stranger than fiction
Welcome back from the long weekend. Results are in on the fiction summarization and we have that task figured out. This is not to say that it is disappearing. Students will be using this skill throughout the year. That is why it was so important that we get it early in the year.
We are ready to move on to non-fiction reading. Today, I showed the classes all of the texts that I have to read this semester for grad school (it's not pretty, I should have some buff arms after lifting all these books). I asked them to help me figure out how I can do all the things I need to do and still get my homework reading done. I asked for strategies that might help me finish the work and make sure I understand it. Once we got talking about it, we were able to figure out that I could skim and scan the text looking for key words, and details. I could identify the main idea of the selection and make sure I wrote down any questions about the concept so I could add those to the discussion in class. I could summarize the selection to make sure I had a grasp on the big ideas before I went to school. I should evaluate the contents of the chapters to determine if I already know about any of it and how much of it I need to read.
Once we realized we did not have to read the whole thing word for word, we practiced. Students read and took combination notes on 4-5 pages from our text book. These pages discussed the different types of non-fiction texts we might come across and strategies for reading these texts. The students had 20 minutes to work as a group to take Cornell notes over this selection. Then they had to summarize it. Our table captains were responsible for making sure we only spent 5 minutes per page so we could finish. By the end we all had a good handle on what was important in the selection. We will practice this some more, so have us try it at home with the newspaper or any other informational text. We need to work on skimming and scanning for the important text in the selection.
HOMEWORK: Read 30 minutes and choose 5 prompts/questions from the literary history list that you may want to talk about in your personal narrative piece. Tonight I want you to write about 2 of the ones you choose in your comp book. I will check for them tomorrow.
Link to Literary History Prompts: https://acrobat.com/#d=Myy9bekTwdNZDothqwX4ow
We are ready to move on to non-fiction reading. Today, I showed the classes all of the texts that I have to read this semester for grad school (it's not pretty, I should have some buff arms after lifting all these books). I asked them to help me figure out how I can do all the things I need to do and still get my homework reading done. I asked for strategies that might help me finish the work and make sure I understand it. Once we got talking about it, we were able to figure out that I could skim and scan the text looking for key words, and details. I could identify the main idea of the selection and make sure I wrote down any questions about the concept so I could add those to the discussion in class. I could summarize the selection to make sure I had a grasp on the big ideas before I went to school. I should evaluate the contents of the chapters to determine if I already know about any of it and how much of it I need to read.
Once we realized we did not have to read the whole thing word for word, we practiced. Students read and took combination notes on 4-5 pages from our text book. These pages discussed the different types of non-fiction texts we might come across and strategies for reading these texts. The students had 20 minutes to work as a group to take Cornell notes over this selection. Then they had to summarize it. Our table captains were responsible for making sure we only spent 5 minutes per page so we could finish. By the end we all had a good handle on what was important in the selection. We will practice this some more, so have us try it at home with the newspaper or any other informational text. We need to work on skimming and scanning for the important text in the selection.
HOMEWORK: Read 30 minutes and choose 5 prompts/questions from the literary history list that you may want to talk about in your personal narrative piece. Tonight I want you to write about 2 of the ones you choose in your comp book. I will check for them tomorrow.
Link to Literary History Prompts: https://acrobat.com/#d=Myy9bekTwdNZDothqwX4ow
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Proving What We Have Learned
Okay, so I know the blog has been a bit silent this week, but we have been busy with learning. After learning about story maps, we looked at point of view summaries. We took a text, and broke it down into a RAFT. RAFT stand for role, audience, format, topic (ask your student and see if they know this.) After we sorted elements of the fiction story into the raft, we were able to write a summary of the story from a different perspective. As we wrote that, we had to be careful that we stayed on topic and focused on the details of the text. By doing this, we had to really look close at the piece so that we gave an accurate summary. This was challenging, but fun because we got to pretend to be someone else and try to think like them.
Today we put all of these skills to the test. Mrs. Benson read the story, Seventh Grade by Gary Soto, and we had to choose one of the summarization strategies we learned to summarize the story with. After we wrote our own summary, we answered a multiple choice question that required us to choose the BEST summary of the story. We did so much better than last time. We were able to separate ourselves from the story, even though we made lots of connections to it. We still struggled between one of two answers, but we had very intelligent and well thought out arguments about why one or the other was right. This was a sign of true learning!
I am so proud of our budding bloggers. Be sure to read about George and his adventures in reading and Calah and the best friend she misses, Bradley and his dreams for his future and Camille with her tribute shout out to a musician she admires. They are all independent assignments. None of this work was assigned to them! That is what learning is all about.
Read 30 minutes--Book orders due September 16th (don't forget you can order online or by check).
Today we put all of these skills to the test. Mrs. Benson read the story, Seventh Grade by Gary Soto, and we had to choose one of the summarization strategies we learned to summarize the story with. After we wrote our own summary, we answered a multiple choice question that required us to choose the BEST summary of the story. We did so much better than last time. We were able to separate ourselves from the story, even though we made lots of connections to it. We still struggled between one of two answers, but we had very intelligent and well thought out arguments about why one or the other was right. This was a sign of true learning!
I am so proud of our budding bloggers. Be sure to read about George and his adventures in reading and Calah and the best friend she misses, Bradley and his dreams for his future and Camille with her tribute shout out to a musician she admires. They are all independent assignments. None of this work was assigned to them! That is what learning is all about.
Read 30 minutes--Book orders due September 16th (don't forget you can order online or by check).
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