Today we discussed the importance of making quality blog comments. The students spent time commenting on the memoirs of their peers. The Grade 6 students did a fantastic job composing their memoirs. It is great to see the students commenting words of encouragement and offering suggestions.
Click the link below to access the links to their blogfolios:
Middle School Student Blogfolios
Mrs. Thompson created a wonderful infographic about creating quality blog comments:
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Over the last number of weeks, the grade 7 students have been preparing to write their final narrative in Language Arts. The process has been a little different this time, as each element of the story arc has been really broken down and developed.
We started by creating story arcs for our narratives (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution). Then, we looked at various short stories as mentor texts to focus in on leads, point of view, setting, figurative language, transitions and endings. Students have even already written their leads and endings, so all that’s left to do is fill in the middle!
We will be spending the next week working on this in class, starting with the rough draft. Students will have 4 class periods (Dec 7, 8, 9 and 13) to finish up their rough draft. We will then spend 2 classes editing and peer-editing (Dec. 14 and 15), culminating with our publishing party on December 16!
These narratives can be anywhere between 2 – 5 pages long, and must include these elements, as outlined on the rubric:
Here is a quick 2 page example of what the narratives can look like.
We will also be using this student checklist to ensure we’re included everything, and will use the list below to check our work before submitting.
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I can’t wait to read the final products!
We have finished reading the novel, Egghead. Students will have the opportunity to use the next few class periods to channel their creativity and complete a final task. Students may work individually or with a partner for this task. Upon my return on Monday, we will set a due date for this task together.
Option 1: Create an Egghead Mixtape
Option 2: Continue the story
Click the link below to learn more about your final task options:
Next week launches the fun of (C)Han(n)uk(k)a(h)….no matter how you spell it!
We have a full week of celebrations, and can’t wait to participate in some with our whole community! Please take a look at the posters below to see how you can add to our festivities.
Are you searching for a new book for Hanukkah? You are in luck! The Scholastic Book Fair at OJCS begins on Monday, November 22nd, 2021. Each class will have the opportunity to visit the book fair two times next week.
Grade 6A will visit the book fair on Monday (11/22) and Friday (11/26).
Grade 6B will visit the book fair on Tuesday (11/23) and Friday (11/26).
Grade 7 will visit the book fair on Wednesday (11/24) and Friday (11/26).
Grade 8 will visit the book fair on Monday (11/22) and Thursday (11/25).
Additionally, parents will have the opportunity to purchase books online via our digital book fair link.
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As we continue our novel study of Egghead by Caroline Pignat, this week we are focusing on writing from a character’s perspective. Students are being tasked with choosing an event from the novel and creating a postcard. Each postcard will contain an illustration (either digital or hand-drawn) and a writing sample from a character’s perspective. This assignment asks students to “walk in the shoes of another” as they attempt to create a higher-level connection with the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
Click the link below to access the assignment:
Click the link below to access the postcard template:
Egghead Postcard Digital Template
Click the link below to access a student example:
Today we will continue to review and practice how to properly format MLA in-text citations. As we have previously discussed, citations are essential in order to avoid plagiarism and provide authors with credit for their ideas and information.
If you’ve ever read The Giver by Lois Lowrey, the Ceremony of 12 should sound familiar to you. This is when the 11s become 12, and are given their assignments for their careers for the rest of their lives.
When the Grade 8 students came into class today, they were each given an envelope with their ‘assignment’ enclosed. One at a time, students read out their assignments, and as a class, we “thanked them for their childhood.” Some careers that were assigned include: Caretake or the Old, Pilot, Recreation Director, Doctor, Instructor of 9s, Landscape Worker, and Laborer. Our class is so special, that we even had one person assigned to the Committee of Elders, and one is the next Receiver of Memories.
However, just as in The Giver, not all students were pleased with their assignments, and so they all now have the opportunity to accept their career, or appeal to the Committee of Elders. We will be working on their speeches in class over the next few days, and will present on Tuesday, November 9th.
Students can find the rubric and expectations here, as well as some sentence starters in case they get stuck!
Yesterday we reviewed a variety of editing strategies that students can use when revising their written work. Today we are going to spend some time in class editing paragraphs and implementing these strategies. My goal is for each student to identify which editing strategy works best for their learning style.
Click the link below to access our Google Slides presentation:
Editing Strategies Presentation
Online editing practice:
https://mrnussbaum.com/extreme-sentence-surgeons-saving-critically-injured-paragraphs-online-game
https://www.softschools.com/quizzes/language_arts/proofreading/quiz1634.html
Students were also provided with a copy of a COPS Editing Checklist to keep in their binders at school.
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OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay
Today was our first lesson on Evidence Based Writing in grade 8. We reviewed and took notes on all the various elements of a full, well-written Response to Literature. It was great to see the students engaged in discussions about why these elements are important, and starting to add in their own examples to demonstrate comprehension. Stay tuned for examples of their work in progress.
If you’d like to review the slides, you can access them here.
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