When I was grading the first drafts of the projects last night, I found that many of the students were coping the text out of the book or from a website. I stop grading after 5 papers and realized that this was our first information writing project (I usually do a science project in the fall). Since it is our first informational piece I am stepping back and teaching the basic skills needed to write informational papers. Today I taught the students how to take notes from a text, then had them work on note taking in class. Tomorrow I will work with students on how we write a bibliography and show them how to use www.easybib.com/. This will delay the completion of the project. It will be due Friday January 27th.
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Students are working on an Inca Project as the culminating assignment for our unit. Students have researched and chosen a topic. They are working on the first drafts of their short paper. The first draft will be due Wednesday. If students finish it over the weekend they can share it with me and I will look it over, so they can work on their final draft. Students have a peer edit sheet and should use the checklist to make sure they have what they need for the first draft. Next week we will begin working on the paper dioramas (the fun part) in class. Here is the project outline. We will be having a lunch time book club to discuss the book Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai. The students decided it would be nice to include parents. If you are interested you would need to read the novel and join us during our recess/lunch period (11:35-12:20) to discuss the novel. Students who are interested will be given a copies of the novel and I would ask that you share the book with your child. Please, email me at [email protected] if you are interested in participating, and let me know the dates that will work best for you. We will have the book discussion the first or second week in February. I’ll let interested parents determine the date that works best for everyone. We will do this as a 605 project (both rooms 301 and 304). Here is a synopsis of the novel, which I think you will enjoy reading: “From Saigon to Alabama, Inside Out and Back Again is the story of a year in the life of Hà, a ten-year-old girl who flees Vietnam with her mother and brothers, in hopes of escaping the Vietnam War and building new—and safer—lives for themselves in the United States. Written as a series of short poems, it is a sparse and honest narrative that follows Hà as she leaves behind the only home she's ever known to travel by boat to America. She may have left war behind, but plenty of difficulty awaits, and Hà and her family struggle to find their footing in the United States. At the end of the year, though—and as the book ends—they're finally getting their bearings, all holding onto hope that life will keep getting better.” http://www.shmoop.com/inside-out-and-back-again/summary.html |
Karen MalhiotI'm excited to begin my 9th year teaching at Coonley School. I've been teaching for over 20 years. I love creating projects and lessons that challenge my students. Archives
December 2019
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