AGENDA MARCH 3-6

Foci: Literature Circles and PAWS Practice

Notes:

*NO SCHOOL THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 7!!!*

*Parent/Teacher Conferences from 3-7 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.*

*NO HOMEWORK HELP THIS WEEK because of PT Conferences.*

*Wyoming Young Authors submission deadline is March 14. Students can submit poems, essays, and stories. See me for details and submission forms.*

*Third Quarter ends on March 21 -- Quarterly Recognition is scheduled for that afternoon.*

*PAWS Testing begins on March 24.*

Weekly Homework:

1) Literature Circle reading and role preparation

2) Research the disability your book addresses - find 3 facts about your topic

3) Add three new vocab. words from your lit. circle novel to your vocab. list. Record their definitions, three synonyms, one antonym, and use each word in a sentence.

MONDAY AND TUESDAY:

Book Fair talks with Ms. Swiggum

Check out Literature Circle books from Media Center

Meet your groups

Set reading schedule

Get roles and make predictions

WEDNESDAY:

WNB 18: PAWS Writing Practice Round 2

PAWS Writing Rubric

Read and prepare roles

THURSDAY:

Literature Circle Meeting #1

NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY!!!

Weekend Homework:

Read and prepare roles for Literature Circles

AGENDA FEBRUARY 25-29

Foci: Belief Project Wrap-Up and What is a Literature Circle?

Notes: No School Friday, March 7 (next Friday)

***If students would like to bring small tokens of appreciation to present to Kati and Molly in thanks for their work, have them ready for Wednesday.***

NO WEEKLY HOMEWORK THIS WEEK


MONDAY:
Community Forum 8:45-10:15
Catch-up periods: 4,5,6

TUESDAY:
All Belief Project work must be in and on display boards by today: collage, poem, essay!!!
Web Quest - Vocabulary Games
Apostrophe Practice

WEDNESDAY:
Belief Project Celebration with Mrs. Hoelscher's classes and Molly and Kati!!!

THURSDAY:
Mrs. Swiggum (media center director) will be here introducing our Literature Circle novel selections. Students will vote according to interest, and be grouped according to preference. These groups will function as 3rd and 4th quarter base groups. The theme for our Literature Circles is disability/disease/handicap. We will be exploring the realities and practical implications of autism, leukemia, muteness, cerebral palsy, and blindness, as presented in these works. This project will span five weeks. The selections include:

1. Al Capone Does my Shirts by Jennifer Coldenko

2. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

3. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

4. Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman

5. Touch the Top of the World by Erik Weihenmayer

FRIDAY:
Begin Literature Circles
Meet your group

WEEKEND HOMEWORK:
Begin your reading according to group schedule and prepare your discussion sheets according to roles.

Outsiders Skits

AGENDA: February 19-22

Foci: Beliefs, Values, and Self Image

Notes:

*The Community Forum will be held on Monday, Feb. 25th from 8:45-10:15. This is the culminating event of our Belief Project. All 8th Graders will attend.

*NO SCHOOL on Friday, March 7

Weekly Homework:

*Generate a list of questions that you would like to pose the community panel. What burning questions do have that you want answers for? Remember the theme of the Belief Manifesto project is to uncover personal beliefs. We started this project with the most basic questions: Who are you? What do you want? What are you willing to work for? The members of the panel will include a writer, a children’s lawyer and advocate, a bilingual high school student, a police chief and a recent college graduate. Submit a list of at least six questions and include which panel member you would most like to answer your question. Due on Friday!

As you complete your belief essay, consider the following advice from Kati:

1) Beliefs are something we can make choices towards.
2) Good writing has good rhythm. Read your work out loud to yourself to find words that need clarification or rewording.
3) Don’t be afraid to go “in scene.” Use dialogue and specifics when needed.
4) Sentence fragments are generally not a helpful tool for readers. To create voice and style with punctuation-- use colons, semicolons, dashes and commas.

TUESDAY& WEDNESDAY
Collage assembly and gluing
Complete Belief Essay

THURSDAY
Final Draft of Belief Essay due!!!
Finalize collage
Final 1-1 Conferencing with Kati

FRIDAY
*PANEL QUESTIONS DUE!!!*
Celebration!!! Share poems and essays!

WEEK 24: February 11-15

Foci: Beliefs, Values, Goals, Self Image

Notes:
*NO SCHOOL next Monday, February 18
*Community Forum is set for February 25 from 8:45-10:15
*Please note important due dates this week!!

Weekly Homework:

1) Remember to bring shoe box of memorabilia in on Tuesday.

2) Spend one hour out of class working on your belief essay. Focus on word choice and organization of ideas.


MONDAY:
Begin drafting belief essay. One on one help from Kati.
Isolate a phrase or collection of words to incorporate into your "Inside Out Portrait."

TUESDAY:
FINAL POEM DRAFT DUE!!!
Color theory and color palette with Molly.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY:
WNB 6-16 DUE on WEDNESDAY!!!
Collage work with Kati

FRIDAY:
BELIEF ESSAY DRAFT 1 DUE!!!
Collage layout and assembly

WEEK 23 AGENDA: FEBRUARY 4-8

Foci: Beliefs, Values, and Personal Goals

Notes:

*Wednesday is a late arrival day for students -- students will come to school at 9:40 and report to their 1st period class

*The Spelling Bee will be held at 1:20 on Wednesday, February 6

Weekly Homework:
Find an example of a person (alive or from history) who is a good example of standing up for her/his personal beliefs. You could research them on the internet or in the library. In your WNB, write 2-3 solid paragraphs about why this person is an inspiration to you.

MONDAY:
Belief Game with Kati

TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY:
Belief Poem Workshop and revision

THURSDAY:
Essay Idea Generation
FRIDAY:
Begin drafting essays

WEEK 21 AGENDA: JANUARY 28-FEBRUARY 1

Focus: PERSONAL BELIEFS, VALUES, and GOALS
As we continue to work on the pARTners Project, students will begin to explore in depth their personal beliefs, values, and goals for the future. Major steps of this project -- led by Molly Armour (visual artist) and Kati Standefer (writer) -- include:

1) Dream Board Generation
2) Belief Poems
3) 3-Dimensional Inside Out Portrait
4) Expository Essay
5) Podcasting

Notes:

-Homework Help is this Tuesday after school

-Quarter 2 Reflections due on Tuesday -- questions are on blog 1 post down

-By February 11, students need to have a digital image imported to classroom computer, and a shoebox of personal memorabilia ready


Weekly Homework:

Click on the hyperlink to the right: NPR - This I Believe Essays

Task:

1) Listen to TWO "This I Believe" essays.

2) Complete a T-Chart of concrete details and commentary

Monday:
Finish Dream Boards and share with the class

Tuesday:
***QUARTER 2 REFLECTION DUE!!!***
Belief Poem Generation with Kati

Wednesday:
Draft poem

Thursday:
Belief Poem Workshop with Kati

Friday:
Revise and print Belief Poems - due at the end of class