Weekend Update

I'm quite pleased with how hard the students have been working on their This I Believe essays this week.  

This weekend they should:
--complete their revisions
--be prepared to turn their finished papers on Monday
--practice delivering their speeches at home over the weekend
--be ready to give their speeches on Monday

Speech Tools

Public Speaking TED Talks

12 Tips for Public Speaking (Forbes.com)

Five Basic Public Speaking Tips (youtube.com)

Revising/Editing Tools
Transition Words
UNC Writing Center (advanced)

Week of September 25th

I hope everyone had a restful and/or eventful fall break.  Now it's time to get back to work!

For our next summative assignment, the students will be writing a short essay with the thesis "I believe ..." and filling in the blank. This is a personal narrative, so it is not as structured as a typical argumentative essay. Statements in the past have ranged from "I believe in laughter" to "I believe in helping the environment." The students then use examples from their own lives that support why this statement is important. The essay should be around 500 words and the students will be reading this essay aloud the week of October 2nd. They will receive two summative grades for this assignment, one for the writing and one for the speech. 

This assignment is inspired by the This I Believe international organization found here. Next week, the students will start organizing this paper and have already looked at several examples from previous students on Google Classroom. If your child has not reviewed the example and completed the analysis, please do so by Monday night. I understand many were without power or absent the week before the break, and I have extended the deadline. 

The final draft of the This I Believe essay is due Monday October 2. Please ask your child this week about working on this at home as we missed days due to the hurricane and I don't want to fall too far behind. Ask your child to read his/her essay to you, practicing eye contact, volume, and body language. This is a great way to practice the many opportunities your child will have to present in front of the class. 

After the This I Believe essay, students will each be assigned a different literary device that we will be studying in our next unit on Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird starting the week of October 9th. They will learn about this literary device and create a short slideshow to show the class. 

There are lots of copies of this novel, but if you would like to purchase one for your child, please order now to ensure it arrives before the unit begins. 

Fall Break Update

Today students evaluated some TED Talk speeches to understand how speakers craft and deliver their messages.  I advised students to start working on their essays over the break since the original due date was Wednesday, September 27th.  After some reflection though, I decided to push back the due date to Monday, October 2nd to give students more time to write and revise their essays.  Additionally, students will read aloud their essays to the class for the second part of the summative assessment.  

They will receive one grade for the essay and one on the speech, so I encourage you to have your child think about a belief statement (examples: I believe in laughter, I believe in family, I believe in challenging oneself) that they could back up with examples from their own lives.  Students can access the organizer via Classroom and we will be working on the essays once we return from break.

I am still accepting book club applications during the week after break.  Students who are looking for advanced growth opportunities in reading will want to apply!  I want to have the book club group set by Friday, September 29th so we can order our books and have the first meeting on Friday, October 6th.

Felix hopes you have a great Fall Break!  

Week of September 11th

I hope everyone is staying safe.  When students return to school they will begin working on their This I Believe essays.  We will spend several days reviewing drafting strategies and the writing process before we begin drafting.

Homework:  Read 30 minutes daily and study vocabulary.  The vocabulary homework will resume after Fall break.

School pictures are THIS Thursday.  Forms were supposed to go home on Monday; however, due to the school cancellation families will have to order online.  Please visit shop.legacystudios.com and enter school code 6078F18E to order your child's pictures.  Pictures must be ordered prior to picture day.

Lastly, I am still taking applications for my book club.  Students will meet on Fridays during lunch time to discuss our chosen text.  Please have your child ask me for an application if they're interested.

Week of September 5th

This week students have a summative essay and I'm assessing them on their analysis of theme.  The assessment will take place over three days and on Friday we will have our library day.  

I'm taking applications this week for my book club.  Students who are part of my book club will meet on Fridays during lunch to discuss and analyze a higher level text.  If your child is interested, please encourage them to apply.

Homework 

Read for 30+ minutes daily

Complete the vocabulary homework (the homework is shorter this week due to the holiday)

Unit of Inquiry: Who Am I?

Exploring one's identity/character and actions allows one to participate, empathize and be a contributing member of a community.

Learning Targets:  

I can use the writing process to produce an expository essay.

I can identify the themes within a literary text.