Ms. Faircloth

Today students practiced putting all of the Big Questions into practice on an article of their choice. They read the article, highlighting and annotating the way we've been practicing. Then they collected their thinking on a worksheet that was handed in. The worksheet asked to record their "notices" for each of the big questions, as well as the main idea of the article along with evidence to support that main idea.

Today students reflected on their personal narratives and then wrote a "grand finale" - a 45 minute timed write of a personal narrative to compare to the one they did as a baseline back in the beginning.

Today we went to the library and students did "speed dating" with a book. The goal was to build the "Books I Want to Read" lists in their Reading Notebooks. Students sat around a long table, conference-style, and had a book in front of them. They had 45 seconds to look over the book and write down the title and author if they were interested in coming back to read it. Then they passed it and took the next book.

Today we read a short story called "The Monkey's Paw" and used the signposts to study why it was so suspenseful. Student highlighted the signposts they noticed and recorded their answers to the anchor questions for the signposts in the margins.

Today, we took the baseline Reading comprehension quiz on Readtheory.org. If students finished early, they had time to work on missing assignments, do more quizzes on Read Theory, or to read quietly. If you were absent, you need to follow these steps: Go to readtheory.org Sign up as a student Log in Go to the "My Teachers" page and invite me to see your progress (faircloth@msd281.org) Take the pretest

Today students read short stories as a writer, trying to learn from what the writer did. We used signposts and the Theme reference sheets from the Reading notebook to go back and annotate the story as a Writer. Today's story was called "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros. (We will be using the stories from this week, combined with the ones we used during the Personal Narrative Unit, to analyze and write an argument paper in our next unit.)

Today, we learned the first Big Question for reading non-fiction: What Surprised Me? Students read an article called "Vampires Prey on Panama". We did the first few paragraphs together, then students finished on their own. As they read, they highlighted anything that surprised them. Then we talked about how to annotate those highlights. In the margins, students wrote a note about why they highlighted that information. After discussing with an elbow partner and groups, students read a second article called "Why Don't Cats Wear Shoes" and practiced independently.

Today students wrote a short story using an image as inspiration. See Ms. Faircloth for image choices.

Today students got back their third drafts from last week. Then we had time for them to use the revision stations to check over their draft with the goal of editing & polishing before we type on Day 3.

Today we read The Cay, chapter 16. Then we did a worksheet at the end of  the chapter that asks readers to go back into the previous chapters and find three examples of the signposts being used.

Today we continued reading in The Cay , chapters 12-13. When we finished Chapter 13, students wrote an evidence based paragraph to the question on this handout , and turned it in.

Today we discussed endings. (If you were gone, make sure you pick up the reference sheets for your Writer's notebook). Students focused on writing an ending for their narrative, and continuing to revise as needed. Students turned in a clean copy of the 3rd draft, with the first and second drafts stapled behind it at the end of class. Note - Days 1 & 2 next week we will be editing the 3rd draft of the essay.

Today, we tried another strategy to develop the narratives: "hyperbolizing". (I'm not sure it is really a word, except we added hyperbole to the essays so it seems like it can become a verb...) Hyperbole is exaggeration used to effect. We read an excerpt from  The Encyclopedia of Me   ("Karma") and talked about how it exaggerated the pimple for effect. When we discussed that, students realized that the excerpt wasn't really about a pimple, but more about friendship. Read it and see if you can notice that. (Discuss with Ms. Faircloth during Homeroom if you don't) Then students wrote a portion of their narrative with hyperbolic effect. We shared with Writing Partners.

Today we read Chapter 10-11 in The Cay. Then students wrote an exit ticket on the following: Choose a chapter and identify the basic conflict in it. Name if it is internal or external and explain how you know. Students also had a few minutes to work on any missing assignments and read in their choice reading books.

After reading chapter 9 in The Cay , we talked about the turning point that happens in this Chapter. Philip seems to realize something about Timothy. Students completed a worksheet  using the novel for reference. 

Today we did a lesson about how to punctuate dialogue and students had time to continue revising their personal narrative. Be sure to pick up the reference sheets from the yellow box, that you need to add to your Writing Notebook. Then we read aloud from our reading book.

Today, we discussed the different types of conflict: character v. character, character v. self, character v. society, character v. nature Students found an example of each type of conflict from The Cay so far, and added it to the worksheet before handing it in. Then we read Chapters 8-9.

Today students worked with an issue of Scholastic News , highlighting and annotating the main article to practice notetaking. Then they answered all 10 comprehension questions on the back and completed a text-based evidence worksheet using the main article as the resource. Meanwhile, Ms. Faircloth conferenced with each student who had a 2nd draft turned in last week, giving suggestions for the next drafts.

Today we wrote the evidence-based paragraph to answer the question "How does Phillip feel about Timothy?" Use the notes you took at the end of the period yesterday, and write the paragraph following the format we practiced last week. First sentence = a broad answer to the question. Then, include the three examples from the text, including page numbers, to support your statement. These can be direct quotes or paraphrased, but must include the page numbers and language to transition between them. Then we read Chapters 6-7 in The Cay . Note - no page goal this week because it is a short week. Also, remember that Ms. Faircloth will be gone on Wednesday so PowerSchool will be updated next week.

Today students prepared their second draft and HANDED IT IN with the first draft (not the flashdraft from the notebook, but the one we wrote on looseleaf paper two weeks ago). This draft should have included 1) what the story is "really" about (since that was part of the first draft two weeks ago, 2) a new introduction from one of the strategies you tried last week, 3) a moment with split second writing, and 4) an example of magnified eye. There should be a difference between the first draft and the second draft.

Today we tried another writing strategy - called "Magnified Eye". In this strategy you write a "close up" description of an object. After looking at the example, and figuring out what it is, students tried their own version using the list of suggestions at the bottom of the handout. The top half got cut off and added to the Writing Notebook, while the bottom half was attached to the student version and handed in. Then we went back to the narratives and found something that is important in the story, and "zoomed in" on the object to describe it for effect in the essay. The classes that had time were able to share this revision with writing partners.