With lots of breaks in our schedules due to the CAPE grant, field trips, and days off school, we finally are wrapping up our units! Below is an update for each class...
READING:
We ended our study of To Kill a Mockingbird with a close reading of the part where Atticus announces Tom Robinson's death, and compared it closely to that scene in the movie. The students then wrote an essay comparing the two media. We are finishing the unit by watching the film in its entirety and working in small groups on a one-day project that analyzes the purpose behind the text, trying to answer the question of why we continue to read this story.
WRITING:
We jumped out of Maya Angelou quickly to attend to our field trip to the Shakespeare Theater for Twelfth Night... doing the best we could with our timing. The students learned the plot, played with some lines, and read a few scenes in a translation. It was fun but fast! We are finishing the unit with comparing the play to the modern, 2006 film of She's the Man, analyzing the reinvention of the story.
WHAT'S NEXT for 4th quarter...
READING:
Independent reading in leveled groups will be our focus for 4th quarter. After wrapping up what we are currently doing, and accounting for a week of wrapping up this "unit" on independent reading, we will have about 6 weeks to get through a novel of the student's choice. The class will be structured like book clubs, finding similar plots or themes. At the same time, the remainder of our time together will be focused on skills, vocabulary, and other things that will prepare the students for their upcoming standardized tests.
WRITING:
We will revisit Maya Angelou for a very short bit, preparing for display our knowledge of her for the culminating dance performance on May 12. After that, we will work on narrative writing for the end of the year, as well as building up as much of our writing portfolios as we can in the time remaining.
READING:
We ended our study of To Kill a Mockingbird with a close reading of the part where Atticus announces Tom Robinson's death, and compared it closely to that scene in the movie. The students then wrote an essay comparing the two media. We are finishing the unit by watching the film in its entirety and working in small groups on a one-day project that analyzes the purpose behind the text, trying to answer the question of why we continue to read this story.
WRITING:
We jumped out of Maya Angelou quickly to attend to our field trip to the Shakespeare Theater for Twelfth Night... doing the best we could with our timing. The students learned the plot, played with some lines, and read a few scenes in a translation. It was fun but fast! We are finishing the unit with comparing the play to the modern, 2006 film of She's the Man, analyzing the reinvention of the story.
WHAT'S NEXT for 4th quarter...
READING:
Independent reading in leveled groups will be our focus for 4th quarter. After wrapping up what we are currently doing, and accounting for a week of wrapping up this "unit" on independent reading, we will have about 6 weeks to get through a novel of the student's choice. The class will be structured like book clubs, finding similar plots or themes. At the same time, the remainder of our time together will be focused on skills, vocabulary, and other things that will prepare the students for their upcoming standardized tests.
WRITING:
We will revisit Maya Angelou for a very short bit, preparing for display our knowledge of her for the culminating dance performance on May 12. After that, we will work on narrative writing for the end of the year, as well as building up as much of our writing portfolios as we can in the time remaining.