Today’s class absolutely flew by! I think it must have been because we were having fun? At least I can speak for myself. Here’s a recap with some links.
We started our day with a Quick Write as usual. Students could choose from a list of prompts I had gathered from some of my previous classes:
What are some of your pet peeves?
What do you do that really annoys other people?
What is the grossest thing you've ever eaten?
What is the best and worst part of your house?
After that, we did a deep dive in the Writing section of our class about our upcoming essay–Urban Legends. Since they are required to research and have at least four sources of information, we had a mini-lesson on vetting RELIABLE sources of information. Since our world is so full of “misinformation”, fake news and bias, I want to help students sharpen their critical thinking skills as they assess where information is coming from and whether it should be trusted. To that end, I introduced the “sniff test”--I mean the CRAAP test (is that any better?) We watched a video and took notes on Currency, Relevancy, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose. As they are choosing resources, they should put each one through this reliability test. We discussed the fact that on its own Wikipedia is not a reliable source because it lacks authority. However, it is a valuable site as a source of other linked sources. In other words, Wikipedia is a good place to start their research, and should not be a stand alone resource.
After that, we read aloud the Mentor Text for this essay. They were given a checklist and then found different pieces like hook, thesis, roadmap sentence, transitions, quotes and so on. They compared notes with their group and discussed the essay’s effectiveness. The Rough Drafts are due next week (1/25). Bring a hard copy to class for peer review.
Grammar
As I mentioned, the class time zoomed by and there was just enough time for me to introduce this semester’s grammar focus: Basic Sentence Patterns. I handed out two worksheets and students are to complete and correct them. Don’t forget to mark your corrections!
Literature
This is where we were pinched for time. I didn’t get to go over this part very much in class, so please read this carefully: keep reading Animal Farm (ch. 3 & 4) and complete a Quiz on Google Classroom over chapters 1-4. The assignment “What Makes A Good Leader?” is due next week along with a quick Discussion Question on Google Classroom on a leader’s top character quality. Finally, students should prepare for a class discussion by reviewing the 4 Square Discussion questions.
Homework
Urban Legend Rough Draft–Bring a hard copy to class for Peer Review!
Read Ch. 3 & 4 of Animal Farm
Discussion Question; Top Character Quality
Four Square Discussion Questions
Links for this Week
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