Most students completed their compare and contrast essay, but a few have not. Check in with your student to make sure they shared with me. My holiday will be spent grading those essays.
Once we return from the holiday, we will begin our new novel, Call of the Wild. This story tells the tale of a dog, who goes from being abused to running with the pack of wolves in the Canadian Northwest. What makes it unique is that it is told from the point of view of the dog!!! Very interesting. Once again, we will use interactive journals to document our reading.
Most students completed their compare and contrast essay, but a few have not. Check in with your student to make sure they shared with me. My holiday will be spent grading those essays.
0 Comments
Students in this house are comparing and contrasting the book and the movie version of Eragon. I've already heard moans of disappointment with how Eragon and his dragon, Saphira look. I'm hoping that beyond being able to compare and contrast in an essay, these students learn the lesson that movies never, ever compare to the written word and our own imaginations. We are taking notes in a venn diagram as we view the movie to reorganize into a double bubble thinking map. We will then use these notes to type our essay.
Today, our class tried to finish up their character analyses and paragraphs for other characters in Eragon. This took a bit longer today due to chatting, but those who did not finish say they will try to come in early tomorrow morning. Many had a shock today when interactive journals were checked for being up to date. There were several who had fallen off and not kept up with our last week or two entries. They are really seeing the need for them as we work on character analysis and next week on point of view. It really helps them find spots in the text where proofs and justifications are included. This house has earned another game day that we will enjoy next week (as long as they are done with their character analysis.) Their house has earned 222 house points from their hard work (the highest of all the classes.)
We did our benchmark Star Reading test today. You will see the results of that testing next week at conferences. Because they have been doing so well doing their vocabulary lists, the house has earned a game day tomorrow. Next week, we'll begin writing about our text, using evidence to justify character traits.
This Friday is the Leadership Muffin Morning. If your child comes home with a ticket tomorrow, they are invited to our session at 7:30. A student will be at the back door- Kinder rooms, to let them in with their ticket. This House of Paolini is well on its way to completing our Eragon book. Students are reading 6 chapters per week, minimum. Students have asked to read ahead, so we've put in place an interactive journal where they will do a 1-2 sentence summary of the chapter and list any exceptional things that happened. This will enable them to remember what happened when they are discussing or answering questions on prior chapters. They also have a vocabulary sheet to do as they are reading. They will "read around" the word to try to discern its meaning. Students have been doing blog comments to questions from our blog. Go to https://bceseragon.edublogs.org to view the blog and comments.
Today and tomorrow students in Paolini will be doing a Socratic Circle. Using this strategy, students will learn how to have civil discussion of questions about the text and express opinions without hurting feelings. We had a good start today, and hope to expand on that tomorrow. Students are really enjoying Eragon! "Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy- until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save - or destroy- the Empire.. " (from http://www.alagaesia.com/) This past week we began to set up some strategies that we will be using throughout the book. Students will have ongoing vocabulary work each week, as well as an interactive journal where they will be doing summaries of each chapter and noting items of interest or meaningful passages.
This coming week, I will be training them in how to get to and complete a blog on Eragon. They will respond to questions that will automatically be sent to me. This will allow students to discuss the book with both me and their peers via comments. I will be managing their comments and posts to make sure all are appropriate. Once we get going, I will post a link to the blog so you can view as well. Happy Reading. |
Blog Author, Mrs. Albrecht
Mrs. Albrecht is a 30+ year educator. Having taught in both Texas and here in Eagle County, Colorado, she brings years of teaching expertise and technology to her classrooms. Archives
December 2017
Categories |