English 8 students moved on with Nightjohn, looking to the point after chapter 2 tomorrow when we'll begin incorporating voice and diction. There was, of course, the new article of the week as well:...
Archive
What our classroom did in previous days, weeks, months, even years…
Finishing Everywhere
Everyone was finishing something today. English 8 students finished their first lit circles (they really didn't know that's what they were doing, but that's what they were indeed doing); English I...
Completing Schaffer and Continuing Nightjohn
All students went to the library today for orientation and the first opportunity to check out books. This shortened all classes by approximately twenty minutes. English 8 students continued working...
New Unit and Topic Sentence Evaluation
English 8 students began a new unit after going over the first new term in the week's AOW: Afterward, we started preparing for the new unit. English I Honors students went over last week's AOW:...
Analysis and Socratic Seminars
English 8 students had their first Socratic Seminar about "Thank You, Ma'am." Both fifth and sixth periods did a fine job, but sixth period's seminar was perhaps the best first-time seminar I've...
Integrating Quotes and Socratic Seminar
English 8 students went over one more word from the article of the week before transitioning to one of the most enjoyable activities we do: the Socratic Seminar. Today we only had time to get...
Effective Readers’ Skills Conclusion and TS/CD Work
English 8 students did some more work with the article of the week, looking at the context clues for "refraining." We also completed "Thank You, Ma'am," going through the first review of effective...
Analysis and a Shift
English 8 students made the shift from a think-aloud to the "Same Something" protocol -- in other words, the kids began implementing effective readers' skills. We're forming the foundational...
Summarizing Versus Analyzing and A Trip Inside My Head
English 8 students began looking at the basic skills that will inform everything we read this year: effective readers' skills. We started with the AOW, their first: We finished with a Think Aloud...
Schaffer Planning and Group Work Guidelines and Modeling
Third and fourth periods tried their hand at their first Schaffer paragraph, which was about, somewhat ironically, the usefulness of the Schaffer paragraph. Third period Schaffer helps writers plan...
Schaffer Analysis and Getting a Baseline
English I Honors students took the day to analyze, first as a class and later in pairs, a few nearly-perfect examples of Schaffer paragraphs. English 8 students got thrown in the deep water to see...
First Day 2019
We had a great first day, with all classes up and working on various skills from the beginning. English I Honors students dove right into the writing model we will be using this year, the Schaffer...
