English 8 students had their first day of Friday inference work, looking at this text: Every day after work Paul took his muddy boots off on the steps of the front porch. Alice would have a fit if...
Archive
What our classroom did in previous days, weeks, months, even years…
Trust and Voice
English 8 students looked at voice in Nightjohn, trying to generalize some rules about the narrator's voice from specific examples that we examined in class. English I Honors students looked at "The...
Voice and Perspective
English I students began the second analytic short story writing project today by thinking a bit about perspective and point of view ("Where you stand determines what you see."), which we...
Assessment and More
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:...
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...
