Project Work

Project Work

All students worked on projects today. English I worked on their Odyssey project, of which they will complete beta versions by the end of class Wednesday. English 8 students worked on their “Christmas Gift” project. They’ve completed their reading...
Project and a Model Paragraph

Project and a Model Paragraph

English 8 students looked at an example paragraph about “Inside Out,” modeled on the paragraphs they wrote earlier this week. Through collaborative consultation they determined, among other things, that the second chunk was in fact superfluous and weakened...
Cycling over Mountains

Cycling over Mountains

When I lived in Poland, I got into cycling. I bought a mountain bike, bought a road bike, and then my wife and I decided neither was for us: touring is where it’s at! So I converted my mountain bike into a make-shift touring bike and we set off. Every possible...
Project and a Model Paragraph

Allusions and a Test

English 8 students had their test on parts of speech. Afterward, students worked on their “Inside Out” memoir and the accompanying Somebody Wanted But So engagement. Students who did not finish it in class need to complete the work at home by the time we...
SWBS and Allusions

SWBS and Allusions

English 8 read the second selection from The Circuit. It’s called “Inside Out” and deals with the author’s first days in school and the challenges he face not being fluent in English. We used a Somebody Wanted But So chart to help us with our...
Completing Paragraphs and More

Completing Paragraphs and More

English 8 worked on two things: first, we took the graphic organizer we made yesterday: We first needed to add the commentary for our paragraph. We wrote it as a class, but in our graphic organizers, we only put phrases and general ideas. It’s best to use the...
Homeric Embed Completion

Homeric Embed Completion

English 8 finished their first round of practice with embedding quotes. We shared and assessed our homework. We determined we should include the following for their context: They had already made it to California. They were waiting for work. We also determined we...
Embedded Similes

Embedded Similes

English 8 students continued working on the quote embedding practice we began yesterday. In addition to our trip to the library, we moved students away from teach-centered and group-based work on the embedding process and more toward independent work. English I...
Embedding Quotes and Gerunds

Embedding Quotes and Gerunds

English 8 students worked on embedding quotes in our CDs. We have be using a very simple format: “For example, the text says ‘here is the quote.'” This is acceptable but not optimal. Today we worked on creating more effective quote integration:...
Socratic Reading

Socratic Reading

English 8 students began working on the first of three selections from The Circuit, Francisco Jiménez’s memoir of life as a migrant child. We read “Under the Wire,” the first chapter of the book, and worked on comprehension and discussion questions...
Socratic Odyssey

Socratic Odyssey

English 8 students went off-script a little today: we were supposed to start our next reading, “Under the Wire,” but as I read through students’ responses to the video we watched yesterday (“Harvest of Shame”), I realized we had an...