Date: Thursday, September 20, 2012
Homework:
Vocab Quiz Unit 2 Friday
The good draft of the response to literature piece on Raymond's Run is due.
(See the earlier post for the requirements.)
Classroom:
Growing the Class:
We are continuing to learn more about each other. In some classes, I have to work harder to get the students to function as a whole. We will get there.
Vocab:
We reviewed the answers to the vocab book work.
I showed them, again, where they can do practice exercises on-line.
Literature:
I explained the response to literature piece again.
We read the two samples below.
I gave them time to write their pieces. We will type them up in sections 3 and 4 Friday.
SSR/AR:
I handed out the Welcome to Accelerated Reader sheet that needs to be signed by a parent and returned. I provided the students with their reading range and user name. I also showed students how they can access AR information at home and take tests in school.
Writing:
I encouraged students to free write to get their thoughts about Raymond's Run out of their heads. Too many expected that there is just one way to write the piece. A few were surprised that it was not as hard as they thought.
Thoughts:
Student Start
My overall feelings about this
story is that I have nothing to say but good things about it. I feel like I have a lot in common with
Squeaky like I am like her in so many different ways like she is determined to
succeed and she has a good heart and she wants people to do well just like me
but she has a bad attitude which makes me fall into that category the main
thing I feel connects me to this story is my poetry I am devoted to it and it
is something I always loved to do. I don’t enter it in any competitions or
anything but I still work hard on all my poems.
My favorite part of the story is when she won the race but she was so
used to winning she wasn’t really fazed by it and she paid more attention to
someone else for a change. (170 words)
Mr. Bosler's Start to a Response Paragraph
How many
Squeaky's have I taught over the years, boys and girls who spend their energy
trying to prove to themselves and the world that they are the best? You can always hear them coming in the
hallway. They are quick to insult and
quick to fight. The odd thing is, in
their rush to be tough and have kids back off, it’s almost like they attract
more drama to themselves. Most times, like Squeaky, they are good kids if you really
got to know them. These kids tend to hide behind their bravado instead of allowing
us to know who they are deep down. Maybe one of the main ideas we take from Raymond’s Run is to
reflect on how we define ourselves. Based on the writer’s biography, we learned
that she grew up in the city. Maybe the
story is even a little autobiographical.
Maybe she thought that if she could write a story for kids to read, that
maybe they would not have to go through some of the same things she did. Maybe the Squeaky's that read this story will
not have to wait until they are older to learn how to be themselves. We all grow up. I am
not the same person I was when I was younger.
I shot my mouth off and played the tough guy. I explored who I wanted to be as I tried to
impress those around me. But somewhere
along the line, I started to become comfortable with myself. I don’t know what it was that opened my eyes. For Squeaky, it was her brother Raymond; at
the end of the story, he gave her a bigger purpose than just being the best at
something- a selfish goal in a way. Once
she had her purpose, she saw Gretchen differently. She saw Cynthia differently. She still had the confidence to win, but it
didn’t have to be running. Being comfortable with who you are is not easy. Knowing who you are and what your purpose in
life is is even harder. Maybe the writer
is asking us to remember a story about a tough little girl who found the
solution to both of these problems outside herself.
This is 370 words, which is too long. I need to make it more concise and add transitions.
