November 30, 2006

Homework: Completing the sentence unit 6

We spent time researching in class. The honors classes started watching The Ant Bully. More discussion on the movie will follow. When I was doing this debate last year (I have done this for many years), the movie trailer was out. Now that the movie is out, I am figuring out how I will use it with the lesson. Everything I am doing with the kids now is to get them to think critically. They don't just do it naturally. Each day is like doing thinking push-ups. The momentum builds slowly. But once it kicks in, watch out! Wait until it is full steam during the media literacy unit!

November 29, 2006

Homework: Choosing the right word unit 6
Continue researching for the ant debate

Note: I am not getting the feeling that the students are really taking the research part of the debate seriously. Maybe it is due to the fact that the debate is far off. However, the research is due Monday. I want to see all their notes and a bibliography.

I will be giving them class time to research Thursday. Hopefully they will not waste it talking. I am leading the horses to water, so to say. On Friday, I will show them how to do a bibliography.

Sometime soon we will be watching a little bit of the movie The Ant Bully. Even though it is rated PG, there is nothing that I found objectionable. I watched it with my 9 and 5 year old children. I want some of the students to argue more about the story than just the facts about real ants. There are many angles they can come from.

November 28, 2006

Homework: 11-20 pictionaries and synonyms unit 6
Finish the handout from class

In class we discussed an article about the cow killer ant, which is actually a wasp: http://lancaster.unl.edu/enviro/pest/Articles/CowKillerAnt.htm . We read the article to show how as they gather facts for the debate, they should be getting information on both sides. The article had reasons to squish this ant, and there were reasons to not bother squishing the ant. Ultimately, though, we concluded that the information was not even needed for the debate because the ant in the story was NOT a cow killer ant. Since the debate is on the ant in the story, not ants in general, it would be useless to bring up the information in the article. I want the students to become more critical of their resources as they research. The goal of the whole unit is to get the students to think more critically. The reasoning is that a persuasive essay is only good if it has something intelligent to say. Organization and grammar won't matter if the essay says nothing.

November 27, 2006

There is calendar for the month of December at http://webdav.venuecom.com/calendar/bozmd/month.php?cal=classroom

Tonight the homework is to do pictionaries 1-10 unit 6. That is pretty easy. I also expect them to be researching for the ant debate.

I sent out a grade up-date e-mail this morning. I also gave the students their grades in class. As usual, students are encouraged to get in the make-up work.

I am getting to the scoring of the essays. They should be done in two weeks or so.

November 21, 2006

No homework. We took quiz 5 today. We also began researching. Please see the requirements for the ant debate at this address: http://www.mrboz.com/school/assignment_ant_debate.html

You can also see the match-ups for the debates.

November 20, 2006

Sorry I did not post this yesterday. I had to leave school suddenly to pick up my son.

The homework for Monday night was to finish unit 5 and be ready for the quiz Tuesday. Sections 3, 6, and 7 were to make flashcards.

In class, but not in section 3, we started the next assignment: ant debate. We read the book Hey Little Ant by Judith Viorst. The story ends with the question, "What do you think that kid should do?" Basically, the students will debate each other about whether the boy in the story should squish the ant in the story. I have been doing this assignment for years, and it goes very well. It is a research project that ends with a debate and an essay. The essay will have a bibliography. It will also be citing the location of the facts mentioned in the essay. If you would like to see the assignment page, it is here: http://www.mrboz.com/school/assignment_ant_debate.html .

November 17, 2006

I changed the due date for the essay. It is due Monday. I wanted to spend some extra time revising the essays.

I also sent out grades by e-mail. Furthermore, I sent home the grade slips to be signed.

We are now finished studying "The Highwayman." I have a new project that we are going to start next week. We will be reading a children's book called "Hey Little Ant." From that story, we will be having debates where the students try to convince the class to choose them as the speaker with the most persuasive argument. It is a great project to do before the winter break.

But I am also thinking about having them write a quick piece. I am reading a book on parenting, and it is asking my wife and me to write what we expect our children to be like on the other side, when we are done raising them I guess. That way we can make all of our decisions based on the final goal. I wonder... What would your children write if they were asked to explain what they think your vision for them is and how close they are to fulfilling it? I am curious. It could spark some interesting discussions.

I will think about this more over the weekend. I love the ant debate, but I am just so tempted to write this piece because they would make great recordings. Also, the next enduring understanding is, "By reaching out to people who are different from themselves, human beings relate to new experiences, ideas, and emotions." I wonder how either the ant topic or this topic relates to the enduring understanding.

November 15, 2006

Today is my son's 5th birthday!

We reviewed words 11-20, checked the synonyms, and put the pictionaries on the board. It is fun to try to guess what the pictures actually represent. The students have choosing the right word for homework tonight.

We spent the rest of the class discussing the use of quotation marks. I figure I will review the rules before I get the essays. We only got through half of what I wanted to cover. I might push the due date of the essay off until Monday. I want to spend time getting the essays perfect before I read them. When the students get the papers back they do not study my corrections. I want to teach the skills and have them apply them in the paper.

November 14, 2006

We were in the writing lab. I took the computer score today. There are six scores returned by the computer. I made each worth 10 points for a total of 60 points. When I score the essays, I will give them another 60 points. The students should have their essays in class Wednesday and Thursday. I want to discuss a few ideas for revision so the final drafts do not have as many grammar mistakes as last time.

Due Wednesday: All the pictionaries and the synonyms.

November 13, 2006

We read examples of essays that ranged from 3 to 6. The six paper was amazing. It showed that they should give supports for the author's message, and they should also use lots of quotes. In addition to the quotes, we saw that the quotes needed to be explained thoroughly.

We will be in the writing lab tomorrow. At the end of the lab time, the students will print out their essays, and I will take the grades from the GoMyAccess scoring. On Wednesday and Thursday we will revise the essays and look at how to punctuate the quotes. On Friday, the students will hand in the good papers.

The homework is to have all the pictionaries and synonyms done by Wednesday. I would also like students to work on adding more details to their essays.

November 10, 2006

We were in the writing lab. Monday we will discuss some of the shortcomings of the essays. Many students are simply not including enough examples from the poem. We will look at samples of a 4, 5, and 6(best) essay. Many are also not keeping the paper focused on the author's message. They are just listing details from the poem. Again, this is a tough essay, but the students are getting there. I saw many students who raised their scores and celebrated the improvement. That is nice to see.

November 9, 2006

We took vocab quiz 4 today. I checked to see that the whole unit was completed as well as the flashcards for sections 3,6,7. We then discussed the idea of analyzing a poem. I created a chart that they could use to take apart a poem. It had five categories.
1. What is the author's message(s) in the poem?
2. What images in the poem show this message?
3. List the actions of the characters that show the message.
- Also, what dialogue demonstrates that message?
4. How is figurative language used to further the message?
Metaphors, similes, alliteration, personification, onomatopoeia
5. Describe your opinion of the message in the poem.

If the students take the time to write to each one of these, I think they will begin to explain what the author is trying to say. They should have a better draft to work on in the writing lab Friday.

November 8, 2006

We were in the writing lab. I was disappointed with the students today, but I am not sure why. I know the essay is not so easy, but I really get the feeling they are waiting for me to tell them exactly how to write it. I won't. However, I do wish they would have had more written when they came into the lab. Regardless, I will give them a small grade for being prepared today.

The district allowed the model essays to be seen in GoMyAccess. I was not going to have the students look at them because I feel they will steer the students towards what was written in the examples. I really want the students to think about the message of love in the poem. They should figure out how the writer expresses that message through the characters' actions and words. He also expressed feelings about love through figurative language by the way the poem is written. Finally, I expect the students to comment on the message.

I will take them through an exercise tomorrow on a Bob Dylan song, "Spanish Boots of Spanish Leather." It is a love song as well. I hope by doing what I expect for the essay using the song they will get a better idea of what they need to write.

There is a quiz tomorrow, Thursday.

November 6, 2006

The Highwayman essay should be written for Wednesday. We will be in the writing lab, and I do expect the students to have something. I will admit that the topic is difficult, but I have been preparing the students for responding to the prompt. You can see the handouts on the assignment page. I was thrilled when I saw the abstract art the students created for the one worksheet. If I have time, I will scan a few of the really good ones.

They should also have the imagery sheet finished. It is brainstorming for the essay.

They should also have unit 4 completed in the vocab book. I do not count Tuesday as a vacation day. I will be doing school work, and I expect the students to do the same. Look for the marking period grades to be e-mailed Tuesday.

November 2, 2006

We listened to the "The HIghwayman" today. I don't know how the students feel about the poem, but I love it! I think they like it as well. The hard part is not if they like it, though. The hard part about this prompt is whether they can figure out what the author is trying to say. Then they have to give their thoughts on that message. I would love to tell you what I think the message is, but I want the students to come up with it themselves. I will teach them how to gather details from the text so they can support what they say.

The homework is choosing the right word unit 4, but I told each class that I will not be here Friday, so I will not check that assignment until Monday. They should be ready, though! I will be in Dover benchmarking essays for the DSTP test for the spring. What we do is establish a series of essays as examples of each score: 4,3,2,1. The company that scores the essays uses our scored essays as benchmarks, references. As Delaware teachers, the group scoring the essays is establishing the cut-offs ourselves based on an established rubric. It is not glamorous, but it gives me insight into the scoring process. I get to look at both the stand alone essays and the text-based essays. I will be there Saturday as well. (I get paid.)

November 1, 2006

http://www.mrboz.com/school/assignments/assignment_the_highwayman.html

Have you checked out the requirements for the next essay? I added two handouts to the page. I believe the prompt is quite advanced for the students, so I am showing them how they can analyze a writer's message. I will not tell them the message of the poem, but I will help them organize thier thoughts.

The homework for tonight is to do the pictionaries 11-20 and synonyms for unit 4.

I have finished the grades for the first marking period. I will send out an e-mail soon with the final grades. I have a few students who have make-up, so I will wait one day for them.