Week of 11/12 - 11/15

Volunteer opportunities for parents are listed at the bottom of this post. Parents, check it out!

Tuesday, 11/12 - Friday, 11/15

Good news! The only homework you have this week is to read for 30 minutes each night. It is important to choose something that you are interested in reading. You can read a novel, magazine, newspaper article, or whatever else that floats your boat. If you don't like what you are reading, then abandon it and move on! I can't make you love reading, but I can help you find texts that will engage you. Let me know if you need some help picking out your independent reading material.

As for the week...

Tuesday
We will begin presenting our Utopia projects. Students in the audience will evaluate their peers' presentations by completing evaluation sheets and developing open-ended critical thinking questions for each group. Groups will respond to their peers' questions later in the week.
Hint: Turn your direct compliments or criticism into questions. For example, if someone's video had terrible sound quality, ask them why they chose not to include voice-overs or background music.

Wednesday
I will have a substitute on Wednesday. In class you will respond to a brief journal prompt about writing, complete a grammar assessment, and continue reading your lit circle novel. Please take the grammar assessment seriously. I am using it to determine the specific grammar skills you need to refine during the upcoming unit. We will get back to the project presentations tomorrow.

Thursday
We will continue our project presentations. Students will complete evaluation sheets and create critical thinking questions for each group.

Friday
We will have the final presentations. After the last presentation, project groups will review their peer feedback and answer the critical thinking questions posed by their classmates. Students will then rate the performance of each member of their group.

Flash Forward: 
Next week we will start our Obstacles and Opportunities unit. Get ready to read! We will read an abbreviated version of Flowers for Algernon in class. If you would like to read the whole novel instead of the excerpt in our literature book, just let me know! We will pair this text with nonfiction texts about science and its role in improving human life. Please bring any interesting scientific articles or news articles that you come across.

This unit will have a heavy emphasis on grammar and writing skills. I know grammar is a bit complicated and frustrating, but hang in there. Practice makes perfect!

*Parents, I'd love if some of you could come in to talk to the kids about how scientific discoveries have revolutionized your career fields or how scientific discoveries have improved your lives. If you don't feel comfortable presenting in front of the class, we could have you FaceTime with the class or just write a passage for the kids to read. Please send me an email at jgrinnell@chccs.k12.nc.us if you are interested in participating.

Also, we are going to start writing our research paper in mid-December. If you would like to volunteer to help coach kids with their writing, please let me know your availability. If you are a grammar king or queen and want to give a brief presentation on anything related to grammar, you are also welcome!