After the hectic schedule that PARCC testing brought (along with two "Mystery Skype" sessions), we hit the "speaking" portion of ELA class pretty hard this past week. Taking tips from Erik Palmer's book, Well Spoken: Teaching Speaking to All Students, we prepared for our short demonstration speeches. See our notes in the PDF below for specific activities, and here's a brief explanation of our "Teach Me Your Talent" week:
Thank you to all the parents who came to help us this past week, and to those who will visit next week! It helps many students to step up their game if they have an authentic audience in addition to their peers! This was also a great week to get in the 1:1 conferences we needed to have in order to fairly and accurately determine your child's grade. Please reach out with any feedback you may have regarding this system. I know it's not perfect, but I believe the grades we came up with together are more accurate than having a computer average points. It takes a bit of class time, but Mrs. Rehberger and I love the valuable conversations we get to have with students while they reflect on their learning each quarter.
I'd also like to reiterate what I mentioned in my email about reading over Spring Break:
PLEASE encourage your child to read something he or she enjoys over break (books, magazines, newspapers), whether while in Mexico, Italy, Puerto Rico, Wisconsin, or in your own home! It's been proven that TIME SPENT READING is the BEST way for students to become better readers (and, subsequently, better writers). Check The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research by Stephen D. Krashen (2nd edition is from 2004) for more information. The young adult librarians at Arlington Heights Memorial Library would love a visit from your child. I truly appreciate your partnership in this matter. It's great to see some of you this week - we all enjoyed your input and attention! Enjoy your break if we don't see you, but we hope to see some of you at our presentations and/or at conferences next week! |
scholars_notes_week25_26.pdf |