We've been focusing on nonfiction for a couple of weeks, and have ended with writing a very short biography about someone who inspires us. Ask who they wrote about - and WHY they chose that person! It's been wonderful guiding them through this process, as they were inspired to work diligently because it is someone they admire. While writing this piece, we introduced the "Grammarly" tool, which was helpful to many students who decided to use it. Here are our plans for the last two weeks (also uploaded below), along with "further reading" if you so choose.
Also, your child and I went over our midterm progress this week, just as we did last quarter. A "D" or an "F" in ELA typically means the student has not taken time in or out of class to revise any writing. If you have questions about your child's progress, they should be able to answer them. If they have trouble answering them, ask them to show you the midterm information they looked at in class this week (and have a copy of). This is the page we went over (that I'm linking here), so you can see what it looks like. (On the back is a reminder of the grading guidelines we looked at in September.) Part of the reason we're going without marks is so your child knows they are a huge part of the process - students do have time IN class to improve and then learn from this process. When we meet at the end of the quarter, we'll once again focus on the most recent evidence of learning, so feel free to encourage your child to revise his or her writing pieces. Students worked on another piece this week. (The first one was submitted for teacher feedback in October.) Of course, we will check our midterm progress again the next two quarters.
Just as a reminder, here's the video I created that explains WHY we're working without marks in ELA.
It's so great to see students working in order to learn. Please let me know if you have more questions.
The class photographers passed on the baton to new photographers this week... enjoy!
Also, your child and I went over our midterm progress this week, just as we did last quarter. A "D" or an "F" in ELA typically means the student has not taken time in or out of class to revise any writing. If you have questions about your child's progress, they should be able to answer them. If they have trouble answering them, ask them to show you the midterm information they looked at in class this week (and have a copy of). This is the page we went over (that I'm linking here), so you can see what it looks like. (On the back is a reminder of the grading guidelines we looked at in September.) Part of the reason we're going without marks is so your child knows they are a huge part of the process - students do have time IN class to improve and then learn from this process. When we meet at the end of the quarter, we'll once again focus on the most recent evidence of learning, so feel free to encourage your child to revise his or her writing pieces. Students worked on another piece this week. (The first one was submitted for teacher feedback in October.) Of course, we will check our midterm progress again the next two quarters.
Just as a reminder, here's the video I created that explains WHY we're working without marks in ELA.
It's so great to see students working in order to learn. Please let me know if you have more questions.
The class photographers passed on the baton to new photographers this week... enjoy!
scholars_notes_week13_14.pdf |