ELA 10: Jan 19-22

Well, last week didn’t go quite as planned. My husband often accuses me of trying to fit ten pounds of fun into a five pound bag, and that’s exactly what happened. I thought we’d be able to work on students’ art projects and writing assignments simultaneously, but that was a bit too ambitious on my part. Combine that with some technology snafus and we had to do a little adjusting of the schedule!

Students did write their argumentative constructed responses, and I was very happy with the results. We looked at a model in class, graded it together, revised together and students had lots of time to ask for feedback.  I returned those on Friday.  Some students received hard copies if they turned in hard copies; other students received digital feedback if they turned their final drafts in via Google Classroom. If your student turned in a digital copy, please encourage him or her to revisit that assignment this weekend and read my comments!! Lots of students were having trouble seeing my comments on Friday. The problem has been fixed and they should be able to see them now.

Why is it so important that they see my comments?? Two reasons:

1. Students who are not yet proficient (scoring under a 3) may take a second try at writing an argumentative constructed response this weekend.  I have posted a new prompt and a new article on Google Classroom. Students need to submit new attempts to me by midnight on SUNDAY so that I can give them feedback. If the score improves, I’ll replace the lower grade!
2. The midterm writing exam is TUESDAY and it is this exact same type of writing! They should all look at my comments for reminders of what to do on this writing assessment Tuesday. It combines all of the skills we’ve been working on:

• referencing and citing research
• supporting an assertion with clear, concise analysis
• choosing precise language
• editing carefully

On Wednesday, we’ll go back to the art portion of this assignment. Students will have time in class Wednesday and Thursday to work on creating their art pieces and we will have our Art of Protest “museum” on Friday. This will also be a chance for students who would like a second chance at the speech. If students did not do as well as they had hoped on their art speech, they may give a speech about their own art on Friday as a replacement score.

​Have a great weekend. Encourage your students to step away from their studies for a little while on Monday to reflect on the reason we have Martin Luther King Jr. Day off.  A day of service and reflection could be nicely capped by attending the Unity in the Community celebration at the high school at 7pm. This year’s theme is “Light the candle, Pass the flame” and organizers hope to inspire the community to a year of service. I’d love to see you there!