ELA 10: Nov. 16-20

This week we will focus on two main things.

1. Graded Discussion: Students will meet in small groups to discuss their lit circle novels. These are novels that they chose and began reading last week Wednesday.  To help your students prepare for these discussions, ask them about their novels. What is the basic plot line thus far? How is the author developing the main character? How is the author addressing the theme of abuses of power?  Challenge your students to give you specific examples from the reading to support their answers.
   

      2.  Informational Reading skills: We read several articles last week about abuses of power or perceived abuses of power.  We will continue to read more current events articles and work on five distinct skills while reading those types of texts:

• Summarizing the article
  
• Citing the article
  
• Embedding quotations from the article into our own writing
  
• Locating and critiquing bias in the article
  
• Assessing the validity of the article
  

    Students practiced those skills last week and received a formative (not “counted”) grade in MiStar to give them an idea of their current skill level with each skill.  As we continue to practice, I’ll update that score in MiStar.  By the end of the unit, students will demonstrate their mastery of those five informational reading skills on a summative unit assessment

Students will also receive the permission slip and information sheet for the Detroit Institute of Art field trip on Monday.  I will be sending home a plea for more chaperones as well.  We need at least six adults (not including me!) to go on the field trip. I currently have three.  If you can spare the time, we’d love to have you join us.  

Finally, students are being given the opportunity to retake the Unit 1 Reading Assessment if they did not score well the first time around. Rather than just "try again", though,  students need to come in to AA and work with me prior to taking the retake. I want to make sure we can close the skill gaps before the students take the second test. Please encourage your students to take advantage of this opportunity if they did not score well on the Unit 1 test.  The retake is December 9, so students have two AAs prior to that to come in for help. 

Let me know if you have any questions about our work this week. I look forward to seeing you at conferences!