9th graders are navigating the difficult language of Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet. This week’s assignment is to help you get a better understanding of the characters of the play. For your lab assignment this week please choose 10 characters from the list of characters in Romeo and Juliet on page 785 of the Literature book. Write 5-10 sentences describing each one of these characters–describe their personality, conflict, way of speaking, actions, what other characters think about them, etc. You may use online resources, but if you do you must cite your sources. DO NOT COPY AND PASTE. DO NOT PLAIGIARIZE.
Upload your work on WSD Online (Moodle)
8th graders will be selecting a book to read independently. You will be creating a paper-bag book report and presenting it in front of the class after Winter Break. There is time to order a book online, or check one out from the library and try it out. You may try several books, but must committ to a book by December 10. This book must be approved by your parent/guardian AND Mr. Wenzel, by this date.
Not every student will be presenting on the same day. Students will sign up for a presentation date. So it is important to write down what day you are presenting. We will have about two or three students presenting each day.
For complete instructions on how to create a paper bag book report, see thePaper Bag Book Report Rubric(8).
Today, 8th graders had 45 minutes to plan their Lit Circle Presentation. This is a 3-9 minute group presentation on the book they read together. The purpose of the presentation is to get the class excited about reading the book. Presentations will be on Friday, November 12. Presentations will be graded on the following criteria: creativity, enthusiasm, time limit, organization, and neatness. I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with and hearing about your books.
This week 9th graders will be responding to a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye titled “The Mother Writes to the Murderer: A Letter.” I chose this poem because of its connection to Whirligig, the book that we are reading in class. (Remember that the mother of Lea is the one that sends Brent on his heroic journey to build the whirligigs.) The narrator in this poem has a different perspective on what should happen to the murderer of her child.
Write a one-page response to this work. You can write about its connection to the story, or not. Remember a response is not a summary, not an evaluation (Naomi Shihab Nye is an acclaimed poet) and you should not assume that your reader has read the poem. Your work should be submitted on WSD Online.
As 9th graders are nearing the end of our book, it’s not too early to start working on your final project. Students will be creating three projects to demonstrate what they have learned from their reading of the text. They may choose projects that empasize analytical thinking, visual thinking, and linguistic thinking. Please use the rubric to guide your projects and turn it in with your work to recieve a grade. Download the Whirligig Rubric. Projects are DUE Wednesday, November 17. 3 points extra credit for turning it in early on the 16th, 1 point deducted for turning it in on the 18th, and 3 points deducted if turned in on the 19th. No assignments accepted after the 19th.
For this week’s Wednesday Writing, 9th graders should select a quote from Whirligig chapters 1 or 2 and write a one page essay about that quote. Explain why the quote is meaningful. How does it affect your understanding of the text? of the characters? of the world? of your own life? Responses can be creative and draw from your own personal experiences, historical events, current events, literature, music, pop-culture, etc. Please submit your work on WSD Online.
We have finished reading Seedfolks and are now wrapping it up. 8th graders final project for the book is a three part project. Each student will complete a character chart, design a map of the community garden in Cincinnati, and create a writing piece in a genre of their choice.
1. Seedfolk Character Chart – this is a fairly straightfoward assignment. Complete the chart using your book and reading strategy guides. Make sure you fill in each cell for full credit. Some columns contain Level II and Level III questions, so you will need to make inferences and use your own thoughts and opinions.
2. Garden Map – your map must include the 11 different gardens within the garden. It must have a key which tells who developed each garden and what they grew. These will be entered into our map competition and a prize will go to the top cartographer in each class. If you need grid paper you can download it here: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/grid%20paper%20small.pdf
3. Writing Piece – choose your own genre in which to write a piece about Seedfolks. You could write another chapter to the book, write from the point of view of a character that does not have his/her own chapter, write about your own experiences with community projects–it’s up to you. If you need help selecting a genre you can browse the Short Genre List. Remember the list is only a small sample of the expanse of genres that exist.
8th graders are using reading strategies to get a deeper understanding of what they read. We are practicing these skills on a book called Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. We are reading it chapter by chapter and using the Reading Strategy Guide to record our strategic reading/thinking. Becoming a better reader helps students become a better learner. The strategies we use can improve understanding in all content areas.
For a brief explanation of some of the basic strategies, check out the following websites:
http://udleditions.cast.org/strategy_intro.html
http://www.bu.edu/education/readingclinic/documents/Comprehensionbrochure.pdf
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