Genesis Reading Blocks 2 and 4: Continue Nothing But the Truth reading homework (your completed book & notecards are due Monday, October 6).  Also continue your choice independent reading book for your trimester reading contract.

Legacy/Explorers Reading Blocks 3 and 4: Continue Cry, the Beloved Country reading homework (up to p. 208 is due Monday, October 6).  Also continue your choice independent reading book for your trimester reading contract.

Genesis: In reading workshop, students began reading our documentary novel, Nothing but the Truth, and we began our genre study of documents found in the text with “memoranda.”  Students are now well acquainted with the definitions of documentary novel and satire.  We began our four-line grammar analysis study with nouns.

Legacy/Explorers: In reading workshop, all students practiced their close reading skills on the opening passage of Cry, the Beloved Country and began their reading of the book.  We continued building context for the novel with our apartheid jigsaw activity, where students visually depicted a history of apartheid in South Africa.  This timeline is now posted in our classroom as a reference.  Students also continued developing their collaboration skills with attempting to render metaphor/analogies of significant lines in Cry, the Beloved Country. In writing, students on the Legacy team developed free verse poems, as the Explorers wrapped up their memoir final drafts.  Students will be freewriting over the weekend to keep creative works-in-progress in their writing folders as we begin the nonfiction unit.  We also continued vocabulary and grammar practice/daily poem readings.

Genesis Reading Blocks 2 and 4: You must read up to p. 103 of Nothing But the Truth by Monday, September 29.  You should also know the definitions of documentary novel/satire!

Legacy/Explorers Blocks 3 and 4 Reading: You must read up to p. 101 of Cry, the Beloved Country by Monday, September 29.  Keep working on those notecards.  Also note that the introduction/prologue can be read after you finish the entire novel.  Legacy Block 3: You should bring your Word within the Word vocabulary packets to class.  Legacy Block 4: You can retake vocabulary quizzes if you explain the method you used to relearn the material over the weekend.

Legacy/Explorers Blocks 3 and 4 Writing:  Spend 30 minutes this weekend working on free writing–any genre of choice!  Poetry, short story, flash fiction, screenplay, graphic novel… it’s up to you.  You will check these in with me on Monday and store them in your class writing folder.

Legacy/Explorers Blocks 3 and 4 Reading: Today you received an introductory letter to your reading of Cry, the Beloved Country.  After our entry slips, we determined that all students should have up to p. 101 read by Monday, September 29, up to p. 209 read by Monday, October 6, and the entire novel read by Monday, October 13.  All students should be prepared to turn in their three notecards for completion credit on 10/13.

Legacy/Explorers Blocks 3 and 4 Writing: Explorers, your memoirs are due Friday, September 26!  All students, there is always something to read and always something to write–please continue your drafting from today’s class!

Genesis Reading Blocks 2 and 4 Reading: Keep reading Nothing but the Truth and your independent reading book.  You must have up to p. 103 read by Monday, September 29.  Your notecards are due when the entire book should be finished (Monday, October 6).

Genesis Reading Blocks 2 and 4: Begin reading Avi’s Nothing But the Truth for at least 30 minutes tonight.  Remember that you need to have up to page 103 read by Monday, September 29 and the entire book completed by Monday, October 6.  As you read, fill three 3×5 notecards with your observations on the writer’s style (see today’s handout for more information on this).

All Legacy/Explorers Reading: Begin reading Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country for at least 30 minutes tonight.  You should not annotate or otherwise write in these texts.  We will set our reading expectations tomorrow during Block 4.

In response to student feedback, our Word Cell 10, 11, 12 quiz will be administered during Block 4 on Tuesday, September 23.

This change does not impact students in Legacy Block 3 Reading.

Genesis: Class was impacted by NWEA testing and District inservices this week.  We wrapped up our Socratic Circle discussions of “The Parsley Garden” and kept on reading our daily poems out loud.  Students learned a new vocabulary strategy with Ms. Moss.  All were introduced to and discussed the rules and expectations of reading workshop, and we continued reading workshop and reading conferences.  In addition, students completed their in-class essay preassessment, which will be used to guide planning/instruction for their letter-essay, students’ independent reading contract requirement.  We also preassessed part of speech grammar skills for our year’s grammar study.

Legacy and Explorers: Students received pull-out instruction for both reading and writing this week.  Our writing activities this week spanned memoir/autobiographical incident workshop and grammar practice.  We established our classroom norms as a combined group, and also found out about some of the connections we had not yet discovered about ourselves.  In Socratic Circle collaborative discussion, students practiced text analysis and discussed passages from Glen Pourciau’s short story, “Claim.”  In preparation for our novel study of Cry, the Beloved Country, students simulated the system of South African apartheid through an activity where a “privileged minority” possessed the majority of resources and space, and the majority of the population were confined to a limited area of the classroom until they were hired for “jobs” that the “privileged minority” determined.  In addition, students interacted with our new SMART board as a brainstorming/freewriting tool.  We will use the SMART board in myriad ways during our novel unit, which begins next week.

Genesis Reading Blocks 2 and 4: Read at least thirty minutes per day for your independent reading contract.

Legacy Reading Blocks 3 and 4: Read at least thirty minutes per day for your independent reading contract.  Block 4 has Word Cell 10-12 tests on Monday.

Legacy Writing Blocks 3 and 4: None

Explorers Reading Blocks 3 and 4: Read at least thirty minutes per day for your independent reading contract.

Explorers Writing Blocks 3 and 4: Continue polishing your memoir drafts.  If you are at the typing stage, you need to have your work typed this weekend so that you spend class time in conference.  Your memoir is due May 26.

If you were unable to attend our Curriculum Night, our presentation is available on this website’s Parent Resources page.  Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.