Genesis Reading: Students began weekly word study and quizzes. Gifted/enrichment students use Michael Clay Thompson’s “Caesar’s English” program to build word stem knowledge. Students worked on summarizing through the “Somebody, Wanted, But, So” strategy and a differentiated text from The New York Times. We continued independent reading and conferences.

Genesis Writing: We generated a list of “focus strategies” that have helped us as writers, and we each chose a strategy to work on in our current journal drafts. We evaluated the validity of “telling” in certain exceptions to the “Show, Don’t Tell” rule. Students have worked on drafting and revising in the writing workshop and outside of school. We will begin editing/proofreading our drafts next week.

Genesis X Block: All gifted/enrichment students are currently pulled for an independent study enrichment that emphasizes the following information problem process skills: task definition, information seeking strategies, location and access, use of information, synthesis, and evaluation. We worked on strategies for question development and finding appropriate and relevant resources. Students devised ways to “translate” their topic question into “key words” for search terms in the databases Nettrekker and EBSCO. We
began finding articles that are relevant to our topics of interest.

Legacy Reading: Students took their quiz on nonfiction text structures and reflected upon setting a purpose in nonfiction text.  They also took their SAT quiz and reflected on their learning styles in learning vocabulary to determine individualized instruction for word study.  We spent reading workshop minilessons analyzing and evaluating my letter-essay (a critical approach to a reader’s response to literature) for how it demonstrated or did not demonstrate rubric criteria. Both the students and I will be turning in our final letter-essay drafts on Monday. We continued independent reading and conferences.

Explorers Reading: Students reflected on their learning styles in learning vocabulary to determine individualized instruction plans for word study. We spent reading workshop minilessons analyzing and evaluating my letter-essay (a critical approach to a reader’s response to literature) for how it demonstrated or did not demonstrate rubric criteria. Both the students and I will be turning in our final letter-essay drafts on Monday. We continued independent reading and conferences.

Legacy/Explorers Writing: We discussed and journaled about Amy Tan’s literacy narrative in “Mother Tongue” in light of the multiple languages we speak/write inside and outside of school. Through a think-aloud, we brainstormed close reading strategies that helped us consider Franz Kafka’s “Above the Law” and Samuel Beckett’s “Act Without Words I” for our cross-genre study. Resources that were explored after students brought ideas that incited class debate included the first page of several position papers on whether or not intelligence is fixed, the purpose of learning how to write, and whether or not writing can be taught. At the beginning of each writing class, we started with journal freewriting to generate drafts. We continued independent writing and conferences and returned to weekly grammar practice.

Genesis Reading: Continue independent reading.

Genesis Writing: Revision of FOCUS/Show-Tell draft.  (We will be working on COPS next week.)

Legacy/Explorers Reading: Letter-essay DUE!  Continue independent reading.

Legacy/Explorers Writing: Keep working on independent writing–portfolio check-in is Friday, January 16.