All gifted/enrichment students took Winter NWEA tests this week.

Genesis: Students completed their Ancient Civilizations projects.  They analyzed the rhetoric in advertising images and applied those appeals to their own product advertisements.  We began our reader response unit in preparation for the ISAT test.

Genesis X: We completed our Literature Web study of A Light in the Forest by cross-referencing images/symbols from an article on Elian Gonzalez, a drawing and poems by Sherman Alexie, and a poem on “Identity.”

Legacy: We completed our social-emotional lesson on Dabrowski’s “positive disintegration” theory of human development.  In our revising/editing of comparative essays, we referred to Glenbrook South writing principles to aid us in adapting our sentence patterns.  We analyzed paragraphs of a model comparative essay draft by Ms. Rekkas, completing its active revision on the SMART board together.

Explorers: We began our novel study of Fahrenheit 451 through our cross-referencing of texts by Thomas More (Utopia), George Orwell (1984), as well as nonfiction articles on McCarthyism and the Chinese Cultural Revolution.  Students also developed ekphrastic, metaphorical, and abecedarian poems.

Genesis: Continue independent reading; add 2 Post-Its for either connections/inferences as you read your independent reading book.

Legacy: Ms. Heller’s nonfiction reading project due Tuesday 2/17.  Mini-letter essay and 2 SAT quizzes due Thursday 2/19.

Explorers: Independent reading contract due Thursday 2/19.  Fahrenheit 451 should be read by Thursday 2/19.