Genesis: If you haven’t finished literature circle role sheets from our last class, complete them.  Your final draft narratives are due–use the rubric for revising/editing guidance.  Continue independent reading.

Legacy/Explorers: Continue working on social studies paper–it’s due Wednesday 5/6.  Keep working on independent reading for contract.

From Northwestern University Center for Talent Development:

Don’t wait! June 1st is the deadline for Gifted LearningLinks (GLL) Enrichment and Accelerated Summer Option classes.

Enrichment Classes: June 15th – August 22nd (Grades 3-8)

Visit our website for engaging humanities, language arts, social studies, math & science offerings.

NEW THIS SESSION: Introduction to Computer Programming in Python

Accelerated Summer Option: June 15th –August 22nd (Grades 6-12)

Honors Classes:

U.S. History, World History, Economics,

Greek I, II, III, Latin I, II (Wheelock)

Intro to Philosophy, Logic, World Religions, World Theater

Algebra I, Algebra II/Trig, Pre-Calculus, Geometry

Chemistry, Biology, C++

English Vocabulary I, Journalistic Writing

AP Classes:

AP Calculus AB, AP Economics: Micro & Macro, AP Environmental Science,

AP Biology

For course descriptions and to apply please visit: http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/gll/

Sign up while class space is still available!

Genesis: Continue independent reading.  Finalize narrative essays for Thursday/Friday (Block 4).

Legacy: Letter-essays due tomorrow!

Explorers: Continue working on Middle East project.  You should have your thesis/introduction completed by Thursday.  Keep reading for your reading contract.

Midterms were sent home this week to all teams.

Genesis: This week, we practiced our written Idea Cluster (Idea-Evidence-Interpretation) skills through our memoir study, and we compared/contrasted events from the book with the subjects of McCarthyism, the modern Chinese justice system, and the Hitler Youth through differentiated readings/jigsaw discussions.  We discussed the responses that we would give the author of Red Scarf Girl and continued our independent reading and conferences.  In writing workshop, students continued their narrative drafting and revising.  I led a minilesson on thoughts/feelings in narrative writing/(skill: focused notetaking) using James Howe’s “Everything Will Be Okay.”

Legacy: We practiced our comma rules during reading/writing workshop.  Gifted/enrichment students were tested for NWEA Reading and Language Usage.  To begin our lessons on the drama genre, we read Lorraine Hansberry’s own words on being young, gifted, and black (various topics that provided the foundation for her writing), and performed a cold reading of a scene from her play, “A Raisin In the Sun.”

Explorers: Please see this week’s newsletter for more on the phenomenal presentations of Greek Mythology projects.  Gifted/enrichment students were tested for NWEA Reading and Language Usage.  Students will be drafting their Middle East persuasive essays in language arts next week.

Genesis: Continue independent reading.

Legacy: Continue independent reading.  Your letter-essay is due Wednesday 4/29.

Explorers: Read and annotate social studies packet in preparation for this week’s essay drafting.

Genesis: We spent reading workshop engaged in reading and discussion of the memoir Red Scarf Girl.  In addition, we practiced reader response techniques in writing using Nancie Atwell’s sentence openers with our partners.  We also reviewed the “idea-evidence-interpretation” literary argument format and applied it to constructing reader responses to Red Scarf Girl.  Please see writing workshop (complete sentence analysis and practice; narrative writing) further referenced in this week’s team newsletter.

Legacy: We held a fiction writer roundtable to provide meaningful group feedback on our current independent writing drafts.  We focused on letter-essay development and reader response this week.  Our grammar study centered on identifying participles and manipulating them through informal sentence branching.

Explorers: We continued reading and interpreting Greek myths with our partners.  Please see this week’s team newsletter for more information.

Due to team rescheduling, Genesis X Block video projects will be concluded during reading time before the end of the school year.

Genesis: Red Scarf Girl should be finished by Monday 4/20.  Two idea clusters (idea-evidence-interpretation) are also due Monday 4/20.

Legacy: Continue working on independent writing/reading.  Writing sample due Friday 4/24; letter-essay due Wednesday 4/28.

Explorers: Greek Mythology Project is due Monday 4/20.  Continue reading for your independent reading contract.  Don’t forget–Fahrenheit revisions are due before Tuesday to be reflected on midterms!

Seeking submissions of short stories and poetry:

http://ststesting.com/cw.html

Genesis: Continue reading Red Scarf Girl/prewriting letter-essay.

Legacy: Continue independent reading/working on letter-essay draft.

Explorers: Continue working on Greek Mythology project (due Monday 4/20).  Quiz/mind maps on gods/goddesses due Friday 4/17.