It was good to see the students again after our Fall Break. I hope they all had a chance to relax a bit. They came back and were ready to learn!
Quick Write
Today our focus was on the dialogue. We looked at an excerpt of dialogue from Ender’s Game and pulled out some Craft Moves we noticed the writer used. Some of those included indenting when a new speaker speaks, showing rather than telling by using expressive dialogue tags along with having the characters doing something while they are dialoguing. Last, we noticed that sometimes the writer used dialogue tags and sometimes he didn’t. We decided it made the text more “readable”.
After noting those moves in our Craft Moves chart, I gave them a scenario and students had a chance to write some snappy dialogue keeping those craft moves in mind.
Homework Check
We did a brief check in on homework. It can be challenging to have several assignments going at once–part of being a student in this style of classroom–and also as they move ahead academically. I sent out grade reports yesterday which is helpful for students to use to keep track of their progress.
Literature
We took a deep dive into discussing our novel, Peace Like A River today using a strategy called “Hexagonal Thinking.” After choosing groups, students received a packet of blank hexagons and others that had quotes and themes from the book. A hexagon has six sides, therefore each term or concept CAN connect to up to six others. Using critical thinking, students decided where the terms best fit in the web of hexagons provided. The goal is to move each hexagon into the position where it BEST fits within the overall web. They could connect any given term to several others, being intentional with the placement.
They recorded three of their most powerful connections on a worksheet and shared their best one at the close of the class.
There were many moving parts–and students found there was no one right answer–as long as they could justify their connection. Some students found this invigorating, and some found it a challenging stretch to make these connections. I think they all exercised some critical thinking and had a good time reviewing what they have read in the novel so far.
Writing
Essay 3 Rough Draft and Prewrite were due today. The homework is to have a friend or family member complete a Peer Review. It is due next week.The final is due November 9.
Grammar
No grammar discussion this week! Next week we will cover Participles.
Homework
Essay 3 Peer Editing Worksheet
Links for This Week
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