Tuesday 15 September 2015

Grade 8 and 9: Writer's Notebook

Writer's Note Book

One possible brainstorm for our wrtier's note books.


Students used SEE - THINK - WONDER strategy to make careful observations of a writer's note book.  Here are a few ideas from students:


We are beginning our writer's note books with a quote on writing that we can relate to.

See Mrs. Anderson's choice of quote below and focus question:


Next, we went through the process of understanding how to represent our thoughts and feelings for the powerful words in the quote.  See the image below:


The Process:
  • We started with identifying the words that convey a feeling; LOVE, and we played with colour, font and images to represent LOVE.
  • We identified words that stand out as powerful; SWING, SWIRL, TANGLE, and we repeated the representing process.
  • We related to feelings and the meaning in the quote by using past life experiences; see the messy writing around the quote.  (example: I love writing because I've been doing it before I knew how to hand write.  I thought it looked cool at 5 years old.)
The next steps include free writing on one of the ideas and mining, aka. exploring, for a story.

I'm SUPER excited to see the quotes you all pick!!

If you're having trouble remembering the process for exploring a quote, use the guide above or the back side of your SEE - THINK - WONDER sheet.



Students have been working on classifying their representations of their quotes using the rubric and exemplars.




We've examined what the difference between powerful, effective, and evident symbolism is by discussing work from previous students.

Here's an example of a POWERFUL use of symbolism.



Students found:

  •  the friendly fonts rounded (fantasy) and negative fonts sharper and pointier (REALITY)
  • font styles changed on powerful words (REALITY, fantasy)
  • font colours had meaning.  fantasy in rainbow colours = utopia perfect life.
  • images improved our understanding of a feeling or meaning of the quote (REALITY behind bars = trapped)
Students gave oral feedback using 2 stars and a wish today and then made improvements to their own illustrated quotes.

Writing Criteria Grade 9

Students have been working on relating to a quote by explaining its meaning and relating it to a life experience.  We have been trying to show our readers what it was like to be us in that moment.  

We observed the writer's use of sensory details and vivid verbs in the POWERFUL example below:




Then we attempted to beautify our own writing by adding vivid verbs and sensory details.

We also noted that powerful words from the quote may be weaved into our own writing to make our connections smoother for our reader.  Instead of saying "the word 'swirl' reminds me of my little pencil scratching on the page.  We can simply describe and say, "the immature 'swirl' had no meaning".

Sep 30:  Today we are self-assessing and making improvements to our writing.  First students identified which level they are at according to the rubric and the sample work discussed in class.

We showed our reasoning for our self assessment by discussing and highlighting evidence in the work.  



See images below to better understand how to show our reasoning: 










All items are due tomorrow, October 1, for Grade 9's:

  • Representation - bumper sticker
  • Writing with evidence highlighted
  • Rubric filled out with reasoning in our self-assessment













Tuesday 1 September 2015

Welcome Back!

Welcome Back!

Homeroom 9B please have your forms signed and returned as soon as possible.  PE form must be in by this Friday!


Course Outlines available in Google Classroom.  

Students will sign up for Classroom next week.  All course materials will be available in Classroom and is accessible via Black Gold students' gshare account.  If you do not have a gshare account, check with Mrs. Anderson or your home room teacher and we'll fix this. : )




















What do students, working in groups, think is the Ideal Learning Environment?















Students completed a card sort with all ideas generated by groups and synthesized this information into new categories.  Here are two group's results:




Icebreaker Interviews begin this week!  Here's a sneak peek:


Grade 9 Focus Questions:

4.3.1 How can I introduce my classmate by selecting and organizing information that I’ve gathered to appeal to the interests of my audience?


4.3.5 How can I  provide feedback that encourages the presenter to consider other ideas and additional information?


Grade 9 Student Generated Rubric:

Name:
Presentation skills: How I say it.
  • Eyes: look around, try not to read
  • Voice: project, expression
  • Posture: confident, no fidgeting
I’ve got it!
Make little changes
Must work on
Content:  What I say.
Info. selected - 1 item was clearly expanded on and fit well in the presentation:
  • Organized: Hook Intro, body, conclusion
  • Details: examples, description
I’ve got it!
Make little changes
Must work on
Grade 8 Focus Questions:

4.3.2  How can I introduce my classmate using the information I’ve gathered to achieve a particular purpose and appeal to the interests of the audience?

4.3.3  How can I use feedback from rehearsals to make modifications?

Grade 8 Student Generated Rubric:

How can I introduce my classmate using the information I’ve gathered to achieve a particular purpose and appeal to the interests of the audience?

How can I use feedback from rehearsals to make modifications?

Name:
Presentation skills: How I say it.
  • Eyes: look around, try not to read
  • Voice: project, expression
  • Posture: confident, no fidgeting
I’ve got it!
Make little changes
Must work on
Content:  What I say.
Purpose:  Inform - Described multiple items clearly and with interesting details:
  • Organized: Intro, body, conclusion
  • Details: examples, description
I’ve got it!
Make little changes
Must work on


Students watched a TED Talk today as a mentor text to generate criteria for Presentations:


Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids







See what students observed below:



Students practiced using their rubrics by watching a YouTube Video, "Sandra Bullock Googles Herself - Here's what happened" and then rehearsed presentations with a partner they trust.  



Grade 9 classes will finish their presentations on MONDAY, September 14.

Grade 8's will learn how to peer assess using a rubric with a video and rehears with a partner.  

Grade 8's your class info will be moving to a separate page.  See the tabs at the top of this page.  Called, "It 8 your homework?"

Reminders for Next Week:

  • Bring $1.25 for your Writer's Notebook.  (Begin on Monday)
  • Meet the Teacher Night: Wednesday, Sep 16
  • Conroy Classic Run: Thursday, Sep 17 (Afternoon only)
  • PD Day on Friday, Sep 18 (No School for students)



LA 7 Fantastic Fiction: Flashback and "Knife"

Fantastic Fiction What are the elements of fiction? How do I identify conflict and explain how it is developed and resolved? ...