Language Arts
Google Classroom Codes:
Core 1: 6k23ubl
Core 2: hqtkd7w
Core 3: 4aqtmu5
Core 4: qytdbeu
* All virtual school assignments are located in Google Classroom. Once logged in, students should click on the "Classwork" tab. For Week 1, there is a heading, titled, "Virtual Learning Week One: April 13th to 17th." Under there, students will find a calendar, schedule, and their assignments/materials for the week. They should start out by watching the video titled, "Watch Me First," which gives an overview of our virtual class.*
Coronavirus Closure: Supplemental Resources
Scholastic Classroom Magazines:
https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome/grades-6-12.html
Science News for Students: Scientific Articles:
https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/
News ELA: Educational Articles:
Newsela.com (students might need to make an account)
DDMS Online Library: E-books & Audiobooks
https://search.follettsoftware.com/metasearch/ui/78177
I believe students can also access the DDMS online library through the WAKE ID Portal by clicking the Destiny app.
If you read any books over the closure, I would love to hear about them! As an optional ungraded assignment, you can also e-mail reflections of any articles or books you read.
Oxford Practice Grammar Student's Site
https://elt.oup.com/student/practicegrammar/?cc=nl&selLanguage=nl
Free Rice: Vocabulary Practice:
Duolingo: Language Learning
https://www.duolingo.com/ -- Duolingo is also an app.
Duolingo lets you practice reading, writing, speaking, and listening in another language. I've been using the app to work on my Spanish, but there are many languages to choose from.
Lyddie Essay Resources:
Prompt: Should Lyddie sign or not sign the petition?
Link to Quote Guide:
Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iHE5gqryQsEr8w-FQx5bi4t44XHgxJoeZorvpLkEsfo/edit?usp=sharing
Link to Intro Paragraph Guide:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xxysHdFDP8XxBKDTlTg3hOedL520dt_6k7PEDkND3To/edit?usp=sharing
Link to Body Paragraph Guide:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xwhmUu0sDS3PPtqamSwFxbsaZaM1SZMlwIfx7Cw21VA/edit?usp=sharing
Link to Essay Outline:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vDIRRRvO55bC7K2EeBt0LhsFsMuvlNy8aWGcLG-yvy4/edit?usp=sharing
Link to PDF of Lyddie:
Thursday 12/16- C 1, 2, and 4 read Ch. 14 of Lyddie and completed WKB P. 49.
C3 finished their mid-unit-assessment.
Wednesday 12/15- Mid-Unit- Assessment on Ch 12 & 13 of Lyddie.
Tuesday 12/14- C 1, 2, and 4: Mid-Unit- Assessment on Ch 12 & 13 of Lyddie.
C3: read finished Ch 13 of Lyddie, completed wkb p. 47, and worked on their mid-unit-assessment review. Test tomorrow!
Monday 12/13- C1, C2, and C4 finished Ch 13 of Lyddie, completed wkb p. 47, and worked on their mid-unit-assessment review. Test tomorrow!
C4 Students finished WKB P. 42, 43, and 44 and started Ch 13 of Lyddie. Test on Wednesday.
Friday 12/10- Students read a NEWS ELA article on garment factories in Bangladesh in groups at their lexile levels. Then, students worked on a vocabulary review to prepare for next week's mid-unit-assessment. C 3 read Ch 12 of Lyddie and C 1, 2, and 4 started Ch 13.
Wednesday 12/8- Students practiced identifying and creating effective research questions. In their Module 2 Unit 1 & 3 Workbooks, students completed P. 31.
Tuesday 12/7- Students read Ch 12 in Lyddie and completed P. 43 and P. 45. Students in C3 presented their poetry projects for AIG.
Monday 12/6- Students read Ch 11 in Lyddie and completed P. 39
Wednesday 12/11- Ms. Stephenson was absent and students were given a packet to complete, including an exercise on possessive nouns and scanned copies of P. 28 and P. 29 from student workbooks. If you were absent, please read Ch 8 of Lyddie and make-up Workbook P. 28 and P. 29.
Tuesday 12/10- Today in class, students discussed characterization, discussed how Lyddie has been characterized, and wrote an acrostic poem based on Lyddie's character.
Example Poem on Wkb P. 23
Brainstorm Lyddie's character traits on workbook P. 24.
Link to Powerpoint with examples and instructions: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LsTLrHwk9ngxAQMvttinHlyMZoy0ZPAlDFu4tIaAlnc/edit?usp=sharing
Monday 12/09- Students visited the library for the first 20 minutes of class for circulation. Then, students discussed characterization, read Ch 7 of Lyddie, and completed p. 24 in the workbook.
Friday 12/06- Students worked on making nouns possessive, read ch 6 of Lyddie, completed p. 22 in the workbook, and competed in Jeopardy game to review elements of Lyddie.
Thursday 12/05- Students worked on making nouns possessive, watched a short film on the Industrial Revolution finished Ch. 5 of Lyddie, and completed workbook p. 20.
Wednesday 12/04- Students reviewed fair and unfair working conditions, reviewed working conditions at Wegmann's Grocery Store, and wrote down on P. 28 of their Module 2 Unit 2 & 3 workbook examples of Wegman's fair working conditions.
Tuesday 12/03- Students worked in groups for a matching activity with vocab related to The True Cost, students watched the first 8 minutes, and read Ch 4 in Lyddie.
PDF of Lyddie:
Monday 12/02- Students discussed foreshadowing, read Ch. 3 of Lyddie, and completed p. 14 and 15 in the workbook.
Tuesday 11/26- Students took a quiz on proper nouns and then drew the setting from Ch 1 and 2 of Lyddie, using evidence from the chapters.
*Students who were absent may make up their quiz after the break.
Monday 11/25- Students reviewed proper nouns as a group and then worked on an independent exercise (link below). Students also read Ch. 2 of Lyddie and completed p. 9 in their workbooks. Tomorrow students will have a quiz on proper nouns.
Link to common and proper noun classwork: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A22a15367-ed03-4bbc-aab3-ab01e715473f
Friday 11/22- Today in class, students worked wrote two sentence using proper nouns, finished p. 4 and p. 5 in their workbooks, and began Ch. 2 in Lyddie. Please sign students permission slips for the documentary, The True Cost.
Thursday 11/21- Students discussed character, setting, and plot. They also read Ch. 1 of Lyddie and completed p. 7 and p. 8 in their workbooks.
Wednesday 11/20- Students engaged in a gallery walk with pictures and quotes around the room to get a preview of this Module. Then, students chose a clothing company that they would want to work at, as their first job. On p. 3 of their workbooks, students determined what would constitute fair and problematic working conditions.
Tuesday 11/19- Students were given new workbooks for Module 2. Students discussed working conditions, analyzed photographs from vintage textile factories, and listened to the sound of a working textile mill to answer # 1-3 on p. 1 of their workbooks. During the second half of class, students visited the Book Fair.
Link to sound: https://beta.prx.org/stories/28041#description
Monday 11/18- Today students were scheduled to work with the media specialist on developing their digital portfolios. Every student in Wake County is required to make one and will add artifacts from their classes to build their portfolio through 12th grade. The Book Fair is this week and our students are scheduled to attend during Language Arts tomorrow.
Tuesday 11/12 - Friday 11/15: Students have been writing and revising their literary analyses--due on Monday Nov 18th. Last week, students worked on an outline, which they are using as a resource to complete their draft. Students are writing their analysis on a Google Doc and sharing it with my e-mail: sstephenson2@wcpss.net. I am giving students the weekend to revise their essay or finish.
Prompt: What factors made survival possible for Salva in A Long Walk to Water? Support your discussion with evidence from the novel.
Link to rubric: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A6fbf2ff8-dc74-4984-bb1d-d929ef63f42b
Link to outline: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A13dd7377-71a3-4110-9a04-17ce8788b458
Link to PDF of ALWTW:
Pages where students can find survival factor quotes:
1. Other people - Old lady (16-17, group to walk with (21-25) Mariel (29-31) Uncle (34-35, 40, 47, 53-54).
2. Water (55-56, 58).
3. Motivation to live (65, 99).
4. Thoughts of family (17, 72, 96).
5. Fast Thinking (78).
6. Leadership (80-82).
7. Aid Workers (84-89).
8. Patience (10).
Wednesday 10/30: Today in class, students reviewed for their vocabulary quiz for tomorrow with Kahoot. Students also watched Salva's TedTalk, I Kept Walking, took 10 or more gist notes on the video, and discussed Salva's message.
Link to Salva's TedTalk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWlNdnFicLE
Tuesday 10/29: Today students finished A Long Walk to Water, participated in a gallery walk of their peers' vocabulary posters, and worked on the evidence chart on p. 70 of their workbooks.
Monday 10/28 - Today in class, students read to Ch. 17 in A Long Walk to Water and took gist statements on p. 65 and 68 of their workbooks. Students also worked in pairs to create posters of vocabulary words, including drawing a picture to represent the word, writing the definition, and using the word in a sentence.
List of Vocab words:
1. Isolated - Alone, far away from other places and people
2. Refugee - someone who has been forced to leave his/her country, especially during war, or for political or religious reasons
3. aid organization- An organization that tries to help people, especially people who live in poor or war-torn countries
4. Abruptly - suddenly
5. Bewildering - confusing
6. Peril - Danger
7. Remote - far from other people who live there
8. Contaminated - food, water, etc. that has had a harmful substance added to it
9. Emaciated- very thin from not getting enough to eat
10. Mingle - mix together
11. Despair - Hopelessness; feeling that nothing will get better
12. Relief Agency - An organization that tries to help people who are in urgent need, perhaps because of a war or a famine
13. Grudgingly - unwillingly
14. Masses - large groups
Friday 10/24 -
Students who were absent from Core 1, 2, and 4 on Friday should read Ch 16 and 17 in A Long Walk to Water. Students absent from Core 3 should read Ch 14 and Ch 15. They should write a gist statement for each chapter, that we can staple into their workbooks.
Link to A Long Walk to Water PDF:
Students who would like to correct Test 2, may do so until Wednesday. Students who would like extra support may ask for a pass to my room for lunch Monday or Wednesday.
Link to Test Correction Instructions:
Thursday 10/24 -
Students learned the definition of juxtaposition and explored the concept by analyzing a series of images. Then, students discussed how Nya and Salva are juxtaposed in A Long Walk to Water. Core 1, 2, and 4 read Ch 14 and 15 (gist statements on p. 65). Core 3 read Ch 12 and 13 (gist statements on p. 56).
Here is a link to the PowerPoint for students who were absent:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jsf322BAe1qM67yFRkdTuZ4K1rcVpNnHc5HigzAblgQ/edit?usp=sharing
Wednesday 10/23- Students worked in groups to connect a theme to their group's assigned quote from A Long Walk to Water and explain the quote's connection to the theme. Students in C 1, 2, and 4 read Ch 12 and 13 of A Long Walk to Water and wrote gist statements on p. 56 of their workbooks. C 4 read Ch. 11 and 12. Students also worked on the evidence chart on p. 58 of their workbooks.
Tuesday 10/22 - C1, 2, and 4 were given an article with a set of questions from News ELA based on their reading lexile level. Students also wrote goals for growing as readers. Then, students read Ch 11 of A Long Walk to Water.
Core 4 had their weekly poetry enrichment, which was focused on Langston Hughes.
Monday 10/21- Students read CH. 10 of A Long Walk to Water, wrote gist statements on p. 51, and completed p. 55 in their workbooks.
Friday 10/18- LORD COMPANY SCIENCE DAY.
Thursday 10/17- Students engaged in an activity to practice identifying topics of themes. Then, students completed the chart on p. 53 and 54 of their workbooks.
Wednesday 10/16- Students read Chapters 8 and 9 in A Long Walk to Water. They wrote gist statements in their workbooks on p. 47 (for Ch. 8) and p. 51 (Ch.9). They also determined two challenges and survival factors for each chapter on p. 41 of their workbooks.
Tuesday 10/15-
C3: AIG Poetry Lesson. Students worked on a poetry scavenger hunt to identify literary devices in four poems.
C1, 2, 4: Each class came up with a checklist for a good theme, to check their own. Then, students analyzed film clips and song lyrics to determine their themes. Then, students chose one of ten themes from children's films that they most identify with, and wrote a paragraph (at least 5 sentences) explaining how the theme relates to their lives.
Strong Theme Statement Checklist:
-
It is a message about a topic
-
Is it more than one word?
-
Could the theme apply to more than one story?
-
Is a theme universal? Could it apply to me?
Paragraph Assignment:
*Minimum of 5 sentences including a topic and closing sentence*
Which theme represents you?
-
Topic sentence: Theme tells a story and my
theme is, ________________.
2. Explain why that theme represents your life. What have you experienced in your life that says why that is your theme thus far.
3. Closing sentence - this echoes your topic sentence in a different way.
Themes to choose from:
-
We are the masters of our destiny
-
When we work together, we can’t be stopped
-
The best relationships are based on trust
-
It’s not always the destination, but rather the journey that counts
-
The best jobs are done by a team
Monday 10/14- Students used context clues to make a reader's dictionary for Ch. 6 of ALWTW on p. 44. Students read Ch. 7 and completed gist statements on p. 47. Then students added two examples from Ch. 7 to the survival chart on p. 41.
Friday 10/11- Students read Ch. 6 of A Long Walk to Water and wrote gist statements on p. 43 of their workbooks. They also completed the challenge and survival factor chart on p. 40.
Thursday 10/10- Students began Unit 2 and learned about theme. In groups, students brainstormed a topic and theme for a book/film of their choice. Afterward, students presented their themes and students tried to guess the book/film. Then, students worked on p. 38 in their workbooks.
Wednesday 10/9- TEACHER WORKDAY. Have a great Wednesday!
Tuesday 10/8- Today was our end-of-unit assessment. After completing the assessment, students wrote a one paragraph response to one of two possible prompts:
Option 1: Who is someone you look up to as a mentor? Why do you look up to them? How have they helped you? Examples: Coaches, teammates, teachers, siblings, family members.
Option 2: There is a saying, "don't meet your heroes." What are the pros and cons of people meeting their heroes? Would you want to meet your heroes? Why or why not?
Monday 10/7- Today Grizzlies ELA classes were scheduled for their monthly class in the media center. They discussed mood and practiced identifying/using parts of speech. Students who were absent do not need to make up missed work from today.
*Students need to finish annotating the article on. p 33-34 to prepare for tomorrow's assessment. See HW Calander.
Friday 10/4- Students worked on a mock test to prepare for their end-of-unit assessment on Tuesday. To complete the mock test, they found quotes as evidence from p. 23- 25 of their workbooks. Students took the mock test home to complete if they did not finish in class. Students who finished early annotated the article on p. 33 of their workbooks.
Link to PDF (click on icon and it will open the PDF in a new tab):
*Students have until Tuesday Oct. 8th to finish annotating the article on p. 33 off their workbooks.
Thursday 10/3- Students learned about claim, counter-claims, and supporting evidence today. They engaged in an activity where they practiced writing and supporting claims at stations. Students who were absent may complete the following assignment instead:
Choose one of the following 3 topics:
Option 1 Topic: 8 a.m. bed time
Option 2 Topic: school uniforms
Option 3 Topic: mandatory sports everyday after school
Instructions:
1. Turn your topic into a one sentence claim.
2. Write 3 ideas to support your claim,
3. Write a counter-claim (a claim made to rebut or argue against the previous claim).
Example:
Topic: Movie theater vs streaming services
Claim: Movie theaters are no longer popular now that people use streaming services.
Counter-Claim: Movie theaters are still a communal experience that people value .
*See PPT for definitions and more examples.*
Here is a link to today's PowerPoint for absent students:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yQZG4bNg6gRgnORny7jLAWKfnAO7L3TwiwPjyeOHyqw/edit?usp=sharing
Wednesday 10/2 -
Students engaged in a warm-up activity to practice making inferences. Students annotated the article on p. 33 in their workbooks: circling vocabulary, using context clues to determine word meaning, underlining key points, and writing a gist for each paragraph.
Today I passed out graded mid-unit assessments. Students who received less than an A are given an opportunity to correct the first page of their tests for partial credit.
TEST CORRECTION SPECIFICATIONS:
-
Students have until Monday to correct their tests
-
Students may only correct the evidence chart on the first page.
-
Students must make corrections on a separate sheet of paper and turn their corrections in with the original test.
Tuesday 10/1-
C 1, 2, and 4: Students worked on the evidence chart in p. 30 of their workbooks. For a warm-up, students also wrote a paragraph response to the following prompt:
If you could invite any five people--celebrities, fictional characters, historical figures-- to a dinner party, who would you invite?
- Why would you choose these guests?
- What would you ask them?
- What would you serve them?
C3: Starting today, C3 had their weekly push in for AGI. This nine weeks, students will be working on a poetry enrichment once a week. Today, students completed the pre-test and discussed their responses and the purpose of Socratic Seminar.
Friday 9/27- Today in Language Arts, students took their vocabulary quiz. Students also finished p. 27 and p. 28 in their workbooks. C4 also completed p. 30. C1, C2, and C4 engaged in a timeline activity. Students were given stripes of paper with different events from “Sudan Confronts Modern War” and asked to put them in chronological order.
For homework, students must have progress reports signed by Wednesday Oct 2. The Mid-Unit Assessment was not included on progress reports, as I am giving students an opportunity to correct answers for partial credit next week.
Thursday 9/26 - Today in Language Arts, students engaged in a vocabulary review activity. They finished annotating Excerpt 2 of “Sudanese Tribes Confront Modern War” and began the evidence chart on p. 27 of their workbooks. C3 also engaged in a timeline activity that corresponded to the events described in “Sudanese Tribes Confront Modern War."
Students who did not complete yesterday's homework should finish it tonight: write a sentence for each vocabulary word. 10 words = 10 sentences total.
Wednesday 9/25 - For a warm-up, students were assigned to groups and given a vocab word. Each group wrote their word’s definition and drew a picture to represent the word. Then, they presented these to their classmates. Students continued reading and annotating Excerpt 2 of “Sudanese Tribes Confront Modern War” on p. 25 and practiced making inferences.
Two new vocab words:
Dowry - property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage.
Dysfunction - not operating normally or properly
Tuesday 9/24 - Students listened to an NPR podcast on the importance of cattle in South Sudan. After listening, the class came up with a list of ways that cows are important in South Sudan. Students read and annotated Excerpt 2 of "Sudanese Tribes in Modern War" (p. 23-25 in workbooks). They also practiced making inferences by looking at memes.
Here is a link to the podcast:
Monday 9/23 - Students read and began annotating Excerpt 1 of "Sudanese Tribes in Modern War" (p. 23-25 in workbooks). Students annotate by circling the vocabulary words, underlining important phrases, and writing gist statements for every paragraph. They used context clues to determine the definition of vocabulary words and created flashcards.
List of words and definitions:
-
Raiding- stealing- an attack on an enemy
-
Temporal- Temporal having to do with the time we live in, with the real world. It comes from the root “temp,” which means time.
-
Topple - take down; overturn
-
Coup- military uprising
-
Phase- a stage in a process of change or development
-
Spiritual Pollution- personal unrest/hurting one’s spirit
-
Guerrillas- rebel fighters
-
Roughshod- without care, supervision or safety
Friday 9/20 -
C 1, 2, 4: Students engaged in a group activity to make posters comparing Salva and Nya from A Long Walk to Water. Each group was assigned a specific question about either Nya/Salva in relation to culture, time, place, and identity.
C3: Students took turns reading each other's poster responses, from the previous day's group activity (as described above).
Students also wrote a paragraph response to the following prompt:
If you could invite any five people--celebrities, fictional characters, historical figures-- to a dinner party, who would you invite?
- Why would you choose these guests?
- What would you ask them?
- What would you serve them?
Then, students began reading Excerpt 1 of "Sudanese Tribes in Modern War."
Here is a PDF version of the group poster activity with instructions for students who were absent. Click on the icon and the PDF will open in another window: