| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

CIA-Writing with Rigor

Page history last edited by Linda Dextre 10 years ago

Welcome to Ms. Dextre's CIA Class! Here are the weekly links to our daily activities.

Writing with Rigor will help you find creative ways to hone your writing skills.


Our objectives for this class include:

  • Writing with voice specific to an audience      

  • Using multiple paragraphs to produce multiple ideas or connect ideas from multiple sources

  • When appropriate, using supporting evidence from research to validate your position

  • Using proper mechanics

 

 

Week One

It's a short week, so we'll make this introduction short and sweet.

 

Day 3-Get to know each other: This class is a blend of 7th and 8th graders, so we will get comfortable with each other by playing a Who Am I? icebreaker. Ms. Dextre will pair you up, then tape a name on your back. Your partner needs to guess the celebrity/famous person within 15 questions. These are yes/no questions like: Am I still alive? Am I an entertainer?, Politician? Religious leader? etc.

 

Day 4-Learn the rules of conduct: We need to know how this system operates, so today will be a my job/your job, HOWL expectations briefing. We will spend the last portion of the class selecting books for tomorrow's DEAR time.

 

Day 5- READ for DEAR: Better readers make better writers. The whole school is getting in on the act too. We will have quiet reading time for 20 minutes today. The last five minutes will be spent reflecting on our reading.

Bring ear buds for Monday and Tuesday activities.


Week Two (January 20-24) whoa! Unexpected winter break, take two...

 Objective: R8.7 Evaluate advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums to present a particular topic or idea.

                     R7.5 Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whol and to the

                           development of the ideas.

                    W7/8: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.

 


 

Week Three (February 3-7)OK, let's try this again...

 

Day One: Head to the media lab.

What does it mean to live in a "Third World" country? How can you survive on limited resources?

How does access to resources benefit your prosperity?

 

Princeton Edu's Wiki has a good, general definition of the term.

 

Directions:

  1. Pull out a writing and your notebook.
  2. Go to Third World Farmer Game.
  3. Look at your budget in the upper right corner. Use strategy to select crops, livestock, buildings, tools and other resources.
  4. Advance to learn about your fate.
  5. In your notebook, make a "year one" section. 
  6. Record:
  • The event,
  • Your summary,
  • crop yields,
  • livestock yields,
  • your annual spending and earning
  • balance to start the next year.

 

7. Advance to make choices for year two.

8. Record this information and continue through four years.

 

Day Two: Language Arts benchmarks: no CIA today

 

Day Three: 

Graph Third World Farmer data

 Using data from the Third World Farmer game and Excel, graph your economic changes over the four years during your game experience.

Directions: YouTube directions

Save your Word document in the Shared Drive >School> Media >CIA folder

use your last name as your file name, please!

 

Day Four: Bill Gates' Annual Letter Jigsaw

Break into groups of three. Scan the QR code to find Bill Gates' 2014 Annual Letter.

There are three sections that are lengthy.

Each person in your group reads a different section.

Read carefully, taking notes in your notebook:

1. Who is the author?

2. How is he connected to the topic?

3. What makes the author an authority on the topic?

4. What is the author's purpose for writing this text? (inform, persuade, entertain)

5. Cite several examples from the text to support your answers.

6. What do YOU think about the topic presented? What did you think about the effects of poverty before reading this text?

    Did this change your perspective? Why or why not? Be specific.

 

Day Five: D.E.A.R.!


Week Four (February 10-14)

 

Day One: Watch Discovery Education's World Poverty and Uncertainty

http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/view/assetGuid/8ABD87D3-D26C-4CE8-BE19-74323ECC9980

 

[teacher pauses video approximately each minute] Watch and take notes after each pause.

 

Day Two: Analyze your notes from last week. Reflect and write a summary with these points in mind:

1. How has the shift in industry shaped the economic hierarchy in the world?

2. Do you believe poverty can be "fixed'? Support your position with evidence from your notes.

3. What are your take-away moments from this week's activities?

 

Week Five (February 17-21)

Enough with the snow already!

Due to last week's snow days, we will need to shuffle around some ideas.

 

Day One: A poem in two voices: the first date

Two-voice poetry is written for two people to perform.

The poetry usually has two columns—one for each person who is reading the poem.

You can also have an occasional line that is read together.

The poem is read as dialogue.

 

Your team will write a poem in two voices about a boy and girl going on a first date. What differing perspectives might they have?

Take turns writing lines of dialogue. We will share with the class when you're finished!

 

Day Two:

Day Three: ipad cart (Media Closed: meet in the auditorium)

Objective:

Grade 7/8.3 Write a narrative to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured sequences.

Using FlipIt! app, write a short story with the following elements:

  • descriptive details
  • sensory language (what did is sound/taste/look/feel/smell like?)
  • sequence of action  
  • proper mechanics!

 

Day Four: MCLab

Objective: quickly identify verbs, nouns and adjectives.

Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives Rocket Game

Click on the Discovery Education link below and login:

http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/view/assetGuid/4C084FE5-AFD8-4E6A-93DA-E06172D623EC

 

You're in command of Jupiter Jane's remote-controlled rockets. Guide them to the nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the sentences. But look out for those asteroids!

Complete the game and continue playing to beat your time.

 

Day Five: D.E.A.R. 

Have a book to read for reading relaxation!


Week Six

 

Objectives: SL2 7&8: Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in media. Explain how the ideas clarify a topic. Evaluate the motives behind the presentation.

                    W 7&8: Use  precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events. 

 

Author perspective: rewriting the breakup song

Irreplaceable (Beyonce)  lyrics sheet

Would a song have the same impact if!written from another perspective? You'll get the chance to try for yourself!

Hand out student delicious word sheets from last week.

 

1. Listen to the song. Dance/act it out if the spirit moves you.

2. Now think and rewrite. To whom is she singing this song?

3. Your team will take a section of the song and rewrite it from the boyfriend's perspective.

4. The class will take turns having a spokesperson at their table read or sing the new lyrics!

 

Day Two: Figure It Out Together (Discovery Education S.O.S)

 

Figurative language helps make writing come alive. We can use images and videos to provide context for applying a variety of figurative language devices.

 

  • We will use figurative language/literary devices such as simile, metaphor, alliteration, hyperbole, Onomatopoeia and personification.

  • We'll  watch the Polar Bears in the Arctic Circle video segment with the sound muted. 
  • Use more than one literary device to write a description for the video.
  • I will replay the video as needed. 

 

Next: 

  • Look at the Pair of Polar Bears image.
  • With your group, write as many captions as you can with multiple figurative language devices.
  • For instance, one member can think of a caption using hyperbole while another uses personification.

 

Put your name and your language arts teacher's name at the top of the page. 

 

Day Three: Figurative Language Exercises

We are exercising our figurative language skills! You'll be in group One or Two today.

Ms. Dextre' will give you your group number while taking roll, so listen!

 

Group One  Alliteration and Similie with Arctic Penguins.

                        Watch the video entirely.

                        Complete both sides of your worksheet (p. 4 and 5)

                        Write your name and LA teacher name at the top and turn in to Ms. Dextre'.

Group Two 

Norton Juster, author of The Phantom Toolbooth, used many figurative language devices in his novel.

Listen to his interview with NPR to hear about the origin of his novel idea. (Do you see a pun?)

 

You can read the first 87 pages of the novel on Google Books. Take the remainder of this period to read and find

any figurative language used by Juster. What is an example?

When you find one, write down the chapter title, the passage example and identify the figurative language device.

 

Write your name, your LA teacher name at the top and turn in to Ms. Dextre'.

 

Day Four: MCLab

Sentence Choices : Improve editing skills by exploring sentence variety and style.

Go to NC WiseOwl and select the SAS in Schools link. Login as instructed,

then type in Quick Launch #946

 

Listen, View and Read the prepare and identify sections in the order provided.

Pay attention to the different ways you can edit a sentence for efficiency and efficacy.

If time permits, continue with practice and apply.

 

Day Five: DEAR Friday

Why not make relaxing with reading a Friday tradition? You worked rigorously this week. See if you can identify any figurative

language during your reading today.


Week Seven

 

Day One:

Objective:

Grade 7/8.3 Write a narrative to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured sequences.

Using FlipIt! app, write a short story with the following elements:

  • descriptive details
  • sensory language (what did is sound/taste/look/feel/smell like?)
  • sequence of action  
  • proper mechanics!

Day Two

Continue your story from yesterday. Show Ms. Dextre' when finished.

 

Day Three:

Photo field trip!

We are looking for nature images to use for writing a haiku. We will have ten minutes for your group to take all their photos. Each person takes their own photo of nature around them.

 

Day Four:

Oceanographer Greg Johnson summarized the IPCC Report in 19 Haikus.

(Dextre' reads to class and shares images.)

How difficult is it to summarize complex text into a few short lines?

 

You will write your haiku about your photo.

5-7-5 syllables about nature.

Use delicious words.

 

Day Five:

D.E.A.R. Friday


Week Eight

 

Day One:

Assemble Haiku image and poem to print and display.

 

Day Two:

Summarizing difficult text in prose

 

Day Three:

Summarizing difficult text in prose

 

Day Four:

Summarizing difficult text in prose

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.