A Cry in the Wild - 22 November and 2 December 2019

Today's Goal: 
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.7
Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they "see" and "hear" when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.
The Plan:

1. Read
2. Make sure you have everything done that you need to have done.
3. Watch A Cry in the Wild

IMPORTANT:

1. If you didn't read your essay aloud to someone, you must do that today before you can watch the movie.
   
2. If you didn't do the NoRedInk Diagnostic #2 yet, I'm going to make you do it while you watch the movie. 

Reminders/Homework:

• READ a book!
• Work on finishing/revising your essay
• CLICK HERE for the overall essay guidelines.
• If you were absent, here is the revision checklist. It must be turned in before you can watch the movie.
• FINAL DRAFT: Due Friday, 22 November, 4pm
• No Red Ink Diagnostic #2
  • Due Friday, 22 November 4pm
• Typing.com Intermediate #5-8 
  • Due Friday, 6 December 4pm
• No Red Ink "Choosing the Right Word" Assignment
• Due Friday 13 December 4pm
• Typing.com Intermediate #9-12 
• Due Friday, 19 December 4pm

Revision Checklist and Reading to a Partner - 20 November and 21 November 2019

Today's Goal:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 6 here.)

The Plan:

1. Read
2. Revision Checklist with a Partner
3. A Cry in the Wild movie time.
4. Return your copy of Hatchet

Reminders/Homework:

• READ a book!
• Work on finishing/revising your essay
• CLICK HERE for the overall essay guidelines.
• If you were absent, here is the revision checklist. It must be turned in before you can watch the movie.
• FINAL DRAFT: Due Friday, 22 November, 4pm
• No Red Ink Diagnostic #2
  • Due Friday, 22 November 4pm
• Typing.com Intermediate #5-8 
  • Due Friday, 6 December 4pm
• No Red Ink "Choosing the Right Word" Assignment
• Due Friday 13 December 4pm

Ms. Black what should my title be?!?!
The requirements for your title are this:

• You may not write the word "Essay" in your title.
• Your title should be related to the content of your essay
• It needs to be appropriate and academic. Make it sound professional.

Revision Checklist with a Partner

Here's how it works:

1. IF you are done with your essay, you will be assigned a partner, and you will sit next to that partner. and receive an "Essay Revision Checklist".
2. On your own document, you will complete the "basic steps" and help each other make sure all the things are done.
3. Read your introduction and put a checkbox ONLY if you 100% know for sure that you have each element.
4. Trade computers and papers in order to read your partner's introduction and fill in the second checkbox ONLY if you 100% know that your partner has that the element described.
5. Trade back and repeat steps 3 and 4 for Body Paragraphs.
6. Trade back and repeat steps 3 and 4 for your Conclusion.
7. Trade back and repeat steps 3 and 4 for "General Formatting"
8. Once ALL of this is done, you must read your essay out loud to your partner, one at a time. That assigned partner must listen and sign your paper saying that they listened to you read it.
9. Turn it in to Ms. Black or Mr. Mello or Mrs. H. Yes, you are required to turn it in.

NOTE: If you do not get to the read-aloud portion of this activity (Step #8), then you are required to read it out loud at home to a parent/guardian/adult at home and have them write their name and sign it. You must bring it back and turn it in. You will not be able to watch the movie on Friday if you have not gotten your Checklist signed off.

Rubric and Revision - 18 November and 19 November 2019

Today's Goal:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 6 here.)

The Plan:

1. Read
2. Update Reading Log
3. Review Rubric/ Assessment activity
4. Revision Work

Reminders/Homework:

• READ a book!
• Work on finishing/revising your essay
• CLICK HERE for the overall essay guidelines. 
• FINAL DRAFT: Due Friday, 22 November, 4pm
• No Red Ink Diagnostic #2
• Due Friday, 22 November 4pm

Reading Log Updates

So I know lots and lots of you have not updated your reading logs lately. For some of you, it's a matter of remembering. For some of you, it won't open. For others, it's that you're not reading. 

If it won't open: The star ratings are the problem. You're copying and pasting a picture a whole bunch of times, and the chromebooks can't handle it (who knew? I didn't.) All of you will need to replace the pictures of stars with text. So you can do an X or you can fill in numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 in each box, or you can fill in the boxes with numbers. Whatever makes you happiest.

If you've been reading different books every day, great! I need you to write them in and then write "abandoned" on date finished. If you're reading the first five pages of 10 different books, that's fine, but you need to record it. 

If you've forgotten, do your best, and then you'll need to keep adding moving forward.

Expanding on Evidence (This is part of your BODY paragraphs: the EEEEs.)

Below is what the rubric says about your evidence and reasoning (explanation)
It is scored on a scale of 1 through 4. Which is which?

1: Below Grade-Level
2: Approaching Grade-Level
3: At Grade-Level
4: Above Grade-Level

I will give you and your table five paragraphs.
Your job is to decide which achieves which rubric score.

EGUSD CCSS Rubrics by Elk Grove Unified School District is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://blogs.egusd.net/ccss/educators/ela/rubrics-k-12/.

Revision Work

Here are the 3 checklists you'll be able to access in class today.

Summarize for your Introduction, Conclusion Paragraphs - 14 November and 15 November 2019

Today's Goal:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

The Plan:

1. Read
2. Hatchet Summary
3. Hatchet Essay time to complete Introduction and Conclusion paragraphs

Reminders/Homework:

• READ a book!
• Finish your COMPLETE DRAFT (all four paragraphs) of your essay in Google Classroom by next class.
• CLICK HERE for the overall essay guidelines. 
• FINAL DRAFT: Due Friday, 22 November, 4pm
• Typing.com INTERMEDIATE #1-4
• Due Friday, 15 November 4pm
• No Red Ink Diagnostic #2
• Due Friday, 22 November 4pm

Hatchet Summary

You will need a sticky note and a collaborative attitude for this activity.

You will work with a group (your group might change) to write the best possible two-three sentence summary of Hatchet that you can.

This is sort of what your paper will visually look like when
you're done with the summary activity.

Here are the steps:

1. On your sticky note, write a two-sentence summary of Hatchet. Seriously. two sentences. Write small, and write ONLY what is needed to understand the story. Think about it before you write it, because you only get the one shot.
2. Read your summary to your group. Together, combine forces to create one NEW summary that can be two or three sentences. Pick the best words and the most clear information

HINT: Your summary should start with one of two things:

• In the novel, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, Brian Robeson is ________
• The novel, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, is about ________

Hatchet Introduction

You can use these sentence frames (also found on Google Classroom) to help you.

Your introduction has exactly two things, in exactly this order:

1. An introduction/brief summary of Hatchet
2. Your thesis statement

Hatchet Conclusion

You can use these sentence frames (also found on Google Classroom) to help you.

The entire purpose of a conclusion paragraph is to sum up the essay and to answer the question: So what? Why does it any of it matter at all?

If you aren't sure, you're going to have to discuss it with some people to figure it out, but here are some ideas for your ending (Pick one).

• Explain why the character change, the way that Brian became, is important in the real world.
• Explain why Brian's character change is important to HIM even after he leaves the wilderness. You have to connect it to things that are not related to surviving in the wilderness, though. You might talk about what he talks about in the epilogue

I don't want to tell you how to end your essay, but I do want to tell you that you need to come up with a reason that this change matters, and who it matters to. It could matter to Brian, it could matter to all people, and it could matter to specific kinds of people. You have to decide, and you have to decide why and SAY it. 

Body Paragraphs! - 12 November and 13 November, 2019

Today's Goal: 
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.1.
Support claim(s) with clear reasons and relevant evidence, using credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.1.C
Use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify the relationships among claim(s) and reasons.

The Plan:

1. Open your Google Classroom and READ!
2. Body Paragraph Time!! (Find your NEW document in Google Classroom)
3. 4 minute break to shake off all your hard work
4. More Body Paragraph Time!!

Reminders/Homework:

• READ YOUR INDEPENDENT READING BOOK! YAY!
• Finish your BODY PARAGRAPHS in Google Classroom by next class.
• CLICK HERE for the overall essay guidelines. 
• Typing.com INTERMEDIATE #1-4
• Due Friday, 15 November 4pm

Hatchet Prompt:

In the novel, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, how does Brian Robeson change as a character from the beginning of the story to the end?

CLICK HERE for the overall essay guidelines. 

BODY PARAGRAPHS:

Please note in the directions linked above that your essay will be four paragraphs long. Your body paragraphs will not be small. They will be big. They will be a lot of sentences. They will not be lazy.

Organizing Your Essay

Alright, today we start writing, but it involves some organization first.

There are basically two ways to organize this essay. There may be others, but which way you organize your essay kind of depends on your thesis.

Option #1: Before and After 

• Body paragraph 1 = Evidence and explanation of what Brian was like before his changes.
• Body paragraph 2 = Evidence and explanation of what Brian was like after his changes

Option #2: Specific Character Trait Changes (One change in each paragraph)

• Body paragraph 1 = Explain one way that he has changed by giving evidence and explanation of how he was the opposite before and how he has become that now.
• Example: Evidence 1 is about how he was dependent
                  Evidence 2 in this paragraph demonstrates how he became independent.
• Body paragraph 2 = Explain another way that he has changed by giving evidence and explanation of how he was the opposite before and how he has become that now.
• Example: First evidence demonstrates how he was emotional, and your second piece of evidence demonstrates how he became stronger and more emotionally stable.

Writing Body Paragraphs!

I have attached/will attach a number of resources to Google Classroom, but you can use as many or as few as you want. Your body paragraphs need lots of time and effort, though, because rushing or being lazy will not show off your writing skills. You will need to challenge yourself to dig deeper than you would normally do. 

Source

Body Paragraphs need to follow the RACE format, but it is a MODIFIED RACE format.

BODY PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE:

• RA - Topic sentence that addresses what the paragraph will be about
• C - Evidence #1 in a complete sentence
• E - what's the significance of this evidence?
• E - how does it prove that Brian has that character trait?
• E - more if needed. E IS THE MOST IMPORTANT.
• probably a sentence here to transition from one piece of evidence to the next.
• C - Evidence #2 in a complete sentence
• E - what's the significance of this evidence?
• E - how does it prove that Brian has that character trait?
• E - more if needed. E IS THE MOST IMPORTANT.
• S - Sum it up and help transition to the next paragraph.

At the minimum, that means your body paragraphs will be eight sentences OR MORE. 

DO YOU NEED EVIDENCE? YES. 

IS THERE A RESOURCE FOR THAT? YES.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE EVIDENCE WE GATHERED!

Here are the pictures of the charts on the wall. Follow these steps for ONE body paragraph. You need to do this two times!

ESSAY TIME! Let's write a thesis statement - 7 November and 8 November 2019

Today's Goal: 
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.1.A
Introduce claim(s) and organize the reasons and evidence clearly.

The Plan:

1. No Red Ink Growth Quiz
2. Copy and Paste today's assignment into your ELA Journal from Ms. Black's
3. Hatchet Essay Thesis Statement (In ELA Journal)
4. Hatchet Essay Evidence Collection (In ELA Journal)

Reminders/Homework:

• READ YOUR INDEPENDENT READING BOOK! YAY!
• Finish your Evidence Collection Chart in your ELA Journal BY NEXT CLASS.
• Typing.com #13-15
• Due Friday, 8 November, 4pm
• This will finish out the beginner levels.
• Typing.com INTERMEDIATE #1-4
• Due Friday, 15 November 4pm

Hatchet Prompt:

In the novel, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, how does Brian Robeson change as a character from the beginning of the story to the end?

CLICK HERE for the overall essay guidelines. 

Thesis Statement:
A thesis statement is your claim. It is the thing you will argue and prove and defend in the rest of your essay. This should always be step one in writing an essay.

Some sentence frames you could use for your thesis:

• Before his troubles began, Brian was ____ and ____ because ________, but after he had been stranded for weeks, Brian became _____ and _____ because _______.
• In the beginning of the story, Brian is ______, but by the end of the story, Brian has changed to become more _____ because _______.
• After he realized _______________, Brian became more _________ and _______. Before that realization, Brian was a _____ person because ___________, but he changed because __________.

You must show your teacher your thesis statement and get it approved before going on to the next activity.

Evidence Collection Chart:

In your ELA Journal you will also paste a chart to collect evidence. On here, you will use your thesis statement to return to the evidence tracker results and find the absolute best evidence that helps to prove your thesis to be the correct thesis. 

You may use this document that has all the results of the evidence tracker activities we did.

Please note:

1. There are two tabs at the bottom. One is for the first half (before he changed) and one is for the second half of the book (where we see the changes).
2. I didn't erase answers that are wrong or incomplete. Do not trust this sheet to be perfect; it is NOT perfect.

A changed Brian: Evidence Tracker Part 2 - 5 November and 6 November 2019

Today's Goal:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

The Plan:

1. Read
2. Finish THEME lesson.
3. Brian Character Change Evidence Tracker - "New" Brian in the second half of the book.

Reminders/Homework:

• READ YOUR INDEPENDENT READING BOOK! YAY!
• No Red Ink Growth Quiz in class next class. 
• If you did not finish the practices we have done, you should probably do that; it will help you. Come see us after school if you get stuck.
• Typing.com #13-15
• Due Friday, 8 November, 4pm
• This will finish out the beginner levels.
• Typing.com INTERMEDIATE #1-4
• Due Friday, 15 November 4pm

Theme!

"New Brian" Evidence Tracker

Now that we've finished the book and gathered evidence of Brian early in the novel, it's time to dial in (focus in) on the changes we've seen in Brian.

Starting next class, we will begin writing about how Brian changed (or didn't change) over the course of the novel, so we have a very specific task today:

Use this NEW EVIDENCE TRACKER form to look for evidence with your partner from the LAST 8 chapters of the novel. (Hint: you should have sticky notes on the evidence you could use!)

THEME! What is it? - 1 November and 4 November 2019

Remember: A theme is universal.
It can apply to anyone in the universe.
Okay maybe just Earth. Depends on how you feel about aliens

Today's Goal:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details

The Plan:

1. Read
2. Finish Hatchet (I'm very sorry that some classes were not able to do this when I was not here. There were some apparent tech issues that we do not usually have.)
3. THEME (what is it?!)

Reminders/Homework:

• READ YOUR INDEPENDENT READING BOOK! YAY!
• Typing.com Practice #10-12 
• Due Friday, 1 November, 4pm
• Typing.com #13-15 due 8 November
• This will finish out the beginner levels.

Hatchet Chapters 18, 19, and the epilogue

1. Prompt: What character traits help describe Brian at this point in the novel and what evidence proves this? 
2. Find at least ONE passage/quote in each chapter that shows Brian's attitude and reveals a character trait. Try to think about how he is acting OVERALL.
3. Put the sticky note in and LABEL what character trait or attitude is reveals about Brian.
4. Celebrate your success! You're annotating!

Please take note of what is different about Brian at the end of this book. Beyond everything that happened, how do his experiences affect the way he approaches his life and his choices?

Theme!