10/31

Today I collected logs from anyone who did not turn one in yesterday.  We then set up our Writer's notebooks and completed the first writing assignment within the "My Work" tab.  It was a ten minute write where you were asked to write about the scariest thing that ever happened to you.  We then did a listening activity that involved solving riddles.
HW: Read/Log/Post-it--150 minutes due on Monday.

Have fun tonight and be safe.

10/30

I was out today at conference in Albany.  IN class You were given a writing assignment to complete.  Please see me if you were absent for the assignment.
HW: Read/Log/Post-it--150 minutes for Monday

10/29

Sorry about the pix from Friday.  I am still working on way to share those with you.  Today in class we read for 15 minutes then we worked on a "Daily Edit" and the we reflected on our writing lives on looseleaf paper and turned those reflections in. We also turned in logs 10/22-10/29 and grabbed new ones and dated them 10/29-11/5
HW: Read/log/postit 150 minutes due on Monday 11/5

10/26

Today we reflected on the me section of our RN about what we have learned about ourselves as readers and identified what we nee to continue working on in order to become better readers.

I then collected RN. IF you were absent, please complete this writing piece and turn in your RN on Monday.

We then share our ideas about the lessons we learned by investigating character in a carousel activity. Please view the photos below to learn what your classmates had to say about the lessons that were out there to learn.  You will need to copy down any new information onto a clean sheet of paper and have it with you in class to work with on Monday.

HW: Read/log/post it--200 minutes by Monday

10/25

Today was spent discussing possible themes derived from our discussions of character.  This is work that will be used to write an essay about Nightjohn wherein we feel how Paulsen used characterization to develop theme.
HW: Read/log/Post it

10/24

Today we reflected on the post it process. If you were absent, you will need to write for about 4 minutes in the "all about me as a reader section" of your notebooks about the strategies you have used and what you have discovered about what works as far as taking post its goes.  We shared in round table style different strategies in hopes of helping those of you still struggling develop plan of attack to make it an easier process.  We then discussed why it is important to look at characterization (see Tip below).  Then we spent time going over what we discovered about each of the four characters and what that made us think about WHY Gary Paulsen might have included the character.

HW: Longwrite focus on one character trait from your IR book and support it with three pieces of evidence.

Characterization Tip

Characterization never stops! Stay aware of how a character is described, how others react to the character, and how those things change throughout the text. Changes in characters are often crucial to the meaning of a story.

10/23

Today we continued the work of describing and sharing our findings with our jigsaw group.
HW: read log post it try keeping post its at the end of chapters.

10/22/12

Today we read for 10 minutes then took notes on characterization and talked briefly about ways authors drop hints to their readers.  Characterization notes need to be in readers notebooks.  We then began analyzing character traits in small groups.
HW: Read log post it and complete a long write with a focus on one of the characters in your book.

10/18

Today we read for 10 minutes.  We then as a large group discussed why Gary Paulsen might have entitled the last chapter "Words" and why he used repetition (this was after taking 2 minutes to write about it in reflections on reading).  Next we took notes on characterization in the Tips section of Reader's Notebook.

HW:  Read/log/post it  200 minutes due Monday!

10/17

Today we read for 10 minutes. We then reviewed chapter 6 and moved into chapter 7 focusing on connections we could make earlier in the book. We then read the last chapter considering why it was named and we also noted the repetition in this chapter. This is where discussion will begin tomorrow.
HW: read/log/post it   200 min due Monday !

10/16

Today we read for 10 minutes. We then worked with groups to go over the blue sheets and add to our knowledge.  We then switched groups and read and discussed chapter 6 of NJ.
HW:  read/log/post-it  Longwrite IR books.

10/15

Today we read for 10 minutes, I collected logs and checked reflections on chapter 5.  We then spent time discussing chapter 5 in small groups.   A blue worksheet was handed out to assist discussion.  Homework is to complete side two of the worksheet.

HW: complete side 2 of blue sheet and read log/post it 200 minutes due Monday

10/12

Today we completed a quick write in the reflection on reading section of our reader's notebooks.  The quick write was about how we feel bout NJ, Sarny and Mammy in the book and WHY.  (5 minute write)  We then spent time talking about how the author has drawn us into the book by making  us care about the characters.  We then silently read chapter 5 of Nightjohn, kept post its and then reacted in our journals.
HW: Logs due Monday
and a reflection on chapter 5--How do you feel as you finish reading this chapter?  Explain (3/4 of a page).

10/11

Today we read for ten minutes then took much time reviewing the quiz from yesterday and the expectations for completing short answer questions and the responsibility readers have to make sense of the words on the page and to draw conclusions.

HW:  Read/log/post it 1 more IR long write in journals try the this makes me think approach.

10/10/12

Today we took a quiz on chapter 4 that we read as partners yesterday.  Students were encouraged to restate, give DETAILS and to check for correct grammar.  When we finished the quiz, we read in our IR books to prepare for tonight's homework.

HW:Read/Log/Post-it and 1 Longwrite based on your IR books.

10/9

We spent today partner reading and discussing chapter 4 of Nightjohn.  We kept post its and stopped at least 2 times to discuss what was happening in the book.  Post its were to reflect new understanding of characters like Nightjohn and Mammy and to reflect on Pawley, Jim and Alice's stories.  I also collected reading logs today and graded notebooks.  If you were absent please show me your 4 long writes (2NJ and 2IR) and turn in your log for the week of 10/1-10/9.
HW:  Longwrite in Reader notebook:
     Reflect --> Why does Gary Paulsen include JIm, Pawley and Alice's stories?  What sort of insight do you gain about the life of a slave by hearing each of these stories?  What do you learn about how Sarny must feel? Mammy? Nightjohn?  What do you learn about the author?

10/5

I was out today, Mr. Fletcher was in for me and students were instructed tot complete the following.  If you were absent please complete this and turn it in.

NAME__________________________________

Friday 10/5/12

Directions:  Please complete numbers 1-3 then read your IR book until the instructor signals it is time to return to this packet (approximately 30 minutes).  Then complete the remainder of the questions.

1.     What is the title of the book you are currently reading?

Who wrote it?

2.     What page are you on RIGHT NOW? __________

3.     Please tell what is happening right now in your book.  One to two sentences will be enough. For example:  In the book I am currently reading, Auggie is going with his class to an overnight and has just packed his bags.  I am thinking he may run into trouble because he has packed his teddy bear and I think kids will find it and make fun of him.

4.     Now that you have read for about 30 minutes, what page are you on?______________

5.     Complete a longwrite based off one of your post-its on this paper.

10/5/12

Book Title___________________

Longwrite

Pg____

My post it says,” 

10/4

Today we did more work with long writes to ensure everyone understands what they are.  We read chapter 3 of Nightjohn and completed one more NJ long write in the reflections section of our Reader's notebooks.
HW:  Complete one more long write in your Journals by Tuesday of next week.  I will also be collecting logs on Tuesday as well so keep on reading and logging and keeping post its.

10/3

Today in class we read for 10 minutes.  I checked in again on post its and am happy to report you guys have it nailed.  Keep up the good work.  I then reminded everyone that today would be the last day to sure citations on Noodletools for any credit.
We did a mini lesson on long writes as we read chapter 2 of Nightjohn.
I modeled a long write.  We wrote rules for long writes in our tips sections of our notebooks and then began a longwrite based on a post it we kept in ch 2 of NJ.
HW: complete NJ long write and do one more based on your IR book.

10/2

Today we read for 120 minutes, I checked in on post it s and it seems most of you are understanding exactly what I mean.  Keep it up.  We get so much better as readers when we engage.  We also had a guest speaker today.  Maggie McCandlish came in to talk about books and how to make reading enjoyable.  you guys did bang up job participating.  Thanks.
HW: Read/log/post it

10/1

Today I took a grade on the "My To Read" lists in reader's notebooks.  I also collected old logs-9/24 10/1 and distributed need logs 10/1-10/8.  We then did a quick mini lesson on how to keep post-its and then read chapter 1 of Nightjohn.  I modeled post its, students tried their hand at them.  We discussed them and then students took post its on their own.  Post its are a place to make reading visible.  They are meant to be a place to engage with the text quickly, ask questions, predict, react etc...
HW: Read and post it in your IR books tonight.