Monday, January 30, 2017

Crazy Hair Tomorrow

Riverside students "filled the tube"! To celebrate, students earned a crazy hair day tomorrow! Way to go!

O'NEILL & ROST  In O'Neill and Rost reading classes, we've concluded our work on themes, however, just like with our strategies to grow ideas about characters, we will carry this learning forward into our next unit of study: "Comparing Texts".  Now that we, as readers, can think critically about characters, plots, themes, etc. we can begin comparing different texts.  To do this, we use the "comparing matrix" rather than the Venn Diagram.  The matrix focuses what we're comparing and allows us to develop more sophisticated insights and conclusions within and across texts. See examples of the matrix in "TLGs in Action". 

In O'NEILL'S homeroom, we finished our second read aloud, The Honest Truth.  To reflect on the novel, we considered what relationship stood out the most, emotionally intense scenes, symbolism, and themes. We then used color to represent our thinking and reflection about the book (see below).





Target Learning Goals:  To draw conclusions across texts, thoughtful readers compare...
  • ... settings' impact on characters (internally and externally) 
  • ... characters'
    • traits
    • motivations
    • struggles
    • internal and external conflicts
TLGs in Action:  Below you will also see the Shipwreck book club's book trailer (hopefully it works!).













 


MEZAN  The past few weeks we have put together everything we've learned so far about characters to develop nuanced character theories (and defend them using evidence from the text).  We now move toward comparing characters within and across texts.  To do this, we use the comparing matrix.  In place of the Venn Diagram, we use the matrix to focus what we're comparing and draw more insightful ideas about character similarities and differences. Because the matrix is new to students, we practiced using it to compare things we're more familiar with prior to applying this to texts.  See examples of the matrix below. 

Target Learning Goals (TLG):  Readers can use the matrix to compare characters'...
  • ... traits
  • ... motivations
  • ... struggles

TLGs in Action: Below you will also see the Shipwreck book club's book trailer (hopefully it works!).







Homework: 
  • 30 minutes reading
  • Math homework
Reminders:
  • No spelling this week (all classes)
  • Get Caught Reading:  Remember to email in pictures when you "catch" your child reading!  Hadley.ONeill@hcps.org  
Upcoming Dates:
  • Early Dismissal:  Friday, February 3
  • Report cards distributed this Friday
  • Clip Hall of Fame Assembly will be held on Wednesday 2/15/17 at 9:30. Invitations will be sent home in report cards.
  • Honor Roll Breakfast will be held on Friday 2/10/17 from 7:45 – 8:30. Invitations will be sent home in report cards.

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

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