Wednesday, January 22, 2014

January Update

The first few weeks of January will be dedicated to Module review and Module testing. We will start our third unit on Friday, January 24. Below is a quick overview.


Brief Summary of Unit: In this unit students will read historical fiction and informational texts about the Great Depression with the underlying theme of Coming of age. Coming of Age is a learning process that can be understood through the study of fictional characters and historical figures. Students will study the historical context through the novels of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis and The Trial by Jen Bryant. The informational text for this unit of study will be Children of the Great Depression by Russell Freedman. Students will use multiple sources to form an opinion and write an essay expressing their thoughts about whether or not they think life was more difficult for kids during the Great Depression Era or for kids in today’s society.


The next Independent Reading Presentation will be due February 13th.  Students will receive the directions for this assignment on Wednesday, January 29th.  Generally speaking, the directions will be the same.  Students will be required to give a character trait for a main character along with evidence from the book that supports the trait.  It will be much easier for students if they physically have the book while working on the presentation. 

Here are some examples of Exemplary Work completed by some of the students: