Monday

• Students will begin class with 10 minutes of independent reading.

• Students will then take the Grammar Income Test establishing a relationship between their grammatical skills and their future ability to earn an income.  Once everyone has finished we will review and discuss the results.

• Students will finish the class with a brief lesson on how to document their independent reading using the weekly reading log, which we will begin using next week.

Homework: Students should take home their novel and begin their nightly 30 minutes of independent reading.

Tuesday

• Students will begin class with 10 minutes of indpendent reading.

• Students will then begin 8A Perspectives and Narrative SU2 L1.  In this unit students will be focusing their writing on specific moments and details which give impact to their writing.

• Students will then examine a painting of by Peter Bruegel.  There is a great deal going on.  Students will attempt to describe what is taking place in general terms in the image.  Students will then zoom in on three different scenes in the image in and discuss what is taking place within them, narrowing our focus on the action in the image, and attempting to draw additional conclusions about the the whole from the details.

• Finally, students will reexamine one of the details and construct sentences that specifically zoom in on the action of that particular scene.  Responses will be turned in to check on student progress.

Wednesday

• Students will begin class with 10 minutes of independent reading.

• We will then review the process we took the painting through yesterday narrowing our focus to very specific scenes in the image.  We will use that process to apply Focus to our own writing.  Students will think about a time they did something they really enjoyed.  Volunteers will share their thoughts.

• Students will then zoom in on a specific moment from that experience that grabs their attention and focus their writing on the details that bring that particular moment to life.

• Students will then be given an opportunity to share their writing and select classmates to comment on the details that impacted their ability to visualize the experience.  We will spend a little time discussing the Student Mindset before moving into the Solo part of the lesson where students will examine a brief descriptive passage and suggest details to further develop the moment.

Thursday

• Students will begin class with 10 minutes of independent reading.

• Students will then review the process we took that image from Tuesday's class to demonstrate how one of them extablishes a stronger focus for writing.

• Students will then examine several examples of exeplary writing from yesterday's writing.  We will discuss how the writer of each example effectively used detail to focus on a particular moment.  We will then go back to our own writing to look for opportunities to further develop the details of their chosen moment.

• Students will then take some time to add those details in a revision that aims to further focus the chosen moment.

Friday

• Students will begin class with 10 minutes of independent reading.

• Students will take "A Pretty Good Poem" through a reading strategy to help them get to the theme of the poem.  The poem will be discussed and compared to a quote attributed to Aristotle on excellence.

• Students will be given the rest of time to finish up their assignments for the week.

Homework: Students who are current on their assignments do not have homework this weekend.

Monday

• Students will begin class with 10 minutes of independent reading.

• Students will then take the Grammar Income Test establishing a relationship between their grammatical skills and their future ability to earn an income.  Once everyone has finished we will review and discuss the results.

• Students will finish the class with a brief lesson on how to document their independent reading using the weekly reading log, which we will begin using next week.

Homework: Students should take home their novel and begin their nightly 30 minutes of independent reading.

Tuesday

• Students will begin class with  10 minutes of independent reading.

• Students will then complete the vocabulary lesson for the first Amplify lesson of the year. 7A SU2 L1 Vocabulary. 

• Students will then dive into the lesson on Point of View, which focuses on extablishing ones point of view on the most disgusting food they have ever eaten.  They will examine how to use language and detail to reveal their own point of view and examine a photograph of an individual experiencing their own point of view.

• Finally, they will use their chromebook to take an image of themselves while thinking about that terrible thing that they once ate, going on to examine the details in their own facial expressions that further define their point of view on that subject.

Wednesday

• Students will begin class with a brief review of classroom expectations and routines and then begin their independent reading for the day.

• Students will then briefly review our experience from yesterday's class examining their facial expressions as they ate the most disgusting food they've ever eaten.  We will then review writing expectations and a few other considerations they will process before writing about that experience.  Students will be given a word cloud to ensure they have the vocabulary to describe their experience.

• After students have finished describing their experiences, we will move on to activity 8 and discuss the rules for sharing and for giving verbal feedback.  Volunteers will share their writing and call upon classmates to use "Response Starters" to help them give effective feedback.  The quality of feedback will be discussed and students will be given any remaining time to work on their Virtual Lockers or independent reading minutes.

Thursday

• Students will begin class with 10 minutes of  independent reading.

• Students will then begin the Vocabulary lesson for 7A SU2 L2.

• Student will then examine some of the exemplary writing from the previous lesson to identify the details which bring those responses to life.  We will then move on to Activity 4 reading a brief passage and examining the types of detail used to help the reader understand the writer's point of view.

• Students then prepare to use the previously discussed types of details in a response examining the brief moment they realized they were able to do something that they had never been able to do before.  Students will write for at least 10 minutes before handing in their work.

• Remaining time may be used for independent reading.

Friday

• Students will begin class with 10 minutes of independent reading.

• Students will take "A Pretty Good Poem" through a reading strategy to help them get to the theme of the poem.  The poem will be discussed and compared to a quote attributed to Aristotle on excellence.

• Students will be given the rest of time to finish up their assignments for the week.

Homework: Students who are current on their assignments do not have homework this weekend.