I Search Update

Students will be finishing their papers and handing them in today at the end of class along with their first drafts.

On Friday, we discussed what a good oral presentation would look like; guidelines are in the post below, and I'll distribute hard copy and review with students today.

We'll be working on Thursday, Friday, and Tuesday of next week to prepare and practice presentations and accompanying visual elements. Presentations will start next Wednesday, June 6.  Students and I will develop a schedule for who will present when, which I'll share with you by the end of the week.

I-Search Oral Presentation Guidelines

I-Search Oral/Visual Presentation Guidelines

To successfully meet the requirements of the oral/visual part of the I-search project, you will need:

1)    An outline/plan of what you’re going to say and notes to help you when you present.

2)    To speak on your topic for 3-5 minutes. (When you practice, you should time yourself with a watch or timer.)

3)    A visual element to accompany your presentation and help explain your topic to your audience: slideshow, poster, timeline, diagram, model, demonstration, etc.

4)    To follow these guidelines for a successful oral presentation that we established together:

·      organize your ideas

·      use your notes to keep you on track (practice ahead of time)

·      refer to your notes, but don’t just read them out loud

·      include the most important information from your paper

·      share interesting facts

·      be interested in what you say and interesting to your audience

·      talk to the audience, not your notes

·      make eye contact and look around at different people (okay to look at foreheads)

·      watch out for “umm” and “like!”

·      be well informed on your topic so you’ll be able to answer questions; don’t be afraid to make an educated guess if you don’t know an answer, but don’t make something up

·      speak loudly and clearly—enunciate

for your visuals:

·      use visuals that are clear and help explain your topic

·      visuals should be interesting to look at

·      images should be related to what you’re saying at the time, and you should refer to the pictures as you’re speaking

·      consider bringing in real objects to show and share (please check with Tara first)

I-Search Projects

Dear Parents:

I’m sure you’ve heard your sixth grader talking about the I-search (Individual Search)project, and I wanted to write and give you an overview of what the project entails.

I-Search provides an opportunity for each student to research a topic of his or her choosing. This project will entail long-term planning, researching a topic, taking notes and organizing information, writing multiple drafts, and will culminate with a paper (3-5 pages), and a presentation (comprising an oral presentation and accompanying visual element). We’ll be spending our English time on this project in upcoming weeks, but students will also need to work outside of class to complete the project.

I know this project can seem dauntingly large at the start; one of the goals for the project is to break a big project down into pieces to be completed a step at a time.

Students have chosen their topics, started research and notetaking, and will be writing introductory paragraphs this weekend.

Today we reviewed the calendar for the project as a whole; the deadlines on the calendar are not set in stone, so we’ll continue to tweak them as a class when we need more or less time.

We’ll be working next week on outlining and organizing information, citing sources and starting to write. First drafts are due on Friday, May 18.

During the week of May 21, we’ll be doing peer review of one another’s papers, and students will get back my comments and suggestions. We’ll spend time in class revising and finishing our papers. Final papers are due Tuesday, May 29. (My intention is not that students will spend Memorial Day weekend writing, but since their spring concert is on May 24, I want to give them another night or two to finish up.)

During the week of May 29 we’ll prepare to present information (students will speak for 3-5 minutes, with an accompanying visual element), with presentations during the week of June 5. I’ll share details on dates and times for presentations when we get closer to that time.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Best,

Tara

Early April

At the end of last week, we finished up our Counting on Grace work with an in-class essay. We took some time the day before to plan: thinking about what we would say and what evidence from the book we would use to support our arguments. The challenge was to write an organized, thoughtful essay within a given timeframe. I was impressed with the seriousness and focus with which students approached this challenge.

We also took time to revise several of the poems we had written in February and March and selected a poem to include in TGS’s annual student poetry compilation. 6^th graders have written some beautiful work, and we’ll be talking about additional ways to share our writing.

The next few weeks will be a transition to several spring projects. We are finishing up chapter 5 in our vocab book and reviewing the words from previous chapters—I did some informal review last week, and students have good recall of the earlier words. In preparation for ERB testing (to take place during the weeks of April 16 and 23), we are doing some practice tests and talking about test-taking strategies. We will also start brainstorming for our I-Search research projects (more on this to come next week). 

This Is Just to Say

We read William Carlos Williams’ poem “This Is Just to Say,” and talked about what makes poetry different from other forms of writing. Some students observed that Williams’ poem looked like a poem on the page (with three stanzas of four short lines each) while others noticed that it seemed informal or easy to write compared with other poetry they had been exposed to. We talked about why a writer might use a formal structure or a more informal pattern in a poem. Since Williams’ poem, at least according to legend, began as a note left for his wife, it provided a good way into the idea that a poem doesn’t have to be about something big. Poetry is a good place for little things we notice in our daily routines that may not seem important at first, but in the writing may take on a greater significance.

Finally, we wrote “This Is Just to Say” poems of our own. They ranged from humorous to fantastic to, like Williams, apologizing in name only. Two of us wrote about being woken up at night by our cats.

A few excerpts follow:

This Is Just to Say
I have exploded
the gooey pie
from ugoptugy land
It was amazing like
fireworks smashing into the
dark sky


This Is Just to Say
Goodbye. I must be moving
on, dipping my oars in to the rainbow
sea.


This Is Just to Say
I have gone out to
the stables
to ride the strange horse


This Is Just to Say
I have fallen
asleep on
your couch

Week of January 30

This week we’ll continue reading in Counting on Grace, begin learning the vocabulary words in chapter 4, and work on a short project in conjunction with the 6^th grade art curriculum.

We began last Friday to research about Australian Aboriginal peoples, their creation myths, and the way those myths are represented in contemporary Aboriginal art. Students will be working with William to create paintings depicting a creation myth; in English, we’ll be reading a number of myths this week and working to create a myth, both drawn and written, to inspire and accompany the paintings. (This won’t be a lengthy assignment, but it’s a welcome chance to do an interdisciplinary project.)

Finally, a 6^th grade project that isn’t really English-related: Kathy and I are working with 6^th graders on a knitting project. We are using planner time, opposite our typing program, and learning to knit. Ultimately, students will be knitting hats; right now we’re practicing our knitting technique and getting excited. I took a trip to the yarn store this weekend, but if any of you are knitters looking for a chance to reduce your stash, we’d be interested in any heavy worsted or bulky weight yarn you no longer need. I’ll include photos as we get deeper into this project.

Early January 2012

We spent time last week viewing clips from Ken Burns' "Prohibition" in preparation for his visit with 6th-8th graders last Friday. We looked in particular at how the events and issues surrounding Prohibition related to the Klan presence we read about in Witness. Ken gave an inspiring talk and students had time to ask questions about “Prohibition” in particular and Ken’s filmmaking in general.

We've started reading Elizabeth Winthrop's Counting on Grace, the story of a 12 year old girl working in a textile mill in 1910 Vermont. As with Witness, we’ll be looking at some of the social issues of the time, as well as looking at the way the story is told and how characters develop.

With the new year, we've returned to our vocabulary studies, and since our class will be meeting four days a week, I'm hoping we'll be able to move a little more quickly. (I've posted the chapter 3 words at right.)