Month: September 2009

Today we discussed the elements of effective group work in preparation for our literature circles. Expect a quiz on these terms tomorrow:
Positive Interdependence: when group members rely on each other in order to complete a common goal
Face to Face Interaction: Group members need to be close in proximity and facing each other in order to work effectively
Individual Accountability: Even though you are in a group you need to answer to the other group members. When one group member doesn’t have to answer to the other group members, it’s not effective
Processing: For an experience to be successful, group members need time to assess their success in working together to achieve a goal.
Social Skills: being polite, taking turns, encouraging etc.

We put these skills to work in a surval scenario exercise which we will complete tomorrow.

Remember, you have signed up for recording times on Thursday or Friday. You need to be present for those times

Today’s Summary:
1) Quiz on elements of good personal essay and an effective speech
2) I read my personal essay and asked for feedback to model the revision process.
3) One last chance to get feedback on the personal essay before recording on Thursday and Friday
4) We created a recording schedule for Thursday and Friday

Hi everyone,
Today we watched two speeches and analysed the qualities of an effective speech. If you were absent, please get that note from a classmate.
Also, Monday will be your last chance to submit a rough draft for feedback and a mark. We will be recording our personal essays on Thursday and Friday in class. This is a time sensititve assignment since we do not have any other time available for recording.

Hi everyone, I’m away at a PD session today.
You will begin class today with silent reading and then I have a reflection strip I’d like you to fill out just so that I get a sense of how you are getting along with your book.
Then you will have the rest of the class to write a first draft of your personal essay. I would like these handed in by the end of class. If you are struggling with your personal essay, leave me a comment on the blog, or write a note at the bottom of the work that you hand in. I’m happy to meet with you and help you with this.

1) Discussion prompt: “Do schools kill creativity?” Watch this video and then we will discuss:

2) We will examine different methods of organization for the personal essay

3) Then we will watch two different speakers and decide which one is more effective.

4) Finally, you will reflect on which organizational method will work best for your essay and which speaking techniques you saw that you will try to incorporate in your essay.

Started with silent reading today and received a valuable lesson about why we should only drink water in class. Ahem… So just bottled water from here on in.

I took you through the brainstorming and outline process for the personal essay  by showing you the process I went through. Yep. I’m going to be writing a personal essay right along side you.

Your homework is to complete your brainstorming web for tomorrow (Friday) and bring it in to class so you can work on your outline in class.

Be prepared to practice your oral communication skills at the start of class tomorrow. Still looking for topic suggestions!

Today we discussed what active listening looked like and sounded like and practiced it by talking about that whole Kanye West/Taylor Swift debacle. Great work, everyone!

Next, we got back into our groups from yesterday and moderated (that means discussed and reached a consensus on what mark to give the piece) the other personal essays.

We added information to our charts about the qualities of a good personal essay.

Tomorrow will be a reading day at the beginning of class. Please bring your silent reading books.

Reading strategy: coding the text

Silent Reading: Reflection on sticky note handed in

Revision of Free Write based on Characteristics of A Good Personal Essay: handed in

Group readings of additional personal essays

Tomorrow we’ll be beginning by practising discussion skills. Any topic suggestions?

If you were absent today or would like a reminder, here’s what we did today:

Writing prompt: I gave you all a bunch of topics to choose from that had to do with personal belief. You wrote on it for 20 minutes. I will hand these back tomorrow and you will revise them based on what we studied in class today. Writing prompts are available here

Listening to an oral essay: We listened to Buck 65’s personal essay called, “Believe in Yourself“. If you click on the title, you can listen to it online. We talked about effective listening strategies and came up with these ideas:

• repeat lines in your head
• close your eyes
• visualize what you are reading
• doodle or draw
• take point form notes

Then we talked about effective speaking strategies and came up with

• using a deeper voice (but not too deep unless you’re using it for humour!)
• slowing down or speeding up for effect.
• pausing for emphasis
• asking a question to involve the reader
• dynamics (not speaking in a monotonous tone)

Then we read the essay and talked about what made it effective:

• a hook/attention grabber (e.g., using an unusual word or phrase, a quotation, something unexpected)
• creating suspense
• ask a question
• tell a story to illustrate a point
• conversational tone

Tomorrow, you will take your writing prompt and revise it using one of the above strategies. Tomorrow will also be a reading day so bring your books!

After you have completed the survey (which you’ll now find below this post), I would like you to complete a writing diagnostic assignment.

Click on each of the following links. You will find a question and then you will also see some responses. Check out each of them before choosing one to write about.

When you’ve chosen one. I would like you to write as much about it as you can for as long as you can. If you want to brainstorm first or jot down some point form ideas first, go for it. Your writing is due at the end of class whether you feel it is complete or not.

The Pursuit of Happiness
Fear
The Masks we Wear
Who do you admire?