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Blog Post #1: 6th 6 Weeks

Here we are at the tail-end of the 2012-2013 school year. What an exciting and busy time it is! STAAR testing is just days away! The end of school is just a little further away than testing, and before you know it, summer will have come and gone and you’ll be starting 7^th grade. Life breezes by, doesn’t it?!

It’s time again for another self-assessment. Since STAAR takes place next week, I want to ask you to think very carefully about your answers and what they mean in relation to the test. Be honest and open in your responses. The only people who are going to see them are you and me. Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If you haven’t changed your test-taking techniques, boosted your comprehension and fluency, developed even better work ethic, and tried your best overall, you haven’t grown this year. It is my hope that you have changed at least a few things this year.

Your initial questions: What have you changed when it comes to school-related topics? What should you change? To answer the initial questions, consider the following sub-questions: 1) What have you done to improve your work ethic in class? 2) What are your strengths and weaknesses? 3) How can you fix your weaknesses and turn them into strengths? 4) What have you learned in reading class that has helped you become a better reader?

Answer the initial and sub-questions in a 4 sentence paragraph. Guys, you’re going to ACE the STAAR! So proud of you! Happy writing!

Blog Post #4: 5th 6 Weeks

Our focus for this six weeks centers around informational texts. We've talked a lot about informational texts this year. An informational text is always fact-based. The eBooks we've been reading in class provide readers with information about certain topics. That information can always be proved by looking it up in some other source, such as a text book, online article, dictionary, or encyclopedia.

The prompt for this week is going to ask you to think about an informational text you think should be taught in schools. You can base your answers off of a text that has already been written or one that you think should be written.

The initial question: What is the topic of the informational text? To answer this question, consider the following sub-questions: 1) Why do you think this topic should be taught? 2) Who is the audience for this type of book (i.e. kids your age, kids younger than you, high school students)? 3) Why is this topic important to education? 4) What is the result of this topic not being taught in class? 5) Who would teach this text?

Answer the initial and sub-questions in four complete, thoughtful sentences. Be specific. Happy writing!

Blog Post #5: 5th 6 Weeks

I can't believe it is already April! What a breeze this year has been so far! Here it is, April, only two months until school lets out for summer break. I am sure you all have been thinking about the end of school as well. It will be here before we know it! Life gets faster and faster these days!

As we approach the sixth six weeks, I would like to give you an idea of what our new focus (aside from STAAR, of course, which will occur on April 23rd and 24th) will be. The sixth six weeks is my personal favorite because I get to teach something I am extremely good at doing, know a lot about, and really love. What is it, you ask? The answer is an eight-letter word. Let's see if you can guess with a few more hints.

Hint #1: It is something that will definitely involve computers. Hint #2: It is something I've had to do a lot of in my graduate classes this year. Hint #3: It is something you will have to do every year from here on out until you finish school, whether that be high school, college, or graduate school. (I'm hoping that will be graduate school for many of you!) Do you give up? Alright . . . RESEARCH!

You're probably wondering why you are supposed to be excited about doing research. Many times research has a negative connotation. My theory is that those of you rolling your eyes at the answer to my game just haven't been exposed to the more interesting, engaging, and fun aspects of research. Well, Mrs. Jackson and I have already been hard at work cooking up an excellent project for sixth six weeks. No, I am not going to tell you what it is. I will tell you, though, that it is something you will enjoy and something that will teach you a lot about a wide array of topics.

So here is this week's initial question: Why is research important? To answer this question, consider the following sub-questions: 1) What can you learn when you do research on a specific topic? 2) What are the good things about research? Bad things? 3) How do you do research? 4) What is the end goal of any research project? (i.e. What are you going to accomplish when you do good research?) 5) What types of research have you done? If you haven't done any real research, tell me what type of research you would like to do instead.

We have a busy but grand rest of the school year to look forward to. I know it will be a year we'll look back on and say, "Wow, it was a good year!" Answer the initial and sub-questions in four complete, thoughtful questions. Happy writing, guys and gals!

Blog Post #2: 5th 6 Weeks

You did a self-assessment last time. I asked you to analyze where you are academically. Doing this type of activity on a regular basis helps to remind you of your goals and chart progress. It also helps you to know what areas need extra work. You are your own best advocate, so do whatever you can to help yourself grow this year and always.

This week we will take a different turn. I would like you to think of an activity that you particularly enjoy and one you do well. While thinking about this activity, ask yourself how you would explain to someone who has never tried or even seen someone else try to do this activity. The initial question: How can you explain to this person how to do the activity? To answer the initial question, consider the following sub-questions: 1) What equipment, if any, is needed to do the activity? 2) Where do you do the activity? 3) What type of activity is it?

Answer the initial and sub-questions in a single paragraph. Remember you are explaining this activity to someone who has never experienced or seen someone do this activity. Happy writing!

Blog Post #1: 5th 6 Weeks

It’s time to self-assess and set some goals. Some of you may be thinking that the STAAR test is pretty far away. You’ve got time to work on those skills later. You have a life, right? Here’s the reality . . . the STAAR test is actually only 42 school days away! What seems like forever, always gets here quite a bit faster than we sometimes want to admit.

We are in STAAR mode here at Mackenzie. 5^th 6 weeks is essentially the time we spend revisiting skills that might appear on your STAAR test. We work hard this six weeks because we need to maximize our learning and preparation. Don’t be intimidated, though. We know how to make the units for this six weeks fun, and Mrs. Jackson and I have been working hard to do just that. Be prepared to work and prove to us and yourself that you will be successful on that test!

Your initial question: How are you progressing this year? To answer this question, consider the following sub-questions: 1) What are your strengths? Weaknesses? 2) Are you reading regularly? It’s been proven that people who consistently read outside of class make better grades when it comes to the assessments, not to mention school in general. You have to read! 3) How can you work on your weaknesses so that they become your strengths? 4) What goals do you have for the future? Set one goal for the immediate future (within this year) and one for the distant future.

Remember, you are to answer the initial and sub-questions in 4 complete, thoughtful sentences. Happy writing!

Blog Post #5: 4th Six Weeks

This week has been quite a whirlwind! We spent the week reading several short stories from a variety of cultures. We’ve been reviewing plot, sequence, characterization, and summary. All of those skills will play an integral part in your district assessments from here on out. They will likely make an appearance (or several appearances) on your STAAR exam in April, too.

Understanding the plot of the story is essential to understanding the story as a whole. Remember that an understanding of plot leads ultimately to an understanding of theme, which basically is the purpose of any story. Remember also that theme is not one word. It is a sentence that states what the author feels about the subject of a story.

For this week’s prompt, I want you to think about one of the stories we read in class. If you’ve been absent, think about a familiar fairy tale, such as Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast. The initial question: How does the story’s plot help you understand the theme or point of the story? To answer this question, consider the following sub-questions: 1) What happens in the story? 2) Who are the protagonist and antagonist? 3) What lesson does the protagonist learn in the story? 4) What is a one-word subject of the story? 5) What is the theme of the story? Ask what the author feels about the subject of the story.

Answer the initial question and sub-questions in 4 complete, thoughtful sentences. Happy writing!

Blog Post #4: 4th 6 weeks

This past week, we closed out our unit on persuasive media. It was a great unit, full of things like commercials, media analysis, a Prezi, and knowledge of different tactics used by advertising agencies to make their products more appealing. I hope you learned a lot over the past three weeks. I always love teaching about persuasive media. It's just so interesting!

We move on this week to a semi-review unit over cross-cultural literature. I think you will enjoy this unit as well because Mrs. Jackson and I came up with a new way to teach it this year. Let me provide you with a few refreshers from the 2nd 6 weeks. We primarily focused on learning the different elements of plot, which are essential to any good story. We learned that the climax is the most exciting, intense part where the reader is not quite sure exactly who (the protagonist or antagonist) will win. Being able to identify a story's climax is essential to passing your district and STAAR assessments. You may not have questions that directly address the climax, but you will have questions about plot. Remember that the climax is pretty much the key to understanding the events of a story. 

We also spent a lot of time on theme. Theme is the most crucial part of a story. It is what defines the story and ties to all elements of the plot. When you do not understand the theme of the story, you do not understand the purpose of it. Every writer writes for a reason. He/She is trying to convey a feeling or message about something. The audience is supposed to understand, learn, or feel a certain way. The author communicates a story's deeper meaning by centering the plot and characters around that meaning. In other words, the characters and plot help the reader to understand the theme. Remember also that theme is what the author feels about the subject of the story. It is not just one word, it is a sentence about the subject. Therefore, in Romeo and Juliet, the theme cannot simply be love. It has to go beyond love and explain how William Shakespeare feels about love. The theme would become "Love is worth dying for," a message conveyed through the actions and feelings of the characters and exemplified when the young lovers commit suicide.

So here's the prompt for this week: Think of a story that you found really exciting. It can be any story. Explain in 4 elaborate, insightful sentences what the plot of the story was and how the actions and feelings of the characters and the plot of the story helped you to determine the theme of the story. To answer this prompt, consider the following sub-questions: 1) What was the story? 2) What happened in the story? 3) What was the climax of the story? 4) What is the one-word subject of the story (i.e. love, peace, death, war, etc.)? 5) What was the author trying to convey about the subject of the story? In other words, what was the theme of the story?

Happy writing, all!

Blog Post #2: 4th 6 weeks

Last week we visited the topic of advertising. You were asked to think about a commercial you’d seen and decide whether or not it was effective in “selling” you on either the product or idea. In class, we learned about various advertising techniques and how they are used to “sell” something to viewers. We also looked at a sample from an anti-smoking campaign that used irony as a means of promoting its message. As we continue with this segment of the six weeks, we will look at many more examples and even watch some commercials in an effort to determine if the advertisement is effective and why it is or is not.

This week’s blog post is two-fold. The initial question: How do commercials appeal to specific audiences? To answer this question, consider the following sub-questions: 1) What technique(s) are used? 2) Do they use any specific characters (i.e. cartoon characters, TV or movie personalities, etc.)? 3) Is the targeted audience obvious? How do you know? 4) What message is conveyed? Are they trying to sell a product or idea and how are they doing so?

Answer the initial and sub-questions in 4 complete, thoughtful sentences. Happy writing!