This unit's "BIG IDEA"; as members of a global citizenship, students will learn how to make a positive impact in an ever-changing world.
Curriculum Focus:
Reading; students will extend their understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights to other familiar texts, and the world around them.
Writing; students will identify the topic, purpose, and audience for more complex writing forms
Students will generate ideas about more challenging topics. They will organize main ideas and supporting details and group them into units that could be used to develop a multi-paragraph piece of writing.
Oral;students will demonstrate an understanding of appropriate listening behaviour by adapting active listening strategies to suit a wide variety of situations, including work in groups
Media; students will produce media texts using technology for specific purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques.
Curriculum Focus:
Reading; students will extend their understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights to other familiar texts, and the world around them.
Writing; students will identify the topic, purpose, and audience for more complex writing forms
Students will generate ideas about more challenging topics. They will organize main ideas and supporting details and group them into units that could be used to develop a multi-paragraph piece of writing.
Oral;students will demonstrate an understanding of appropriate listening behaviour by adapting active listening strategies to suit a wide variety of situations, including work in groups
Media; students will produce media texts using technology for specific purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques.
Upcoming Assignments
Step Up! Summative Writing Assignment Rough Due: Nov. 17th, 2014
(Literacy Focus: Persuasive Writing- In class assignment only)
Students have been asked to write a persuasive letter addressed to a person/ group of peoples who will be able to bring change to an issue discussed in class. Students may choose to write on any of the PSA topics presented in class. Students will complete a graphic organizer, rough draft, self/ peer edit/ revise, and submit a final draft.
Elements to review:
- purpose of a persuasive letter
- appropriate audience
- factual information
- effective word choice
- rich questioning (open-ended and thought-provoking)
(Literacy Focus: Persuasive Writing- In class assignment only)
Students have been asked to write a persuasive letter addressed to a person/ group of peoples who will be able to bring change to an issue discussed in class. Students may choose to write on any of the PSA topics presented in class. Students will complete a graphic organizer, rough draft, self/ peer edit/ revise, and submit a final draft.
Elements to review:
- purpose of a persuasive letter
- appropriate audience
- factual information
- effective word choice
- rich questioning (open-ended and thought-provoking)
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Reading Response #1 (Independent) Due: Nov. 20, 2014
(In class and at home assignment)
Using their Independent reading novels, students will write a 2-page reading response. Students should be bringing this assignment home and adding to their "Graphic Organizer" and "Reading Log" pages on a nightly basis.
Guardians/ Parents; please assist students with this assignment by asking them about the connections (to self, to text, and to world) that they are making while reading. They will need to communicate how these connections help them with their understanding of characters, events, and understanding of the text (see strong/ weak samples below).
(In class and at home assignment)
Using their Independent reading novels, students will write a 2-page reading response. Students should be bringing this assignment home and adding to their "Graphic Organizer" and "Reading Log" pages on a nightly basis.
Guardians/ Parents; please assist students with this assignment by asking them about the connections (to self, to text, and to world) that they are making while reading. They will need to communicate how these connections help them with their understanding of characters, events, and understanding of the text (see strong/ weak samples below).
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"The Giver" DVD cover Due: Nov. 7th, 2014
(Literacy Focus: Reading/ Media)
(In class assignment only)
Students will be working on writing a summary of the movie "The Giver" for the back of a DVD cover. When complete, students will have a chance to design a proposed layout for the newly released movie.
Focus: gathering and organizing ideas, word choice, summary.
(Began Oct. 28th, 2014. First Draft of their summaries should be completed in class by October 30th).
(Literacy Focus: Reading/ Media)
(In class assignment only)
Students will be working on writing a summary of the movie "The Giver" for the back of a DVD cover. When complete, students will have a chance to design a proposed layout for the newly released movie.
Focus: gathering and organizing ideas, word choice, summary.
(Began Oct. 28th, 2014. First Draft of their summaries should be completed in class by October 30th).
Public Service Announcement Presentations
The Grade 7s worked hard on their PSA assignments (They asked questions, research and gathered information, and decided on the best mode to Raise Awareness about an issue/ topic that they decided affects their lives/ community/ society). At the end of each literacy period, 3-4 students will present their PSA media project.
They should: introduce their PSA, share their "rich question", provide useful information, and answer questions posed by their peers.
Parents/ guardians: Please help students prepare by practicing their oral presentations at home. Ask them content questions regarding the Social Issue they chose.
Making Connections (Strong Sample vs. Weak Sample)
[Reading]
Parents/ Guardians: Please read with each student daily (approx. 20 minutes a night) and ask them to make connections to their text. It is important that you ask, "How does that connection help you to understand what you read?" (Challenge: Make text-to-world connections)
This is because we are working on extending the students knowledge about making connections so that their connections are insightful/ thought- provoking.
strong_weak_examples.docx | |
File Size: | 129 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Previous videos watched with Mrs. Horner.
Rich Question: "What Could Education Look/ Be Like?"
October 10th, 2014: We have been working with Mrs. Horner and Mrs. Smith on "growth mind set". On Friday, students worked on "Big Ideas" and "Rich Questioning". By Tuesday, students will respond to one of the "questions" that we discussed in class. These paragraphs will be marked based on writing conventions (for Ms. Plank) and content (for Mrs. Horner).