5.1. "The Girl Who Changed Pakistan"

I was struck, probably like many Americans, by this story last week and thought about how far it was from my daily life, which alone made me want to read more about it. Anyway, click here for the reading, "The Girl Who Changed Pakistan," from Newsweek.

13.2. Determining Author Purpose RI6.

Applying Our Knowledge to Construct an Author Purpose Statement

Yesterday, we went over the basics of determining author purpose in a formal way (here's the link to the mastery list if you need the notes).

Today, we are seeking to apply this to an article - "For Navy SEALS, The Biggest Threat May Be Hollywood" from newsweek.com.

So, do this to demonstrate your current level of skill at determining author purpose, first read the article.

Then,
1. Read the article.
2. Open a Document in your Google Drive and name it "RI6. Navy Seals and Hollywood."
2. Write an author purpose sentence (consult the mastery list for the formula, it explains exactly how to phrase this).
3. Write a WHO+WHAT+WHY sentence that determines the main idea.
4. Select five Tier 2 vocabulary words to add to the class's online database.

Notice that the two sentences, the first that states the author purpose and the second that determines the central idea, are similar. This does not mean that you are making a mistake; I am asking for two versions of the same thing.

9.1. Analyzing a Paragraph Using SEETH RI5.

While the hurricane caused me to do this a little less formally than I would have liked, I did want to give everybody the mastery list for this week's skill, which is to look at a paragraph and identify the job that each sentence is doing in it. So, I wrote up a mastery list for it and will design a quizlet set, in case you need to review it (or just feel like a nice game of Space Race).

Here's the mastery list.

RI2./RHST2. Mathematics-Language Arts Interdisciplinary Reading

So . . .
As you have probably noticed, we're trying hard to incorporate reading and writing exercises into all of our classes. Well, we've always done that, but we are trying to communicate and use technology to make those reading and writing experiences more rewarding and useful to the students.
Click here to get to the reading about the benefits of studying math.

Language Arts-Social Studies Activity

This week's current event is taking a quick break from the Presidential campaign to talk about a news story that we thought might be interesting to our middle schoolers.

We're going to write less this week that normally for a current event - instead of the Chain of Main Ideas, we're going to write two central ideas, aka WHO+WHAT+WHY sentences. If you don't know how to write one, there are directions to help you below.

1. Read the informational article here and write a WHO+WHAT+WHY sentence that expresses the central idea of the article.

2. Read this second nonfiction piece on the same topic - how is it different from the first one? How is the author's purpose different? How does that affect what's is in the article? Write a WHO+WHAT+WHY sentence for this one, too.

When you are done, you will have read two articles and have written two (longish) sentences.

Things to Think about/That We May Discuss
Think about these issues - you DON'T need to write or type answers to them.

- You know the difference between facts and opinions. Notice that one of these pieces contains the author's opinions and one does not. Why do you think that is?

- Notice that when writing the directions, I used two different terms to name the readings - one is called an "article" and one is not. What accounts for this?

- This article is about France - so what does it have to do with us? Why care about topics that are concerned with French schoolchildren? Why care?

- Notice that the second article adds something as a "Bonus" meaning that the author didn't think that she wanted to simply make it another paragraph. Why do you feel that she labeled this part "Bonus"?

6.1. RHST2./RHST6. Week of Respect Readings

We found all these readings for our assignments on this website, Teens Against Bullying, which has a good deal of other interesting information on it and looks pretty, too.

Tuesday (RHST2.)
"A Boy the Bullies Love to Beat Up, Repeatedly" This is a news article from The New York Times, which is considered by many to be the most important daily newspaper in America (even the world).

For this reading, we can practice the "Chain of Main Ideas" summary (click the link if you need directions) - remember that the main idea of each paragraph is the (WHO+WHAT) - "Who is the person or group that we're talking about and what is happening to them/with text?"

Wednesday (RHST1.)
"The Bully and the Bystander" This reading is from a website that is designed to teach parents, kids, and teachers important information.

For this reading, we are going to practice learning to read "textbook text." We're learning outlining in Social Studies, which is the best/easiest way to learn what you need from this kind of text, so make an outline of the argument.

Thursday (RHST2.)
"Telling Bullies to Think Pink" This is a more personal essay written by a news reporter - which is different from saying that it's news.

For this reading, we'll write a single sentence that determines the central idea (WHO+WHAT+WHY).

5.2. Giver Nonfiction Topics: Reproduction and the Law RI2.

Objective: To determine the central idea of an informational article.

Things That You Should Know:

1. The WHO in a WHO+WHAT+WHY sentence can be a person (Tom), a group (Earthquake scientists, Americans), or even a thing (like the Titanic). The real world is subject, but WHO is easier to remember.
2. The WHAT is either "What is the main character doing?" or "What is happening TO the main character?"
3. The WHY for a nonfiction article is the answer to the question "Why did the author think that this was important for a smart English speaker like you to know?"
4. If you can't figure out the WHY, reread the end (these go in order).
5. The formula for the main idea of a paragraph is WHO+WHAT (remember from out Chain of Main Ideas). That's why many teachers use "main idea" to mean both "main idea of a paragraph" and "central idea of a reading." They're not wrong, but it can be confusing. I try to keep the two separate, so when I say "central idea," I mean "of the whole thing" and when I say "main idea," I mean of the paragraph.

The Text: Today's nonfiction reading gives us a chance to use the WHO+WHAT+WHY formula. The good news is that the product for this is a single sentence, so simply read the article and write a single sentence. Review the mastery list if you need help with this. Here's the link - Missing Women in Asia Article.

Independent Practice:
First, everyone write a sentence that expresses the central idea of the reading.
Next, determine what group you are in:

•  If you need the Chain of Main Ideas Proficient check, write a summary to try and get it (remember, I can't pass anybody who's not proficient in that by the end of the marking period). If you have the check, read the next bullet.
• If you need the Citing Text Evidence Proficient check, check with me to see if there is a set of seven sentences for this reading. If so, do that as your second exercise. If you have the proficient check, read the next bullet.
• If you have both proficient checks, you may choose to try and get either of the expert level checks. Pick one of the two, citing or Chain of Main Ideas.
• If you have both expert checks, read in your unit novel and take Active Reading Notes.

Assessment:

I'm going to quickly assess your Central Idea sentence, so make sure to show it to me as soon as it is finished.

Any second checks, I'll grade according to our contract. If you want to watch me grade it (that can be really helpful), let me know so that we can make an appointment.