Into the swing of things

Elizabeth Runder@Flickr.com

Today we worked a bit on language (aka 'grammar'!) with students writing sentences based on the pattern we talked about last Tuesday: compound sentences. Mechanically Inclined is a language program started by Texas teacher Jeff Anderson that presents grammar concepts in a more interesting way--at least I think so! Students will work throughout the year using what Anderson call "mentor sentences", sentences taken from Young Adult fiction. We talk about patterns we notice in the sentences, (my instruction is quite informal), and then students practice using the concepts by writing their own sentences using the pattern talked about in class.

We'll also begin to take the first steps toward our marking period Project Based Learning assessment today. We listened to 2 or 3 This I Believe essays in class. (Here's a link to one I love.) This week students will draft their TIB essays in their Writer's Notebooks; next week they'll work on typing them up and submitting them via Google docs (more on that next week!).

After 3 weeks we're all finally into the swing of school and homework--you'll notice more grades popping up on Powerschool. Students should come prepared each Friday with a book; this week I'll be giving points for reading.