Middle School Language Arts students spent last week digging deeply into a physics text titled “Discovering the Laws of Motion.” This work required students to learn and practice effective non-fiction annotation strategies. I was so impressed with the way students transferred the skills developed during last week’s roots and affixes to this task. Several students were able to infer the meaning of complex words and phrases like “hydrostatic equilibrium” simply by taking the words apart. Students became close readers by looking up and defining all unknown words and allusions in the text. They also translated graphs and charts to paragraph form. Mr. Powers was a great help in explaining concepts that required more hands-on teaching. Students made a human solar system to complete their understanding of retrograde motion, which was a concept introduced in our reading. It is my hope that the skills of careful, critical reading developed last week support students in many different areas of study.
To balance our non-fiction analysis, students worked on more creative options too. First, students were challenged to “read like a writer.” They practiced embedding textual evidence in TEPAC paragraphs, which required them to think about their independent reading books in terms of what their authors do well. Many wrote about character development, imagery, and word choice in their paragraphs. This work helped students consider the connections between reading and writing and how they can emulate authors’ stylistic choices in their own creative writing.
Students also created blackout poetry last week to submit as a group submission to LAD Fair later this spring. Each class developed a central topic to unify their work. 7th and 8th grade students decided on poems about growing up or coming of age, which we learned is called “bildungsroman” when presented in novel form. 6th graders decided to create poems about redemption.
This week, we will begin a unit called “Project Publish,” which centers around developing the skill of writing and revising for a real-world audience. Students will have the option to submit the pieces they create to LAD Fair. This project will allow students to choose the genre of the writing they create; please look for a project proposal to come home later this week. It will request parental support in helping students choose the form of writing that will best support individual writing needs and goals.
