I'm convinced my 7th graders are ready for the school year to end! We've been working extremely hard on some inquiry projects for reading & language! I can't believe the year is coming to an end! We are/have been seriously working up until the last minute!
Take a look at what we've been up to the past few weeks!
7th graders were able to choose any invention or inventor to research that they wanted! After brainstorming inquiry questions, students tried to find the answers to their questions by research!! ! (Following MLA format to document sources, they paraphrased & took direct quotes from the relible sources they found!)
Once the research was complete, (which took a very, very long time...) they used those facts they inquired to write a Q&A as if they were the interviewer and interviewee!
They of course had to included a works cited page! :)
Crazy amount of work for Language!! ;) My 7th graders arose to the occasion! They nailed this research project!
Woah!!
Soooooo What about reading?
Students explored the dystopian genre by choosing a book (at their level) and responding as they read! Students created a monthly calendar in which they mapped out their daily readings and work they had to do! The picture below, are response journal ideas that we brainstormed as a class. (This is technically a close reading model but more open-ended.)
Books recommended from my class:
**Maze Runner
**Divergent
*Invitation to the Game
*Cinder
*Among the Hidden
**Hunger Games
*Unwind
*Fire Fight
*Matched
The next few pictures are examples of cover art in their response books and various types of responses!
I'm sure some of you were wondering... How did I assess all of these responses that are so vastly diverse?
This is the rubric I used for grading! I'm sure after attending an awesome assessment conference I'll perfect this... But, it seemed to do the job this time around!
Each response was 20 points! Students were to write at least 10 and take an AR Test! After each response, I glued on of these in there so the kiddos could have instant feedback! ;)
I either wrote comments on the page itself or in the comments section of the rubric.( This one I did on the page and explained why I gave 20/20 plus some bonus points!)
Any students that wanted to make corrections, COULD on any response page! I also held weekly conferences to "check in" on their progress!
This was the first time I had ever did something like this. It was definitely a learning experience! ;)
I'm extremely proud of my homeroom! Next week is our field trip to Wild Life Park!
I know my kids will enjoy the break from all the work we've been doing!
-Ritchie!