Until Next Time,
Ritchie
7th grade students created candy drawings that were inspired by a type of modern art called "pop art". If you are unfamiliar with the term Pop Art, it is art recognizing commercial items and cultural icons such as labels, advertisements, and movie stars. Pop Art is meant to be fun! Students picked their favorite candy and created drawings with bright colors and abstract expressions. Here is a gallery of more student artwork! After drawing, students watched a short video on some interesting facts related to the Butterfinger bar. This was a great way to show my students visually of how they could organize their writing. Students then researched and wrote informational paragraphs on the history, special ingredients and interesting facts related to the candy they chose for their artwork. (I will update this post at a later time to incorporate this work as well!) What a fun way to kick off the Halloween Celebration! ;)
Until Next Time, Ritchie
1 Comment
This week the 8th graders began an author study on Edgar Allan Poe. If you are unfamiliar with this writer, click on the button to watch a brief 3 minute mini biography about his life. After reading a short biography and completing a research web quest assignment, the kids learned very quickly that this man is considered to be one of literary "greats" of our time, but suffered from many problems throughout his life. The purpose of learning about Edgar Allan Poe's life was to see the connections of major life events to his written works. Alas! This is where our story begins... "Annabel Lee"! "Annabel Lee" was a poem written by Poe shortly before he died of mysterious circumstances. After reading and annotating the meaning of "Annabel Lee", the students, Mrs. Anderson & I concluded that he was still devestated by the loss of his first wife, Virginia, and it was probably written in memory of her. Mood and Tone is a difficult concept to understand. The students learned that Mood is the feeling that readers get when we read a text & Tone is how the author feels about the subject of his writing. In the pictures below, students explored tone by choosing an emogi that represented one tone of the poem (there were several). After drawing the emogii, students constructed a paragraph of justification using textual evidence to support their opinions. We're still practicing that "R.A.C.E" structure for literary response, however I was pleased they were able to identify one tone and try to justify their response! Way to go 8th Grade! Can't wait for the "Tell Tale Heart" next week! :)
Until Next Time, Ritchie Need a quick writing assessment for argument structure that is both hilarious & purposeful? Well, then this is right up your alley! I stumbled across this gem on Pinterest one night as I was perusing the web for ideas. Thanks to "I Want to be a Superhero", she gave me the inspiration to turn a lower level activity into one that was more suitable for my classroom. Originally this was just going to be a 7th grade activity before we started counterargument & rebuttal. However, the 8th graders got wind of this... Boy, did I get an ear full!! I decided to let them have some fun and join in on the creativity as they requested. Even though this was a short activity, it gave me the knowledge I needed to reteach some things that the students still need help in. (Such as concluding statements, sentence structure and transitional phrases) With every weakness, there are always strengths! The kids did an excellent job developing reasons and backing up those arguments with evidence! This activity was not something I planned on at all... I'm glad I changed direction & followed the kids! (Good ole Danielson Model...) Want to see more? Check out galleries of the 7th & 8th graders work below! 7th Grade Gallery!8th Grade GalleryFor those of you who do not know, Mr. Ritchie is choosing the best costume (& argument) for me to wear at the dance on October 28th! The costume & winner will be revealed at the dance!
Until Next Time, Mrs. Ritchie |
Archives
November 2017
Categories |