Course Content

Here you will find details on the units we are currently studying.

For the next few weeks we will be working on a research project. The goals of the project are as follows:

Understanding Plagiarism- we will be examining plagiarism and its implications before we begin research. Please note that plagiarism in any form will earn you a zero on this project!
Selecting the Topic- we will select an event that changed the course of history.
Writing Research Focuses- we will spend time determining three areas of focus for our event. We will be tracking the answers using a graphic organizer.
Sources and Citations- Mr. Bell, the WRMS librarian, will help us learn about both print and non-print sources and how to properly “cite” them, or give credit to the person who actually published this information. To link directly to the WRMS library site Mr. Bell used in his presentation, click here. To see a sample bibliography, click here.
Finding Information- we will research using both PRINT and NON-PRINT sources
Compiling Information- we will organize the information we’ve extracted by drafting a paragraph summary. To see an example, click here.
Displaying and Sharing Information- we will be creating a multi-genre project - details to come!

**For help on research, click here and click "How to Research" from the menu on the left.

As we did in 2nd quarter, students will be participating in Literature Circles to start off 3rd quarter. The novels are all in the genre of Mystery/Adventure. They are: Ransom by Lois Duncan, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett, and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler by E.L. Konnigsburg. The calendar can be accessed by clicking here and you can scroll down to download copies of the role sheets.

Students are exploring author's use of the five text structures: sequence, description, cause/effect, compare/contrast, and problem/solution in text. Students are examining articles written in the different types of text structures and will be doing some writing as well. Students will take a test on Thursday, December 21st. Also during this unit, students will be trying their hand at comparison/contrast with an essay in both Reading Plus and Language Arts. They will be comparing the families in two novels they have read, Out of the Dust, which they read in Reading Plus, and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in Language Arts. The essay will look at both families' experiences in the Great Depression. Students will go through the entire writing process with this project. We will spend Reading Plus class time and Language Arts class time on this paper.

Out of the Dust is a powerful novel written about one of the bleakest times in US history - the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Set in the midst of a country in great depression, this novel follows Billie Jo Kelby, a young teenager whose world is torn apart by dust and all the tragedy the dust brings with it. To prepare for the reading of this novel, students will read articles from books about a variety of topics about the 30s, including FDR, the Stock Market Crash, the Dust Bowl, the New Deal, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the general state of the country after WW1. This will provide a much better understanding of the setting of this novel. Students will also compile a PhotoStory in which they display images from the things they read about during their readings. Click here for instructions and here to view the rubric I will use to grade it. We will begin the novel on Thursday, November 17th and as we read we will keep a journal. We will also take a quiz over the setting of the novel. It is written in free verse poetry and is 227 pages long.

Students will be participating in Literature Circles beginning Monday, October 18th. Literature Circles are student-run reading groups in which students read a book and discuss it together. It is very important that students read according to the schedule they have set with their group. For a copy of the calendar, click here. For Role Sheets, click below:

Discussion Director

Investigator

Passage Master - front, back

Vocabulary Enricher - front, back

Connector

Scene Setter - front, back

IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO COMPLY WITH YOUR GROUP'S SCHEDULE and come unprepared for literature circles, you will be subject to the following 3-Strike system:

Day 1 without work:

-finish in the hall

-miss discussion

-low score on evaluation

Day 2:

-same as above

-detention

Day 3:

-same as above

-office write up

-removed from group, must do ALL role sheets on own

Do these consequences seem severe? It's because you are not just messing up your own educational experience - when you work in a group your work affects others. When you don't do it, it affects others negatively. The larger the effect, the greater the consequences. As long as you do your work, we will all get along great!