#schaffer model

We had a great first day, with all classes up and working on various skills from the beginning.

English I Honors students dove right into the writing model we will be using this year, the Schaffer Model. They will be focusing on it for the remainder of the week.

English 8 students looked at inferring (though we didn’t call it that — we will apply the label tomorrow) about the class based on a…

Peer Assessment and Peer Teaching

English 8 students took the time to meet the new students who joined the class. After that, the students, in groups, gave the new students an overview of what we’ve been doing for the last few days, specifically text structure. We ended with an overview  of Class Dojo and how we use it in class.

English I Honors students had a chance to get some input from peers and from me about the second…

Compare/Contrast Extra Credit and Motifs Revisited

English 8 students looked at chapter 4 in Nightjohn to find the motifs we’ve been looking for (power, money, and freedom). We’ll be using these for the end-of-the-unit project.

English I Honors students went over their homework and had a quick planning session  with a partner for Schaffer paragraphs that compare and contrast “Those Winter Sundays” and “My Papa’s Waltz.” These paragraphs are the…

Argument Review and Final TS Day

English I Honors students took a final day to get the topic sentences and outlines for their final analytic short story paragraphs all lined up and ready to go. We worked collaboratively on making topic sentences specific claims about symbolism in the story. Students are to complete the paragraphs on their own by Wednesday.

English 8 students had a review of the elements of an argument and looked…

English I Honors examined some sample paragraphs that I wrote about “The Cask of Amontillado” and evaluated them based on the project rubric. Once we debriefed as a class, students paired up again and worked to help their partner improve his/her paragraph by applying the things we’d just learned about topic sentences and other Schaffer elements to the students’ individual paragraphs.

English 8…

Voice and the Second Schaffer Paragraph

All classes began with some work on the article of the week, either this week’s or last week’s. English 8 focused on this week’s.

English I Honors focused on last week’s, briefly going over the expected responses and correct answers. One of the questions dealt with background knowledge readers might lack, so we filled in that missing background knowledge with a thirty-second geography lesson.

A…

Paragraph Turn In and First Library Trip

English I Honors students turned in their first Schaffer paragraphs today. Together we went through how they’ll be anonymously providing others with feedback. I modeled the process by accessing an anonymous student’s work for the class,  going through the rubric with everyone and explaining every deduction. Students today will begin assessing each others’ work for homework.

English 8 students…

Last week’s Friday didn’t count — we didn’t do Friday things in English 8. Today, we did: we began working on our traditional Friday work, which includes working on inferences with a text and a bit of writing. We worked with this short text today:

Every day after work Paul took his muddy boots off on the steps of the front porch. Alice would have a fit if the boots made it so far as the welcome…