G & T MUR
This week we finished reading Dragonwings the play and continued on with the Junior Great Books series. We had excellent discussion groups and were able to talk in depth about how characters change over time.I am continually amazed at how the students are able to have such high level discussions with their peers. It is wonderful to witness this academic independence.
In spelling, we are working in Red Hot Root Words. Students are working in stations to develop new words with their roots, create stories with our spelling words and test our peers.
On Friday, I introduced our independent writing project for the trimester. We worked in the computer lab doing research on our chosen topics and will slowly work through the essay writing process.
Advanced MUR
This week we read two short stories about the adolecencent problems bullying and sibling arguments. Students were able to give numerous personal examples on the topics, and we worked to get to the root of these overwhelming problems. On Wednesday, we had a seminar and students were able to share ideas with each other.
In spelling we continue our study in Wordly Wise. Students are working with high level vocabulary in a meaningful way.
We began typing our fictional stories as we delve deeper into our independent writing project. We finished up our study of our main characters and will move next week onto our supporting characters. Students completed the introduction and problem of their stories. We now begin the long journey toward the climax. I also spent time conferencing with each student this week, helping them edit and add to their work.