11/03/08 - The Shock and Awe Day

Today class went really well...at least I thought so.

I started class by talking with my students about the organization activity we did the previous Wednesday and asked them what they learned from that activity, if anything. Many said they thought that they got the point and that it was effective for helping them understand the importance of organization. One student was honest and said he didn't learn anything while another told me that he thought it would have been better if I had typed out the information myself so that there weren't holes where the pictures were. I had to make sure I took note of all of this. It's good to encourage students to reflect and let them tell you what they thought.

The next thing I did was give them back their Project 2s. I had them read over the comments and ask me any questions I had. This also was good. Some students finally asked me what certain comments that I made meant.

I followed that activity by handing out the rubric for Project 3 so that they could all see what they would be graded on. I asked them if they thought it was fair and they all agreed that it was.

Finally, I had them write their reflection for Project 3 so that we could wrap that up. The students were very focused for this and many took a little longer this time than they normally do for the reflection. I can't wait to read them!

With project 3 finished and handed in, I moved on a new topic. I told the students that there were some crazy errors on Project 2 and that we needed to look at a few of them. Before looking at their errors or even learning and clarifying a few things, I handed out the Spell Checking Poem. I had one of the students read it and then I told them that the poem had made it through the computer spell check. They couldn't believe it. They thought that was crazy. I then took this opportunity to tell them about some of the things that probably made it past spell check in their papers, particulary homonyms and homophones. I asked them to write down for me several words after I gave them a description of the word and the context in which it could be used. These words included: wont and won't, they're their and there, etc. The student were shocked taht they made these errors. When we were finished talking about those words, I gave them a handout with the list of words that can easily be confused so they could remind themselves and have a reference if they ever got confused. I ended this grammar time with 2 overheads of errors they made on Project 2. I had at least 2 sentences from each student and we looked at most of the examples. Again they were shocked at what they did. I think it was an effective way to get them to pay more attention in their writing.

The final thing we did in class was a peer review of their rough draft letter for Project 4. The students had a sheet to fill out with a partner and I gave them instructions. Again, they were very focused and did well. I had four students that didn't do a rough draft and I had them all come up to the front to chat with me. I talked with them about their topics and had each one begin a rough draft in their own handwriting.

I ended class by handing out the checklist for Project 4 and reminded them that it was due.

They then all hung around for Writing Studio where they did a read around of their letters and talked about things they needed to do.