"Sonrisas" Wrap Up

Today we continued our discussion of Mora's "Sonrisas" with a SOAPSTone and a few questions.

Semester 2 & "Sonrisas"

We began our new unit and new semester today with a look at Pat Mora's poem, "Sonrisas."

Peer Response

Today students who had finished the revision checklist did some guided peer response on their essays. Essays should be ready to turn in on the day of the final.

Essay Work Day

After having a good laugh at this meme—

—students had the rest of the period to work on their essays. Drafts are due on Monday. Everything they need is at Google Classroom.

The Essay Body

We opened with a quick analysis of the introductory paragraphs students wrote yesterday in class (and finished at home if necessary), and then we moved on to the body of the essay. The slides for the essay body are posted to Google Classroom.

Intro Paragraphs

After looking at PODs for a bit, students had the rest of the period to write their introductory paragraphs. Models and other helpful slides are available at Google Classroom.

The Final Essay Begins

Today we began the prewriting process for the final essay. Students should have at least a thesis and POD for tomorrow. See these slides for clarification.

In Class Essay

Today we used the period to write an in-class essay comparing the film and book versions of Of Mice and Men. Students who were not here will need to arrange to take this essay sometime next week, outside of class.

Finishing the Film

Today we finished the film (with notes of course) in preparation for tomorrow's in-class writing. We wrapped up the day with an exit ticket.

Movie Time, Part 2

After doing a bit of work with the notes from yesterday, students spent the rest of the period watching the film and continuing their note-taking. While they were working, we consulted with them about their essay revisions.

Movie Time

Today we started a short compare and contrast unit, focused on the film version of Of Mice and Men.

Final Revision Day

Revision Continued

Today we continued the revision assignment we started yesterday. Some students also worked on Khan Academy. We will transfer those hard-copy revisions to Google Docs on Monday, but students may certainly work on this over the weekend.

Revision Time

After a quick reflective warm-up, students had the period to work on revising their research essays.

The Model Essay & Khan Academy

Today we had a look at slides 4-6 on this slide show, continuing our work with the model essay, studying the grading rubric, and starting Khan Academy.

Research Essay Revision

We started the period talking about break and a few pieces of business (late poetry work and writer's notebooks, mostly), and then spent the rest of the period looking at a model essay as part of a short revision unit. See the objective below.