I’m going to try to start posting a daily recap. When a student is absent he/she is responsible for checking the blog and making up any work that is missed. This work should be turned in within three days of the absence.
Cookie/Annabel
We have started a new unit called This I Believe, which is based on a 1950s radio program of the same name, hosted by acclaimed journalist Edward R. Murrow. Each day, Americans gathered by their radios to hear compelling essays from the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller, and Harry Truman as well as corporate leaders, cab drivers, scientists, and secretaries—anyone able to distill into a few minutes the guiding principles by which they lived. These essayists’ words brought comfort and inspiration to a country worried about the Cold War, McCarthyism, and racial division. This project engages youth and adults from all walks of life in writing, sharing, and discussing brief essays about the core values that guide their daily lives.
Students will be writing and presenting their own essays in the coming weeks.
Today we read (and listened to) two essays. Students must complete this response worksheet for each speaker/essay:
This I Believe Reading and Listening Worksheet
https://thisibelieve.org/essay/57159/
Lacey/Geuliette Groups
Students start each class with a short writing assignment. Today’s prompt:
Define courage in your own words.
After the students completed the assignment, we went outside and read a few more chapters from the book Wonder. We discussed how the main character must feel as he is starting his new school.
We spent the last two minutes of class in quiet meditation, enjoying the sun on our faces and feeling the wind blowing through our hair. We talked about the importance of learning to quiet our minds and be still sometimes. I think they enjoyed that.
Romeo Group
The Romeos completed a reading comprehension sheet on The Outsiders in class. Many of the students did not finish, and so it is homework and due at the start of class tomorrow. Several of the students admitted to not reading chapters 1-5, which was supposed to have been read by last Friday. Please check with your son/daughter to be sure they are doing the daily required reading assignments. If they do no complete the reading, then they will have a tough time with the assignments, discussion, and quizzes we have in class.
Cagney Group
I split the Cagney Group into two reading groups. This will better suit the individual needs of the students as well as allow me to work with the students as smaller groups.
One group is reading “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe. We are using the graphic novel version. The students are really enjoying it. The pictures help with visualization as well as making predictions about the story. We are taking turns reading and the students are learning how to decode unfamiliar words using context clues. They are also learning how to break down larger words to help with pronunciation.
The other group has started the first few chapters of The Life of Pi. They will have daily reading comprehension questions, participate in discussions about the book, as well as complete a final project. 
