A Peek at My Week

Last week was the first full week we've had in a while, and I think our stamina is in trouble!  It was nice, though, to be uninterrupted during a unit.

It's finally the golden time of the school year when we were able to open up plans for a unit and not have to start from square one. We have started our work with Witness by Karen Hesse, and it was the first unit we repurposed last year (what I've been calling old units that we are rewriting with the Common Core and inquiry in mind.) We still have work to do, but we aren't starting from scratch, and it is so nice to feel more than one day ahead of the game!  

I LOVE this novel.

I'm linking up with Jennifer at Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for A Peek At My Week :)

This week the students will have their first try at focused small group discussions.  Here's what the week looks like.

Monday:  20 minutes to finish reading Act II, prep for small group discussions including reviewing conversation starters and how they will be grading themselves, small group discussion, whole group wrap up of Act II.

Tuesday:  Reading day. Students need to read Act III independently, complete four record and responses (or writing long off of a post-it) either with stickies and notebooks or using four note cards on Noodle Tools. They also have to consider how different characters displayed (or not) five different habits of mind.

Wednesday: 10-20 minutes to finish Act III work, small group discussions. Wrap of Act III.

Thursday: Reading day for Act IV. Record and respond & Habits of Mind analysis.

Wednesday & Thursday nights we have conferences from 4-8, and Friday we have them from 8-12.  They were scheduled differently (Wednesday night and all day Thursday) but students are making up a cold day on Thursday.

I'll be back through the week to talk about our reading day processes. I also want to write about how we approach the reading days with our co-taught classes (a work in progress!!), what we specifically do for the record and respond and Habits of Mind analysis, my thoughts on whole class novels/anchor texts, etc., and how we guide our kids to have more effective small group discussions (or try at least!) Oh, and how could I have forgotten...I'll discuss our wi-fi "using older siblings' passwords from the high school and then oops those credentials spreading like wildfire through the school" debacle that unfolded on Friday as well.

Does your school let students have wi-fi access?
Currently ours doesn't.

Never a dull moment!

Michelle