Unit Overview
During this unit, students will be reading a biography, evaluating major events in their subject's life, and then taking on their subject's persona to write a first-person blog depicting what it must have been like to go through these experiences first-hand.
Click on the following links to navigate weekly lessons easily.
Lesson 1&2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 7&8 Lesson 9
Lesson 1&2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 7&8 Lesson 9
KIDBLOG INSTRUCTIONS:
Students will be using KidBlog for their final product. Click on the button below to follow the link to KidBlog. Select your User Name. Your password is the same as your computer log-in at school.
Weekly Lessons and Expectations
Lesson 1 & 2 August 27-29
Students will receive and gain understanding of their AIG quarterly goals, set their first short term goal, receive an introduction to the unit, and be expected to select their biography subject. Along with their biography, they will receive their Biography Cover Page, Vocabulary Inferencing, and Life-Shaping Event Brainstorm Page.
Students are encouraged to log-in to their KidBlog accounts to respond to the following prompt:
Write about a moment in your life or in an immediate family member’s life that you or they identify as a life-shaping moment. Be sure to explain how the moment has helped shape who you are or who they are today. Remember, we are doing this exercise to help us understand that many things happen to us every day, but some are much more important than others in shaping who we are and who we are to become.
If they cannot figure out how to get onto KidBlog this week, they may choose to use the Life Shaping Memory document below instead. It can be printed out or submitted through e-mail using the assignment submission form on my home page.
Biography Cover Page, and Life-Shaping Memory Response DUE BY THE BEGINNING OF LESSON 3 (Sept. 10-12)
Students should work on the vocabulary inferencing and life-shaping event brainstorm sheet as they read.
Students will receive and gain understanding of their AIG quarterly goals, set their first short term goal, receive an introduction to the unit, and be expected to select their biography subject. Along with their biography, they will receive their Biography Cover Page, Vocabulary Inferencing, and Life-Shaping Event Brainstorm Page.
Students are encouraged to log-in to their KidBlog accounts to respond to the following prompt:
Write about a moment in your life or in an immediate family member’s life that you or they identify as a life-shaping moment. Be sure to explain how the moment has helped shape who you are or who they are today. Remember, we are doing this exercise to help us understand that many things happen to us every day, but some are much more important than others in shaping who we are and who we are to become.
If they cannot figure out how to get onto KidBlog this week, they may choose to use the Life Shaping Memory document below instead. It can be printed out or submitted through e-mail using the assignment submission form on my home page.
Biography Cover Page, and Life-Shaping Memory Response DUE BY THE BEGINNING OF LESSON 3 (Sept. 10-12)
Students should work on the vocabulary inferencing and life-shaping event brainstorm sheet as they read.
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Students can choose from the following biographies:
Lou Gehrig--baseball player Amelia Earhart--pilot Claude Monet--artist Pablo Picasso--artist Paul Revere--American Revolutionary Babe Ruth--baseball player Davy Crockett--American Pioneer Sitting Bull--Sioux Chief The Wright Brothers--Inventors Mother Teresa--Saint and nun Nelson Mandela--South African president Sally Ride--astronaut Eleanor Roosevelt--First Lady Christopher Columbus--Explorer Jim Henson--Artist and puppeteer Harriet Beecher Stowe--anti-slavery advocate Martin Luther King--Civil Rights advocate John F. Kennedy--President Franklin D. Roosevelt--President Walt Disney--artist and animation pioneer Leonardo da Vinci--artist and inventor Abraham Lincoln--president Jacques Cousteau--Underwater Explorer Harry Houdini--Magician Barack Obama--President Oprah Winfrey--Television Personality **If you have another biography you'd be interested in pursuing, please bring it in and have it approved for reading level prior to reading. |
Sept. 10-12
As they read, they are reminded to continue adding to their Vocabulary Inference sheet and their Events Brainstorming. These two documents will be checked on September 24-26.
- Students will start the lesson by reflecting on the previous week's short-term goal.
- Students will have an opportunity to share their Life-Changing Memory response if they wish to do so.
- Students will have an opportunity to work on their Vocabulary and Inferencing sheet, Events Brainstorming sheet and be encouraged to set a schedule for themselves, so that they can complete the reading of their biographies, their vocabulary inferences and brainstorming by September 23.
- Students will be given a teacher-modeling demonstration on how to use Post-It notes as they read to help capture their thoughts without interruption.
As they read, they are reminded to continue adding to their Vocabulary Inference sheet and their Events Brainstorming. These two documents will be checked on September 24-26.
- Students will be given a mini-lesson on selecting and evaluating important events using Entries Brainstorming and Drafting Pages in their packet..
- Students will be encouraged to review their work schedule and to determine whether they need to focus their time in class on reading, vocabulary inferencing, event recording, or brainstorming/drafting.
- Students may request independent conferences with the teacher during the working portion of class for clarifications, re-evaluation of action plans, or working through worries or concerns.
SEMINAR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
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This video from Teacher Channel explains the rationale behind using Post-It notes while reading to document your thinking and to aid in preparedness for discussions.
As you read and document your thinking, keep these goals in mind:
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Sept. 17-19
As students are finishing up reading and evaluating their subjects' life-shaping events, they will be guided through the writing process. They are familiar with the process, but as a reminder, each step is important and must be completed. Due to our limited time together, however, students may receive revising/editing outside of the house if the work is documented and visible either directly on their drafts, or in a different color on a computer-based document.
Outside Expectations: Students are expected to have completed reading, vocabulary inferencing, and event brainstorming by their class time next week.
As students are finishing up reading and evaluating their subjects' life-shaping events, they will be guided through the writing process. They are familiar with the process, but as a reminder, each step is important and must be completed. Due to our limited time together, however, students may receive revising/editing outside of the house if the work is documented and visible either directly on their drafts, or in a different color on a computer-based document.
- Students will start the lesson by reflecting on the previous week's short-term goal and by identifying their progress on the Stress Level Clock.
- Students will be presented with a mini-lesson on drafting their journal entries using quotes and details from their text.
- Students will be reminded of the importance of the writing process, and will be instructed on how to identify their progress using the Writing Process Board in the classroom.
Outside Expectations: Students are expected to have completed reading, vocabulary inferencing, and event brainstorming by their class time next week.
Students will be allowed to work on their particular area of need during the remainder of class time. Students are encouraged to continue working on their drafting/revising/editing outside of class, so as to be prepared to begin work in the Computer Lab in the upcoming week. Students who are prepared for revisions/editing may receive assistance from an AIG peer in their class or from Ms. Drake by scheduling a Working Lunch.
Lesson 5: Sept. 24-26:
- Students will start the lesson by reflecting on the previous week's short-term goal and by identifying their progress on the Stress Level Clock.
- Vocabulary Inferencing and Event brainstorming sheets will be checked for completion.
- Students will spend the majority of the class period working on their drafts.
Lesson 6: Oct. 1-3:
- Students will start the lesson by reflecting on the previous week's short-term goal and by identifying their progress on the Stress Level Clock.
- Most students will continue drafting their journal entries. Drafts should be completed by Oct. 4.
- Students who have proceeded past the drafting stage may begin work on their KidBlogs.
KidBlogging in the Computer Lab Oct. 8-Oct. 11
- Students will begin working on their First Person Biography projects in the computer lab.
- Students will continue maintaining their short-term goals and identifying their progress on the Stress Clock and the Writing Process Ladder.
- Students will be given basic instructions on how to use the KidBlog, how to draft a post, submit, and comment on the work of their peers.
- Students will be given instruction on how to add embellishments and optional flourishes to their blogs by adding Vokis and images to their blogs.
- Students will be encouraged to explore different ways to present their First-Person biographies using various features available through KidBlog.
- When commenting on the work of others, students are expected to be conscious of their own spelling and grammar usage, and they are expected combine positive comments with constructive criticism. When they recognize conventional errors, they are expected to be specific, so the blogger knows how to fix it. When suggesting revisions or additional details, they are expected to make suggestions, not demands.
Oct. 14-18
Teacher will model "Was my Subject Biography-Worthy".
Outside Expectations: Students are encouraged to prepare for the Socratic Seminar Discussion next week by reviewing the Seminar Discussion Questions and looking back through their biographies at their Post-It notes.
Students should have completed their essay "Was my Subject Biography-Worthy?", and should have completed their 5 KidBlog Entries.
Teacher will model "Was my Subject Biography-Worthy".
Outside Expectations: Students are encouraged to prepare for the Socratic Seminar Discussion next week by reviewing the Seminar Discussion Questions and looking back through their biographies at their Post-It notes.
Students should have completed their essay "Was my Subject Biography-Worthy?", and should have completed their 5 KidBlog Entries.
October 22-24
- Students should have completed their 5 KidBlog entries by their AIG class time this week and their opinion essay on "Was my Subject Biography-Worthy?".
- Students will participate in a class Socratic Seminar Discussion reflecting on their reading/writing experiences and lessons they may have gotten from their subjects' lives.
- Students will reflect on their long-term goal and submit that as an Exit Ticket on their way out.
- What is the most interesting thing you learned about your subject?
- What are some valuable life lessons or morals we can take away from our subjects’ experiences?
- What was the most difficult part about pretending to be somebody else?
- What might you have done differently in your life if you actually were your subject?
Ms. Drake's Short-Term Goal for the QuarterThis quarter, my weekly goal is to verify student progress by checking student progress on their short term goals, maintaining a watchful eye over the Stress Clock and by referring to the Writing Process Ladder to ensure students have not fallen behind unnoticed.
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Ms. Drake's Long-Term Goal for the QuarterThis quarter, I will strive to complete feedback for this project within two weeks of the quarter's end. Students can hold me accountable for reaching my goal by reminding me that they would like their feedback rubrics by November 8.
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