Sciience Fiction Literature Circles Begin. Now.

For literature circles, we have planned three discussions (see dates below). On each discussion day, you should come to class having completed the reading your group asssigned itself and with the sticky notes to remember what you want to discuss with your group. Each reading day (see below) you will be given time to read in class and we'll have a short mini-lesson halfway through to break up the reading time. Any reading or notes you don't finish in class, you will need to finish as homework. As we've been reminding you in class, you may need to get your own copy of the book from the library or bookstore. Here is the calendar to mark the reading time for our lit circle Science Fiction Unit.


As you are reading the pages set by your group for discussion, remember to make notes on stickies as you go. Here's the list we've been using in class as we prepare our notes. Adding page numbers will make it easier to find the passages you'd like to reference in discussion. There is no set number of notes required but your notes are one way to show that you were prepared for discussion. They will be collected.

Punctuation Quiz

This week we had a lesson on punctuation. We used the "rules of the road" to help us remember each punctuation mark. Next class we'll have a quiz on these punctuation marks. You each have a set of four column notes, so if you don't feel confident after the lesson you should study. The quiz is on Thursday, 1/20 (A) and Monday, 1/24 (B).

We also have the Editorial deadline coming up. Your final draft should be typed and should include a separate works cited page. Editorials are due on Tuesday, January 25 (A) and Wednesday, January 26 (B). If you need an extra copy of the rubric, you can review the post below.

Editorials are Underway!

We've recently completed our rough drafts of our editorials. What's an editorial, again?

Editorial- A brief essay or article that states and defends a position on a current issue that affects many readers.

Now it's time to start crafting our true persuasion and changing our world with words. The rubric looks big but it matches the mini-lessons we've been doing all year. The conference log on the back is to help keep track of the research you conduct (interviews) and the feedback you get from us, the teachers, as well as you peers and parents.

The editorial rubric is available here. The conference log that goes on the back is available here.

It's due on January 25th--A day and January 26th--B day. mark your calendars and don't procrastinate. We'll give several classes to make progress on your revisions. If computer access is an issue, please see us to schedule before or after school time in our classrooms.