The Dangers of Steroids

Carrying on with our essential questions of where does someone's self-image come from, and what decisions do people make, given their self-image, we read an article about steroid use today.  We began with a quick write, where students wrote about whether they would take a pill that would make them stronger or bigger, if they could.  Most agreed they wouldn't, as they figured there would be side-effects that wouldn't make it worthwhile.

We then read an article called "The Dangers of Steroids" and completed a central word connection organizer, which helps students summarize the main points of the article.  We agreed that the article was primarily about the use of steroids in sports, the pressures to do steroids, and the harmful side-effects and desperate consequences that can result from steroid use.

Finally, we watched a 10-minute clip of the documentary "The Man Whose Arms Exploded" and students constructed a summary of this clip, which was handed in to me.

The Pieces of a Persuasive Paragraph

Today, we worked through the steps in the process of persuasive writing.  We began by looking at the episode of Toddlers and Tiaras which we viewed last day, and we debriefed what we thought the girls had been taught to value, as well as the qualities and skills we thought they were learning as a result of their participation in the beauty pageants.

Then, we constructed a "Seeing Both Sides" brainstorm, in response to the question: Are beauty pageants for young girls a good idea?  We listed many reasons why we thought beauty pageants were bad, plus we added one piece of evidence why someone might think they are acceptable.

Finally, we organized our ideas, using a persuasive paragraph template.  We labeled the topic sentence, transitions, evidence plus examples and concluding sentence.  The final step would be actually writing the paragraph, using the template as a guide.

Toddlers and Tiaras: Harmful or Helpful?

Today, we began by reviewing both sides of the question posed last day:  Is plastic surgery a good idea for teens?  Students provided many examples (some from the magazine article and some of their own ideas) to support each side.  Though there were many examples presented in support of each side, for the most part, we agreed that plastic surgery for teens is probably not a good idea.

Then, we watched an episode of "Toddlers and Tiaras" in order to determine the kinds of things little girls are being taught to value, as well as note the qualities and skills being built as a result of their participation in these pageants.  Students were asked to keep track of these things while watching, and we will debrief next day.

We are going to write a demo persuasive paragraph together, after sharing our responses next class.

Plastic Surgery: Good or Gross?

Students worked on three different strategies/skills today: making predictions, summarizing main ideas, and supporting an opinion with text evidence. 

We began with a partnered sort and predict activity, where pairs took words from a magazine article and sorted them into categories that made sense to the pair.  We discussed the "labels" we would give the categories, and why we thought the words fit those categories.  Then, pairs made predictions about what they thought the article might be about.  Students did an impressive job of using the words from the sorting activity to come up with logical predictions.

As it turned out, the article was about plastic surgery and teens.  We used a magnet word strategy to pull out the main ideas from each paragraph.  We talked about which information was general and which was specific, and we agreed that general information does a better job of summarizing big ideas.  We wrote a short phrase to represent the main point of each paragraph. 

Then, students were asked to consider this question:  Is plastic surgery for teens a good idea?  They were asked to fill out a "Seeing Both Sides" graphic organizer, which asks them to consider both sides of the issue.  Students practiced finding evidence in the article to support each side of the argument.

An introduction to self-image

We began our unit on self-image today, by working through the three essential questions for the unit:

1. How do people view themselves?
2. What influences/affects the way people view themselves?
3. What decisions do people make as a result of how they view themselves?

We had a great class discussion on these three questions, with students offering up their ideas for each.  After we talked through the three questions, we went down to the computer lab, and students created a wordle about themselves.

If you missed this, you can create a wordle at www.wordle.net.  Instructions are in the handout at the side.

Show me your story!

Today, students participated in a gallery walk, writing on posters that asked about three things:  What field trip experiences would you be interested in?  Which topics would you like to read about?  What kind of assignments do you like to complete?  The answers will serve as valuable feedback for me, in planning our year.  So... thanks!

Then, students completed a narrative writing sample, so that I can see what you already know and are able to do with narrative writing. Your piece will serve as a formative assessment tool for me, in that it will show me where your strengths are and which areas need more improvement. Your writing sample will not be marked; however, I will provide you with some descriptive feedback, so that you know what you should continue doing and what you should consider changing/adding for next time.

 

Welcome Back!

Today, students completed a learning styles inventory, which gave Ms. Barsky some valuable information about the many intelligences present in our class.

Then, students completed a reading assessment, using a newspaper article about Spongebob Squarepants.  Students were asked to read the article and answer six questions about what they had read.