Halloween Stories

I like to give students the chance to do some creative writing that is only graded for completion, so the have a chance to choose a writing prompt (or create their own), choose the format, and have some fun.
After writing their piece, we turned off the lights, and students got up to read them on Halloween Day.

Then we posted stories to our blogs.

Getting Reflective

Today each student reflected about how they are doing in English class as a learner and as a writer. Parent-Teacher Conferences are tomorrow, so it helps to track students' progress based upon their perceptions and to share their thoughts with parents. Students also set goals for themselves that we will come back to at the end of the semester.

Tracking Progress

Four times each school year, students in 8th Grade English take an assessment for me to track their progress. This assessment has Basic Grammar Elements, Proofreading and Editing, as well as a Written Component.

This helps me track how students are progressing and what students need to work on as a class or individually. I think looking at data is important in order to make decisions about student learning.

The following link shows students typing the written part of the test with a peek at the test itself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8pjyQ94epE

Argument Writing: Joining the Conversation

Click on the link to see a video for an explanation of what we are up to:

https://youtu.be/tnwBZe5y1-I

Identifying Critical Information about Different Perspectives

Conversation Mingle to Share Writing and Add Anything Else We Wish

It Helps to Track Our Thinking as We Read Different Perspectives. 

Have our perspectives changed since we started this unit?