The last two days have nicknames. March 3rd is Pi Day because, as all math nerds could tell you, 3.14 is pi. And March 15th is the Ides of March which, as all English nerds could tell you, has to do with Julius Caesar in the Shakespeare play named after him. March 16th is just March 16th, and that's boring.
But class today sure wasn't boring! We did a little sentence combining review to start things off. We've moved on to entire paragraphs of short, choppy writing. The students are kind of like superheros actually except their super power is even cooler than flying or jumping really high or being strong or having x-ray vision or climbing walls like a spider. And they don't have to wear tights! No, their superhero power is the ability to sentence combine so that their writing has clarity and fluency! Faster than a speeding bullet!
We also officially kicked off the research project. The students got a chance to peruse some websites I printed off, some books that I borrowed from the public library, and some encyclopedia articles. Their ultimate goal today was to narrow their topic and come up with their research questions. Some of the students have started the note-taking process. The rest will be there tomorrow.
I will say this--there were a lot of students who did not use their time wisely today. They're off to a bad start, and that's a bad sign.
Due tomorrow: 30 minutes of reading and the reading log (I should copy and paste this to use for the next dozen or so blog entries). They also need to turn in the sheet that tells me what their reading project is going to be. Book report? Poster? Dress up as the main character and give a speech? A rap song about the book? As I wrote yesterday, any student with a parent who reads this blog can write down "I'm just going to read the book and turn in the reading logs instead of doing a project at the end," and I will be just fine with it.
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