SGS 8th Grade: October 2010

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Letters About Literature

We're in the rough draft stage of our current writing project: a multi-draft exercise and national competition called "Letters About Literature" which is sponsored by the Library of Congress. (http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/letters/) Girls are writing to their favorite authors/poets/ speech makers, describing how various works have changed their ways of thinking, feeling and being. Among the lucky recipients of such missives: Heather Brewer, Carl Hiassen, Alyson Noel, Ann Brashares, J.K. Rowling, Dr. Suess, Will Smith, Trenton Lee Stewart, and Kristin Hannah. (In case you're wondering, the author need not be alive in order to warrant a letter about literature.) Last year a record SIX of our 8th graders placed for the state of Washington...this year we're aiming for the BIG PRIZE: $10,000 for the 8th grade library!! And with the caliber of entries I've perused in our Reading Workshop journals, I do believe we have a chance! I'll keep you posted!!

Word-of-the-Day Rules!

You may well have heard of our "Word of the Day" focus - known henceforth as WOD! Basically 8th graders encounter words in their every day dealings that alternately intrigue or perturb them...and then they investigate said word as their own individual "WOD." Students are responsible for finding a complete definition of the word, noting its part of speech and etymology (if it's interesting enough to note); they also need to record the source of their word, with a direct quote if possible, and then use the word in an original sentence...all recorded in a WOD journal. The expectation is that each student will ferret out a word for each day that we're in school...thus the term: word of the day!! At the beginning of Reading Workshop (and again with Ms. A. in Writing Workshop), each student then brings her WOD to her table, where, after a group sharing of the day's finds, one word is selected by the members of each table group for an all-class consideration. In the past weeks we've discussed such words as inconsolable, dulcet, serendipity, prolific,furtive, admonish and superfluous (to name only a few!)... from sources as varied as our parents, the news coverage of the election, our teachers, popular songs, and independent reading ventures. In this manner, students are exposed to eight new words per session. We carry on lively discussions about the all-class terms, and from them I compile a regular lists of twenty words that our students master for WOD quizzes. Over the years, alums invariably return to tell me how efficacious our Word-of-the-Day endeavor has proven...not only does it help them with the array of standardized tests that loom on the horizon, but it also awakens them to the myriad benefits of an enriched vocabulary. (A few of them even have continued with the WOD practice - having become true word nerds!) As I tell our girls, words are power!

(Pictured above: 8th graders continuing to do our WOD exercise while under tables for an earthquake drill!!)

FYI: Our September / October Words are:
1. exacerbate
2. plethora
3. invective
4. epitome
5. soliloquy
6. arcane
7. pariah
8. resilient
9. stoic
10. chagrin
11. capitulate
12. inadvertently
13. reiterate
14. innocuous
15. peruse
16. contraption
17. efficacious
18. temerity
19. serendipity
20. prolific

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Reading Workshop 2011!

This year we're trying out a new system that alternates 8th grade Reading Workshop, conducted by Sally, with Writing Workhshop, conducted by Ms. A. Basically that means that on every other Tuesday or Thursday afternoon, fourteen (or fifteen, depending on the section) lucky girls can be found spread out all over the 8th grade library reading books of their choice and/or writing in their reading journals for 90 uninterrupted minutes. (Ask your 8th grader for details.) The immense popularity as well as success of this venture is based on a very simple tenet: if a girl (it works for boys too!) is allowed to read what truly interests her, she will read voraciously and will eventually develop her tastes and talents as an intelligent, informed reader. Even after only one session with each group, I’ve been amazed at how quiet and focused each gathering has been.
The reading journal is a place where students can exchange thoughts, impressions, questions, suggestions and the like about reading and literature with each other as well as with me. In it we write back and forth to one another about anything and everything literary, nothing too terribly formal or fine-tuned, rather more of an ongoing written conversation about what we’re reading, how it impacts as well as educates us and why. Here are the general guidelines we follow:

RULES FOR READING WORKSHOP

1. You must read a book. Magazines, newspapers and comic books (Anime) don’t have the chunks of text you need to develop fluency, and they won’t help you discover who you are as a reader of literature.
2. Don’t read a book you don’t like. Don’t waste time with a book you don’t love when there are so many great ones out there waiting for you.
3. If you don’t like a book, find another one. Browse, ask me or a friend for a recommendation, do an internet search (Amazon.com always has reviews and such) or check our “Book Reviews” in our Reading Workshop 2011 Group at GoodReads.com for suggestions.
4. It’s all right to reread a book you love. This is what readers do!
5. It’s okay to skim or skip parts if you get bored or stuck; readers do this, too!
6. Record every book you finish or abandon on the form entitled “Student Reading Record.” Collect data about yourself as a reader, look for patterns, and take satisfaction in your accomplishments over time.
7. Understand that reading is thinking. Do nothing to distract me or other readers. Don’t put your words in our brains as we’re trying to escape into the worlds created by the authors of our books. Simply put: Reading Workshop is a quiet endeavor!
8. When you confer with me, use as soft a voice as I use when I talk to you: whisper!
9. Read (and/or write in your reading journal) the entire class period.
10. Read as well and as much as you can!

The goal here is obvious: we’re seeking to explore and enhance our literary territories as well as firmly establish intentional reading as a life-long habit. As I explained to our 8th graders, reading – interaction with the written word – will necessarily be a central part of their lives for the next eight years…at a bare minimum!

One final note about Reading Workshop: know that I have exhorted 8th graders to actively engage in reading for an average of thirty minutes each day, seven days a week! So for those of you with known bookworms, believe them when they claim that “it’s homework!!” Conversely, for those of you who harbor reluctant readers, take comfort in the knowledge that we’re actively engaged in the activity during our school day.