Summer School 2020 - Bridge to Success!
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Welcome to Summer 2020 Writers Workshop with Mrs. Nagdev
Together we will incorporate some of the Lucy's Calkin's style of Writer's Workshop. A researched and proven method in creating life-long writers. Students will keep a writer's notebook and work through the writing process while adhering to the Fourth and Fifth Grade Standards.
We have a great Fifth Grade team to guide your child through learning. Each Friday we will send out the plan for the upcoming week via e-mail. You can also find information for each teacher within their web-pages at their school site.
Your student will be in the SUN, SURF or SAND group. They will start each day with their assigned Homeroom teacher, as scheduled below. Monday through Thursday they will need to log-into each teacher’s personal Zoom session at the assigned time. Fridays will be a special small group session where your child will visit with each teacher in twenty-minute rotations.
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Monday Through Thursday SUN Schedule
Friday SUN Small Group
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Monday Through Thursday SURF Schedule
Friday SURF Small Group
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Monday Through Thursday SAND Schedule
Friday SAND Small Group
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Week I: Write Narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Our narrative writing for this week was left to the roll of a die. Students are writing a story where the characters, the setting and the cause of the conflict were left up to destiny. Students will be provided time during class to write and complete their work but may need to spend a few minutes here and there to add to pizazz to their piece. Sometimes the creative juices are flowing - and we do not want to hinder such a burst, so students are welcome to work on their writing during off times, but are not required. The goal is to work with them at their level and find ways to insert strategies that Great Writers employ.
WEEK I Mini-lessons include:
- Beginning, Middle, End
- Start with a Hook, Bold Beginnings
- Said is Dead
- Show not Tell
Sun
Characters: Zombie, Teacher
Setting: In a bank
Conflict/Climax: A kidnapping
Surf
Characters: Zombie, Teacher
Setting: A spooky forest
Conflict/Climax: A magic wand has been found
Sand
Characters: Pirate, Police-person
Setting: A stormy night
Conflict/Climax: A magic wand has been found
Week II: Write a Personal Narrative to showcase a small moment in time which details a big event or happening within your life. This is the telling of something spectacular which takes place within 3-8 minutes. By focusing in on just the moments encompassing something big- we are able to add a ton of details to paint a picture and make for an interesting, personal story-telling.
Week III: We continue with our BTH Narrative writing assignment and explore how to choose a seed instead of a watermelon. We search for a story we can tell about ourselves which will envoke a certain amount of emotion in the storyteller and translate to the reader.
Toward the end of the week we will review strategies for strengthening our own opinion by inserting evidence from the text. Students will develop their opinion following a review of Who Would Win: Rhino vs. Hippo. Students should end the week able to write a well-supported opinion statement backed up by text evidence. This is to prepare them for their last weeks' work of creating a thesis statement and an evidence-based argument in support of their thinking.
Week IV: As students move into Middle School, High School and beyond, the number one style of writing needed is research writing - which usually starts with a thesis statement. I condense this into what I call Science Opinion Statement writing when I introduce it at the Fourth Grade level. In this final week of Summer School, students will view several different sources and develop their own thesis statement which they then support further with citations from text/website and expert research.
ZOOCHOSIS Opinion Writing Activity - Final Project
There is no way you can review this material and not form an opinion. In fact, you are likely to form several opinions about the subject matter. It is multi-faceted and you can see many angels to each argument. However, talented writers often have to choose one side of the argument and present their opinion from that angle. I am asking students not to write from many views - but instead to choose one opinion and support their thinking with their reasoning and ALWAYS include more than one source - which will require them to complete some research as well. Two videos viewed as a group will be posted here on Wednesday and two more on Thursday. Students will also have excerpts from articles to read on Thursday and from there construct their argument to support their opinion. Work earlier in the week on writing a thesis statement should aid them in creating a viable thesis to add to their argument. Let the critical thinking begin...
Zoochosis Writing Helpers
Notes:
Orcas
- Orcas live less than 30 years in captivity – but up 50 to 80 years in wild
- Used to swimming up to 40 mile/day
- Used diving 100-500 feet deep several times a day
- 70% in captivity have tooth damage – showing signs of stress
- Taken away from their families – in wild they are social and stay with family their entire life
- Intelligent – 2nd largest brain of all mammals on earth
- 70 born in captivity and 37 are already dead
- Small tank in captivity so makes them a couch potato
- Wild caught live longer than those born in captivity
Arabian Oryx
- Can survive under extreme conditions – drought and food scarcity
- Almost extinct due to hunting, habitat infringement and flood
- 9 were brought to zoo program – had over 200 births
- Now due to zoo and reserve programs, there are several thousands on earth
Video Helper to Write Thesis for Zoochosis:
Have you missed a LIVE lesson? Catch up on these abbreviated lessons of the LIVE Workshop lesson.