8th Grade Across Generations: Grandparent Biography

Across Generations: The Grandparent Legacy Project

A biography is a written history of a person’s life.  More than a chronicle of the events a person has experienced, a biography explores the subject’s unique personality.  It is the celebration of a person’s life.

Grandparent Celebration

May 20, 2015

Northview Crossroads Middle School

1:30 t0 2:30

Across Generation Legacy Project

Grandparent Biography: Narrative Nonfiction

Come travel through time, learn from the past, and collect knowledge for a better future.  

Please note all dates are subject to change.  

Make a personal correspondence: Letter or Email * (Be sure to include the need for at least one picture)

11/19

Using block format, write a friendly letter to your subject.  Introduce the project and ask for his/her help.  Explain why you choose to write about your subject.  Invite him/her to the celebration on May 20, 2014 from 1:30 to 2:30 at Crossroads.

Prepare Interview Questions (round 1) Interview must be completed by January 7

Use the guide to develop specific questions as well as to guide your interview.  Draft a minimum of 50 questions.  Ask questions that require thoughtful responses, not just one word answers.  Questions should focus on events in his/her life, his/her thoughts, feelings, and opinions about world events.  Find out how he/she has changed to become who he/she is today.  Discover his/her hopes, dreams, fears, and accomplishments.  Look at artifacts to discover more about your subject.

Conduct interview of subject and take notes *(Be sure to collect and gather ample information)

Arrange for a time to interview your subject.  Meet personally with your subject.  Look at artifacts to discover more about your subject.  Ask about those artifacts.  This is one way to uncover stories.  You may even need a follow up interview by phone, email, etc.   During the interview, record the information.   It may be helpful to ask if the interview may be recorded so you can go back and listen.   Be sure to ask permission.  

Interview another individual who can provide insight *(Be sure to bring notes of interview to class)

Other people who know your subject are a valuable resource.  Find someone who knows your subject well and arrange for an interview.

Read nonfiction texts about historical information and take notes

In order to interview your subject in order to understand the time period in which he or she grew up, you will view clips and read information about different time periods in history.  This information should be woven into the actual biography.

Create a double-sided timeline (life layers)

Timelines help people understand history.  People use timelines to keep track of things that happen on certain days or certain years.   In addition, each event will need a picture or symbol.  

Draft biography (need at least seven stories)

Organize your notes into an outline.  Use the outline to draft small moment stories to highlight key moments of your subject’s life.  Use transitions to help your reader navigate your piece.

Research events/Footnotes

Research at least five historical events that influenced/impacted your subject’s life.  Based on your notes, include at least five summaries to be included in your biography as footnotes.

Create a visual piece for celebration (outside of class as part of homework)

5/15

You are required to create a visual representation of your subject.  This will be displayed at the celebration.   You may make a tri-fold or use a form of technology.   Include photos, artifacts, and other items.   Many people scan or copy the artifacts to protect the originals.   Be creative.  See the visual requirement guidelines.

Celebrate with Family *(During the Gallery Walk, take the Grandparent Survey)

5/20

Have your visual ready!  Bring your dish to pass (optional).  The celebration starts at 1:30 and ends at 2:30.  At the end of the day, be sure to take home your visual and any dishes.

Checklist for the Interviews

While conducting your interviews, be sure to do the following:

• Ask all 50 questions and record responses.

• Get a favorite family recipe.

• Complete the family tree.

• Fill out a Life Layer (Double-sided Timeline).  Be sure to include at least five historical events to research for footnotes.

• Collect other photos and artifacts to use for the visual display.

• Ask another source about your grandparent (aunt, uncle, cousin, parent, sibling). Try to gather anecdotes about your grandparent.

8th Grade Across Generations: Grandparent Biography

Across Generations: Grandparent Biography

Celebration 

May 20, 2015

1:30-2:30 

Crossroads Middle School

As part of our Across Generations: Grandparent Biography, students need to write and send a personal letter to their subject (grandparent).    The requirements are as follows:

• Semi-block or block style 
• Minimum of 3 paragraphs 
• Introduce the project and invite grandparent to celebration
• Explain why writer chose subject (grandparent)
• Ask some general questions and set up an interview
• Letters need to be typed via google docs or blue or black ink  
• Letters need to be mailed by Friday, November 21

Grammar: The 8 Parts of Speech

On Friday, November 24 students will take a take a test on the 8 Parts of Speech.  Students should have comprehensive notes in their notebook along with two foldables.  Please review notes.  The test is worth 100 points.

nouns
pronouns
verbs
adjectives
adverbs
prepositions
conjunctions
interjections

Students will need to define each part of speech.  Additionally students will need to identify the parts of speech.

Kaleidoscope! Writers Wanted!

The Michigan Reading Association invites students to submit a piece of writing to their language arts teacher.  Judges will then select one piece to represent Crossroads in the Michigan Reading Association's Kaleidoscope.  

SPECIFIC GUIDELINES:

One entry per school building, any grade K-12.  Turn selection in to Mrs. Vogel by December 7.

The original manuscript may be prose or poetry.

Students may submit a black line drawing as a scanned photo within the Word
document (due to space limitations, drawing may not be published).

The entry must be in “polished” form (no invented spellings).

Manuscript must be emailed as a Microsoft Word document
to mra@michiganreading.org. Include student name and
teacher contact information in the email.

WORD LIMIT – Please count accurately.

K - 6^th grade 250 words

7^th – 12^th grade 500 words

Student Information Sheet MUST be completed and attached
to entry email as a Word document or scanned attachment.

For more information contact the Michigan Reading Association office,

mra@michiganreading.org or (616) 647-9310.

 

8th Grade Investigative Journalism

8th Grade Investigative Journalism Unit

Presents background knowledge on issue (could be the at beginning for a lead)	/10
Includes anecdotes (stories, and examples)	/10
Includes direct quotes (from the interviews conducted)	/10
Adheres to journalistic tone	/10
Uses a story to teach a lesson, comment on a social issue, and/or develop a point of view.	/10
Incorporates transitional phrases	/10
Circles back to central idea/issue or leaves the reader feeling a sense of closure at the end	/10
Uses paragraphs as a way to organize your article and best bring out the meaning of your story and reach the audience	/5
Uses action, dialogue, details, inner thinking to convey an issue, idea or lesson. Uses specific details and figurative language to help the reader understand.	/10
Varies tone to match the variety of emotions	/10
Uses resources to check spelling. Varies sentence structure and correctly punctuates dialogue (especially when including interviews)	/5
Total:	/100

7th Grade Realistic Fiction Short Story

7th Grade Short Story  Realistic Fiction

Created a narrative that has realistic characters, tension, and change; and that not only conveys, but  also develops an idea, lesson, or theme.	/10
Wrote a beginning that not only sets the story in motion, it also grounds it in a place or situation. It includes details that will later be important to the story. These details might point to the central issue  or conflict, show how story elements connect, or hint at key character traits.	/10
Used transitional phrases as well as paragraphs for organization	/10
Gave the reader a sense of closure by showing clearly how the character or place changed or the problem was resolved. If there was no resolution, then the author gave details to leave the reader thinking about a central idea or theme.	/10
Used a traditional - or slightly modified - story structure (rising action, conflict, falling action) to best bring out the meaning of his story and reach his audience.	/10
Developed the action, dialogue, details, and inner thinking to convey an issue, idea, or lesson. The author  showed what is specific about the central character. The author developed the setting and the characters’ relationship to the setting.	/20
Developed change in characters and situations. Used specific details and figurative language to help the reader understand the place and the mood (making an object or place symbolic, using the weather, using repetition). Also used varied tone to match variety of emotions experienced by the characters across the story.	/20
Used resources to check sure my spelling was accurate as well as grammar and punctuation	/10
Total:	/100

Pajama and New Books Program

Here’s What
We Need

• Brand-new pajamas in all sizes, from newborn to adult.
• Pajamas must be complete sets—a top and bottom or an appropriate nightgown.
• Pajamas for all seasons, but especially for the winter months.

Open the World of Possible With Independent Reading: The 20 Minute Challenge

Open a World of Possible With Independent Reading: The 20-Minute Challenge

Giving kids access to books they love and the time to read them is the best way to help them achieve academic success and lifelong joy.By Pam Allyn

If you could free up 20 minutes in class each day—no small feat, I understand—what payoff would you need to justify the commitment? Would boosting test scores, nurturing better writers, and creating students with a deep love of learning be enough? If so, then I have a challenge for you. Will you make independent reading a regular part of your school day?

Independent reading time is truly the simplest, most economical intervention we have to transform even the most struggling readers into kids who read with flashlights after their bedtime and who use reading as a tool to change their lives.

Olympic athletes don’t get to the podium because they filled in worksheets about their sport or listened passively to a coach for hours on end. They become strong and skilled through daily practice, through exercising many muscles, and taking initiative. Reading muscles grow strong in the same way, through regular, dedicated practice. It’s been shown that as little as 20 minutes a day of brisk walking provides measurable health benefits. A similar principle holds true for reading. Twenty minutes a day of the kind of reading where children select their own titles and where the time is spent fully engaged in reading will have a big impact and open up a world of possibility for each child. Practice does make perfect. And practice must start from a place of love and passion. There is not one thing you do well that you did not love to do first. We must make space for independent reading time in school because it gives children a chance to actually practice and to fall in love with the work of reading.

The Benefits of Daily, Independent Reading

Independent reading builds fluency, stamina, independence, comprehension, and an increased vocabulary. And, it leads to high test scores. Years of research by renowned experts have proven this time and time again. Richard Allington sums it up perfectly when he says, “It is during successful, independent reading practice that students consolidate their reading skills and strategies and come to own them. Unless children read substantial amounts of print, their reading will remain laborious, lacking fluency, and limited in effectiveness.”

Creating daily regular work around independent reading experiences exposes our students to the three major text types: narrative, opinion, and informational text. Daily independent reading time promotes high levels of critical thinking and comprehension skills. As Nancie Atwell points out, “Students who read widely and frequently are higher achievers than students who read rarely and narrowly.” The independent reading time gives students the chance to read widely—to browse and reread, to read across genres and text types, to read voraciously and to fall in love with authors.

The benefits of reading independently extend to our students’ writing lives as well. Reading is like breathing in, and writing is like breathing out. Allowing students to immerse themselves in authentic texts gives them powerful models to inspire their own writing. It’s no surprise that a universal piece of advice that great writers give to aspiring writers is this: Read often. Ernest Hemingway, when asked how to become a great writer, responded: “Read Anna Karenina, read Anna Karenina, read Anna Karenina.” And he meant it; rereading counts. This is also a key part of independent reading: letting kids love the books they read and letting them read authentically too, which always, for anyone under the age of 12, involves rereading.

The Power of Student Choice

The integral ingredient of independent reading time is student choice. Having ownership of their own reading empowers children to build a strong identity as readers and is profoundly motivating for students, even and sometimes especially for struggling readers who may feel a lack of autonomy in many other areas of their academic learning lives. The 2013 Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report found an astounding 92 percent of kids are more likely to finish a book that they chose themselves as opposed to one that was chosen for them. That is persuasive testimony not only to the power of choice but also to the good decisions children make when they are supported in making them.

Today’s independent reading time should be deeply connected to a child’s ongoing learning and to the learning timeline of the classroom literacy work. A teacher’s role should be to teach into that independent reading time, not away from it. Independent reading should be the fuel for whole-class instruction. For instance, if the teacher is leading a unit of study on characters and themes, the children should be exploring those same big ideas in their own independent reading, whether a child is reading Frog and Toad or The Chronicles of Narnia. Teachers can confer with students individually during independent reading time to discover what parts of their teaching are impacting that child’s independent exploration of texts.

The launch of Scholastic’s Open a World of Possible campaign is a perfect moment for us as educational leaders to commit to providing every child with at least 20 minutes of independent reading time every day in every classroom and to commit to providing the kinds of books and texts children will stay awake all night for. Independent reading at home and at school puts the child at the center of his or her own learning, which fosters success and enthusiasm. So there is a new effort among teachers to help children find books to get them excited about stories and information, to link reading to fun, discovery, and curiosity, and to promote the sheer joy that reading can bring. A child with the right book becomes the driving force in his or her own reading, and that is the key to becoming a learner. Open a World of Possible points to independent reading as a doorway to imagination and discovery—a way to motivate children to read and learn and realize themselves.

It’s no coincidence that many of today’s trailblazers and entrepreneurs pinpoint reading and favorite books as the source of their inspiration. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has said that reading Nancy Drew mysteries changed her life and made her want to solve mysteries too, which is what she does today! Lest we think independent reading is supplemental or extra, to be done only on Friday afternoons, let’s think again. Take the Open a World of Possible challenge and put independent reading time at the center of your school community. Let’s leave a literacy legacy for our students they will remember always. Let’s give every child those 20 crucial minutes each day to change their lives.

Pam Allyn is a renowned author of award-winning books on parenting and teaching. She is the founder of LitWorld, a literacy advocacy initiative working nationally and globally to provide literacy to at-risk children.