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Literacy - Mr. Rowan

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Weekly Update - June 3

Schedule for the Week
 
Monday
  • Final preparations for 20Time Project Presentations
  • Clean and check in laptops
  • Clean, organize and recycle classroom bins, folders and notebooks
Tuesday
  • Continuation Ceremony and Party in gym from 9-11:00 am
  • Dismissal at 11:30
  • Student-led conferences from 12:30 - 6:30
Wednesday
  • Final room and POD clean and recycle
  • Yearbook signing and outdoor time
  • Early dismissal at 11:30
 

Weekly Update - May 28

Schedule
Tuesday: LA and Math in the morning. 7/8 POD Party in the afternoon.
Wednesday: Community Clean up and Park Day in the morning. Social Studies and Science in the afternoon.
Thursday: Regular schedule.
Friday: Field Trip to Denver Pop-Culture Con
 
After being gone last week chaperoning the Junior Class Service Trip in Taos, I will catch up with what students have completed while I was gone. This week in Language Arts, students will focus on finishing up their 20Time Projects and practicing how they will present this project during student-led conferences. We will also check in and discuss the book March.
 
Next week, I will be participating in a week-long training in Longmont and will not be at school, so this will be the last week I will be with students. Congratulations on your accomplishments, and I hope you have a great summer. It has been a pleasure to teach each and every one of you and I wish you all nothing but happiness and success.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Weekly Update - May 12

The effort and quality of work being put into the One Pager for Alfonso Jones was very good, so I extended the due date until Monday. The 20Time assignments are also proving to be challenging given we only work on them one day a week.
  • This week, students will finish their One Pager and work on their Podcast Blog Post for their 20Time Project.

Weekly Update - May 5

This week, students will finish their I Am Alfonso Jones book and complete the final project. Students will also continue with their 20Time project.
 
I Am Alfonso Jones One Pager Project: Students will complete an assignment that has them summarize the book in a unique way. One-pagers invite students to think deeply about a text and produce a single page of sketchnotes to represent its most important aspects. See more here. https://www.weareteachers.com/one-pager-examples-english-language-arts/
 
For their 20Time project, students will complete a podcast blog.
 
PODCAST: In this blog post you will post the mp3 file to have your viewers listen to your podcast. Your Podcast must be between 5-8 minutes and must include one guest on your podcast. You also must include a 3-sentence description of your podcast below your mp3 file link. You can find a video on how to create a Podcast on my OneNote.

Weekly Update - April 28

This week, students will continue working on their 20 Time Project
  • Make sure Blog is created and Introduction and Research Posts are completed
  • Students will work on a Photo Blog Post this week
  • Finding ways to take action on their project
Students will also continue reading I Am Alfonso Jones. 
  • Book discussions on both the story and how to read graphic novels
  • One Pager Assignment

Weekly Update - April 21

This week, student will be learning about graphic novels and social justice issues such as racial profiling as we begin to read I Am Alfonso Jones. They will also work on their 20 Time project.
 
Graphic Novels
  • Graphic novel escape room
  • newsela article: Racial profiling and police shootings involving African-Americans
  • Had out and begin reading I Am Alfonso Jones
20 Time
  • Share Blog Post #1: Introduction of project
  • Complete Research about your topic and why it is important,  and post in Blog Post #2
  • Start volunteering, serving, creating and fulfilling the action part of this project

Weekly Update - April 14

This week, student will be learning about graphic novels and social justice issues such as racial profiling as we prepare to read I Am Alfonso Jones. They will also work on their 20 Time project.
 
Graphic Novels
  • Terms and how to read
  • Graphic novel escape room
  • Racial profiling and police shootings involving African-Americans
20 Time
  • Finalize and turn in proposal
  • Build Blog Page
  • Complete Blog Post #1: Introduction of project
 

Weekly Update - April 7

Welcome back! I hope you had a good Spring Break and you are ready and rested to ROCK quarter 4! This quarter we will have a two main focuses.
  1. We will read I Am Alfonso Jones and March, both are graphic novels that deal with social justice and African-American history and culture. Because they are graphic novels, we will start by doing an escape room to help students unlock the unique skills and vocabulary needed to read this type of book.
  2. Students will also be working on a 20 time project. They will use 20% of their time this quarter to identify, research, describe and take action on a world issue, social justice issue or service learning project they are passionate about. Look for a letter coming home that will detail to scope of this project.

Weekly Update - March 17

Student's schedules will be different this week due to CMAS testing and conferences.
 
This week, students will Language Arts class will meet Monday and Wednesday morning for an hour each of those days. For the end of the unit, we will watch the Lion King as a class.
  • Look for the Hero's Journey in this film and compare to the story we read in class
  • Celebrate the work students have done in Q3

Weekly Update - March 11

This week students will finish up their Hero's Journey Unit
  • Write one act from The Lion King Story from the Point of View of one of the characters involved.
  • This story is told from the Third Person Point of View.
  • Students are to choose a character and write the act from the First Person Point of View of that character detailing what they see, feel, think and experience.
Student will also read and answer questions from an Article of the Week. 

Weekly Update - March 3

This week, students who have not presented their famous African-American research will do so first. We will then circle back to the assignments that students worked on last Wed-Fri. 
  • Civil Rights Webquest
  • Hero's Journey Stages in the Lion King
  • Rewrite part of the Lion King from a different character's Point of View

Weekly Update - February 24

This week, students will finalize their presentations.
  • Watch two short video clips on public speaking
  • Partner and practice presenting using presentation rubric
Students will start their presentations Monday and continue on Tuesday.
 
I will be gone Wednesday through Friday, so students will focus on Civil Rights by reading a newsela article and completing a Civil Rights Webquest.
 
Students will finish their presentations starting March 4th.

Weekly Update - February 18

Students will be finishing their research and presentation on an important historical African-American individual. 
  • What story are you telling?
  • How does their life fit the Hero's Narrative stages?
  • What is a good presentation seminar
As a reminder, students should be watching a movie of their choice this weekend and filling out the required assignments in OneNote or on a paper copy if they requested. 

Weekly Update - February 10

This week students will continue their exploration of Social Justice and the Hero's Journey by researching famous African-Americans that have been involved in the work for freedom and equality for all. 
  • Students will choose a person
  • Research through reading Nonfiction Articles and Primary Sources
  • Compare the life events of the person they are researching with the stages of the Hero's Journey
  • Determine if the person they studied should be considered a hero
They will present their findings to the class using a short PowerPoint presentation.
 
Be the end of the week, I will also have a list of Hero's Journey movies for students to pick from. They will need to watch this movie over the 4-day weekend and complete a Viewer's Guide by answering questions about the movie.

Weekly Update - February 3

This week students will focus on turning their Personal Essay rough drafts into final drafts. There will be focus on the following:
  • Using noredink diagnostic results to focus on sentence structure skills
  • Using Mentor Sentences to learn how to add detail and descriptive words to sentences
  • Peer editing and revision techniques
Each student has feedback on their rough drafts and has a marked rubric to help them focus on what they need to revise and edit.
 
Look for an at home assignment that will require students to watch a movie that used the Hero's Journey storytelling structure. They will need to watch the movie and answer questions based on the movie.