English 8/9 (2)

Today students began thinking about project design.

Students were asked to come up with a subject, rationale, and choose the Prescribed Learning Outcomes they will focus on in their projects.

Students were asked to pick around 10 PLOs (three from section A, three from B, three from C, and then one more from any section).

Students will begin creating a rubric for their projects next day.

Language Arts 7

Today students were asked to refresh themselves on the meaning of the word: Metacognition.

Students were then asked to read a short selection from the class reader and use at least two of the daily dozen reading strategies, for which they would report on the usefulness after a given amount of time.

Students were then given a book talk for five books.  They were then able to choose from those five books to read.  Students will be designing their own projects soon based on the books they are reading.

Students read for the remainder of the class.

After lunch, students read for 10 minutes and then worked on their music booklets for 10 minutes.  We then worked through the band method book, playing up to number 12.

Great work today everyone!!

English 8/9 (1)

Today students began thinking about project design.

Students were asked to come up with a subject, rationale, and choose the Prescribed Learning Outcomes they will focus on in their projects.

Students were asked to pick around 10 PLOs (three from section A, three from B, three from C, and then one more from any section).

Students will begin creating a rubric for their projects next day.

English 8/9 (2)

Today students were asked to define metacognition: the understanding or awareness of one's own learning process.

Students then began to engage in discussion about how to structure a project.  Students used the chart below to begin categorizing how what they do shows their learning:

The Cognitive Process Dimension

The Knowledge Dimension	1. Remember – Retrieving relevant knowledge from long-term memory 1.1 Recognize 1.2 Recalling	2. Understand – Determine the meaning of instructional messages, including oral, written, and graphic communication 2.1 Interpreting 2.2 Exemplifying 2.3 Classifying 2.4 Summarizing 2.5 Inferring 2.6 Comparing 2.7 Explaining	3. Apply – Carrying out or using a procedure in a given situation 3.1 Executing 3.2 Implementing	4. Analyze – Breaking material into its constituent parts and detecting how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose 4.1 Differentiating 4.2 Organizing 4.3 Attributing	5. Evaluate – Making judgments based on criteria and standards 5.1 Checking 5.2 Critiquing	6. Create – Putting elements together to form a novel, coherent whole or make an original product 6.1 Generating 6.2 Planning 6.3 Producing
A. Factual Knowledge – The basic elements that students must know to be acquainted with a discipline or solve problems Aa. Terminology Ab. Specific details and elements
B.  Conceptual Knowledge – The interrelationships among the basic elements within a larger structure that enable them to function together Ba. Classifications and categories Bb. Principles and generalizations Bc. theories, models, and structures
C. Procedural Knowledge – How to do something: methods of inquiry, and criteria for using skills, algorithms, techniques, and methods Ca. Subject-specific skills and algorithms Cb. Subject-specific techniques and methods Cc. Criteria for determining when to use appropriate procedures
D. Metacognitive Knowledge – Knowledge of cognition in general as well as awareness and knowledge of one’s own cognition Da. Strategic knowledge Db. Knowledge about cognitive tasks, including appropriate contextual and conditional knowledge Dc. Self-knowledge

Students then began the process of designing their own projects, ensuring that their projects exhibit the following:

Language Arts 7

Today students began the class by learning about metacognition - their ability to understand how it is that they learn and understand best.

Students were introduced to the Daily Dozen Reading Strategy list:

Reading Strategies: The Daily Dozen
For students to become independent readers, the following twelve reading strategies must be learned and practiced.

1. Access background knowledge.
2. Predict what will be learned or what will happen.
3. Figure out unknown words.
4. Self-monitor and self-correct.
5. Make mental pictures.
6. Connect what you read with what you already know.
7. Determine the most important ideas and events and the
relationship between them.
8. Extract information from text, charts, graphs, maps and
illustrations.
9. Identify and interpret literary elements in different genres.
10. Summarize what has been read.
11. Make inferences and draw conclusions. 
12. Reflect and respond.

Students began to apply this to a short story we looked at in the reader, Crossroads 7.

Our class was cut short due to the Remembrance Day Ceremony.

After lunch, students played their instruments.  There are some fine musicians in this class!!

English 8/9 (1)

Today students reviewed metacognition: the understanding of one's own ability to learn.

We then came up with some different ways that students themselves learn.  From this list, we generated a possible list of activities that would enable students to best show their learning.

Students were given a handout that covers the breakdown of Blooms Taxonomy.  From this, we listed all of the different cognitive criteria that must be met in order for an individual project to enable maximum learning to take place.

The Cognitive Process Dimension

The Knowledge Dimension	1. Remember – Retrieving relevant knowledge from long-term memory 1.1 Recognize 1.2 Recalling	2. Understand – Determine the meaning of instructional messages, including oral, written, and graphic communication 2.1 Interpreting 2.2 Exemplifying 2.3 Classifying 2.4 Summarizing 2.5 Inferring 2.6 Comparing 2.7 Explaining	3. Apply – Carrying out or using a procedure in a given situation 3.1 Executing 3.2 Implementing	4. Analyze – Breaking material into its constituent parts and detecting how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose 4.1 Differentiating 4.2 Organizing 4.3 Attributing	5. Evaluate – Making judgments based on criteria and standards 5.1 Checking 5.2 Critiquing	6. Create – Putting elements together to form a novel, coherent whole or make an original product 6.1 Generating 6.2 Planning 6.3 Producing
A. Factual Knowledge – The basic elements that students must know to be acquainted with a discipline or solve problems Aa. Terminology Ab. Specific details and elements
B.  Conceptual Knowledge – The interrelationships among the basic elements within a larger structure that enable them to function together Ba. Classifications and categories Bb. Principles and generalizations Bc. theories, models, and structures
C. Procedural Knowledge – How to do something: methods of inquiry, and criteria for using skills, algorithms, techniques, and methods Ca. Subject-specific skills and algorithms Cb. Subject-specific techniques and methods Cc. Criteria for determining when to use appropriate procedures
D. Metacognitive Knowledge – Knowledge of cognition in general as well as awareness and knowledge of one’s own cognition Da. Strategic knowledge Db. Knowledge about cognitive tasks, including appropriate contextual and conditional knowledge Dc. Self-knowledge

Students then began the process of devising their own projects.  They will also be in charge of creating the criteria and assessment of these projects.

Students will fill out a form next class and need parents and me to sign off on their projects before they may begin.

English 8/9 (2)

Today we again had a discussion round table following the following flow: