December 3, 2015

We started class with 15 minutes of independent reading time. For our Writer's Notebook today, we examined a political cartoon from the LA Times. Students responded to the following questions in their notebooks.

1. What are your first thoughts about the cartoon?
2. What is the symbol in the cartoon? What does it mean?
3. What words are used in the cartoon? Why are they significant?
4. What political event or idea is the cartoon referring to?
5. What conclusions can you draw about the cartoonist's opinion? What specific details in the cartoon led you to this conclusion?
6. What special interest groups would agree/disagree with the cartoon's message? Why?
7. How is the cartoon effective (or not effective) in your opinion?

We discussed opening and closing examples for a persuasive essay. We noticed that each opening ended with a clear claim/thesis. (Some of our examples could use improved claims!) At their tables, each student picked a different opening style and wrote an opening for the prompt "Would you rather have the super power of flight or invisibility?" They shared their openings, then we followed the same process to write a closing.

We looked at a sample STAAR essay prompt and wrote an opening paragraph. We will do more with this tomorrow.

All but 2 of the books missing from the classroom library have been located! I'll make the new titles available Friday after school!

Today's Board