Exposition & The 5 Paragraph Essay...

Hey STEaM Team,

      Nonfiction, perhaps more than any other type of writing, requires that you read critically.  Make judgements about what seems accurate, biased, or just plain wrong when reading a news storyor an editorial.  Try to discover a writer's intention when reading. 

The desire to know what's happening and what people think about it is a powerful motive for readers.        EXPOSITORY NONFICTION is factual and informative nonfiction writing.  Articles, news stories, and editorials are expository nonfiction.  You probably read some factual and informative writing every day, either on the internet or in a newspaper or magazine. 

    One Teacher's Perspective on Expository Writing. 

    Tim & Moby's Take on 5 Paragraph Essays

    5 Paragraph or 5 Section Essay

    Everything You Need to Know About Your Paper


    Additional Resource on THESIS! 

   We will be doing a collective note taking activity to gain a collective understanding of 3 things: Expository Writing, 5 Section Essays, and Thesis Statements.  For our next session together please bring an article or piece of text you have found that pertains to your space topic.  You will need a piece of text to participate in the Quality Circle Written Discussion. 
Sincerely,
C
From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy

HIGH FIVE THESIS DAY...

Hey Guys and Gals,

      Check out some of these videos on writing a thesis statement!  Remember, your thesis is due today.  I will try to give you as much time as I can today.  If you're finished with your thesis, print it off (so i can write on it), and hand it in.  DO NOT LEAVE CLASS WITHOUT SEEING THAT I HAVE CHECKED YOU OFF!!

A Thesis in 60 Seconds!!

Got Thesis Ol' Chap?

All you need to know about your papers! OUTSTANDING!

Also Great Video on Thesis


C

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy

Conferring and Paragraph Mapping...

Happy Camel Day Y'all,

      Some kind of thesis is due on Friday of this week.  I keep beating this thing called "THESIS" into your noggins, but I promise you it will never go away.  A thesis is the anchor of your papers.  You should all probably know by now that it comes at the end of your introductory paragraph.  If you haven't thought of one or need help, ASK!!!

      Today in class I will be pulling strategy groups with the debators.  I will also be conferring with students who need to meet with me.  In CORE 1 I have a confernece set up with Luke, Max, and Jacob.  In CORE 2 I want to meet with Maya, Andrew, Beth, and Colin.  In CORE 3 I want to meet with Savannah, Antonio, and Dustin.  This is my conference schedule today and I am open for more. 

      To wrap up, there are two modules we have been working on recently:  PERFECT PARAGRAPH, PARAPHRASING, and PARAGRAPH MAPPING & QUALITY CIRCLES and COLLABORATIVE STUDY.  If you haven't finished those... YOU NEED TO!  One more thing: we will be using some form of British Parlimentary Debate style for our debates next Friday.  To start our class, please fill out one quick sheet of Cornell Notes based on the video below. 

BP Debate Style

Yours Truly,
C

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy

Debate Groups At This Point...

Dear 8th Graders,

      This will be the second blog post today.  Below you will find the debate groups from ALL CORE CLASSES...

Debate Topic 10:  Domenic, Ben G, Jackson, Julio, Jason, Charlie Ho, Caitlin, Erik, Seth, Owen, Dustin, Karin, Antonio, Madison, Angie, Kris, Connor

Debate Topic 11:  Maya, Sam J, Colin, Beth, Shawn Ge, Dillon, Livi

Debate Topic 12: Ethan, Jeremy, Nick, Riley, Kristjan, Keegan

Debate Topic 13: Charlie, Nate, Brooke, Danny, Savannah, Charles

      A note on debate groups.  The turn out for the debates does not seem to warrant 4 separate debate topics.  Therefore there may be mix matched teams.  We may just be forced to debate within the perspectives of Britain vs. American Colonies. 

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy

Do I have a Thesis? How About a Quality Circle Team to Help...

Good Day Youngsters,

      Watch this video before reading the rest of the blog.  THIS IS YOUR PRIOITY FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK! 

Do I Have a Thesis?

   
      Think about this now that you have watched the video...  How do you think you are preparing to meet this learning target?  This learning target will keep popping up from now tothe end of your projects.

Writing in Social Studies

I can develop a thesis, support with multiple forms of evidence, and provide analysis with an explanation in written form.

      The class time today will be for you to complete a module and work on you writing projects.  Those of you debating, you need to write a constructive speech (your opening remarks).  Those of you who chose a different project You know you have a paper to write to accompany your reading and research.  Good luck.  You're all great.  Below you will find the bread brumb trail to the module for today. 
Hist Lit - Exp Col Am Rev - Go Public - Quality Circles & Collaborative Study

Sincerely,
C

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy

Over the Weekend...

My buddy Bo looking for carrots. 

Brushing his butt after a great training session.
 (He almost bucked me off right before this.)

I'll let you guys make your own inferences as to what I did this weekend. 

Have a great class!

Debate Teams and QUALITY CIRCLES...

Good Day Almost Freshies,

      Happy Monday and welcome back from a long weekend.  Doesn't it feel great to take a few more days to breath!?  We have three things on our agenda today so buckle up...         

1.  We need to figure out how many debators are in each group.  Depending on how many we have we may have to combine groups or (if it works out well) we could have one person from each article on each team so that each team will have a constructive speech for each piece of text.  Yowza!!
10A&B    11A&B    12A&B    13A&B

2.  We have a One-Page-Wonder to read quickly and an activity called "WRITTEN DISCUSSION".  This activity will prepare us for QUALITY CIRCLES. Quality Circles are like study groups that can serve many purposes, overcome challenges, and resolve issues. 

Note: I will lead you through this as quickly as I can to give the remainder of class to you. 

LEARNING TARGET:

Reading & Media in History

Identify main ideas, analyze supporting details, and evaluate inferences within discipline specific readings.

3.  Work time: this last item on the agenda is FOR YOU TO LEAD!!  This is time to read.  This is time to think.  This is time to write.  This is time to organize notes.  This is time to organize nuggets. 
Note:  You should use this time to find MAIN IDEAS and think about your OPINIONS.  Main Ideas and OPINIONS will lead to your thesis!!  Pay attention to your thoughts. 

LEARNING TARGET:

Writing in History

Develop a thesis, support with multiple forms of evidence, and provide analysis with an explanation in written form.

Yours Truly,
C
P.S. Have I already said you need to pay attention to your thoughts? 
I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand. 
Do your best and forget the rest!!




From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy