This summer a group of dedicated Dublin teachers read Energize Research Reading and Writing: Fresh Strategies to Spark Interest, Develop Independence, and Meet Key Common Core Standards, Grades 4-8 by Chris Lehman. We had weekly Twitter chats about the strategies in the book, and we shared how we utilize research and research writing in our classrooms.
This week in 8th grade ELA, we put one of the strategies to work: read, cover, and jot. On Monday, I presented a short min-lesson on the strategy. We then had guided practice with a short introduction to the Holocaust using an article from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's website. (The 8th grade reads Night by Elie Wiesel in order to prepare our students for our fall trip to Washington, D.C.)
Today and tomorrow the students are doing independent practice with other short articles from http://www.ushmm.org/. Students are becoming "experts" on two Holocaust topics using the read (and maybe reread), cover and jot research strategy. Our Writer's Notebooks are indispensable tools for the "jot" part of the research. It was amazing to walk around and see the thinking and knowledge the students displayed.
Thursday will be the students' day to showcase their expertise as they teach their classmates about aspects of the Holocaust.
Here are some pictures of the 8th graders at work using "read, cover, and jot":
This week in 8th grade ELA, we put one of the strategies to work: read, cover, and jot. On Monday, I presented a short min-lesson on the strategy. We then had guided practice with a short introduction to the Holocaust using an article from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's website. (The 8th grade reads Night by Elie Wiesel in order to prepare our students for our fall trip to Washington, D.C.)
Today and tomorrow the students are doing independent practice with other short articles from http://www.ushmm.org/. Students are becoming "experts" on two Holocaust topics using the read (and maybe reread), cover and jot research strategy. Our Writer's Notebooks are indispensable tools for the "jot" part of the research. It was amazing to walk around and see the thinking and knowledge the students displayed.
Thursday will be the students' day to showcase their expertise as they teach their classmates about aspects of the Holocaust.
Here are some pictures of the 8th graders at work using "read, cover, and jot":