• Dream Big Read

    Literacy:  The goal of the literacy program is to enable students to develop as individuals and to equip them to be productive members of an evolving society.  Instruction develops the ability to think critically, deepen comprehension, improve writing strategies, understand relationships and varying points of view, and arrive at logical conclusions from the facts presented.  Please find below a brief synopsis of the areas of study and requirements.

    INDEPENDENT READING - Marking Period 3 - Nonfiction

    This consists of three assignments:  reading, written journal entries, and writing assignments.  Students can choose a fictional book of their choice.  However, it must be approved by the teacher.                          

    Students will be reading Freedom Summer:  The 1964 Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi by Susan Goldman Rubin.

    In 1964, Mississippi civil rights groups banded together to fight Jim Crow laws in a state where only 6.4 percent of eligible black voters were registered. 

    Testing a bold new strategy, they recruited students from across the United States. That summer these young volunteers defied segregation by living with local black hosts, opening Freedom Schools to educate disenfranchised adults and their children, and canvassing door-to-door to register voters.

    Everyone involved knew there would be risks but were nonetheless shocked when three civil rights workers disappeared and were soon presumed murdered. The organizers' worst fears were realized as volunteers, local activists, and hosts faced terror on a daily basis. Yet by the middle of August, incredible strides had been made in spite of the vicious intimidation. The summer unleashed an unstoppable wave of determination from black Mississippians to demand their rights and helped bring about a new political order in the American South.  

    Assignment:

    1.   Journal - Facts - Participation Grade - Due Date:  March 31  

    • Write three facts for assigned chapters each week.

    2.  Project - Test Grade - Students will create a Google slide presentation on a given topic and present it to the class. - Due Date:  March 30

    Possible topics:

    • Jim Crow Laws                          14th Amendment                    Plessy v. Ferguson

    • Freedom Riders                        24th Amendment                    Brown v Board of Education

    • March on Washington               Selma to Montgomery            Birmingham Campaign

    • Montgomery Bus Boycott          Civil Rights Act of 1964           Voting Rights of 1965

    • March Against Fear                   Civil Rights Act of 1968           Little Rock Nine

    • Greensboro sit-ins                    16th Street Baptist Church Bombing

    READING  

    Students will be reading:

    • "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes.   This short story tells of Charlie Gordon, a mentally disabled, middle-aged man who participates in an experimental procedure to increase intelligence. Charlie is determined to get smarter and willing to put in the work required to do so.  The story is told from the first-person point of view through progress reports.
      • Written summaries will be completed after each progress report.
      • Respond to selected questions.
      • Complete open-book tests to include multiple-choice and writing responses.
    • "The Diary of Anne Frank" by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett.  Ann Frank and her family were Jewish citizens of Germany.  When the Nazi party, led by Adolph Hitler, came to power in 1933, the Nazis blamed the country's problems on the Jews being stripped of their rights.  Many were eventually sent to concentration camps, where more than 6 million died in what became known as the Holocaust. The Franks moved to the Netherlands to escape persecution, but the Nazis invaded that country in 1940.  In order to survive, Anne's family went into hiding when she was 13 years old.  They hid in the attic rooms behind Mr. Frank's office, and several other Jews joined them.  In this "Secret Annex," Anne kept a diary about her life in hiding.  More than two years later, the group's worst fears came true when the Nazis found them.  Anne's diary was discovered years later and this is her story.
      • Background Google slide project
      • Respond to selected questions
      • Complete an open-book test to include multiple choice questions and written responses.

    WRITING

    • All assignments are written in MLA format.  
    • The third marking period focuses on Research Simulation Tasks (RST).  Students will be writing two research simulation talks.  The first one will be guided and assisted (participation grade); the second one will be written independently (test grade).
    • Writing skills will be developed and improved upon.  Emphasis is placed on revising strategies. 
    • Writing assignments are written in our Google Classroom.  

    VOCABULARY

    • Vocabulary is taught while reading a selection.
    • During the second marking period, Worldy Wise vocabulary lessons will be completed.  This provides direct academic vocabulary instruction that develops the critical link between vocabulary and reading comprehension. Students are introduced to vocabulary through a carefully sequenced progression of activities that develop sophisticated oral vocabulary.

    GRAMMAR

    Grammar is infused throughout the year in a variety of areas.

    • Daily reviews will be used while students edit and revise paragraphs.
    • Incorporated skills while writing prompts.  
    • Isolated skills will be presented as the need arises.
    • iXL is completed in class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Individualized skills will be selected by students in collaboration with the teacher.