Trying Something New and A Great Monday

Judaism: I am thinking of going to a "Singles Torah Study" group. I keep thinking about it because I am wondering what sort of people go. I mean, I am interested in seeing how one of these groups work, but I feel like I'll be the only woman. These are done by a Chabad rabbi but through the "San Diego Torah Center". I keep everyone updated if I go.

Teaching: What happened? Today is Monday and I had a great day! I started off by giving my students an easy journal warm up. I simply asked them to write about what they did over the weekend, then I shared what I did. I think that got them in a good mood. Next, I gave a reading quiz. These are sort of suprise quizzes I give to check if they are keeping up with their reading. I haven't graded them yet, but my guess is a little more than a half of each class actually finished the book. I wish them luck as we begin writing our first formal essay tomorrow.

After the quiz we finished charting. Charting is probabally not completely unique to Helix Charter High School, but it is something that is frequently used and encouraged throughout our English department. To put it simply, charting is mostly used when reading informational articles. It's a way to help prepare them for reading the articles and questions in the English section of the CA High School Exit Exam (CHSEE). Each paragraph of the article is numbered. We read the article, then we decide where shifts in ideas occur. We have a three column chart, one column each for "paragraph number", "saying", "doing". The first time we do this I do it on an overhead with the class. They determine where shifts in the article change. Then we break down each paragraph or paragraph grouping (depending if the same ideas run through a couple paragraphs consecutively). The "saying" column is a place to chart the main ideas in that one section. It's what is clearly stated, but not usually direct quotes. It's good practice for the CHSEE. The "doing" column is used to chart what actually happens when the author says something. These are statements that start with rhetorically active verbs. (i.e. suggesting that..., assessing that..., contextualizing that...)

Yes, charting can be dull and rote, but if the article at least grabs their attention, you're off to a good start. We finished charting the article and are now working on identifying the thesis, assumptions, etc. I'm proud of all my kids today, they did great!