Students are beginning a unit on nonfiction to kick-off the second nine weeks. We started the unit by studying several nonfiction terms to review and expand our knowledge of this genre.
With a strong background in nonfiction terms, students are now competing to be the survivors in Mrs. Wright's Survivor Reading Challenge. We are reading a journal called "Survive the Savage Sea" about a family's struggle to survive after a shipwreck. Which tribe will be named the survivors of the challenge? We will find out soon! After the story, we will read several news articles of real survivor stories.
Before Thanksgiving Break, we will be joining Mrs. Drakeley's English classes to investigate on-line news writing on a website just for middle school students called TweenTribune.
When we return from the holiday, students will read a personal narrative called "Where Are You Now, William Shakespeare?" to explore this nonfiction genre. We will follow-up this story with some encyclopedia articles on Ronald Reagan, an important person in the story.
After all of this experience with nonfiction writing, students will have the opportunity to try their hands at writing a nonfiction book review on a library book. The book review will be written in the style of a news article, using features and techniques discovered in this nonfiction unit.
To wrap up the unit just as we are wrapping up our holiday gifts, students will participate in a Reference Material Scavenger Hunt in the library. This will be the perfect way to ring in the new year, with new knowledge from books!
