Happy New Year!<\/p>\n
As a tenth year teacher, I often reflect on my role in my students’ lives.\u00a0 Ultimately I strive to empower my students to find their voice – whether it be in writing and\/or speaking.\u00a0 The primary means I am able to do this is through the essential questions which guide our text selections and classroom discussions.<\/p>\n
For the last two card-marking periods, we have asked two tough questions:<\/p>\n
Breaking these questions down has allowed our students to really examine what they prioritize in their lives.\u00a0 Dissecting ideas like compromise, integrity, loyalty, and acceptance are a vital part of character development, especially at this stage in our students’ lives.<\/p>\n
Next week, students will be asked to write on the argumentative prompt: Should teenagers have the right to make their own medical decisions?<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0In anticipation of this prompt, this week’s article, borrowed from\u00a0The New York Times<\/em><\/a>, provides various types of evidence for students to draw from. The film adaptation of Jodi Picoult’s bestselling novel\u00a0My Sister’s Keeper<\/a><\/em>\u00a0offers students another lens through which to examine the themes of this unit. For the argumentative prompt, students will be asked to cite evidence from both the AOW and the film to support their claim.<\/p>\n After that, we will review for the final exam by practicing SAT-style questions through Khan Academy.\u00a0 And that will wrap up Semester One. During semester two, students will shift to delving deeper into examining author’s craft, specifically by beginning to learn how to write a rhetorical analysis.<\/p>\n