Can you believe we are currently in the third week of the 2015/16 school? It seems like only yesterday my kids returned to me all bright-eyed and fresh faced, eager to begin this latest quest in their educational journey.
We have all settled into a nice rhythm of reading, writing, and vocabulary. One of my favorite things that the students do daily is a written reflection in regards to a prompt. The prompts have varied from 15 minutes with the President of the United States of America to ridiculous fashion trends. I always enjoy reading the thoughts and opinions of my students.
Today's writing prompt has been interesting to say the least:
Two high school football players blind-sided a referee during a football game this past Friday night in Texas. The video of the hits quickly went viral and have been replayed on every major network numerous times this weekend. The hits were in retaliation of a call the players did not like. What should the penalty/punishment be? and why?
Most everyone agrees that there should be some kind of penalty/punishment, however they do not all agree on what that should be. The range on penalty/punishment is one game suspension to never play organized sports again.
I am pretty sure that my students think their daily writing is merely a time-filler, however that couldn't be farther from the truth. Eighth graders have a knowledge of language. The Common Core State Standard CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.3 clearly expresses that students use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.3.A states that students use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the actor or the action; expressing uncertainty or describing a state contrary to fact).
We have all settled into a nice rhythm of reading, writing, and vocabulary. One of my favorite things that the students do daily is a written reflection in regards to a prompt. The prompts have varied from 15 minutes with the President of the United States of America to ridiculous fashion trends. I always enjoy reading the thoughts and opinions of my students.
Today's writing prompt has been interesting to say the least:
Two high school football players blind-sided a referee during a football game this past Friday night in Texas. The video of the hits quickly went viral and have been replayed on every major network numerous times this weekend. The hits were in retaliation of a call the players did not like. What should the penalty/punishment be? and why?
Most everyone agrees that there should be some kind of penalty/punishment, however they do not all agree on what that should be. The range on penalty/punishment is one game suspension to never play organized sports again.
I am pretty sure that my students think their daily writing is merely a time-filler, however that couldn't be farther from the truth. Eighth graders have a knowledge of language. The Common Core State Standard CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.3 clearly expresses that students use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.3.A states that students use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the actor or the action; expressing uncertainty or describing a state contrary to fact).