Friday, September 16, 2016

"The Man in the Red Bandana" = Courage & Honor

The fifth week of the school year has come to an end.  All fall sports teams are competing in athletic competitions, and MHJH clubs are getting ready to start.  It has been a wonderful start to the school year.  The students are continually reminded of the ideals of #ENGRoom121, which are commUNITY, respect, kindness, and courage.  This week we continued to focus on courage.

On Monday, students brainstormed in their mini learning communities the characteristics of an exceptionally written paragraph.  The link is a copy of what "Exceptionally Written Paragraphs" look like according to them. These notes now provide, for the students, a roadmap of what is expected of them for their writing assignments.  It is a roadmap that can be transferred and used in any subject.  The paragraph guide was created in preparation for the students to complete their first formal piece of writing for class.

Tuesday the students viewed a video entitled, "The Man in the Red Bandana," which aired on ESPN several days ago.  It told the story of Welles Crowther, and how he chose to spend the last hour of his life.  Please take a moment and view this remarkable story of courage.


"What would you do in the last hour of your life?"

In their first formal piece of writing, with a roadmap at their side, the students wrote their response to the following prompt:  "What would you do in the last hour of your life?  Where would you be?  Who would remember it?  What would it look like?"  Take a moment and answer those questions.  Discuss your response with your child.

In the continued effort to build something more than just a classroom for the 180+ days we are together, five red bandanas were ordered.  They will be given out to the student that wrote the most exceptional response to the above prompt in the each of the five classes (a panel of judges has been secured).  The #ENGRoom121 will help the bandana continue to be symbolic of COURAGE and its red color representative of HONOR, in memory of Welles Crowther.

No longer will this be a negative symbol, instead it will be a symbol of COURAGE ... the color of HONOR
Here's a look at the upcoming week:

1. Go over The Outsiders Character Traits Chart (physical & personality traits ... developing characters)
2. Annotate and understand memoir short stories (The Martyrdom of Andy Drake & Molly ... reading literature)
3. Brainstorm ideas of memories from own life to possibly write about
4. Continue reading 1st Quarter read aloud and memoir mentor text The Outsiders

Vocabulary to know for upcoming week:
1. martyr
2. martyrdom
3. memoir
4. reflection

Enjoy your weekend!  GOOOO TITANS!

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