La Salle & The Talon Children - A Christmas Carol of A Christmas Carol

Today our students:

• Looked at the Table of Contents & Reading Schedule for Ellen Howard's historical novel, The Crimson Cap
• Hypothesized as to the 3 Parts of TCC
• Read the HOTO article on the Talon Children
• Examined a HOTO-Based Chronology of the Talon Children
• Went to the Parish Hall & practiced singing A Christmas Carol of A Christmas Carol, making revisions as needed.

Assignment for Monday

1. Read Part One/Chapters 1-5 in The Crimson Cap.
2. Write one discussion question per chapter.

RalphnJack Chronology Challenge - Natural Features of Texas - Predictions About Indians

Today our 7th Graders learned through the following:

• Did a RalphnJack Chronology Challenge, placing pictures in plot order and analyzing Golding's development of the two characters in Lord of the Flies
• Briefly analyzed key natural features of Texas as seen on this map and this map - They were given the option of taking a quiz over either or both of the two maps. There was no wild stampede to sign up.
• Made Predictions About Indians of Texas Based on Geography - We're working on this collaboratively, as seen in the embedded map below. View full-size here.

Assignments for Friday

• Finish the PPT on RalphnJack, upload it to Google Docs, & embed it in a blog post.
• Finish your part of the collaborative Google Doc on the Indians & Geography
• Read Ch. 4 of Lord of the Flies and post 5 good discussion questions in a blog post. 

TMDG Vocab - History of Classmate Revision - Logic Picture Puzzle

Students today:
Chose the 10 words they will learn for Friday's Vocabulary Quiz over "The Most Dangerous Game"

• They were encouraged to choose words they will find useful, either in everyday life or for academic or future reading and writing. 
• On the Quiz they should be able to:
• define each word
• use the word in a good sentence that shows they understand the meaning of the word.

Did a Chronological Sequencing Puzzle called "A Short History of America" - They:

• placed 11 pictures in what they considered to be correct chronological order.
• collaborated to come up with a class sequencing.
• speculated as to the time in history they pictures were depicting.
• began identifying CONTINUITIES & CHANGES the pictures illustrated in American (and Texas) history.

Assignments

• Continue revising your History of a Classmate; finished product will be read and critiqued by CCS Principal Dr. Betsy Carpenter on Monday.
• Prepare for Friday's TMDG Vocabulary Quiz, as described above.

Timelines - Bull Boards - Chart on Time Periods

Overview of Texas History, cont'd

• Students took their slips of events from Texas history and placed them on a timeline in the classroom. They then discussed orally several analytical questions, including why the timeline maker stopped Texas history around the year 1900.

• We went downstairs to the bulletin board, "Let's Don't Mess with Texas" and worked the simple chronological order problem based on the same timeline they'd just used in the room.

• They also looked over the bulletin board, asked a few analytical questions (including why the map of Texas and state seal were turned upside down), and wrote and taped additional captions onto pictures of their choice. A sampling:

CHART: Time Periods of Texas History

Students:

• Read together and briefly discussed the yellow portion of the chart; this section gives a brief summary of each major time period of Texas history.
• Read silently the rest of the chart, including text and pictures.
• Made one check mark beside each item they had put in their personal list two days ago and two checks beside any other items that had appeared in classmates' lists

Assignment: Students should read back over the entire chart by tomorrow, in preparation for various learning activities.