Welcome back after Regents Week!

Many of you were hard at work studying for the Regents exams, but now we can feel secure that the Regents are currently behind us and we can focus back on our classes.

As discussed earlier, our new focus is on feature stories. Feature stories require research and serious planning. We will review what we learned last year about feature articles/stories and learn how to apply those skills to broadcast.

Additionally, I have had a low turn in rate of literary source books. It is your job to prove that you are meeting the English Language Arts standards with your broadcast assignments, as well as your literary source book.

Progress reports will be coming out shortly, as we have hit the mid-trimester mark. Your work up to this point will be reflected on the progress report. It is vital that you complete your self-assessment forms, as those will also be a crucial part of your progress report.

Literature Source Books

Today we went over what is expected for our literature source books: your Lit. SB should be with you at all times, so that you can respond to reading or take time to produce original writing. Every Monday the mini-lesson will be literature based, and can be your focus for the week.

You are expected to make an entry EVERY DAY!

What should you read?

novels, biographies, non-fiction texts, newspapers, literary journals, etc.

What should you write?

poems, short stories, graphic novels, non-fiction articles, essays, etc.

When should you do all of this?

Whenever you have free time! In class, you may not be able to interview your subject until later in the day, so you "have nothing to do". This is a great time to read or write! Maybe you have a substitute teacher without any lesson plans...read or write! Are you sitting in lunch detention? Read or write then! You should always have something to read and your literature source book with you at all times, because you never know when you might want it!

I will be checking source books every three weeks, based on division of three groups. Group A will be collected this Friday, Group B next Friday, Group C the following Friday and then I will start back at Group A, etc.

Group A: Elena Sebastian, Ellie, Christina, Franshesca, Kevin, Coralis, Estephania

Group B: Vicky K., Angie, Mia, Angela, Joanna, Gio, Daniel

Group C: Vicky R., Melody, Kathy, Marlyn, Simone, Haresh, Alan, Gerardo

Below are the rubrics for reading and writing. Double click the image and print it if you need it.

HW: 11/26

Good work in class today. Many of you made great observations! For homework, continue what you did in class. Watch a news story and respond in your source book to the same questions as in class.

News Stories 11/26/07

The concept of what a news story is and what is expected of you when producing a news story has been been hazy in some of your minds. So today we're going to spend time studying news stories from ABC news. Together we will watch "Arrest and Possible ID for Baby Gracie" and "Balloons and Spirits Rise at Parade". When viewing these stories and other ones, answer the following questions:

1. What did you notice?
2. What are the 5ws & h?
3. What is the lead? How long was it? What style or tone was used in the lead?
4. How many shots were used? What types of shots?
5. Who or what was in the shots? How many different subjects were shot?
6. How did the story end?
7. Were multiple voices or perspectives represented?

All responses should be in your Readers Source Book.

http://abcnews.go.com

End of Trimester One Reflection and Grade

As we are in our last days of Trimester One, it is important to understand what we accomplished in regards to what was expected of us. We spent the past trimester learning the basics of writing and producing broadcasts, and your final assessment of these learned skills is a news story (as part of your group news show).

Below is the rubric for the news story, which is the tool we will use to give you a final trimester grade. The skills are all aligned with New York State English Language Arts standards. If you exceed, meet or fall below these standards, your grade will reflect that.

However, through various assignments during the trimester you have also been assessed on smaller levels. The reflection listed below allows you to prove to me and others what you have done and at which level. This handout will be given out in class on Monday, November 19th and should be returned to Ms. G. no later than Wednesday, November 21st.

If you fail to turn in your reflection by Wednesday, you have failed to prove your grade to me and others. Students without reflections are considered to be students without grades, and your report card will show that.

info for announcements

* This coming Tuesday, November 20th is "WJPS Day" at the Book Fair being held in the school library. Please remind students to bring money on that day. Great opportunity to buy holiday gifts!
* November 28th is our Holiday Boutique. Please ask students to remind parents to send in merchandise to be sold at the boutique. If they did not receive a flyer, perhaps they can ask Ms. Reed for one to bring home.
* Discounted tickets are still available for "A Christmas Carol" at Queensboro CC. Flyer on the website.

The Highlight

As we discussed today in class, we were unable to get our planned broadcast of "The Highlight" up an running this week. Therefore, the news stories from "Skyline" will be broadcast with "Strictly News" next Monday.

It is vital that you are ALL working on news stories that consist of original filmed footage, written along the guidelines of news stories, edited by yourself (and not just one group member).

As the Trimester comes to a close next week, it is your responsibility to prove that you have met the ELA learning standards of a news story! We will begin reflection and discussion of this work in class next week.

*Strictly News is filming in the studio this afternoon. All of their filming should be completed by tomorrow.

**Hellos need to have their filming completed by Tuesday, November 20th.