Number the Stars/Research October/January
Our areas of interactions will be Community and Service and Human Ingenuity. Our Unit question is Why should we care about a global community? and our Essential Question is What are our responsibilities to a global community?
Students will use the knowledge they gained in social studies about WWII and the Holocaust to help reinforce their learning as the class reads the novel Number the Stars, by Lois Lowery. They will identify the responsibilites of being in community and apply that knowledge to our present day global concerns.
Students will read and discuss the novel based in world history. They will identify main ideas and context vocabulary that lead to a deeper understanding of character, setting, plot, point of view, theme, and conflict. They will extend their knowledge through identifying their role in making their world a safer place.
Research (This unit has been moved due to curricular connections with social studies.)
Our Areas of Interaction for the Research unit will be Community and Service, Human Ingenuity, and Approaches to Learning. Our Unit Questions are "How have humans left their mark on this world? Our primary Essential Question is "Why is research important?"
During the Research Unit Students will explore a variety of expository writing . They will study famous places around the world, and will develop their note taking skills using library texts and websites located through the district's search engine--Nettrekker. In class students will learn to organize their notes, create a bibliography, build an outline, and use the outline to compose a research paper about their famous place. Students will practice paragraph writing skills to help them write unified essay paragraphs with topic sentences and transition elements. They will employ the writing process and complete a self-edit and a peer edit before making their final draft.
Magnet students will have the option of typing the final draft at home. Non-magnet students will write their final drafts in class. Magnet students will include a formal outline and bibliography with their essay. They will also use their research information in two other writing formats: a RAFT writing assignment and a Brochure or a model with a descriptive paragraph.
Research Final draft due dates: Magnet classes Due Wed. 1/18
Magnet research project (model or brochure) due Fri. 1/27.
