Well I Really Don't Know...

I must confess I do know my children are in good hands, but I sure wish I was there...I want you all to know (my parent/student followers from last year) that you did ABSOLUTELY AMAZING on your OATS...I mean AMAZING...It was, perhaps the proudest moment in my teaching career when I opened those results, and BD, (WE MADE A PUBLIC PACT--let me know what CD you would like me to buy you--no naughty ones please, cause you know you rocked your extended responses!) I'm so proud of all of 2014...and know I'll be so proud of 2015...I just wish I could be there. I am so looking forward to the chance to meet you all as Ms. Lalk ahem....not "Mom" lol. Please blog often so I know what you're into reading and I'll put it on my list, you'll learn I have friends who went to college for the big bucks and to make themselves feel better, they buy books! It's actually great! I get to do what I love, (when I'm back) and get a helping hand from corporate America! I'm already hearing great things about you and just wish I could be there...Looking @ December...Fingers Crossed! You have an excellent teacher right now--she's not a sub, she's your teacher, and I expect you to treat her with the utmost respect, as you will me upon my return:) Thank you for hangin' in there!

Nearing the end...

Well, you can tell it's the end of the year with Spirit Week upon us! Today, thanks to Deputy Evers, (thank you Marc) my entire home base got Hawaiian lais to wear so they could celebrate Twin Day with the teachers of the hall.

We're also wrapping up Numbering all the Bones, and the surprise is...it's an AR book! So, even if they didn't enjoy the story, they can benefit their reading grade by taking the test and blogging on the book. This is a fun new way to do things with media, and I'm hoping we can do more blogging in the future. NightJohn will be our next big project...then on to D.C. or here with me:) I'll keep you posted!

Power Points are going to be due Monday, 24. This is an extention, so I hope students really apply themselves. Thanks, JLalk

Joanne Lalk's Teacher Profile | iLoveSchools

Joanne Lalk's Teacher Profile | iLoveSchools

Freedom Center/Making Connections to our Reading and Writing

I have seen the immediate effect of our students' visit to the Freedom Center to their writing and performance on their Power Point presentations. There is an empathy there that did not exist for everyone before the field trip, and I'd like to thank Mr. Brinck for organizing this journey for them. I am seeing a greater respect for the reading we're doing, (Numbering All the Bones), and the writing being done in class. This is suddenly becoming real for my students--several who are very interested in the Haulocaust are drawing conclusions between the Civil War prisons and the concentration camps they've studied. I am thrilled that they've made such strong connections with their interests, yet saddened that they've done so through such sad history. I am very proud of my group....

Power Point Presentation

Alright, it's time for our MULTIGENRE, MULTIMEDIA, MULTICURRICULAR PRESENTATIONS: drumroll please...:) Here is an exact copy of the handout you'll be receiving Wednesday. I hope it helps to have it online as well.

Name: __________________________________________________________
Possible Topics for Research Power Point Multi-Genre 1830-1875


Requirements: title slide with title of overall project and your name
-At least 10 total slides, (individual pieces) with coordinating slides (appropriate)
-Concluding slide that wraps up the presentation
-Sources cited in MLA format
-A united theme throughout the project that symbolizes the chosen topic and all of the pieces together.

When using Audio Notes: Analysis plays a huge role, as you will give an explanation of your piece, explaining why you chose each genre, and use background information for each piece to support its significance in the project.

Sources Cited: All pieces that are previously published which you use in your project or to assist you in your project needs to be cited or you will be plagiarizing. You will follow MLA format to site your selections.

Sample Rubric:

Ideas: the heart of your presentation, where you take the topic and expand the themes found in NightJohn, Numbering the Bones, and the relation to your social studies course, self, text, world, and media. _________/10

Organization: order of the pieces provided, do they make sense and repeat the symbols that assist the theme of your work ____________/10

Fluency: sentences flow with the presentation, slides are coherent and relate to the theme/topic at hand ______________/10

Conventions: all writing conventions are followed, no errors with punctuation or mechanics. __________/10

Sources Cited: correctly cite all information in MLA format _______/10

Artistic element: continuously and conscientiously connects to the topic and overall theme chosen for the presentation…there is no fragmentation, all ideas are flowing, no distractions! ______________/30

Contains at least 10 pieces, title slide and concluding slide: ______________/20

Total possible points: _____________/100
Comments:


Topics and Web Sites for Spring Multi-Genre

Ladies’ Clothing
http://www.shasta.com/suesgoodco/newcivilians/womenswear/womenswear.htm
http://www.visit-gettysburg.com/civil-war-womens-clothing.html
http://www.widowsweeds.com/

The Cotton Gin
http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/cotton_gin.htm
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/clothing/cottongin.htm

The Steam Engine
http://inventors.about.com/od/wstartinventors/a/JamesWatt.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/C006011/english/sites/steam_loks1.php3?v=2

Civil War Submarines
http://americancivilwar.com/tcwn/civil_war/naval_submarine.html
http://www.hunley.org/main_index.asp?CONTENT=photo2
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1861/november/submarine.htm

Civil War Weapons
http://www.civilwarhome.com/civilwarweapons.htm
http://www.civilwarweapons.net/index.php?page=civil_war_shoulder_arms

Civil War Camp Life: Cooking
http://articles.urbanhomemaker.com/index.php?article=345
http://civilwarinteractive.com/cooking/?cat=34

Slavery in America
http://www.infoplease.com/timelines/slavery.html
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/slavery.htm

Women in the Civil War
http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews111.shtml
http://americancivilwar.com/women/women.html
http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvets2.html


Famous People from the Era-anyone approved as well from time period

Abraham Lincoln
Nat Turner
John Brown
Sojourner Truth
Harriet Tubman
Frederick Douglas
Ulysses S. Grant
Robert E. Lee
Jefferson Davis

Clara Barton
http://www.civilwarhome.com/bartonbio.htm
http://www.winningthevote.org/CBarton.html

Prisons and Prison Camps for Soldiers of the North and South
http://www.angelfire.com/ga2/Andersonvilleprison/
http://www.nps.gov/seac/histback.htm
http://www.censusdiggins.com/prison_andersonville.html
- check name/regiment of prisoners and records
http://www.censusdiggins.com/civil_war_prisons.html
-site has all prisons of the Civil War as well as the genealogy of Lincoln, Lee, Jackson, and Johnson as well as pictures and stories of crime committed during the Civil War

Interior design and architecture – Lalk has many resources also re: Gone with the Wind, Tara, Marietta,
http://www.civilwarhome.com/links14.htm
http://hookedonhouses.net/2009/03/22/gone-with-the-wind-tara-twelve-oaks-aunt-pittypats-house/

Etiquette of the time
http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews43.shtml
http://home.earthlink.net/~gchristen/Etiquette.html
http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Ke-Me/Manners.html
http://www.widowsweeds.com/

Civil War Battles, Battlegrounds, and Cemeteries:
THIS SITE HAS ALL BATTLES, ARCHITECTURE, DETAILS OF THE CIVIL WAR THAT YOU MAY WANT TO USE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
http://www.civilwarhome.com/links14.htm
http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/travel/atlanta/ken.htm
http://www.civilwarnews.com/archive/articles/marietta_statue.htm

Election and Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
http://www.history.com/topics/abraham-lincoln-assassination
http://history1800s.about.com/od/presidentialcampaigns/a/1860election.htm
http://www.nps.gov/liho/planyourvisit/upload/1860%20Election%20Front%20and%20Back.pdf


Mary Todd Lincoln-Biography and Battles (emotional)
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20060601-mary-todd-lincoln-abraham-lincoln-robert-todd-lincoln-batavia-illinois-sanitarium-james-bradwell-marriage.shtml
http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/sites/bellevue.htm
http://www.mtlhouse.org/history.html

Kennessaw House; Marietta. GA; any Civil War Hauntings
http://www.mariettahistory.org/
http://www.lakeallatoona.com/blogs/anneortiz/view-by-tag/kennesaw+house/
http://www.haunted-georgia.org/cheatham-hill-battlefiel/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/622459/haunted_places_in_marietta_ga_the_kennesaw.html?cat=16
http://www.lakeallatoona.com/blogs/anneortiz/view-by-tag/kennesaw+house/

Reconstruction/Industry
http://www3.ext.tu-freiberg.de/~wwwfk/highlights/projektwoche/history/years_of_growth.html
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/index.html


Forms of Multi Genre:
Poetry
Two Voice Poems
Songs/Spirituals
Slave Narratives
Three Voice Poems
Prayers
Bedtime stories- from a nurse to a young soldier, from a slave to their child, from…
Political Cartoons may only be used as a genre if previously approved
Epitaph – slaves, abolitionists, generals, Lincoln, Tubman, Stowe, unnamed soldiers
Eulogy-speech @ funeral- generals, abolitionists, politicians, slaves, etc
Letters – from child to Lincoln, adult to Lincoln, opposing sides to Lincoln, solders that COULD read or write, slave writing to their family,
Journals and Diaries-must cover extended periods of time, (can be of Eulinda, President of the era, soldier, abolitionist, Mary Todd Lincoln, a mistress of the home, general, etc)
Newspaper Article-appropriate for the time period, headlines and wording correct
Poster- upon approval
Memoir-short narrative of someone in the era
Any other approved genre

You must have 8 approved genres, (can be 2 each genre if you wish) to present on each slide…Due the last school day before Washington D.C.

Soooo Proud

I've been informed by all of the Miami Tribe teachers that my students worked the full expected amount on the reading test! I am so proud of you for all of your effort. You've got this:) I hope you ALL enjoyed breakfast this past 2 weeks...it was worth it for me to buy if it made it easier on you to test! Thank you for "Doing Your Best on the Test" ! Lalk

So What Have We Been Up To?

Preparing for the TEST!!! I've received so much feedback from my fellow colleagues about how seriously my students are taking the test! I am so proud that this seems to follow through not just in English, (YEAH), but in their extended response answers with other tests and across the curriculum. I'm sure you've heard some crazy songs lately, "When the reading makes you almost sure, you're probably safe....TO INFER!" but those should subside soon! I am confident that your kids have worked diligently to prepare for the test, and I'm so excited for July when those scores are released...thank you Lalk kids for all of your hard work. I'm truly proud of you. I realize Junk Food Jeopardy also played a major role in this:)

Communication Breakdown

As sad as it makes me, my kids still aren't able to reach Ms. Lalk's Booktalks @ school without my putting in the password every time they press enter. So I've moved to http://numberingtheboneslalk.wikispaces.com/ for now. I will have it directly linked to my homepage. It is a place where students anonymously provide feedback on questions I post about Numbering the Bones, NightJohn, their current social studies curriculum of the Civil War, and even discuss History Day. The students have a daily question regarding connections we're covering, and they will answer anonymously as it is online, print their response, add name, and be done! Students may opt not to use a computer, (media), but to write the answer as well. I thought this might make it a bit more fun as we near the end of the year!

It is important that with each entry, students make either a text, self, media, or world connection to something in this course of study--print it out and submit for a grade, (the questions foster the understanding of the book and concepts, and this is where they'll put their name). Sounds complicated, but we're going to have a great time!

Working to get the site back in order guys, I know it isn't fair to those of you who want to do this and don't have the technology @ home. I'm trying, but it won't get through our new filter. Until then, read on...read on.