THE VIEW FROM LS!

IN TIME & ON A JOURNEY

ISSUE NO. 5

ISM GRADE 9 STRATEGY INSTRUCTIONQUARTER 2: WEEKS 10 & 11 2 Short Documentaries that we Viewed and used Post-Its to Recorded our Thoughts

GEO:

What we Learned:

Students looked at sustainable trends and created a data analysis for development.

ENGLISH:
Students nished reading Ch. 2-4 in Lord of Flies and began evaluating conict in the novel.

MATH:
Students completed multiple step inequalities. Int. Math prepared for their test.

SCIENCE:
Students made food chain mobiles and completed review pages for their test.

What were doing in SI:

In Strategy Instruction we began the routine of watching a short lm (5-15 minutes) at the end of every week. Most recently we viewed Roper and Everything is Incredible, both documentaries made by young lm makers. Weve been trying to nd examples of the themes explored in SI class most recently: goals, passions, habits, routines. Students have been asked to make their thinking visible as we examine the lms, jotting down brief notes, observations or connections on sticky-notes so they can be put on the back wall. Many of the students were intrigued by the perseverance of the two individuals, the older man in particular who has spent more than 50 years on a project that some students questioned would ever fully work. The very idea that the process might be more fullling than a product was a novel idea to many in class. Students were asked to reect on their rst 2 months in High School, adding to a reection sheet which will be connected to their portfolio. In addition, as all of them successfully completed their Student Led LS Plan meetings, they were encouraged to complete a second reection that reminded them of their process and of the goals they expressed to teachers that would become a focus leading into Winter break. Finally, the students in SI class challenged themselves to tracking a 21 Day Habit of their own choosing, seeing if they could start a positive routine and keep at it even if they missed a day; the process, not the product being the ultimate goal. IMPROVING SELF-AWARENESS
+ Develop checklists to help children determine how well they have completed a home-based chore or activity. + Determine and use a grading system and give praise for accurate selfevaluation. + Describe your methods of evaluation and ask them to do the same. + Encourage estimation and prediction skills.

Whats Next:
GEO:
The class will begin to examine population distributions and demographic transitions. They will also debate the 1 Child policy maintained in many countries.

ENGLISH:
The class will nish their Little Hero books, adding illustrations. They will also examine symbols in Lord of the Flies in preparation of their Cornerstone Essay.

MATH:
The Math 1 class will be solving equations and inequalities in preparation for their Unit 2 Test later in week.

SCIENCE:
The class will be nishing the Energy Unit with a Performance Task and begin to examine renewable and non-renewable resources.

GOOD SELF-AWARENESS SKILLS

+ Have an awareness of how their behavior impacts others. + Display an ability to understand and articulate their feelings. + Use self-instruction, such as, First, Ill do this; next, Ill do that. + Are able to identify what they must learn in order to complete a task successfully. + Understand their personal strengths and weaknesses.

SELF-AWARENESS AND SCHOOL SKILLS

READING: Self -awareness skills are an important part of making inferences and connections while reading. Self-awareness helps kids become procient at spell checking techniques, proof reading and other revision activities. WRITING: Self -awareness is an important aspect of understanding ones audience and the types of writing assignments at hand. Self-awareness helps kids develop a willingness to reect on and edit their work.