ELA STUFF

Hello everyone!

Our school has just started the 2nd Marking Period for the school year and for everyone's information, the Open School Night is scheduled on Nov. 16 from 5:00-7:30 p.m. which resumes the next day, Nov. 17 from 12:00 - 2:20 p.m. I am calling to invite parents to come and talk to the teachers regarding their child/children in school. I am encouraging parents to come and be involved with the education of their children.

Our unit for the next 7-8 weeks is on Non-Fiction. Yesterday, we have already discussed about the form, use and importance of reading non-fiction texts. Allow me to go into details.

Non-Fiction are writings about real people, places, things and events.

Forms of non-fiction are as follows:

• Essays
• Autobiographies/Biographies
• News Stories
• Speeches
• Documentaries
• History
• How-to-books or manuals
• Memoirs

Why do we NEED to read non-fiction?

• Knowledge is power.
  
• We use facts to use.
  
• It helps us understand people, the past, cultures and be tolerant of the world through our understanding.
  
• It helps us think critically or question the truth.
  
• It gives us directions, guidance, inspiration and release.
  
• It balances fiction.
  
• It helps us find out more about ourselves.

Questions to ask during our non-fiction reading to monitor our comprehension of the text.

• What is the text about? (Foucs on facts)
  
• What does the text want me to think? (Focus on ideas/concepts)
  
• What does teh text want me to feel? (Focus on emotions)

Aim is the writer's REASON(S) for writing a non-fiction text. (Why did the author write this piece?)

* to inform or to r eport about something that happened
* to entertain, amuse or enlightened

* to share a story
* to share his views or her views about a particular topic/subject

* A writer can have more than one aim in creating a work

We did a classwork today using the Health section of the Reader's Digest. The lesson was only 60% successful because even if the text was short, vocabulary became a big factor for some of my students to comprehend the text. Ms. Adams and I were able to come up with a contingency plan that we will be using for our next ELA session, tomorrow at 7th period.

Their homework for tonight is to go over the National Geographic booklet they read a few weeks back and complete a graphic organizer to help them prepare for their next writing assignment - Expository Writing!

Have a good evening to you all!

Toodles,

Ms. Maria Acedo