Today the 7th graders continued their study of George Orwell's Animal Farm, with a quiz on chapters 4 & 5. Before the quiz they were reminded of the necessity of being active readers when reading for Literature. This means noting when they do not understand the meaning of a sentence or word, and not merely glossing over the fact. 

In preparation for the short essay they were assigned for homework the students were given a graphic planner on how to plan a Content Sandwich Paragraph, and we discussed how to write a paragraph using the planner.

Homework:
Due every day: Read for thirty minutes.
Due Monday, May 5th; Bring in your Animal Farm Essay (see below)

Animal Farm

Chapters 1-4

Based on your reading of the first four chapters, what are the two greatest challenges facing the animals on Animal Farm?  Think about this.  Then, armed with your trusty book, write me an essay that has as its claim:

“The two greatest challenges facing the animals are _____and ______.”

Your essay needs an introductory paragraph, and two content sandwich paragraphs, each of which (of course) uses evidence from the book (quotes) to prove your subclaim.  I would also like you to attempt a conclusion paragraph, even though we have not yet studied conclusion paragraphs this semester. I will be scoring this essay using the Ideas Scoring Handout I gave you earlier in the year. A 6 will be for an exceptional essay; a 1 will be for a beginning attempt.