Calm Like a Bomb

Hey, everyone! I've dropped a couple of bombs on your children the last couple days, but at least only figuratively. I'm going to be challenging them more and more with my expectations for reading and writing, yet my hope is that at least they will have fun doing it--within reason.

The first is the research paper. This is a big project that will ask the kids to spend twelve weeks (!) researching, writing, taking notes, more writing, typing, bibliography-ing, and finally presenting a finished product based around what they have learned about their subject matter. I've told them that I've learned to spot a cut-and-paste job from a mile away, and since they will be writing these under my guidance (and let's definitely not forget the help of Mrs. Appelsies and Mrs. Somers), it is our hope that in the end, the kids will all have something that they are very proud of doing. We will be using the Rigby lessons to directly apply to the paper. This will count in their grades for Reading, Writing, and Social Studies. The reason for the latter is that they are all studying historical topics. I told them nothing younger than 25 years--and I've really enjoyed what I've seen so far. I realize some of them are still changing their topic around a little bit, but that's okay, understandable, and entirely expected. This project will take us all the way up to Spring Break!

Don't panic, either. I told the kids that we are going to do this research one deadline at a time. I'm not just turning them loose and then sitting back and waiting until Spring Break. We have a lot of learning and instructing to do between now and then to guide us home on that one.

In the meantime, we will also be really busy with other things: Science, Social Studies (ISTEP is coming...believe me, this is being driven home to us teachers too...good thing I love teaching Social Studies), and as for work at home, the book report. The book report is a pretty big undertaking in itself, but like the research paper, my hope is that they will be proud of the finished project. By Friday, they will have told me the book they're planning to read for that one.