My Goals

The beginning of the school year is a good time to set goals for yourself. Take some time right now to think of things that you would like to change/improve in your life during this school year. Then create a plan to help you to make those changes/improvements happen.

Directions:

This week's journal entry should tell about some of your goals for the year (about 3 goals seems to be a typical amount to choose).

• Open your journal to the first page.
• Write today's date on the first line.
• Write a title for your journal entry on the second line.
• Skip a line and then write a paragraph about each of your goals.

Each paragraph should:

1. Explain what your goal is.
2. Tell why you selected the goal for yourself.
3. Describe your plan ( how are you going to meet your goal, what steps do you need to take to reach your goal, what help may you need from us to help you along the way?).
4. Wrap up your paragraph with a sentence telling how you will feel when you finally achieve your goal.

Even the President of the US is encouraging students to take time today to set goals for themselves. You may read the transcript of President Obama's speech by clicking here. You may watch a video of the speech by clicking here (there are outside links here, so don't go anywhere else without permission from your parent or Kelly/Donna.

Http://www.whitehouse.gov/mediaresources/ will have an archived video file of the speech after the broadcast, so feel free to check the link out when you get a chance. (As of 3:00 on September 8th, there was no link to the video yet).

War

During one of our recent literature discussions, we completed a survey about our beliefs about war. A link to our survey results is posted @ my web archive.Your journal entry for this week should tell about some of your beliefs about war. You may use the original survey questions and statistics from our team survey results to help you to organize your journal entry.

Directions:

• Open your journal to the next page.
• Write today's date on the first line.
• Write a title for your journal entry on the second line.
• Skip a line and then begin your journal entry.

1. The first sentence should restate the question.
2. The second sentence should tell your opinion about the question.
3. The next sentence(s) should explain/defend your point of view.
4. The final sentence should summarize your point of view.

"The shell must break before the bird can fly."
- Alfred Tennyson

Have you ever heard of the expression that you have to break a few eggs before you can make an omelet? Let's talk about what this expression means, and then compare it to the quote above by Tennyson.

This week's journal essay should tell about a time in your life when you learned how to do something challenging, when you did something unexpected that you had never done before, and/or about a time when you took a risk.

Directions:

• Open your journal to the next page.
• Write today's date on the first line.
• Write a title for your journal entry on the second line.
• Skip a line and then begin your journal entry.
• Write an introductory paragraph(including a reference to the Tennyson quote)
• Write 3 body paragraphs (one per example or 3 about one topic)
• Write a concluding paragraph (tell what you've learned about yourself through these experiences)

"Read like a wolf eats."
- Gary Paulsen

Have you ever 'devoured' a book? I remember reading Watership Down for the first time and not being able to put the book down!

Think about what books you have enjoyed reading. Pick one and tell us what made it so great. Tell us about the characters, setting, plot, and anything else that you thought made your book so much fun to read.

Civil War Novel Summary

This week's entry will be printed off and displayed next to your diorama.

Directions:

Type up a summary about the book that you read for your Civil War Diorama presentation. Your summary should include:

Heading:

• Title of novel
• Author
• Your name

Paragraphs:

• The title of the novel (edit for capitals and spelling)
• The author's name
• A summary of the novel (one paragraph)
• A description of the scene depicted in your diorama (one paragraph)

Use Word Art, boarders, background color, and text color to make your page coordinate with your diorama's theme.

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." - Mark Twain

Perform three random acts of kindness this week. Write about what things you tried to do, why you wanted to do each one, and how everything worked out. Have fun making the world a kinder place!

"A faithful friend is a strong defense, and he that hath found him hath found a treasure."
- Louisa May Alcott

Coming to CLC without knowing any/many people is a very brave thing to do. Each of you bravely walked into our room on your first day wondering if you would make new friends this year.

Write about the friends you made this year at CLC. How did your friendship start, grow, and how will you maintain it in the future?

"People forget how fast you did a job - but they remember how well you did it." - Howard W. Newton

Do you agree with this quote? What does it mean? Does it relate to your life?

Write a persuasive essay that tells your opinion about this quote.

"He who has never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great." - Herman Melville

Think about something you may have failed at so far this school year, how you felt, and what the consequences - both immediate and long-term - were for what happened. Is there anything you would have done differently? Did you learn anything from the experience?

Write a journal entry today that answers the questions above in light of Melville's quote. Make a New Year's resolution based upon your reflections.

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. - John Ruskin

Each season—spring, summer, fall or winter—offers special sights and sounds.
Select one season and describe its unique qualities.

I'll be using this rubric to score this week's journal entry.

"I Have a Dream . . ."

Dr. King frequently spoke of his strong desire for freedom. Many were confused by this expressed desire, because they believed that the African-American people had lived in freedom since the Civil War. But Dr. King defined freedom as more than the absence of slavery. He viewed a free society as a society in which all people had equal access to public places, a society in which all people had a voice in government, a society in which all people could obtain a quality education and good jobs, and much more.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines "freedom" as "the condition of being free of restraints. 2. Liberty of the person from slavery, detention, or oppression. 3.a. Political independence. b. Possession of civil rights; immunity from the arbitrary exercise of authority. 4. Exemption from an unpleasant or onerous condition. 5. The capacity to exercise choice; free will. 6. Ease or facility of movement. 7. Frankness or boldness; lack of modesty or reserve. 8.a. The right to unrestricted use; full access. b. The right of enjoying all of the privileges of membership or citizenship."

How are these definitions similar? How are they different?

After listening to Dr. King's speech, make a table with 3 columns. Title the first column, 'Dr. King's Dreams'. Title the second column, 'Were the dreams reached during his life?. ' Label the third column, 'Have the dreams been reached yet?'. Then listen to/read his speech again and fill in your table. Here is the text of his speech.

"You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance." - Ray Bradbury

What does Bradbury mean? How does this quote apply to your own life? Does peer pressure have anything to do with this quote? Is peer pressure a good or a bad thing?

Write a persuasive essay that tells your point of view about peer pressure. Develop a strong thesis before beginning your journal entry, and then write an introductory paragraph that includes your statement. Be sure to use one of our introduction strategies. As you write the body paragraphs for your essay, be sure to back up your point of view with specific examples. Wrap up your essay with a concluding paragraph that uses one of the conclusion strategies that we've learned.

"I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen." - Ernest Hemingway

Do you listen well to others? Do you do most of the talking? Draw a cartoon self-portrait of yourself - a caricature, if you wish. Around the outline of your face, write words to describe yourself - what are your character traits?

Write an essay describing three of your character traits. Be sure to include topic and concluding sentences for each paragraph. Include an introductory and concluding paragraph if you already know how to do that.

A group of teachers from around the world is visiting CLC. One is from an overcrowded school in London; another from a rural school just outside Lagos, Nigeria and one is from an urban school in Beijing.

They have heard of the innovative work being done with technology, but are unsure that it is a wise way to spend money. They argue that good teaching does not need technology and that if children work hard enough, they will do just as well without computers.

Before they arrive, you are going to write them a letter, welcoming them to CLC and explaining why the technology here benefits you and the other students. You will be polite and friendly, but persuasive and honest in your argument.

• Think of the technology you use everyday.
• What are the advantages? What are the disadvantages?
• Do you think you would achieve more in a ‘normal’ American school? Why?
• How do you think the CLC approach would benefit students in the teachers’ home countries.
• Use the list of questions above to help you to form your thesis sentence.
• Complete this essay organizer form.
• Write your letter. Your letter should have a greeting, introduction to the school, conclusion and sign off. It should be persuasive and focused.

Happy New Year

Welcome to the year of the tiger.

The Chinese lunar calendar is 2,640 years older than ours and never begins on January 1st, nor does it begin on the same date each year. It can begin any time between January 21st and February 18th, depending on the date of the new moon in Aquarius. Each year is named for an animal. Every 12 years this cycle begins again

The Chinese say that the animal ruling the year you were born will influence your life. Click here to find out what 'sign' you were born under. Scroll down the page to find out the personality traits that are associated with your animal. Then read a Chinese folk tale about your animal.

Write a journal entry about what you learned about Chinese New Year and the meaning of your symbol.

Disease/Condition Comic Book Guidelines

Goal: Create a 'take away' comic or coloring book about your disease/condition.

Use Comic Life to design your cartoon.
The reading level of your comic book should be at the third grade level.
Include basic information about the definition, symptoms, treatment, and prevention of the disease/condition in your cartoon.
Include resource information (for parent use) at the end of the comic book.
View the cover of a comic book that teaches children about different types of vision to give you an idea about how to create the cover for your comic book.

"I do not know how anyone can live without some small place of enchantment to turn to.” - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Listen to this story called "The Man by the Window" written by Harry Buschman. Now imagine that you are staring out of a window. t might be their own bedroom or kitchen window, a window in school or at a friend’s house. Write a descriptive essay that describes the view from your window. If you're stuck, use these questions to help you:

• What do you see straight ahead of you? 
• What is on the left? 
• Something is different today – what is it?
• What else can you see? A detail.
• Suggest the time of day or the time of year. 
• Look harder. Write about two more details, one of them so far in the distance you can hardly see it… or maybe can’t see it at all…

"Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it." - George Orwell

What do you think your generation is more intelligent about? Jot down ideas, then arrange those ideas into an outline with a strong thesis statement. Back up your position with specific examples, and write a 5 paragraph essay describing what is great about your generation. Include an introduction and conclusion. Make sure that you write 3 'body' paragraphs that have good topic sentences and plenty of details and examples to back up your ideas.

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”
- Anna Quindlen

Another way to help Sarah to get to know you is to tell her about some of the challenges you have faced during your life. These could be things that happened to you outside of school, in your old school, and/or at CLC. Maybe you have worked through some of these challenges and things are OK now. Maybe you're still trying to figure out how to make things better.

Write an essay about the challenges you have faced and/or are facing. Be sure to organize your essay with an introduction and conclusion. Each paragraph should have a focused topic, use transition words, and include descriptive language.

Tell about your stay at Outdoor School. Write about the things you learned about nature, the activities you did, the games you played, the songs you sang, the new people you met, etc.

Create a Creature

Create your very own ocean creature. First consider what it looks like: how big is it? Is it pretty much all one color, or is it multi-colored? How big is its tail? Where does it live? What is its range? What is its food source?

After you have brainstormed about your creature, start drawing your critter, and then write up a full description of your creation. Include its name, description, habitat, and habits.

"Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act for yourself. Speak for yourself. Be yourself. Imitation is suicide."

- Marva Collins

"Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." - Lewis Carroll

It's a good thing that Lewis Carroll was able to believe those six impossible things before taking his tea and toast - we have The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland and Alice through the Looking Glass as a result.

For your journal entry this week, name six impossible things that you would really like to be possible, stating why you chose them and what could be done to make them possible.

"Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together."
- Carl Zwanzig

What inspires an invention? Today you get to begin the process of thinking about what your original invention will be that you'll make for our Invention Convention.

One way to get an idea for an invention is to brainstorm. For example, here are some ideas to start you off: The things that irritate me the most about my brother are... The best way to wake me up in the morning would be... The fastest way to clean up my room would be...

Pick one idea and write an essay about why you think it would be a good invention, how you would go about building the invention, and how you would 'sell' your idea to the general public.

"Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place."
- Mark Twain

We've had a lot of fun this year. Pick three fun/funny things that happened to you/our team this year and write about each one in your journal.