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I hope all of you are doing well during this time. Thankfully, my family and I are doing well. The most important thing for you and your family right now is to stay safe and healthy. However, the lesson plans below might be a way for you to process what is going on and might help you to be a little happier in this trying time. While we are all ordered to stay at home and remain off campus, I want you to know that I deeply care about your education, and I want to do anything I can to help you to continue to learn and grow as a person.
All assignments and resources are optional. Per the district, assignments will not be graded. However, assignments submitted can be reviewed and feedback provided upon request. Any lessons held remotely will also be optional. Even though we are not in a classroom setting, I would encourage all of you to do your best and continue learning remotely. As we figure out this online learning together, I’m going to set up online platforms for us to see the work we’re creating.
I know this is a challenging time right now for all of us. Your education is important to me, as it should for you.
This was created by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle
You are living through an unprecedented moment in history—right now! Today, tomorrow, and the days that follow will be captured in history books. Someday, you will share stories with your children and grandchildren about living through this time. Because these days are historical, it is critical that we not let these events pass without capturing how they affect you, your family, your school, and your community.
Since you will be “schooling” from home, I will describe here the daily assigned work to be done outside the classroom. Here are your daily writing and reading requirements:
Daily writing:
You will be asked to write two pages (or more) a day in your writer’s notebook , capturing your thoughts, questions, comments, and concerns about the events that are unfolding. I want you to capture this history—your history—any way you’d like. Below are some suggestions for your daily writing, but you do not need to follow them. Feel free to generate your own thinking.
Some possibilities for daily writing:
- Capture how this virus has disrupted your school year—including sporting events,
- concerts, assemblies, dances.
- Discuss how your daily life has been disrupted.
- Share the effect it has had on your friends and family.
- As we go into more social isolation, you might write reviews of movies, television shows, podcasts, video games to share with your classmates. We will create digital spaces on Schoology and Flipgrid to share this thinking (details to follow).
- Respond to any seed about the crisis you find interesting. A “seed” can be an article, a broadcast, a Tedtalk, a tweet, a photograph, a podcast, a film, an Instagram (or another online) post, a TikTok video, a political cartoon—anything that spurs some thinking about the crisis. This is much like the seed writing we do in class. You are encouraged to find your own seeds—whatever you think is worth writing about—but if you have trouble getting started, you might want to respond to one or more of the following seeds:
- Coronavirus explained in a TedTalk: Coronavirus Is Our Future | Alanna Shaikh| TEDxSMU
- Political cartoons: Corona News
- Who will pay the salary of stadium workers? One player steps up. Pelicans Star Zion Williamson Pledges to Pay the Salaries for Staffers of the Smoothie King Center
- Student sent home for profiting on the selling of hand sanitizer: Student Sent Home For Selling Hand Sanitizer By The Squirt To Classmates, Mom Says
- Creating a coronavirus songlist: Rita Wilson Crowdsources Coronavirus 'Quarantunes' Playlist From Her Fans
- Podcast on the Coronavirus: Ologies “Virology (COVID-19) with Dr. Shannon Bennet + various ologists ”
- Researchers are using a World of Warcraft scenario to understand COVID-19’s spread: PCGamer article.
- A look at coronavirus through comics: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/28/809580453/just-for-kids-a-comic-exploring-the-new-coronavirus
- Is paper money safe? https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-03-12/cash-coronavirus
- How can we stop the curve of infection?: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/
These are here if you need help getting started. As the crisis unfolds, you will be able to easily find new seeds that encourage reflection. This story changes every day. Do not depend on the teacher to do your thinking for you. Find seeds worthy of writing and thinking about. Be creative; Write across genres: poetry, dialogue (just capture a conversation between people), description: zoom in on a moment you experience; discuss songs that capture these events for you; find and respond to charts and graphs worth thinking about.
Or perhaps you’d like to make a scrapbook. If so, here are some samples to spur your thinking:
Or perhaps you’d like to make a scrapbook. If so, here are some samples to spur your thinking:
Here is another site that shows ways of keeping interesting notebooks:
You might also want to look at how other people in history captured historical events. Here, for example, is a look at the notebooks of Anne Frank, which have been read by millions of people: https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/diary/complete-works-anne-frank/
Again, be creative as you decide how best to chronicle your thinking. What is the best way to capture this historical moment? You decide. Be creative!
Your daily writing will not be graded. It will not even be read unless you grant permission. So take risks. Be honest. Try to create writing that you will be interested in re-reading years from now. Chronicle your thinking as we navigate these uncertain days/weeks. If you do not have your notebook at home, you may write on paper or create a Google Doc.
That said, if this quarantine is extended, we will create a digital space where we can eventually begin sharing our writing. You will not be asked to share everything you write, but occasionally you will be asked to join the written “conversation.”
Each day, as usual, I will be writing alongside you as well.
Daily Reading
Find a book to read. Any book that interests you. Your choice. You are asked to read this book for 30 or more minutes every school day. You are asked to time your reading every day, and to track the time you spend reading on a self-made chart. The chart you create can be hand-written or created digitally, and it might look like this example:
The goal here is 30 minutes a day of sustained, uninterrupted reading. I know that may be difficult for some of you, as you may face interruptions at home, but it is critical that you do your best to find uninterrupted reading time as a means to building your stamina. If you do not have a book, you can download one for free from the public library system. If you own a Kindle, here are places you can download free books:
Though we may not see each other for a while, we will combat “social distancing” by remaining connected to one another. There is strength in community, and it is this strength that will pull us through this event. This moment will pass, so don’t let these days elapse without capturing your thinking and experiences. Capture your history in real time.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us through email or text or a call.
Sincerely,
Mr. Schreiber
Ms. Atilano
