In the beginning of the unit many kids were disappointed to hear we would start the year off with realistic fiction stories.They REALLY wanted to write fantasy or fictional stories. Fortunately, our realistic fiction unit was a hit once they realized we can use our own lives as inspiration. We shared a lot of personal stories and then our unit took off! The lessons focused on a broad range of topics:
- building characters with traits (internal and external, who evolves by the end)
- a story arc with an introduction, rising action, climax, falling action and conclusion
- how to show, not tell the details of the story
- conventions (paragraphing, capitalization, punctuation)
PBL
The intention is to connect our own lives with people from other parts of the world by slowing down to observe carefully and listen attentively. We do this by exchanging stories about people, places and identity. We also reflect on how our lives connect to bigger human stories, like what Paul experiences along his journey (war, culture, lifestyles, challenges, etc.) .
Your student has an account with Out of Eden, which is connected to our learning groups. We are encouraging students to leave comments and respond to their own posts as often as they would like. Ideally, students will be commenting on posts of students other than QAE students. There are a few keys things students should follow while commenting on posts (appreciate, probe/question, reflect, and connect). This is not a forum for students to correct other students on grammar or ideas.
For more information check out the link to Our of Eden
Genius Hour