What a week in ELA! After taking our nonfiction test the week prior, I had this week to reteach concepts the students needed more time on. I used Tuesday to work on analyzing text-based questions and developing a central idea based on each question. We used texts we've read this year to do so. We continued this focus on Wednesday, and the kids showed a lot of progress in both areas. Wednesday night's homework, Thursday's class period, and Thursday night's homework all had students preparing for a text-based debate on the advantages and disadvantages of technology in our world today. I gave students three kid-friendly articles that presented both sides of the overarching question, which was, "Do you think technology has impacted the world in a positive or negative way?" The purpose was for students to decide on a claim in response to the question and then find evidence in the articles to support their claim. I also encouraged students to use outside sources to strengthen their argument. Many students did so, and will receive extra homework credit for that additional effort. Friday was the debate. The kids got super into it and I loved it. Everyone had a chance to speak in both classes and they used debate sentence stems to agree, disagree, clarify, and add on to each other's points. They referred back to the sources from which they found their evidence throughout the debate. When the timer went off to signal its end, we were all disappointed! I can't wait to do more this school year.

Our Bucket Fillers were Tanner and Robert. This is Tanner's second week in a row! She definitely deserves it. She is an enthusiastic learner who consistently puts effort into her work. Robert blows me away on a daily basis. He is incredibly bright yet continues to seek out ways to challenge himself. He genuinely appreciates when I give him constructive feedback, which I love. Congrats you two!