Learning Logs allow me to connect with you every day! I am able to provide feedback on the your writing on a daily basis.
- LL's are worth 35 points a week and total 25% of the overall class grade.
- There are 10 boxes that get scored over the course of the week, 2 per day (“What I Learned” box and “Word-a-Day” box).
- I will give a prompt to which you respond for the “What I Learned” box.
- Fridays are Double Star opportunity days when I give an extra star for correctly responding to the prompt! This allows a "make-up" or "bonus" star for the week. (Depending on the situation, there are other days when I offer extra stars as well.)
- A check mark on a box in your LL means that the ideas were on the right track, but there was an error made in execution (grammar, punctuation, etc.) Grading Scale
What I Learned Rules for Students: - Fill out for EVERY DAY you are in school. If it’s a holiday or you are absent, you are excused for that day. Write the holiday (ex: "Labor Day") or reason you were not in class if not absent from school (ex: "In auditorium").
- If you are ABSENT, your neighbor will write THE HOMEWORK in the “What I learned” box. WHEN YOU RETURN TO SCHOOL, LOOK HERE FIRST FOR YOUR MAKE UP WORK! Your neighbor will also staple any necessary papers to your LL.
- If you are absent on Friday, you need to turn it in on Monday to receive the grade. OTHERWISE IT WILL BE MISSING! (i.e., a 0!)
- If you do not copy down the Learning Goals for two or more days, this will count as one missing star.
- DO NOT use second person. Use First (I, me, my, mine, etc) or Third (noun, he, she, it, they, etc).
Word A Day Rules for Students: - You need to write down A DIFFERENT word for every day of the week, WHETHER WE ARE IN SCHOOL OR NOT.
- FIVE DAYS A WEEK = FIVE WORDS EACH WEEK
- You are NOT ALLOWED to write down a word in advance of the current day. (For example, filling out words and definitions for Tuesday and Wednesday if it is only Monday.)
- You need to choose words that are NEW TO YOU. DO NOT write words that I know you already know. (For example, “birthday”, “chair”, “teacher”, etc.)
- You need to spell the word correctly to receive credit.
- You need to use correct capitalization (either capitalized if it’s a proper noun, or lower case if it’s a common noun/verb/adjective/etc.) to receive credit.
- YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE WORDS FROM THE PLANNER or from on-line dictionaries' "Word of the Day" selections (then the internet does the work for you- and that's no good!).
- You are NOT ALLOWED to choose a random word from the dictionary. It needs to be connected to your learning.
- Choose words you have learned in class that day or words from your independent reading. If you are completely stuck, you may also use the words from the English vocabulary list that I will hand out during the Fall.
IN THE “WHAT I LEARNED” AND “W-A-D” SECTIONS: - USE FIRST (I, ME, MY, MINE, ETC) OR THIRD (NOUN, HE, SHE, IT, THEY, ETC) PERSON. - YOU WILL COST YOURSELF A STAR IF YOU USE SECOND PERSON!!! (YOU, YOUR)
Extra Notes for W-A-D:
Make sure to CAPITALIZE only if the word is a PROPER NOUN; otherwise write the W-A-D lower case.
You may use your phone to look up definitions on an app or the internet. Do not choose random words from online.
If there is more than one definition, choose the definition that matches the context from where you got the word.
If the definition defines the word using a form of the word, dig deeper. Look up the form of the word used in the definition to further clarify. See photo example linked below.
For example: “oddity: something odd or the quality or state of being odd.” You need to look up odd because that’s the root of oddity. You can’t define a word by using another form of it.
Another example: “orthodontist: a dentist who specializes in orthodontics.” You need to look up orthodontist because that’s part of the word you are defining.