2022-2023 Introduction Video - EMAIL: ferrerf@district65.net
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Syllabus Download here
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Back in School with masks
The best part about teaching are the students. I am so happy to be back in the classroom with all of my students. Right now we are all masked but hopefully we will get to a point (someday) where we can ditch the masks and see each other's face. I haven't updated my website in a while so I apologize but I will try to be better and catch everyone up on what's happened so far this year.
Greetings Chute family
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Welcome to my website. These are crazy times, no doubt. I am teaching both students in front of me and those through my laptop at home. And while wearing a mask too. The kids have been amazing so I want to applaud them. Parents, thank you so much for your support and flexibility. We will make it through this and soon enough. In the fall I expect a full class with lost of masks. We can do this.
About the site: The most important part of this website will be the downloads page for students. If you're looking for more information regarding classwork and assignments please email me (ferrerf@district65.net) and I can get you on the google classroom email list. Best parent tool: SISK and see the link below. In SISK you can see your child's grades and assignments and email teachers directly. Thanks, Mr. Ferrer |
Students held conversations with each other about their books. Then every few minutes they rotated and shared again. There are many strategies you can use with this set up. It's fun too.
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Friday's Restorative Justice Circle - about Race
Since early October Mr. Colville and I have been conducting Restorative Justice Circles most Fridays to our 3rd and 4th period class. This initiative is part of District 65's social emotional learning initiative. In circle each student gets an opportunity to speak and be heard if they so choose. It is entirely up to the student if they would like to speak. Here is the process:
1. We all sit in a Circle. 2. We use a Talking Piece. 3. We use “I Statements.” 4. What’s said in Circle Stays in Circle. 5. We have Openings and Closings to our Circles. ALL CIRCLES ARE RESTORATIVE BY NATURE. THEY FOSTER… *Equity and Inclusion *Self-Exploration and Reflection *Listening and Speaking with Intent *Empathy for One-Self and Others *Accountability *Leadership and Academic Competencies
On Friday we held a very powerful circle as the students spoke about their feelings about race. Today's circle included a short video about racial profiling and how people react differently to the same crime being committed by a white male, a black male, and a blonde girl. Students showed a depth of understanding as they thought and spoke about deep bias that exists between the races. You can see the video under my DOWNLOADS section above. It's called, "What would you do?"
1. We all sit in a Circle. 2. We use a Talking Piece. 3. We use “I Statements.” 4. What’s said in Circle Stays in Circle. 5. We have Openings and Closings to our Circles. ALL CIRCLES ARE RESTORATIVE BY NATURE. THEY FOSTER… *Equity and Inclusion *Self-Exploration and Reflection *Listening and Speaking with Intent *Empathy for One-Self and Others *Accountability *Leadership and Academic Competencies
On Friday we held a very powerful circle as the students spoke about their feelings about race. Today's circle included a short video about racial profiling and how people react differently to the same crime being committed by a white male, a black male, and a blonde girl. Students showed a depth of understanding as they thought and spoke about deep bias that exists between the races. You can see the video under my DOWNLOADS section above. It's called, "What would you do?"
We invited Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and she said yes!
As part of our civil rights unit students provoked some change by picking an issue and writing a member of congress. Many chose to write Jan Schakowsky and so I decided to call her office and invite her in. She said yes! She came February 4th and 16 students lined up to ask her some great questions. We thank you Congresswoman for making the time. You were inspiring and the kids were impressed and let me tell you, it isn't easy to impress middle schoolers.
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Dress Like greaser or a soc from the novel The outsiders
Go to the downloads page for a lot of curriculum
Welcome Back to the 2018-2019 school year
Summer Reading List |
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Poetry
verifying history Project: Civil Rights
Students have been writing their analysis this week. While reading their historical fiction novel about the civil rights movement, students wrote questions when they were surprised by something in their novels. Did this really happen? For example, Is it true that there was a white council inside a government building? or Did the Black Panthers really give kids guns? or When the federal government passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, did the states really resist? These are three of many questions the students developed while reading their novels. Once completed, students did research on the web to find the answer. We focused on high quality sources with strong credentials while they gathered their research. Essays are due Wednesday December 20 by 8PM
2nd Trimester has begun with
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Students have completed both their district on-demand literary analysis as well as their Outsider fan fiction narrative stories. Good news; I've graded them all! Grades are coming out next week.
Civil Rights unit: Book club groups: Mississippi Trial 1955, Fire from the Rock, Revolution, The Rock and the River, and Lions of Little Rock,
Civil Rights unit: Book club groups: Mississippi Trial 1955, Fire from the Rock, Revolution, The Rock and the River, and Lions of Little Rock,
1st Trimester:
I must say we have gotten to a great start to the school year in 7th grade Language Arts with Mr. Ferrer and Mr. Colville. Students are working both individually and in small groups. We've covered academic and behavior expectations, genre, story plot diagram, and are diving deep into common literary themes such as social groups, stereotypes and identity. We have an extensive library at the fingertips of our students. Much more to come as we begin reading our classroom novel, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. This classic coming of age novel deals with many themes such as social groups and identity. Students will eventually finish the novel and write a literary analysis comparing common themes between The Outsiders and a separate short story. Students will analyze two pieces of fiction and prepare evidence and reasoning that supports their theme. That essay will be part of the on-demand district level assessment in writing that will be written during a short period window.
I must say we have gotten to a great start to the school year in 7th grade Language Arts with Mr. Ferrer and Mr. Colville. Students are working both individually and in small groups. We've covered academic and behavior expectations, genre, story plot diagram, and are diving deep into common literary themes such as social groups, stereotypes and identity. We have an extensive library at the fingertips of our students. Much more to come as we begin reading our classroom novel, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. This classic coming of age novel deals with many themes such as social groups and identity. Students will eventually finish the novel and write a literary analysis comparing common themes between The Outsiders and a separate short story. Students will analyze two pieces of fiction and prepare evidence and reasoning that supports their theme. That essay will be part of the on-demand district level assessment in writing that will be written during a short period window.
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Welcome to the 2017-2018 School Year
Welcome to 309! This year students in 309 have two highly qualified, veteran teachers. Joining us this year is 11 year veteran from Chicago Public Schools, Rob Colville. Between Mr. Colville and myself we have over 30 years of teaching experience. Stay tuned as more updates happen. We are starting with a launch unit to make sure each student know the expectations along with a quick review on genre and story structure.
Mr. Colville
May Update- The Civil Rights UNit
Students read a memoir from the civil rights era while creating questions to investigate history. As students read through the book they developed questions and then researched the historical moment presented in the book. We also looked into why authors incorporate fictional characters and events within their stories.
We also watched powerful documentaries, The Children's March and A Time for Justice, presented by Teaching Tolerance and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Both documentaries won Oscars for best short doc.
Students are now finishing body biographies. These large posters will detail many aspects of their protagonist from the novel they just finished.
We also watched powerful documentaries, The Children's March and A Time for Justice, presented by Teaching Tolerance and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Both documentaries won Oscars for best short doc.
Students are now finishing body biographies. These large posters will detail many aspects of their protagonist from the novel they just finished.
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March - April Update- Poetry Unit
We just concluded our poetry unit. Students read a variety of poems from many different themes. Students then picked a theme and found poems online. Students analyzed the thematic meaning behind two poems and then wrote a literary analysis.
Students also created three poems themselves. Students wrote an ode, a dream poem and a protest poem. An ode is a dedication to someone or something. The dream poem was about their dreams for their lives and the protest poem sought to make an invisible job visible. Here is a ode to libraries by Fiona Delmenico
An Ode to Libraries I step into the library,
And the cool wave of air washes over me,
The heat of the summer
Now a distant memory.
I climb the stairs,
A winding snake,
Looking for a book to teleport me to new
And exciting places.
The book I want is small
With a spine that us old
And broken
Smelling like dust and adventure.
When I find me book
I smile at the Librarians,
Who leer at me as
I loudly
Leave the library.
Below is a thesis statement by 7th grader Avery Yanowitz
Students also created three poems themselves. Students wrote an ode, a dream poem and a protest poem. An ode is a dedication to someone or something. The dream poem was about their dreams for their lives and the protest poem sought to make an invisible job visible. Here is a ode to libraries by Fiona Delmenico
An Ode to Libraries I step into the library,
And the cool wave of air washes over me,
The heat of the summer
Now a distant memory.
I climb the stairs,
A winding snake,
Looking for a book to teleport me to new
And exciting places.
The book I want is small
With a spine that us old
And broken
Smelling like dust and adventure.
When I find me book
I smile at the Librarians,
Who leer at me as
I loudly
Leave the library.
Below is a thesis statement by 7th grader Avery Yanowitz
Many poems are written about the theme of inequality, and almost all of these teach the reader a key life lesson about it. Among these are James Derrickson’s poem “Today” and Brent Kincaid’s poem “Disintegration Nation” in which the reader learns that the world is quickly becoming full of inequality.
Argument Unit
Should there be tighter gun control laws? 7th grade debate
January-February: Who wants to argue? Parents beware students are being equipped with logical characteristics of an argument!
dThis month saw the launch of our argument unit. Students read a variety of articles from a number of subjects while learning and identifying the parts of an argument. At the same time they began to explore the different rhetorical strategies advertisers use to persuade people to buy their products. Now students are in the midst of debating in groups for the entire class. Topics chosen by the students are death penalty, gun control, drone use, and government surveillance of its citizens. As you can see the topics are deep and so is their research. Once again a third analysis will take place that coincides with their researched argument topic. You can see our debate protocol below.
December: Dystopian Analysis and Research
Students read dystopian themed novels and analyzed how the setting, different characters, and major events impacted the protagonist. They then wrote their second literary analysis on that subject. I was pretty pleased with many students writing a much better second analysis than to their first. Students then selected a dystopian aspect of their novel that can be related in some sense to current events or issues happening today. Below are some of the pic collages they created after researching their topics.
November: Dystopian Novels
Good Afternoon,
A quick update on what we've done and where we are going. We have been reading our dystopian novels in class and writing down "signposts" of what we find in the novels. Signposts are a variety of reading elements that can be found in most fiction novels, such as, flashbacks, tough questions the characters face, a-ha moments, words of the wiser, contrasts and contradictions, and again and again. Students have been noting these in a log while reading. This week we will be writing our second reading analysis. By the end of the school day Friday, students will be responsible for having a finished essay submitted through google classroom. Please encourage your children to use time wisely in class. I have been meeting individually with many students during this time to help guide their essays. Next week we will begin a fun research project of dystopian elements in modern society.
Thanks,
Mr. Ferrer
A quick update on what we've done and where we are going. We have been reading our dystopian novels in class and writing down "signposts" of what we find in the novels. Signposts are a variety of reading elements that can be found in most fiction novels, such as, flashbacks, tough questions the characters face, a-ha moments, words of the wiser, contrasts and contradictions, and again and again. Students have been noting these in a log while reading. This week we will be writing our second reading analysis. By the end of the school day Friday, students will be responsible for having a finished essay submitted through google classroom. Please encourage your children to use time wisely in class. I have been meeting individually with many students during this time to help guide their essays. Next week we will begin a fun research project of dystopian elements in modern society.
Thanks,
Mr. Ferrer
October: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Good Morning,
I just wanted to send a quick update about our 7th grade Language Arts class. Students have completed the Outsiders thematic literary analysis. I am now going to begin grading the process work that was completed in preparation for the analysis. Those grades should be visible on SISK by the end of the week. There will be an opportunity for students to raise their grades on the analysis by editing their previous version. Right now students are creating a narrative (fan fiction) about the Outsiders. Each student has selected a scene from the book and are writing their own version of the events from a different point of view or perspective. This will be done by the end of the week and then we are beginning the dystopian.
If you have not signed up for my text messages and would like to receive them please send a text to the following number 81010
Send the code below to 81010
If our child is in my 2nd and 3rd period class text @23lit
If your child is in my 6th and 7th period class text @hgef6
Thank you,
Mr. Ferrer
I just wanted to send a quick update about our 7th grade Language Arts class. Students have completed the Outsiders thematic literary analysis. I am now going to begin grading the process work that was completed in preparation for the analysis. Those grades should be visible on SISK by the end of the week. There will be an opportunity for students to raise their grades on the analysis by editing their previous version. Right now students are creating a narrative (fan fiction) about the Outsiders. Each student has selected a scene from the book and are writing their own version of the events from a different point of view or perspective. This will be done by the end of the week and then we are beginning the dystopian.
If you have not signed up for my text messages and would like to receive them please send a text to the following number 81010
Send the code below to 81010
If our child is in my 2nd and 3rd period class text @23lit
If your child is in my 6th and 7th period class text @hgef6
Thank you,
Mr. Ferrer
WELCOME TO 7TH GRADE LITERATURE! 2016-2017
I am happy to announce that I will now be teaching 7th and 8th grade literature here at Chute! I will be housed in Mr. Roche's old room 309 and I am super excited. There is a lot of work to do so lets get started with a simple materials list.
Each student will need:
-a composition notebook. This notebook will be used to respond to literature and will not leave the room. Single sheets of paper will not be removed from this notebook so feel free to buy the old school black and white composition notebooks.
-post-it notes. We will be using these throughout the year so please have them handy.
-1.5 or 2 inch binder. This will also stay housed in the classroom.
More information to follow very soon...Parents can also expect an email prior to the start of school.
Each student will need:
-a composition notebook. This notebook will be used to respond to literature and will not leave the room. Single sheets of paper will not be removed from this notebook so feel free to buy the old school black and white composition notebooks.
-post-it notes. We will be using these throughout the year so please have them handy.
-1.5 or 2 inch binder. This will also stay housed in the classroom.
More information to follow very soon...Parents can also expect an email prior to the start of school.
