Of Picture Books and Perspectives...

Today, we are handing in our final drafts of the SYNTHESIS essay. You made it! I really appreciate your hard work on an arduous skill--and I am very proud of each of you writing and revising these essays paragraph by paragraph.

Yes!

Yesterday, after reviewing the proper heading and workshopping engaging titles, we had the chance to channel our inner five-year old selves. We left our seats and gathered on the floor in the center of the room for a reading of the awesome picture book Emmanuel's Dream by Laurie Ann Thomspon. Since we had just finished writing our synthesis essays based on the documentary about Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah and the novel The Breadwinner, it was a great time to read a fabulous picture book.

WE ARE NEVER TOO OLD FOR PICTURE BOOKS! 

Our word of the day yesterday was ANTIQUITY, which simply means ancient times. An example of the the word in a sentence is One of my favorite people is Socrates, who lived in antiquity, but whose wisdom still resonates today.

Our word of the day for today is DUBIOUS, which means causing doubt or untrustworthy.

Today, we are beginning our new novel, Nothing but the Truth by Avi. We read aloud from the opening pages and for tonight, share a couple of sentences on the class blog with your response to this question: WHAT IS PATRIOTISM, AND HOW IMPORTANT (or unimportant) IS IT?

Rounding the Bend with SYNTHESIS!

Today in class, we did a double- peer revision of our synthesis essays. Yes! We talked about some of the key areas to look for in our essays. As you continue editing at home, be sure to check these KEY WRITING GUIDELINES before printing out your final draft.

The final draft of our synthesis essays will be due this Wednesday, March 9. Be sure to include all your rough draft work stapled behind the final draft. And here is the overview of the mission in case you need an extra copy of you'd like to print out one to frame for your bedroom wall, or you want to double-check that you've followed the outline. 

Also, remember to include our WORD OF THE DAY words within your synthesis essay:

SYNTHESIS

PANACEA

ASTUTE

NEFARIOUS

RUMINATE

PERPETUAL

ARDUOUS

Be sure to check in the blog posts below if you need more information, to watch the video clip explaining synthesis, or to be sure your paragraphs follow some of the examples we explored in class. YOU CAN DO THIS!! I am very proud of the work you have each put into this essay so far, and I'mm really looking forward to the final drafts.

Rock on!

Peace,

Mr. R

Examples of Synthesis...Yes!

Hello Class!

Yesterday, we dove into our Synthesis essays, but we did so backwards. Instead of beginning at the, well, beginning,, we began with our second and third paragraphs. Even though it seems crazy, the easiest way to write a synthesis essay is to figure out each part first, and THEN combine them together to make the whole.

So, yesterday we write our theme paragraphs about Emmanuel's Gift and then about The Breadwinner.

Here is a snapshot of one example from our board on how to craft the paragraph about Emmanuel's Gift:

And today, we are building our Introductions--complete with our actual synthesis statements! Here is a link to the examples we'll discuss in class today on how to find your synthesis statement. 

And finally (finally!) here is a video that explains how to get your synthesis statement in case you need a refresher, or you love synthesis SO much that you just can't wait until school tomorrow to hear all about it again!

Our word of the day yesterday was PERPETUAL, which means continuing on forever. And our word of the day today is ARDUOUS, which means incredibly hard!

Have an awesome day and evening!

Peace,

Mr. R

Emmanuel's Gift: HOPE

We are getting towards the denouement of our remarkable documentary Emmanuel's Gift. In watching, we are preparing for our SYNTHESIS ESSAY for the upcoming week, as we combine the theme of Emmanuel's Gift with the theme from The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis to create a BRAND NEW IDEAS about what matters most in life.

Here is the link to our synthesis essay assignment.

Our word of the day from Wednesday was NEFARIOUS which means having a desire to hurt; wicked; evil. And our word of the day for today is RUMINATE which means to think deeply.

Today in class, we also crafted some possible thematic statements fro Emmanuel's Gift, and you came up with great examples such as: The theme in Emmanuel's Gift is that one must always keep pushing forward even when it seems or feels impossible. 

Another example from class is: The theme in Emmanuel's Gift is that because society calls one 'disabled' does not make a verdict that one is unable.

Thanks for your thoughtfulness and excitement today.

Have an awesome weekend!

Peace,

Mr. Reynolds

Synthesis Essay!

We're digging deeper into SYNTHESIS today! Yesterday, we created fascinating, powerful, and sometimes silly tales about how two random objects could be synthesized to create a new narrative.

Today, we took the leap from our objects into the realm of ideas. Here is the SYNTHESIS ESSAY assignment which we explored in class today. 

After reviewing the new project, we then began screening our documentary entitled Emmannuel's Gift. 

Our word of the day for today is ASTUTE, which means wise; having the ability to make good choices.

Have an awesome day!

Peace,

Mr. R

Getting to Paragraph Two in Synthesis

Alright! Today we sauntered our past past paragraph one in our synthesis essays and arrived--not yet exhausted--at paragraph two. Here is the link for some examples of our first paragraph synthesis statements, which we worked on yesterday. And here is the synthesis assignment (in case space gnomes have stolen it).

And HERE is a link to a video on how to create your synthesis statement for your introductory paragraph in case you need a review or were absent. 

Today, we worked on crafting topic sentences for our second paragraphs for our synthesis essays. The rough draft of paragraph two is due tomorrow, and here is an example from our back whiteboard of the process:

The cool thing about synthesis is that--since A + B = C--we already have our topic sentences for Habibi. It's going to be what we used for A yesterday! This second paragraph explores the theme of Habibi on its own terms, and our work is to prove why this theme is actually IN the novel (using two events from the novel). 

Also, before diving in to paragraph two today, we did some editing of our first paragraphs. Here is a picture of our front whiteboard, with the questions we used to revise our first paragraphs: 

And last but not least, our word of the day today was ELICIT, which means to draw out by clever questioning--as in this example: The lawyer elicited the real story during a thirty-minute cross-examination. 

AAAAHHHH! What is Synthesis!? And how do I create a Synthesis Essay?! Aaaahhhh!

Lovely Students!

If you are trying to write your introductions for this synthesis essay assignment, and you are beginning to wonder if Mr. Reynolds is insane, or if synthesis is even a real thing or not, cease and desist!

It is going to be okay. We will get through synthesis together. And forever afterwards, whenever you hear the word SYNTHESIS, you will smile a wide, knowing smile, rub your chin, and say, "Synthesis and I, we're old friends, we are."

You might also say, "Synthesis? I've taken Synthesis around the dance floor for a few twirls. I surely have."

You might even find yourself saying, "Synthesis changed my life forever. In a good way. In a great way. I see the world, now, through the lens of SYNTHESIS."

Can't envision yourself saying any of that stuff? Really? Did you try actually saying that stuff out loud? You did? And that didn't work? Hhhhhhmmmm.

It might be because we need more practice! Yes! As you are working on writing your introductory paragraphs tonight for your synthesis essay, here is a video which goes over some of the key ideas that we explored in class today. It walks through one example of how to create a synthesis essay.

Here goes!

If you'd prefer to watch the video via link, click here and you'll see the same video explanation of synthesis! Yes!

And if you would like to check out some of the models we created in class, here you go! These are some examples of how we found thematic statements for our two texts, and then put them together to create a Synthesis statement. 

Our word for the day is REVERBERATE, which means to echo, or to continue onward even after the action /words have ended. An example of our word in a sentence is this: A kind action can reverberate for years.

Synthesis Essay! (And Changing the World)

Today, we began a discussion of our next writing project: the SYNTHESIS essay! After our reading of HABIBI, we will screen a remarkable documentary entitled EMMANUEL'S GIFT, which reveals the story of Emannuel Ofosu Yeboah. Born with a deformed leg, Emmanuel's mission is to change the country of Ghana's perceptions and laws about people with physical deformities.

After we screen the film, we will begin our SYNTHESIS ESSAY (click here for the essay assignment in case you need to review it, lost a copy, or would like to use it for wrapping paper, love notes, or wall paper for your bedroom walls). 

In unison with our essay assignment, our word for the day is SYNTHESIS, which simply means the combination of two things in order to produce a new, fresh, whole thing! Yes! Think: A + B = C. An example of our word in a sentence is: my wife and I ran a half-marathon recently; alone, we would have quit, but the synthesis of our energy and hope helped us both to finish!