Junior Honors

I don’t want to totally spoil the surprise for sixth and eighth periods, but today I assigned a research project to second period and I want to make sure parents are aware of the assignment and the timelines we will be working with.

Each student will be doing a little research of magazines and choosing a magazine he/she would like to write an article for. I have attached the assignment sheet so you can see what is expected. Each student is an expert at something – it could be that he/she is great at snowboarding, or sewing. Perhaps he/she moved around a lot as a child and has learned to adapt to new surroundings. Whatever the experience/skill, what this assignment requires is that the student takes his/her skill or experience, do some research and then write an article for a magazine audience. Whether or not the student actually submits the article is irrelevant. (I have had several middle school students get published in local and national magazines before, though, so it is worth a try). If you have questions or concerns, please let me know.

This is the research timeline:
Jan 8/11 – students will be in media center to do research of magazines. Ms. Miles will help with finding magazines on line and so on.
Jan 12/13 – Pre-write is due (25 points)
Jan 14/15 – research Alphabet Notes are due (25 points)
Jan 22/25 – peer review in class (50 points for preparation and participation)
Final assignment due by 3:00 Jan 28/29

This will mainly be homework, but I am always available to clarify or help.

We will be starting The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on January 20th. Students should have their copy in class for credit at that time. We will work on Huck Finn, a Portfolio Assignment and the Very Last Commonplace Book (90% in class again).