Personal Essay Stack

I shared my persuasive essay stack last month. Now here are the personal essays! This unit usually comes earlier in the year than persuasive writing. It tends to be the first time I use the "stack" technique with students and requires more time and planning. It also involves using "noticings" and a model essay. I've used these materials in grades 6-8. I usually incorporate reading skills into the unit for different essays as well. The unit ends with students writing their own personal essays. Those instructions are included in the stack. Happy reading!

Personal Essay Stack

Daily Expectations

At The Pinnacle Schools in Huntsville, AL there is a school-wide behavior management system. Students earn points in each class and the points result in moving up levels and earning various rewards. In the Middle School, we try to keep all of our expectations for points the same across classes for consistency. One of the ways we found to remind students of these expectations, is by keeping them permanently posted on the board. Students know how they earn points, how they lose points, and how they earn a bonus point for each class.

Must Do: what students must do in class to earn their two points.
May Do: what students can do extra to earn bonus points.
May Not Do: what students may not do will result in loss of points, even if they complete the Must Do activities.

 The Must Do activities are usually "complete required assignment" and "stay quietly seated." May Do sometimes varies, but most of the time it is "have no redirections." The May Not Do includes things like "sleeping," "getting out of your seat without permission," "talking in class," and "playing computer games without permission." Basically, all negative behaviors can result in loss of points and positive behaviors result in gain of points. The posted reminder helps me to enforce the expectations without too much push back from the students.