English Language Arts Inquiry Unit

The Outcomes GCO GCO 9: Students will be expected to create texts collaboratively and independently, using a variety of forms for a range of audiences and purposes SCO 9.3 Understand that ideas can be represented in more than one way and experiment with different forms

Assignment for I UNIT In groups students are expected to create a visual essay in order to explain where and why a garden would be useful for the school The goal of the essay will be to use this piece of work as a founding block for their letters to government that they will be writing in Social Studies

Day One: Can all forms of text create meaning? Assignment One: Show different pictures and ask students write down what they mean ( to try to get students to think about how text without words still shows meaning) Show video montage. Have students write down what the montage means. Either jot notes of paragraph form. Video MontageVideo Montage Show a video on a community garden. Have students write a paragraph on why they feel this is successful or not successful for their own school to have and what they could use it for. Community Garden Community Garden Get students into groups for tomorrows activity: Give each a type of vegetable. They must find similar types of veggies. Ie. Root veggies, lettuces, etc Then give quick project overview

Day Two: Create their own text APK: visual essays- beginning, middle, end Have students explain what is happening in this picture- when do t they feel it transgresses to the beginning, middle and end. Visual Essay: Students are to spend the remainder of the class walking around the school taking pictures that they feel would benefit their visual essay on “Why ____ should Have a School Garden” Get students into their groups and hand each one a dispose able camera (donated). Students are to make an outline and brainstorm ideas within their group before they go take pictures. They are to keep notes of what pictures they took and why they took it. (table will be provided, appendix A)

Day Three: Creating a Visual Essay Students are handed back their developed pictures. They are to spend the class setting up their visual essay on a piece of chart paper. Beside each picture is a small blurb. They are supposed to keep in mind that essays have beginning middle and end and that there have to be pictures and points to support what their essay is about

Day Four: Finishing up Students read a paragraph and then watch a video on a similar topic. They are then to write what one they felt brought the point forward more. 100 Mile Challenge Time is given for students to finish any touch ups their groups need to do on their visual essays Students are to complete a peer and self evaluation (appendix C/D) Students are given a reflection question to be done for homework (appendix E)

Assessment Students are to hand in a portfolio at the end of the unit. This is a incomplete/complete portfolio. It should include the three activities they did on day one, The table of pictures and the brain storm they did on day two and the activity they did on day four. 10% Visual Essay 25% (appendix b) Peer Evaluation 5% (appendix c) Self Evaluation 5% (appendix d) Reflection- 5% Homework (appendix e)