Our first writing assignment was inspired by the Time Magazine article "10 Questions." We used this well known article as a mentor text to model out own writing after. Students discovered that there we commonalities in the articles from week to week which included formatting, fun, easy language, and that previous research was done before the interview was conducted. They then thought about what aspects make them interesting; what makes them special. This was used as a starting point to ask questions around and answer.
I chose this assignment first, not only as a way to get accustomed to using mentor text, but also as a way to get to know each other in class. If feel like all enjoyed the challenge and enjoyed writing about what makes them a cool kid.
This was also our first assignment using Google Classroom. I created a template for them to download on to their Google Drive, which they can access from anywhere. They were able to work on it in class and at home. It also allowed them to get familiar with some features they might not have worked with before: using tables, bolding and italicizing, and importing photos. Finally, students were able to just click "turn in" for me to look over and give feedback. Overall this was a great first writing assignment!
