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Project Description
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"Turn Over a New Leaf" is a project designed to help students take things that they have done in the past (i.e. not doing homework, being a problem at school etc.) and really think about them. The students first learn about the expression "to turn over a new leaf" during the reading of Class Clown by J. Hurwitz, a popular fourth grade book. Students are then asked to bring in 3-5 leaves from home (a big motivator) for a project that they will be working on for several days. Next the students are asked to reflect on their past and think of some things that they have done that they wish they could change. We tried to focus on school-related issues. The students then write a story about turning over a new leaf using the 6+1 traits of good writing. In their stories the students were asked to explain what "turning over a new leaf" meant, explain what they would like to turn over a new leaf about, and tell me how they would go about doing this. My inspiration for doing this project was that coming into the new year many of my students had already made a name for themselves in a negative way. I was hoping this assignment would help them reflect on the past so that they could improve the future and start the year off well.
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Rubric Information
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| Rubric Title | Turn Over a New Leaf |
| Rubric ID | 405583 |
| Teacher Name | Francesca Moen |
| School | Meadowdale Elementary School |
| Subject | Language Arts |
| Grade | 4 |
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Project Includes
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| Links | |
| Standards | NL-ENG.K-12.3 Evaluation Strategies
NL-ENG.K-12.6 Applying Knowledge
NL-ENG.K-12.11 Participating in Society
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills
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| Teacher Tips | I think this was very successful. All of the students completed the assignment and were very excited about having me read their stories. If I were to do this again, I would bring in more books that discuss turning over a new leaf to share with my students.
RubiStar helped me create a well-thought rubric that assessed what I was looking for and helped the students focus on areas needing improvement.
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