Hi remaining students -- Here we go, one last time. As a writer and drama guy, I'm always interested in the points in life where change occurs. I call them "pivots."    I invite you to write at least one paragraph about a time during this past year when something you did at school (or through a school-related activity) caused your life to change in some important way. (This could also be a change in the way you see yourself.)   I'm not looking for a relationship story. I'd like this to be about an internal change you experienced as a result of something KCS-related. The change might have been prompted by a project, a presentation or classwork. It might have come as a result of sports, a club or performing for an audience. It might have been a success or a failure. Only you know, and only you can express it.   As you write, please tell what triggered the change and also tell how you changed.   Please send your paragraph(s) to me at tstevens.kcs@gmail.com

Thanks for your participation this year.   Aloha, tom stevens

This week's virtual Language Arts is very different, so please read the directions carefully: Use this time to work on one reflection for your student led conference portfolio. We're all doing this, but each advisory teacher has presented it slightly differently. So, to avoid confusion, refer to your advisers School Concept page for the guidelines. Finish the reflection that you started in advisory last week and send it to your adviser (not your language arts teacher). You will receive a grade in language arts and advisory for this activity. Tips for Success: Remember your audience and purpose. Your audience is yourself, your adviser, and your parents. Your purpose is to think deeply and meaningfully about your learning over the last year. You should be able to proudly acknowledge your learning while honestly recognizing opportunities for growth and improvement. Remember that a paragraph should have a topic sentence, at least three supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence (think shaka). Provide factual and detailed support. (For examle, this lacks support: "I should have started the project earlier." This is much better, "Mr. Marggraf gave us three weeks to work on it but I waited until two days before it was due to start.") Avoid generalities. (For example, this is a generality: "I didn't do a good job on this assignment." This is more specific: "I ignored Ms Friedman's advice to always check my work; consequently, I made several careless errors and got 6 out of 10 problems wrong." Proofread! Proofread! Proofread!

Several of you had trouble forwarding the G.I.S.T. template for one reason or another, but you were able to send the paragraph. If you're keen on getting all of the language arts credit for the piece, you could show me the template during the week at school. Otherwise, don't lose sleep over it. Aloha, TS

Recently, I have noticed that several students at KCS still struggle with summarizing.  Several of you are still copy-pasting entire sentences into your "summaries" for current events and in the right-hand column of your research logs.  This often leads to the dreaded "P" word:  PLAGIARISM.  It also prevents you from fully processing and understanding what you are reading.  So, as they say in Hawaiian, Hana Hou!

Directions:

1. Read the article entitled "Gulf Oil Spill A Slow-Motion Hurricane" that was assigned by your science and/or math teacher. 
2. Click on this link to open the Gist Template.
3. Follow the directions on the Gist Template to fill in the details from the article.
4. When you have completed the Gist Template, save it.  
5. Use the information from your Gist Template to write a one paragraph summary of the article.
6. Send an email to your language arts teacher that contains the paragraph summary in the body of the email and the Gist Template pdf attached to the email.

By the way:

• If you don't know what the word "gist" means, look it up.
• Scoring:  HCPS = 5 pts for a completed gist template.    21C = Well written & proofread paragraph.
• Students who obviously have copy/pasted phrases or fail to proofread their paragraph will lose all of their 21st Century Points.  

aloha language arts people -- your presentations for economics (upper division) and hawaiian history (lower division) will spin off a language arts grade as well. The rubrics are posted under my files. Break a leg, TS