Dolor Sit AmetIssue #: [Date]

Students were given a journal entry: What is fate? What is free will? Give an example from your life. Students wrote their examples on the white board under the fate side or the free will side. Discussion followed.

After reading Oedipus aloud, students had a total of three journal entries that week: - Do you think Oedipus is exerting free will or is fate determining his path? Aim for three examples. - Discuss in detail one example (possibly from yesterdays journal) of free will or fate that Oedipus exhibits.- Discuss in detail ONE MORE example of free will or fate that Oedipus exhibits. (If your stance was that Oedipus was a victim of fate, choose another example of fate from the text).

Students were given the prompt, discuss whether Oedipus is responsible for his own downfall or is a victim of fate, and an outline to use on the exam. The outline asked students to do the following for each body paragraph: Discuss your reason for the position you chose, give specific examples from the play, use one quote for support properly cited.

THE PROCESS:321To see if journal writing increases essay writing skills, comprehension, and better scores on the final assignment. CONTEXT:

During this inquiry project I taught the text Oedipus by Sophocles to three 11th grade English courses at Ferndale High School in Ferndale. My focus was on increasing their writing skills through the use of journal entries that included support with specific evidence and textual examples.

This picture shows student engagement in a journal entry, connection of learning to a text, and the beginning process of a writing assignment.QUESTION:

Will weekly journal writing motivate students to increase achievement, connect learning, and affect writing skills for formulating a final product?

INQUIRY GOALS:Fate is to put your belief and trust in something unexplained. For example in God.Free will is to work rationally on your own, believing in your own ideas and acts.Oedipus tries to escape his fate of killing his own father and marrying his mother by leaving Corinth. Oedipus thinks he is choosing free will by leaving his home, but he is actually assisting his fate. The story teaches that Oedipus fate was sealed from the day he was born and he cant change his fate in any way.The prophecy given to Laius and Jocasta is another example of unavoidable fate. Even though it wasnt their own choice to get rid of their son, their reaction to the prophecy set up the events for the future.

3211RESOURCES:QUOTES FROM STUDENTS JOURNALS:Helped develop the process: Burke, J. (2008). The english teacher's companion: A guide to classroom, curriculum, and the profession (3rd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemaan.Helped connect prior learning to new learning: Farrington, M. (1997). You know more than you think you do: A new guide at "write what you know". The Quarterly, 19(3). Helped build engagement and discussion, which led to an enhanced final product: Denne-Bolton, S. (2013). The dialogue journal: A tool for building better writers. English Teaching Forum, 51(2).

Not all students put effort into their journal entry responses, but the ones that did were able to use the information from their journals on their outline, and did. Students that used an outline on their assessment consistently scored higher. Students journal entries served as a rough draft for their assessment. Most students used the material from their journal entries on their outlines, but some students came up with new ideas. If I were to do this again, I would have students turn their journal responses into me daily for an accuracy grade. The students that did not have thoughtful responses, I would dock points, and I would leave feedback encouraging improvement in a specified area.

RESULTS AND REFLECTIONS:

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