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     As the theme to our reading program this week centers around monuments, I thought it would be a good idea to offer the students a brief research opportunity about their chosen monument in Washington D.C.  The following link will take students to a page where they can select from many of the most popular monuments in our capital:

http://www.thedistrict.com/monuments_and_memorials.cfm

For now, students are responsible for selecting and reading about their monument.  They should then take notes and put together thoughts surrounding three main ideas, similar to the format of an expository essay.  While students are free to choose their own main ideas, my suggested main ideas to write about are:

A)  Who does the monument honor and why is this person or group of people important to our country?  Why do we admire them?

B)   What is the history of the monument?  Who decided to have it?  Who designed it?  Is there anything special about its design?  Was  their any disagreement over how to design it?

C)  Activities at the monument.  Are there any famous events that take place there?  What would you do if you visited it?  What would you want to learn about while you were there?  What would you think about while you were there?

Students should write an introduction that catches a reader's attention and then mention the three main ideas that will be mentioned in the essay. 

I will be working with students on the structure of this essay in class.  It is not due until next Monday but I understand most students will wish to have this completed by Friday to avoid having any work over the Halloween weekend.