Download click here - gfbfoundation.org

Match to Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE)
for Georgia Farm Bureau Middle School Essay Contest
Topic 2017: The Importance of Georgia’s Specialty Crops
Georgia’s specialty crops include a wide range of fruits and vegetables with a Farm Gate Value of
approximately $1.5 billion. The industry is growing through commercial production as well as local
and regional farm markets. Georgia’s top specialty crops are blueberries, pecans, peaches, onions,
watermelon, bell peppers, sweet corn, cabbage and cucumbers.
The Georgia Farm Bureau Middle School Essay Contest can be a tool for meeting some of the Georgia
standards for learning. While the charts below focus on the Georgia Standards of Excellence for English
Language Arts, the topic area can also meet science standards related to “scientific inquiry through reading
informational text.”
6th Grade
Reading Informational
ELAGSE6RI8
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
ELAGSE6I10
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
Writing
ELAGSE6W1
ELAGSE6W2
Text Types and Purpose
ELAGSE6W4
ELAGSE6W5
Production and Distribution of Writing
ELAGSE6W7
ELAGSE6W9
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
ELAGSE6W10
Range of Writing
Language
ELAGSE6L1
ELAGSE6L2
Conventions of Standard English
ELAGSE6L3
Knowledge of Language
ELAGSE6L4
ELAGSE6L5
ELAGSE6L6
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Teaching strategies
(Note: these are only a few of the suggested strategies)
Georgia Farm Bureau Middle School Essay Contest 2017
Matching to State Standards
Page 1 of 4

Invite non-peers (i.e. someone from the county Farm Bureau or Cooperative Extension Service, etc.) to
talk about the specialty crops of Georgia.
Invite a local grower or growers to talk to the students about how they grow these commodities.
Require students to gather information from more than one type of source/media in research or analysis
projects.
Review the basics of writing and integrating quotations effectively.
Insist upon legibility in student work (or preferably typing essay).
Build vocabulary using a variety of strategies (resource materials, context, roots); you may require
students to keep flash cards or databases of acquired vocabulary, especially technical and academic
vocabulary.





7th Grade
Reading Informational
ELAGSE7RI1
Key Ideas and Details
ELAGSE7RI4
Craft and Structure
ELAGSE7RI8
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
ELAGSERI10
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
Writing
ELAGSE7W1
ELAGSE7W2
Text Types and Purpose
ELAGSE7W4
ELAGSE7W5
ELAGSE7W6
Production and Distribution of Writing
ELAGSE7W10
Range of Writing
Language
ELAGSE7L1
ELAGSE7L2
Conventions of Standard English
ELAGSE7L3
Knowledge of Language
ELAGSE7L6
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Georgia Farm Bureau Middle School Essay Contest 2017
Matching to State Standards
Page 2 of 4
Teaching strategies
(Note: these are only a few of the strategies specific to this topic)
 Require students to take effective notes, both within the classroom and when reading on their own, and
allow them to use these notes in assessments on occasion in order to support their engagement in the
process.
 Require textual evidence for all claims and inferences, whether in formal analysis or casual discussion.
 Ensure that students complete all steps of the writing process when possible, with special focus on the
evolution of a piece between first and second drafts.
 Require formal manuscript style in construction and citation of research as appropriate.
 Partner with your media center faculty to scaffold and reinforce fundamental citation skills, reinforce the
seriousness of plagiarism and the accepted rules for gathering and sharing academic information in the
public domain.
 Require formal annotations when appropriate.
 Provide opportunities for students to practice the basics of writing citations in an accepted manuscript
style without the aid of a citation generator.
 Review the basics of writing and integrating quotations effectively.
 Invite non-peers (i.e. someone from the county Farm Bureau or Cooperative Extension Service, etc.) to
talk about how they use technology on the farm .
 Choose from the suggested resources listed with the topic for research.
 Build vocabulary using a variety of strategies (resource materials, context, roots); you may require
students to keep flash cards or databases of acquired vocabulary, especially technical and academic
vocabulary.
8th Grade
Reading Informational
ELAGSE8RI2
Key Ideas and Details
ELAGSE8RI4
ELAGSE8RI6
Craft and Structure
ELAGSE8RI8
ELAGSE8RI9
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
ELAGSE8RI10
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
Writing
ELAGSE8W2
Text Types and Purpose
ELAGSE8W4
ELAGSE8W5
Production and Distribution of Writing
ELAGSE8W7
ELAGSE8W8
ELAGSE8W9
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
ELAGSE8W10
Range of Writing
Language
Georgia Farm Bureau Middle School Essay Contest 2017
Matching to State Standards
Page 3 of 4
ELAGSE8L1
ELAGSE8L2
Conventions of Standard English
ELAGSE8L3
Knowledge of Language
ELAGSE8L4
ELAGSE8L6
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Teaching strategies
(Note: these are only a few of the strategies specific to this topic)
 Require textual evidence for all claims and inferences, whether in formal analysis or casual discussion.
 Require annotation of texts both formally and informally.
 In Grade 8, require students not only to identify evidence to support a claim, but to identify which
evidence is the strongest among a variety of choices.
 Require all steps of the writing process when appropriate.
 Ensure that students complete all steps of the writing process when possible, with special focus on the
evolution of a piece between first and second drafts.
 Require formal manuscript style in construction and citation of research as appropriate.
 Partner with your media center faculty to scaffold and reinforce fundamental citation skills, reinforce the
seriousness of plagiarism and the accepted rules for gathering and sharing academic information in the
public domain.
 Require formal annotations when appropriate.
 Provide opportunities for students to practice the basics of writing citations in an accepted manuscript
style without the aid of a citation generator.
 Insist on legibility in student work.
 Invite non-peers (i.e. someone from the county Farm Bureau or Cooperative Extension Service, etc.) to
talk about how they use technology on the farm.
 Choose from the suggested resources listed with the topic for research.
 Build vocabulary using a variety of strategies (resource materials, context, roots); you may require
students to keep flash cards or databases of acquired vocabulary, especially technical and academic
vocabulary.
Georgia Farm Bureau Middle School Essay Contest 2017
Matching to State Standards
Page 4 of 4