Spring Break

March 19-23

PTA Conferences March 29

Week of March 12

Friday
7th/8th grade field trip


Thursday
Stems List #6 Quiz.
In groups, students continued discussing and completing the Turning to the Dictionary for Help Packet (3-3 to 3-8), which was due at theend of the period.
Homework:
Read


Wednesday
Error/Fixit
Handout: Turning to the Dictionary for Help Packet (3-3 to 3-8)
In groups, students discussed and worked on the Turning to the Dictionary for Help Packet.
It was turned in, and students will finish it tomorrow.
Homework:
Stem List #6 sentences - due tomorrow
Quiz on the Stems #6 tomorrow



Tuesday
Students worked on posters featuring aspects of Pirate Pride for tomorrow's Whirlybird Wednesday.
Homework:
Stem List #6 sentences - due 3/15
Quiz on the Stems on Thursday



Monday
Collected Sonnets.
Error/Fixit: Ezra Jack Keats/Tuskegee Airmen
Students had time to work on their Stem List #6 sentences.
Homework:
Stem List #6 sentences - due 3/15
Quiz on them Thursday

Here's an example of a modern-day sonnet

The Little Penguin
By clayhoop, Mesa, AZ

On top of the cliff, a flash of black and white,
A trail of icy mist lies in its wake.
It hurtles o'er the edge and out of sight,
A penguin's life and much more is at stake.

For this li'l penguin had the thought in his head,
The flippers by his side were really wings.
The thought ne'er crossed his mind he could be dead,
For flying seemed as easy as swimming.

Inspiration had come when he saw another fly
Away from a thrashing killer whale's jaws.
He thought, If they can do it, so can I!
Though it defied all Mother Nature's laws.

Before hitting the waves he finally started to glide,
He didn't quite fly but felt like it inside


retrieved 3/10/12 from http://teenink.com/poetry/sonnet/article/220524/The-Little-Penguin/

Week of March 5

Friday
I collected the worksheets from yesterday.
Students watched a documentary on E. A. Poe and completed a worksheet on the poet.
Poe worksheet was turned in.
Those who were absent can view the documentary online at the following sites:
E.A. Poe Biography
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
On a blank sheet of paper, make three columns, landscape format. Label them: What I already know about Edgar Allen Poe; Some things I wonder about him; Interesting details from the documentary
Fill in the first two, then fill in the last one as you watch the videos.
Homework:
If absent, view documentary online and complete worksheet.
Stems List #6 sentences due Thursday, 3/15, and there will be a test on them next week.
Sonnet due 3/12 - see example above; follow rubric!



Thursday
Students worked on grammar, syntax, figurative language, literary elements, spelling, and vocabulary (Language Practice Week 9 and 10, and Week 5 Friday (O. Henry).
Homework:
Finish w/s for homework



Wednesday
Error/Fixit: Barbie/Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Handouts: Shakespearean Sonnet Rubric; Sonnet example; Poem in Pocket w/s for tomorrow
We reviewed and practised the iambic pentameter and the structure of Shakespearean Sonnets.
Homework:
Find poem for Poem in your Pocket Day - tomorrow
Start on Stem List #6 sentences - due 3/16
Shakespearean Sonnet due Monday, 3/12 (follow rubric)


Tuesday
Collected ballads
Error/Fixit: Ohio/Dr. Seuss
We watched videos on iambic pentameter and writing a sonnet.
Students formed groups and jigsawed the handout Writing Shakespearean Sonnets.
Homework:
Find poem for Poem in your Pocket week.
Start on Stem List #6 sentences - due 3/16



Monday
Collected Grammar Packets from last week
Error/Fixit: The Pig/Whooping Crane
We listened to a reading by James Earl Jones of E.A. Poe's "The Raven."
Students began their own ballads based on Bad Country Ballads w/s.
Requirements: 16 lines; couplets rhyme; must tell a story
Homework:
Final copy of original ballad due tomorrow
Start on Stem List #6 sentences - due 3/16
Quiz on them next week

Week of Feb. 27

Friday
Early Release - Special Schedule
Students turned in Spine Poems

Thursday
Collected Stems List #5 sentences
Students took the Stems List #5 Quiz.
Homework:
Spine Poems due tomorrow
Language Packets due Monday


Wednesday
Students presented their findings.
Grammar: George Frederick Handel/First Woman Dentist
Students then began a close reading of an article on leap years. Homework:
Stems List #5 Quiz tomorrow
Spine Poems due Fri., 3/2




Tuesday
We covered grammar with Pluto/Michael Jordan and then found examples of figurative language in a ballad. In groups, they created posters of their findings.
Homework:
Add one stanza to the ballad, keeping the rhythm and rhyme scheme.
Stems List #5 quiz on Thursday


Monday
Students took the District Reading Assessment online and then wrote letters to their pen pals.
Homework:
Work on Stems List #5 - due tomorrow
Spine Poems due Fri., 3/2

Week of Feb. 20

Friday
Bookfair Preview.
Brain-stretching Exercises:
The Abandoned
A Waiter's Lot
The Train Driver
Homework:
Work on Stems List #5 - due Tuesday, 2/28
Spine Poems due Fri., 3/2


Thursday
Grammar editing Arizona/Grant Wood
Stems List #1-4 Quiz
Homework:
Work on Stems List #5 - due Tuesday, 2/28



Wednesday
We worked on prepositional phrases, prepositions, parts of speech, and grammar and turned in the Preposition Recall and Parts of Speech w/s.
Handout: Spine Poems - due 3/2
Homework:
Stems Test 1-4 tomorrow.
Work on Spie Poems


Tuesday
We worked on improving our sentences to make them more interesting and took notes in our notebooks.
Homework:
Study Stems List #5; create original sentences following the model of the others: Following the order in List #5, write the stem, a dash, an English word with the stem; on the next line, write a sentence with the word used correctly. Then skip a line and repeat the steps


Monday
No School - Presidents' Day

Week of Feb. 13

Friday
Students responded in writing to several prompts:
#132 - First Impressions; #135 - The Handsome, Rude Man...
#139 - That was then, this is now
#139 - Before using commas
Homework:
Stems Test next week on #1-4.


Thursday
Collected Stems List #1-4 assignment and the Language Collection Chart.
Continued with practicing sentence variety, especially with -ing at the beginning and the end.
Homework:
Read


Wednesday
We worked on ways to vary our sentence structure using two adjectives at the beginning, and -ing at the beginning and at the end.
Students took notes and then practiced creating their own sentences.
Homework:
Study and finish the stem list sentences (due Friday)



Tuesday
Students worked on grammar, figurative language, mechanics, and summarizing skills.
The packet was turned in at the end of class.
Homework:
Study and finish the stem list sentences (due Friday)



Monday
Students used their stems list to complete the Stems List #1-4 packet. They will use this as a study guide.
After they matched up all the words:
On a separate sheet of paper, give ONE example of EACH of the stems (in the same order as on the yellow sheet) and use it correctly in a sentence.
Skip a line between stem/word/sentence and the next stem/word/sentence.
Homework:
Finish the assignment over the next few days - it is due Friday.
In case you have misplaced it, a copy of the list can be found here.