Ms. Ronemous ~ Advanced Language Arts 8

Week of Feb. 13

2012-02-13T15:12:00.001-08:00

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.

Week of Jan. 30

2012-02-02T15:43:00.000-08:00

Friday
Students continued to work on the videos for their pen pals in Ukraine.
Homework:
Read and review as needed.

Thursday
Students took the Literary Elements quiz.
They then completed a Dictionary Scavenger Hunt and edited the Edison/Groundhog Day w/s (all of which they turned in).
Homework:
Read and review as needed.

Wednesday
No School for students - Staff Development Day.

Tuesday
We worked on our videos for our pen pals.
Handout: Language Collection Sheet - due Feb. 16.
Directions: Fill out as you complete your personal reading.
Homework:
Study for test.

Monday
We worked on our videos for our pen pals.
Homework:
Study for test.

Week of Jan. 9

2012-01-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

Friday
Students took the "Amazing" test with spelling words from BTales. They then finished the posters from yesterday and turned them in.
Homework:
None

Thursday
Skills covered: Editing, sentence structure, summarizing, main idea and supporting details, creative writing, cooperative groups on the topic of Friday the 13th.
Homework:
Study for test.

Wednesday
I collected the "We Cool" poems.
We reviewed poetic devices (Carl Sandburg to Haiku).
Homework:
Monday Week 1 Language Practice (two-sided w/s) due tomorrow.
Study BTales Vocab (spelling and definition) up to #24
Test on "Amazing" on Friday
Bring a book to read each day

Tuesday
I collected the Reading Logs.
BTales #26
oh no guys it looks like some of the most insufferable teachers followed us to the eighth grade moans pauline puerile in dejection as she frowned
Vocab: insufferable, puerile, dejection
Handed back first packet on Writing Poetry.
Handout: New packet on Writing Poetry (Gwendolyn Brooks, etc.)
Students wrote a rough draft poem based on the style of "We Cool"
Homework:
Write the poem on a lined sheet of paper (to be turned in).

Monday
Welcome back!
Students respoded to one of two writing prompts in their journals (kept in the classroom).
Then they worked on word exercises (Brain Daily Wordplay).
Handout: Monday Week 1 Language Practice (two-sided w/s).
Handout: New vocab song, "Amazing."
Homework:
Finish Monday Week 1 Language Practice (two-sided w/s).
Study BTales Vocab (spelling and definition) up to #24
Test on "Amazing" on Friday
Bring a book to read each day
Reading Log (pink sheet) due tomorrow

Week of Dec. 12

2011-12-12T14:28:00.000-08:00

Friday
Students wrote letters to their Ukrainian pen pals and were to e-mail them to me.
Homework:
Send any letters you haven't forwarded to me.

Thursday
Students developed Thinking Maps using information from the handout Learning About Poetry.
Directions:
1. Read Learning About Poetry.
2. Complete tasks 1-8.
3. You will complete two thinking maps using the information on the sheet.

a. No circle map, no bubble maps
b. Brace maps or tree maps work best
c. Use the back of the handout as a rough draft

i. One thinking map is on the first paragraph, titled Types of Poetry
ii. The other thinking map is on the final three paragraphs and should be titled Figurative Language.

d. Use the two blank sheets for the thinking maps: one thinking map per sheet, not back to back.

4. The thinking maps were due at the end of the period and were turned in.
5. The handout is to be put into your Poetic Devices notebook.
Homework:
Read and study figurative language

Tuesday
Tales #38
Vocab: regale, sultry, simmering
hey dudes and lades hows it going. i cant wait to regale you with all i learned at the tubular computer camp i attended this sultry simmering summer. now i can really hack. hey william he said as he thumped his buddy on the back got any new poems
Students turned in the final Wired! packets and the Paul Revere packet w/ questions from the textbook.
After taking the Parts of Speech mid-point quiz, we graded and turned it in.
We reviewed the answers to Daughtry's Life After You (poetic devices).
Homework:
Simile and Metaphors w/s 22-23

Monday
Students turned in the Wired! homework from Friday.
They worked on the Paul Revere's Ride packet and answered questions on p. 542 of the textbook, #1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and the Reading Check in complete sentences.
Homework:
Finished packet and questions.

Week of Nov. 28

2011-11-30T15:11:00.000-08:00

Thursday & Friday
Students presented their Prezis to their classmates.
Homework:
Read

Wednesday
Students took the Stems List #2 Quiz.
Students worked in pairs to decipher literary elements in song lyrics. Then they viewed a short movie depicting examples of lit. elements in songs.
Homework:
Prezi link needs to be e-mailed to me by end of school today. We will present tomorrow and Friday, if necessary.

Tuesday
Students worked in pairs to decipher literary elements clues. The result will be their study guide.
Homework:
Prezi link needs to be e-mailed to me by end of school Wednesday.
Stems List #2 quiz tomorrow.

Monday
BTales #20
me and my freinds is trembling william said with false bravado. isabelle hushed him before he could infuriate orson any further. i see that petra pulchritudinous has already changed her clothes in the girls bathroom commented isabelle ingenuous
Vocab: bravado, infuriate, pulchritudinous, ingenuous
Homework:
Work on the Prezi if you have not finished it. It is due the Thursday after Thanksgiving. Be sure to check the rubric.
Study the Week 1-4 vocab words and Stems List #2. There will be quizzes next week.

Week of Nov. 21

2011-11-21T15:20:00.000-08:00

Thursday and Friday
No School - Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday and Wednesday
BTales #18
suddenly orsons sycophants danny dapper and petra pulchritudinous came up behind him ready to back up there friend just as orson spies a teacher approaching
Vocab:sycophants, dapper, pulchritudinous
BTales #19
when orson and his cohorts strutted by isabelle and friends they muttered a few nasty choice epithets and threats under their breathe as they past by. as he raised a fisted hand in the air orson threatened ominously me and my freinds will make toast of you later
Vocab: cohorts, epithets, ominously
Students continued working on their Poetry in Music assignment.
Homework:
Work on the Prezi if you have not finished it. It is due the Thursday after Thanksgiving. Be sure to check the rubric.
Study the Week 1-4 vocab words and Stems List #2. There will be quizzes next week.

Monday
I collected the Book Playlist and the crossword puzzle paragraph.
Students received a handout with the directions and rubric for the Literary Devices assignment.
Homework:
Work on the Prezi if you have time. It is due the week after Thanksgiving.
Study the Week 1-4 vocab words and Stems List #2. There will be quizzes next week.

Week of Nov. 14

2011-11-14T22:24:00.000-08:00

Friday
Early release - special schedule.
Students worked on Medical Mayhem to complete the crossword and find the culprit and the weapon.
Homework:
Work some more with Prezi if you need to. Book Playlist due Monday.

Thursday
Students took a reading comprehension quiz, which we graded right away. Students then logged in to Prezi.com or made an account and then experimented with the program. We will be using it next week for a project.
Homework:
Work some more with Prezi if you need to.
Book Playlist w/s due Monday - do it on Johnny Tremain.

Wednesday
BTales #17
set off any putrescent stink bombs lately inquired william with a trace of sarcasm in his voice as he referred to the incident in the 7th grade when orson had been caught for his misdeed by dean dread. his culpability was revealed when a misfired spell of felicias put mauve streaks in his hare that matched the smoke
Vocab: putrescent, misdeed, culpability, inquired
I collected the Bloom's Questions Assignment
Students tooks the BTales Spelling Test and the Week 4 Vocab in context quiz.
We chose the top three "Courage" posters. These will be displayed in the library.
Homework:
Read

Tuesday
I read Courage to the class. Their assignment was to write about what courage meant to them and add a visual. We also developed a rubric for judging the top three, which we will vote on tomorrow.
Homework:
Read

Monday
BTales #16
well if it isnt the super strange cast of weirdo incorporated and their famous witch derided orson odious the nemesis of the group. seen dean dread today orson asked Sam Sagacious wrinkling his nose against the reek of stale cigarette smoke that wafted from orsons clothes and breathe
Vocab: derided, odious, nemesis, reek, wafted
Students worked on determining the parts of speech.
Homework:
Week 4 test in context on Wed.

Week of Nov. 7

2011-11-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

Friday
No school - Veterans Day

Thursday
I collected the Literary Devices assignment.
Students practiced creative writing.
Homework:
Study stems list #2, vocab (incl. BTales, Harbinger, and Week 1-4).

Wednesday
Students took the Week 4 Vocab Test.
Students continued reading the novel and completing the Literary Devices assignment as well as the Bloom's assignment.
Homework:
Study vocab (incl. BTales, Harbinger, and Week 1-4)
Bloom's assignment due 11/16.

Tuesday
Students continued reading the novel and completing the Literary Devices assignment.
Handout: Novel Study Assignment (based on Bloom's Taxonomy) - due 11/16
Homework:
Both the novel (finishing it) and the Lit. Devices assigment are due at start of class Thursday.
Study stems list #2, vocab (incl. BTales, Harbinger, and Week 1-4)

Monday
Students continued reading the novel and completing the Literary Devices assignment.
Homework:
Both the novel (finishing it) and the Lit. Devices assigment are due at start of class Thursday.
Study stems list #2, vocab (incl. BTales, Harbinger, and Week 1-4)

Week of Oct. 31

2011-11-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

Monday
Handout: Week 4 Day 1 & 2 w/s
TTH Activity #2: Literary Elements: A Writer's Sense of Style
We read The Tell-Tale Heart and then watched a short movie based on the story.
In a good paragraph (min. 8 sentences) students were to compare the print version with the movie version.
Students then worked on Activity #2.
Homework:
Week 4 Day 1 & 2 w/s
Study vocab (incl. BTales and Harbinger)
Stems List 1 test on Thursday

Week of Oct. 24

2011-10-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

Friday
Students engaged in critical thinking exercises.
Homework:
Read as far as p. 196 (the end of Chapter 7) by Monday.

Thursday
Students took the Harbinger test and then continued reading their novel and working on the Literary Devices assignment.
Homework:
Read as far as p. 196 (the end of Chapter 7) by Monday. Students who needed to, took the book home.

Wednesday
Students had time to read the class novel and work on their Lit. Devices assignment.
Homework:
Harbinger test tomorrow.

Tuesday
BTales #15
isabelle ingenuous of course smilted at williams powm and felicias freindly jibe but her smile immediatly turned to a frown at the sight of a recogizable hulking figure that loped towards them with a malevolent grin on its face. it was orson odious followed by his 2 pals danny dappper and petra pulchritudinous
Vocab: jibe, loped, malevolent, odious, dapper, pulchritudinous
We held the spelling bee run-off. Congrats to Caitlyn, Keegan, and Corinne (alternate: Claire)
Homework:
Study vocab (Weeks 1-3, BTales, and Harbinger) and Stems List #1.
Harbinger test on Thursday.

Monday
BTales #14
for the benefit of youre freinds william cant you and your freind jesse write nothing except those insipid limericks and cinquains felicia teased. hey how about giving us a brake and trying another form of poetry this year
Vocab: insipid
Students read Johnny Tremain and worked on their Lit. Devices assignment.
We then played a game to practice Stems List #1.
Homework:
Study vocab (Weeks 1-3, BTales, and Harbinger) and Stems List #1.
Harbinger test on Thursday.

Week of Oct. 17

2011-10-17T22:37:00.001-07:00

Monday
Handout: Apostrophes study guide (orange)
Handout: Johnny Tremain Literary Devices assignment (due when we finish the book)
We reviewed the rules for apostrophes, and then worked on a reading comprehension/grammar packet based on "The Moustache" short story.
I collected the packet.
Homework:
Study vocab (incl. BTales and Harbinger)

Week of Oct. 10

2011-10-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

Friday
We stretched our brains by engaging in deductive reasoning and critical thinking exercises.
Homework:
Read!

Thursday
BTales #11
its working. you haven't lost youre touch william. you you can still affect and discombobulate some of the teachers and last year in fact you recited cinquains which had an even grater effect on the teachers than the limericks. are you going to go back to limericks this year.
Vocab: discombobulate
Students read the novel and completed six of eight responses to what they read.
Homework:
Study vocab

Wednesday
BTales #10
first her tongue protruded slightly and next she froze in place for less then 3 seconds. this wasnt nothing new. sam sagacious glanced at the teacher puthis book in his backpack and laughed
Vocab: protruded, sagacious
Students then had time to read in class.
Homework:
Study vocab

Tuesday
Ms. Ronemous had a sub.
Students read the short story "The Moustache" and responded to questions about it.
Homework:
Finish packet

Monday
No School - Fall Break Day

Week of Oct. 3

2011-10-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

Friday
Students competed to find the culprit and weapon in the Kitchan Calamity crossword. Congrats to Matt for being the first to solve the puzzle!
They then engaged in deductive thinking exercises and creative writing prompts to stretch their mental capabilities.
Homework:
Read and review vocab

Thursday
Students took the Week 2 vocab Words in Context quiz.
Afterwards, they read and made notes on the novel.
Homework:
Read

Wednesday
BTales #8
since his joke had fallen flat and noone had laughed william waggish regaled his friends with a knew limerick aboiut girls that wear green. brown faced with expressive dark pupils williams composition of mischievous poems to hide his real aspiration to be as eloquent a poet as his secret hero langston hughes
Vocab: regaled, eloquent, mischievous
We checked the Harbinger vocab words and definitions (orange sheet) and practiced the song.
Students used adjectives to describe a picture, then read an article on the person in the picture. Based on the reading, they had to decide which adjectives to keep (with justification from the text) and which adjectives to add (with justification from the text).
They then, individually, had to write a paragraph using the Ways to Elaborate we have been working on (today we added Cause and Effect, Compare/Contrast, and narrative from others' experiences).
Homework:
Finish the paragraph. The paragraph and one picture per group (remember to add members' names) with adjectives added and justified due Friday at the start of class.
Review Week 2 vocab - words in context quiz tomorrow.

Tuesday
BTales #7
the last member of the troup sam sagacious simply stood wisely and mutely as he waited for the clamor to die down. he held a huge heavy book nortons anthology of poetry in his hand and pretended to read it but he really was watching alessandra amorous who he liked
Vocab: sagacious, mutely, clamor
We continued with ways to elaborate, and in groups wrote a paragraph using the techniques.
Homework:
WordSmart 2x and graph the results

Monday
New vocab handout: Harbinger
We learned five ways to elaborate, ways of improving our writing, and took notes in our Lit. Elements notebooks.
Homework:
Complete vocab match-up.
Review vocab from Week 2 - quiz this week.

Week of Sept. 26

2011-09-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

Friday
We graded the test students took yesterday.
Today we focused on creative writing and stretching the brain to think differently. These writings went in the students' journals that are kept in the classroom.
Homework:
Review vocab from Week 2

Thursday
Students took Week 3 Vocab Test.
They read the novel individually while finding evidence in the text to back up the character traits they saw in Johnny.
Homework:
Review vocab from Week 2

Wednesday
BTales #6
Vocab: vapid, barbs
We discussed characterization and practiced writing a short literary response.
We read the novel to the end of section 4 (Ch. 1).
Homework:
Journal Entry/Literary Response #2
Week 3 vocab test tomorrow.

Tuesday
Handouts: Character Traits (pink sheet - 2-sided); Understanding "Character" Analysis
We began our class novel, Johnny Tremain.
We did not review Day 1 & 2 words, nor hand out the Day 3 & 4 w/s.
Homework:
Complete a one-paragraph response to the section of the novel we read today (to the top of page 17).
Study the Character Analysis sheet (green)

Monday
Students took a short Parts of Speech / Sentence Structure Pretest, which was turned in (not yet graded)
Posted on the SmartBoard:
Fill out your agenda for the week.
Then, in your writing journal (this period's bin at the back of the room):
- put the date on a fresh page
- write for 5 min. about this past weekend
- when finished, pick up the w/s from the front desk
A few students shared their writing with the class (not mandatory).
We then read w/s 65-66, Ethos, Pathos, & Logos, as a class, and in pairs completed the assignment at the top of p. 66 before sharing out. We did not do the bulleted assignment at the bottom of the page. Students are to keep the worksheet in their Literary Elements notebooks and refer to it when writing persuasively (e.g., as in their upcoming Social Studies assignment).
Homework:
Week 3 Day 1 & 2 w/s - Test on Thursday
w/s 63 (Connecting Paragraphs) - due Friday

Week of Sept. 19

2011-09-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

Thursday
I collected both w/s from Tues. and Wed.
Students presented their PowerPoints.
I distributed the Phx Library cards.
Homework:
Review Week 2 words - test in context next week.

Wednesday
We spent time in the computer lab signing up for Book Adventure, a free reading motivation program sponsored by Sylvan Learning and Read Across America.
Students also had time to type up their pen pal letters and send them to me as an attachment.
I did not collect HW, as time was so short.
Homework:
Persuasion w/s 62 (Think Elbows!)
Review Week 2 (Day 1-4) Vocab - test of words in context next week.

Monday & Tuesday
I returned the rough drafts with comments on Monday.
Students continued working on friendly letters and slideshows to their penpals.
On Tuesday students took the Silence, Reticence Quiz.
Homework:
Remember to do WordSmart Challenge twice this week and chart results
Review Week 2 vocab for in-context quiz HW for Tuesday included Persuasion w/s 13-14

Week of Sept. 12

2011-09-14T07:54:00.000-07:00

Thursday & Friday
Students watched the presentations from our pen pals in the Ukraine and began writing friendly letters to their partner(s).
Handout: Friendly letter rubric
Homework:
Friendly letter due end of period Friday
I will review rough draft over the weekend and provide feedback on Monday
Silence, Reticence test next week.
Review Week 2 vocab for in-context quiz

Wednesday
We went over the Silence, Reticence vocab definitions to make sure we had them matched correctly. Test on these words next week.
We then watched the presentations from our Ukranian pen pals and took notes on the students' hobbies and favorite things to do.
Homework:
Week 2 vocab test tomorrow.

Tuesday
Handout: Silence, Reticence (vocab)
We listened to and sang along with the song several times, and then students worked on matching up the definitions.
Students had time in class to read.
Homework:
Always bring a book to school.
Study Week 2 vocab (test on Thurs.)

Monday
Students continued Homework:
Respond to survey (on my website) by Monday if you haven't already.
Study vocab!

Week of Sept. 5

2011-09-05T21:32:00.001-07:00

Friday
Students took Reggie the Con Man vocab test with Week 1 words.
I collected the graphic organizers from "The Bet."
We discussed planning and organizing the persuasive essay using a flee map, and then practiced with a prompt.
Homework:
Respond to survey (on my website) by Monday if you haven't already.
Study vocab!

Wednesday & Thursday
I collected the homework (pink sheets on Persuasive Techniques) Wed.
We continued discussing and taking notes on persuasive techniques.
We reviewed Week 2 vocab w/s. Test on these will be next week.
Homework:
Remember to do WordSmart Challenge and chart the results 2x each week.

Tuesday
This week we are studying Persuasive Techniques in anticipation of students having to write a persuasive essay in their Social Studies classes. Students completed a worksheet and then began taking notes as we discussed a PowerPoint on persuasion.
Homework:
Week 2 Day 1&2 w/s
Review Week 1 Vocab - test in context this week (plus dictation).

Monday
No School - Labor Day

Week of Aug. 29

2011-08-29T16:54:00.001-07:00

Friday
Students finalized the Open Mind activity and presented their work. Homework:
Take the Technology Survey on my "portal" (upper right on the page).

Thursday
BTales #4
The Open Mind Activity:
Students were broken into six groups. Each group focused on one of the stages (beginning, middle, end) for either the banker or the lawyer.
Using "The Bet" story and their completed worksheet from last night, inside a "blank mind" students were to draw symbols or select phrases from the text to represent either the banker's or lawyer's thoughts at that point in the text. Outside the diagram, they explained why they chose those particular symbols and phrases.
Homework:
Take the Technology Survey on my "portal" (upper right).

Wednesday
BTales#3
Vocab: retorted, indignant
Students previewed new vocab from "The Bet" by Chekhov (using dictionary to place the words in context).
We then read the story as a class and began work on how the lawyer and the banker changed during the story.
Homework:
Finish w/s
Review Week 1 words & BTales vocab

Tuesday
BTales #2
Vocab: obliterate
I collected Windows of Wonder questions.
Using their literature textbook, students defined eleven literary terms.
Homework:
Review Week 1 words (quiz Friday)
Remember to do WordSmart Challenge and chart the results 2x by Friday

Monday
BTales#1
Vocab: puerile, ingenuous, uttering
We read the short story "Windows of Wonder" and completed a graphic organizer on the substitute teacher's character. (This was turned in.)
Handout: Reading Log and 40 Book Challenge Sheet
Homework:
Review Week 1 words (quiz Friday)
"Windows of Wonder" questions: On the back of the story, answer any two of:
P. 148, #3, 6; p. 149, #2

Week of Aug. 22

2011-08-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

Friday
Early release - special schedule.
Students took the Week 1 Vocab test (no dictation this time.
We then graded one of the pre-tests from last week.
Students then had time to read.
Homework:
Study Week 1 vocab - quiz of vocab in context next week.

Thursday
Students set up their vocab notebooks to track their progress on WordSmart Challenge, then joined the FreeRice class group for P2 and practiced vocabulary.
Homework:
Study for tomorrow's test (Week 1 vocab)

Wednesday
We reviewed the vocab w/s; students keep it to study for Friday's test.
We worked on components of a plot diagram and students took notes in their lit. elements notebook.
Homework:
Study vocab - test Friday
Study plot diagram for future tests/quizzes.

Tuesday
We reviewed the Week 1 Day 1 & 2 w/s.
Handout: Week 1 Day 3 & 4 w/s
We took the DVRA (Deer Valley Reading Assessment) online.
Students then had time to work on their homework.
Homework:
Week 1 Day 3 & 4 w/s

Monday
I collected the "I am" poem and any remaining library card applications.
Students took the last pre-test (yay!).
They then had time to work on their homework.
Handout: Week 1 Day 1 & 2 w/s
Homework:
Week 1 Day 1 & 2 w/s (test on Friday on the meanings and idioms)
Learner Survey Reflection
On a lined sheet of paper and using the Learner Survey we did last week, answer the following questions in complete sentences. Incorporate the question into the answer.
1. What did you learn from the survey?
2. What two to three things (from the Strategies section) can you do to make sure you'll have a successful academic year (use what you learned from the Descriptions and Strategies info).
3. Did you discover anything new about yourself? Elaborate.
Important: Know your e-mail address and password tomorrow!

Week of August 15

2011-08-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

Friday
I collected the Library Card applications.
Students finished work on their "Big Heads" and turned them in.
We read two examples of an "I am" Poem and did one as a class.
Handout: "I am" Poem template/model.
Homework:
"I am" Poems due Monday.
Bring your Library Card applications if you didn't turn them in already.

Thursday
I collected the ABC sheet.
Students received an application for a card from the Phoenix Public Library, which is required for Language Arts class this year.
Students finished the Writing pre-test and turned it in.
They then began work on their "Big Heads."
Homework:
Library Card applications due tomorrow. Big Heads also due, although we will have a little time in class to finish them up.

Wednesday
Students took Reading and Writing pre-tests so I can gauge their language skills.
Homework:
ABC Sheet - it's all about you. Adjectives, adverbs, phrases

Tuesday
We covered a section of the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, then took a pre-test that will help me find out where your child stands. We also began a Learning Styles survey, which we will continue tomorrow.
Homework:
Read! Tomorrow we go to the school library to look for books.

Monday
First Day of School!
Welcome!
We covered the Language Arts syllabus, expectations, supplies needed.
Homework:
Get paperwork signed.
List your top five books and give reasons for your choices.

Week of May 16

2011-05-16T09:31:00.001-07:00

Wednesday-Thursday
End-of-year activities, Adv. Lang. Arts DVRA, STAR testing.
I collected the Reading Logs and the Six Word Memoirs on Monday.
End-of-year activities.
Homework:
None

Tuesday
Students finished typing up their summaries, focusing on the key terms on the handout (setting, characters, etc.).
Handout: Original Modern Day Cinder Tale
In pairs, students began work on their own Cinder Tale.
Homework:
Study for tomorrow's Week 1 and Week 4 Vocab Quiz.
We'll have time in class tommorrow to work on the original tale (on paper - we won't have the netbooks). They are due Thursday.

Monday
We continued our research on the Cinder Tales and began typing up our summaries, focusing on the key terms on the handout (setting, characters, etc.).
Homework:
Review Week 1 and 4 words and definitions - quiz on Wednesday.
Thursday / Friday: Advanced Lang. Arts Online Assessment, STAR, share Tales.
Subject to modification.

Week of May 9

2011-05-09T20:08:00.000-07:00

Tuesday - Friday
Blogger has been Read-Only all week due to technical issues, so I have not been able to update.
Tuesday and Wednesday students worked on research for their Mythological Barbie project.
Wed. - I collected the Cartoons and students took the Week 4 and 5 "Reggie" style quiz.
Thurs. - Students presented and I collected the Mythological Barbie projects. We then graded quizzes we had taken recently.
Fri. - Intro to Cinder Tales project. In pairs, students read and took notes on two Cinderella stories. They then created a double-bubble thinking map on what they had read.
Handout: Directions on the Cinder Tales project.
Homework:
Review Week 1 and 4 words and meanings.
We will continue reading the tales on Monday. Tuesday we will type up the summaries and begin the Original Cinder Tale (due Friday - we will share).
Wednesday we take the Week 1 and 4 sentence quiz.
Thursday / Friday: Advanced Lang. Arts Online Assessment, STAR, share Tales.
Subject to modification.

Monday
I collected the Bad Hair Day Assignment; some students shared.
Students then worked on research for the Barbie assignment.
Homework:
Cartoon due Wed., Mythological Barbie Thursday
Review words from Weeks 4 and 5 - "Reggie" style quiz on Wednesday

Week of May 2

2011-05-02T22:34:00.000-07:00

Friday
Early Release - Special Schedule
No Class

Thursday
Students took the Week 5 Vocab Quiz and then began researching their god/goddess for the Bad Hair Day assignment.
Handout: Mythological Barbie assignment (due Thurs., May 12)
Homework:
Research for projects

Wednesday
Handouts: Even Gods Have Bad Hair Days assignment (due Mon., 5/9) and blank Zits Cartoon (due Wed., 5/11).
We discussed requirements and expectations for both assiggnments.
Students presented their Original Creation Myth Posters.
Homework:
Week 5 Review Quiz tomorrow (plus Week 4 for those who were absent when we took that one).
Tomorrow we're in the lab and will be able to do some research for the Bad Hair Day assignment after the quizzes.

Tuesday
7th grade field trip

Monday
We reviewed answers to all the Week 5 w/s.
Students finalized their presentations.
Homework:
Review Weeks 4 and 5 vocab and idioms.
Week 5 Review Quiz on Thursday.

FreeRice Status

2011-05-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

To date, our class has donated 22,770 grains of rice via our FreeRice project. Great job, everyone! Let's see what we can do in the next three and a half weeks.

Week of April 25

2011-04-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

Friday
More time to develop the Original Myth Poster. Rubric
Homework:
Remember to read - some have not taken any AR tests this quarter!!
We will finalize the poster in class on Monday and present on Wednesday (field trip on Tuesday).

Thursday
Students continued their Creation Myth Movie Posters. Rubric
Homework:
Review vocab - Week 4 Quiz tomorrow

Wednesday
In groups of four and using their research notes, students began work on their own Creation Myth Movie Poster. Rubric
Homework:
Review vocab - Week 4 Quiz on Friday

Tuesday
In groups, students researched creation myths, noting characteristics of the myths and the characters.
Homework:
Week 5 Day 3 and 4 w/s

Monday
We broke into groups and read several myths. Each group created a plot diagram and flow map for their myth, and declared what natural phenomenon their myth explained.
Homework:
Week 5 Day 1 and 2 w/s

Parody of Sonnet 18

2011-04-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

Sonnet #18

(a parody)

Shall I compare thee to a bale of hay?
Thou art more dusty and far less neat.
Rough winds do toss thy mop about, I'd say,
Which looks far worse than hay a horse would eat.

Sometime thy squinty eye looks into mine
Through stringy, greasy hair that needs be trimm'd,
And ne'er a horse had such a stench as thine,
As though in stagnant sewers thou hast swimm'd.

Thy disgusting image shall not fade;
This my tortured mind and soul doth know.
O, I should love to hit thee with a spade;
And with that blow I hope that thou wouldst go.

So long as I can breathe, my eyes can see,
And I can run, I'll stay away from thee...

(sorry, Will)

copyright 1991 anthonybaldwin
http://photodharma.tripod.com/sonnet18.htm

Week of April 18

2011-04-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

Friday
No School - Spring Break Day

Thursday
Students finished up their sonnets and turned them in electronically.
Homework:
Quiz on Week 4 words next week.

Wednesday
Students took the Desert Storm Decision Quiz (Week 3 words), and then we graded and turned back in the Week 3 Review Quiz.
We reviewed answers to Week 4 Day 1-4 w/s.
Students continued working on their sonnets.
Homework:
Sonnets due electronically to me end of period tomorrow.
Quiz on Week 4 words next week.

Tuesday
Students typed up their final drafts of the pen pal letters and emailed them to me.
They then began work (in pairs) on their Shakespearean sonnet, using the packet from yesterday and the rubric.
Homework:
Week 4 Day 3 and 4 w/s
Change: No Week 4 Review Quiz this week. There will still be a Week 3 words review (words in context) tomorrow.
Week 4 Day 3 and 4 words.

Monday
I checked that the rough drafts of the pen pal letters were done.
Highwayman poems (with an extra stanza) were collected.
We read about and discussed the characteristics of sonnets (handout).
Students did a choral reading of one of Shakespeare's sonnets and explained what the sonnet was about.
We went over the pronunciation of the Week 4 words.
Homework:
Week 4 Day 1 and 2 w/s
Tomorrow we work on writing a Shakespearean sonnet of our own (in pairs). Due electonically by end of class Thursday. Come to class tomorrow with some ideas.
We also are writing up the final draft of the pen pal letters tomorrow (due electronically to me by end of period).
Review Week 3 words (quiz on Wed.).
Week 4 Review Quiz on Thursday.

Week of April 11

2011-04-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

Friday
No class today due to special schedule.

Thursday
We began our replies to our Irish penpals.
Handout: Rubric for the letter
Letter is to be typed and sent to me as an attachment.
Rough draft is due Monday; I've scheduled us in the lab on Tuesday so we can type up the final.
Homework:
Letter is due to me as an attachment by end of class Tuesday.

Wednesday
No class due to AIMS.

Tuesday
Today's challenge was to add an additional verse at the end of The Highwayman poem describing a ghostly meeting between the highwayman and Bess. Start the verse with a line from the poem such as: “over the cobbles he clattered” or “the wind was a torrent of darkness.” Perhaps write from the point of view of a traveller witnessing the scene. Try to stick the same style, rhythm, and rhyme scheme of the poem as much as possible.
We worked on this for a little while in class.
Homework:
Extra verse is due Monday.

Monday
We went over the Reading Test packet and verified answers.
Students then read and critiqued two sets of AIMS sample writing packets. We discussed good and bad techniques.
Homework:
Get a good night's sleep and have a healthy breakfast.
AIMS Writing is tomorrow.

Week of April 4

2011-04-04T14:09:00.000-07:00

Friday
Early Release - Special Schedule
We worked on test preparation.
Homework:
Review persuasive techniques.
Two packets - Reading Comprehension and Reading Test.

Thursday
Students took the Poetry Terms quiz.
We then listened to a reading of The Highwayman poem - just the audio, not the images, discussed the plot, and in a chart listed three words/phrases from the poem to describe the highwayman, Tim the ostler, and Bess (perhaps using a Tree Map).
We watched a video of the poem set to music and afterwards went through the text of the poem and underlined/highlighted figurative language, noting the name in the margin.
To check for accuracy, we used this interactive website
Homework:
Review for Literary Elements quiz tomorrow.

Wednesday
We took the Best Laid Plans quiz on Week 2 words.
We also completed a worksheet on the usage of it and it's and reviewed common elements of myth and folklore.
Students then were challenged to write a short paragraph describing one of three scenarios:
- walking in a forest
- going on a first date
- getting arrested and going to the police station
The challenge was to make it as dull and boring as possible (do not use ways to elaborate that we have been reviewing).
The second part of the activity will take place next week.
Homework:
Review for quizzes (Types of Poetry tomorrow; Literary Elements on Friday)

Tuesday
Students took the Week Three Review Quiz.
We reviewed methods of elaboration (students took notes) and discussed how writers made their writing enjoyable to readers.
Homework:
Create sentences using each of the following words:
phone, waves, lipstick, bus, refrigerator
Review Literary Elements in your Tales notebook, plot diagram parts, and today's handouts. Know how to spell them as well.
Lit. Elements quiz on Friday
Revise Week 2 words - quiz Wednesday

Monday
Handouts:
Lesson 9: Poetry Elements
Types of Poetry
Elements of Poetry (including Language of Poetry and Sound Devices or Patterns)
We worked through the Poetry Elements packet in class. It and the others are for review.
Homework:
Review Literary Elements in your Tales notebook, plot diagram parts, and today's handouts. Know how to spell them as well.
Lit. Elements quiz on Thursday.
Week 3 Review Quiz tomorrow.
Revise Week 2 words - quiz Wednesday (including dictation).

Week of March 28

2011-03-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Friday
We shared the limericks and re-worked some that needed tweaking.
After reading the article Why is April called "April?" The answer is a mystery - no fooling!, students were challenged to create a short poem on the information.
Homework:
Type up the limerick and today's poem and send it to me by Monday. (I'd like to post some online).
Study Week 2 words (quiz next week) and Tales, Parts of Speech, vocab, etc.

Thursday
Students took the online Deer Valley Reading Assessment (not for a grade).
They then did AIMS review using links on my Lang. Arts Resources website.
Homework:
Original Limerick (your own creation) due tomorrow.

Wednesday
We reviewed Week 3 Day 2 & 3 w/s.
We practiced some more with stessed syllables, learned about iambic and dactylic feet, and wrote our first Limerick.
Homework:
Week 3 Review quiz tomorrow.
Original Limerick (your own creation) due Friday

Tuesday
We reviewed one of the AIMS test practice question packets from yesterday and discussed the answers.
As part of our poetry unit, we worked on finding the stressed syllables in various words.
Homework:
Week 3 Day 2 and 3
Bring a rough draft of your phone number poem to class tomorrow.

Monday
I collected the Idioms w/s, and we graded the Week 2 vocab quiz.
We did some more AIMS test practice questions and discussed the answers and test-taking skills.
Homework:
Week 3 Day 1 and 4

Week of March 21

2011-03-22T14:53:00.000-07:00

Friday
Early Release - Special Schedule; No Class

Thursday
We took the Week 2 vocab quiz and then reviewed an AIMS writing sample according to the new holistic rubric that will be implemented this year.
We also did some test practice questions and discussed the answers and test-taking skills.
Homework:
Idiom w/s - due Monday.

Wednesday
We reviewed Week 2 Day 3 and 4 w/s.
Students finished presenting the Prezis.
Homework:
Quiz on Week 2 words and idioms tomorrow

Tuesday
We took and graded Reggie the Con Man Quiz (Week 1 words in context).
Reviewed Week 2 Day 1 and 2 w/s.
Students graded a 7th grade writing sample according to the new holistic rubric that will be used this year by the State when grading the AIMS writing. We discussed the findings and what to watch out for in their own writing.
Homework:
Week 2 Day 3 & 4 w/s
Test on words/idioms from all four days on Thursday

Monday
Students began presenting their Literary Elements Prezis.
Homework:
Week 2 Day 1 & 2 w/s

Sharpen your Vocab during Spring Break!

2011-03-12T07:05:00.000-08:00

If you have an Android-powered phone, here is a free app I came across recently that you might want to try:

Words, Words, Words

Week of March 7

2011-03-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

Friday
Final day in the lab working on our Prezis.
I collected the reading logs from 3rd quarter.
Homework:
Finish the Prezi - link of your finished work needs to be emailed to me before Monday morning (March 21).
Be ready to present the day we come back.
Also, be ready for the Week 1 quiz (Reggie the Con Man) when we return

Thursday
We spent time in the lab working on our Prezis.
Homework:
Prezi work

Wednesday
Handout: Directions and guidelines for the Poetry in Music assignment
Students created a Prezi for their Poetry in Music assignment.
We will have class time for it Thursday and Friday - it's due in time for the first class after Spring Break.
Homework:
Review Week 1 w/s

Tuesday
We graded two Roots Quizzes (cogni, sci/tain, ten) and the Week 1 Review.
Students then completed Sensible Sentences? w/s using words from Week 1 and an AIMS writing sample test packet with thought-outs and hints for test taking.
They then wrote a reflection paragraph about the sample test. If it wasn't turned in, it is due tomorrow.
Homework:
Be familiar with Prezi.com by tomorrow.
Week 1 vocab quiz on Thursday.

Monday
In the lab, students worked on finding the main idea in passages and then progressed to finding how paragraphs were organized.
Homework:
Review Week 1 w/s.
We will grade the quizzes tomorrow.

Week of Feb. 28

2011-03-01T06:16:00.000-08:00

Friday
Early Release - Staff Development
No Class - Special Schedule

Thursday
Students took the Roots Quiz (cogni, sci) and the Week 1 Review.
We then shared the stories (#13) from the Hyperbole & More w/s.
Homework:
Review Lit. Terms

Wednesday
Handout: Sentences: Simple, Compound, and Complex
Students took the Persuasive Techniques post-test and turned it in.
Students worked in pairs on the Hyperbole & More w/s.
#13 was to be completed individually
Homework:
I collected the w/s that were done; turn in tomorrow if you need more time.
Tomorrow: Roots Quiz (cogni, sci) and Week 1 Day 5 Review (of Days 1-4 w/s).

Tuesday
Handout: Week 1 Day 3 and 4 w/s
In the lab, students finalized their creative stories. They were to add the heading, a title, and underline (or BOLD) the idiomatic phrases before printing.
I collected the stories.
Homework:
Week 1 Day 3 w/s

Monday
Handout: Week 1 Day 1 and 2 w/s
In the lab, students worked through Paint by Idioms. They then read through The Idiom Site and wrote down ten idioms with which they were unfamiliar.
In pairs, students had to correctly incorporate 8 of the idioms they had chosen (of the 20 between them) in a creative story.
Homework:
Week 1 Day 1 and 2 w/s
If you haven't created an account at prezi.com (use first name and last initial only), do so. See what you can do with it. You will be using it later for an assignment.
We will work on finalizing the stories on Tuesday and will print them out.

Note: Quiz on the Week 1 w/s on Thursday, along with the Roots Quiz (cogn, sci). Persuasive Techniques Quiz on Wednesday.

Missing Grades

2011-02-23T11:10:00.001-08:00

Due to the recent PowerSchool outage, several of the scores from this class have disappeared. I appreciate your patience as I work to re-enter them.

Week of Feb. 21

2011-02-22T09:06:00.000-08:00

Friday
Students re-worked the final drafts of their "Mall" letters and submitted them for grading on the Learning Express website. Students were encouraged to look at the rubric to increase their scores.
I collected the rough drafts with corrections, and any final drafts not finished by the end of class are due to me by email by Monday morning.
Homework:
Finish and email me the final drafts.
Create an account at prezi.com (use first name and last initial only) and see what you can do. You will be using it later for an assignment.

Thursday
Science Fair Expo Day
No class - special schedule

Wednesday
Students finished the summaries, had them reviewed by a peer, made necessary corrections and emailed them to me.
Students then began re-working their "Mall" letters. I had printed out the rough drafts so students could mark corrections on them.
Homework:
Have corrections ready by Friday, when we will type the letters up in MS Word and then submit for grading on the Learning Express website.

Tuesday
Handout: Writing an Analytic Summary
In the lab, we practised getting the main idea of articles. We read guidelines for writing the summary and the steps for doing so. After reading the "Bats" article, students created a tree map with main ideas and some supporting details.
In Microsoft Word, students wrote up a draft of their summary, which was then reviewed by another student using the Summary Checklist.
Homework:
Email me the persuasive mall letters from last week if you have not already done so. We will need them tomorrow.

Monday
No School - Presidents' Day

2011-02-18T05:41:00.001-08:00

Week of Feb. 14

2011-02-14T13:14:00.001-08:00

Friday
Handout: New Roots list (cogn, sci)
In the lab, students worked on a persuasive prompt (Middle School Writing Course through Learning Express)and utilized what they have learned about persuasive techniques. They submitted it for online grading and then sent the grade received, the analysis, and their writing to me by email.
Homework:
Study roots and persuasive techniques. Test week of Feb. 28.

Thursday
Tales #54
well look whose here sneered conan to his freinds its the obese creep and the four eyed wierdo
Vocab: sneered
Tales #55
justthen harold spied cassandra who was setting on the couch chattering to another classy girl
Vocab: spied, chattering
We reviewed and discussed the homework.
Students practised persuasive techniques and analogies online.
Homework:
Study parts of speech, roots, etc.

Wednesday
Tales #52
hey lets get out of here before we go any further harold rasped in gnarlys left ear
Vocab: rasped
Tales #53
no the whole group are here and were going too stick it out reiterated gnarly
Vocab: reiterated
Students took the Roots Review Quiz (tain, ten, fer).
Students presented their pro and con arguments for vacationing at the beach. We critiqued for persuasive techniques.
Homework:
w/s 53-54: Discriptive Essay

Tuesday
Tales #50
everyone was their in their best attire accept conan who wore his best holy jeans which had been cut with knifes for effect
Vocab: attire
Tales #51
conan lounged between all his cool freinds against a wall smoking a cigarette to look cool
Vocab: lounged
Students continued with their Beach prompt; when finished, they shared with a partner for constructive feedback.
Homework:
If you didn't complete the piece, finish it tonight. Tomorrow we will have two opposing viewpoints go up against each other and rate the effectiveness of each one's persuasive techniques.

Monday
Tales #49
when harold jaunty in his good slacks and chubby gnarly arrived at belindas parents house the party s already in full swing
Vocab: jaunty
Students read their persuasive paragraphs (Co-ed Teams) to a partner, who checked for persuasive techniques and gave constructive criticism. Changes were made as a result.
We began our next persuasive writing piece: The best vacation is a trip to the beach. Students began by writing Pro and Con points in tree-map format.
Homework:
Think about the position you'll be defending and try to come up with some pertinent and stupendous techniques for your argument.
Be ready for Persuasive Techniques and Roots Review quizzes sometime this week.

Week of Feb. 7

2011-02-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

Friday
Tales #47
the next saturday however gnarly and harold are filled with apprehension as they get dressed for the party
Vocab: apprehension
Tales #48
attempting to pull up his only stylish pair of pants his hole body quivered and harold felt qualms about his descision to attend the party Vocab: stylish, qualms, quivered
Today we did some brain exercising assignments: Graceful Dead Crossword and ten Hink-Pinks.
Homework:
Be prepared for the quizzes any day next week.

Thursday
Using the same model we've been practicing all week, we used persuasive techniques to respond to whether or not sports teams should be co-ed. We started by making a tree map of the pros and cons of co-ed teams and then selected the three strongest points (either pro or con). First, we wrote the intro paragraph with an attention-getter and thesis statement. After this, we used a flee map to organize the paper, putting one argument in each box, from the least important to the most important. We added details under each box, and transition words/phrases on top of each one.

At this point, it was time to tackle the body paragraph using the flee map as a guide. We referred to the four ways to appeal (in the Tales notebook) to enhance our persuasive technique.

Next came the final paragraph, in which the arguments were reiterated, a counterargument was negated, and the ending was firm and persuasive. Those who did not complete the final paragraph took it home to finish.
Homework:
Our much-postponed Roots and Persuasive Techniques quizzes are tomorrow.

Wednesday
We finished our persuasive paragraphs on moving to a farm or to the suburbs. Students had time to read in class.
Homework:
Roots, etc.

Tuesday
We continued with persuasive techniques and began a letter to our parents persuading them to either move to a house in the suburbs or a farm in the country. We used a Flee map to organize our writing.
Homework:
Roots, etc.

Monday
Students worked through two packets covering vocabulary skills and test preparation tips.
They also had time for silent reading.
Homework:
Roots Review and Persuasive Techniques Quizzes on Friday.

Week of Jan. 31

2011-01-31T13:27:00.000-08:00

Friday
We graded the last Roots Quiz.
We continued with a model persuasive essay and worked on how to organize it. We practiced the intro paragraph and outlined the three body paragraphs. More on Monday.
Homework:
Catch up

Thursday
Tales #45
aw come on harold beseeched gnarly i dont want to go alone into that pool of piranhas ut i do want to go
Vocab: beseeched, piranhas
Tales #46
ok ill go gnarly capitulated hapless corpulent harold
Vocab: capitulated, coruplent
We continued with the persuasive writing.
Homework:
Study roots and persuasive techniques.

Wednesday
No school for students - Staff Development Day

Tuesday
Tales #43
yes i think i will how about you harold asked gnarly in a supplicating voice
Vocab: supplicating
Tales #44
no im afraid theyll make fun of my stoutness and my glass's said harold. they allways do reiterated gnarly
In their writing journals, students reponded to this prompt:
Write a good, descriptive paragraph, entitled "The Meal," from the perspective of the corn snake(s).
I handed back copies of the persuasive techniques visuals so students can study for the quiz on Friday.
We reviewed persuasive techniques and took notes on the four types of persuasive appeals one can use. We will continue on Thursday.
Homework:
Study roots and persuasive techniques.

Monday
Students presented their projects.
Homework:
Review Quiz (fer, ten, tain, tent) on Friday.

Week of Jan. 24

2011-01-24T13:56:00.000-08:00

Friday
We took the Roots (fer) Quiz and Vocab Quiz.
Students finalized their projects.
Presentations will be on Monday.
Homework:
Review Quiz (fer, ten, tain, tent) next week

Thursday
Students continued with their project. We will have time in class to finalize it tomorrow, and presentations will be on Monday.
Homework:
Study roots.

Wednesday
Students were placed in groups of about four, based on their ad's technique(s).
Handout: Advertising Analysis Project.
Students began strategizing.
Homework:
Study roots.

Tuesday
Tales #41
everyone even gnarly and that bespectacled wierdo freind of his are invited and me and all my freinds are going conan added
Vocab: bespectacled
Tales #42
hey gnarly are you going too go? queried harold when he herd the news
Vocab: queried
Students picked one favorite ad along with its analysis and set it aside.
They turned in the other two analysis sheets, accompanied by the advertisements.
Students then identified the strongest or most obvious advertising techniques used in their favorite ad. We will continue with the activity tomorrow.
Homework:
Study roots (quiz Friday).

Monday
Handout: Persuasive Techniques - definitions and examples.
Students continued with the Advertisement Analysis w/s.
Homework:
Advertisement Analysis w/s are due tomorrow. When stapling, put the actual ad on top, and the answers on the bottom.
Create a visual representation for each of the Persuasive Techniques in the box provided. The visuals are due Monday.
Note: Any remaining pen pal letters NEED to be emailed to me asap.

Week of Jan. 17

2011-01-17T06:02:00.000-08:00

Friday
Pen pal letters were due and turned in - two rough drafts and a final. The final needed to be emailed to me.
We began our persuasive techniques project using magazine advertisements. Students had time in class to begin the assignment.
Homework:
There will be time in class to work on the Advertisement Analysis w/s on Monday. All three are due Tuesday. Remember to use a separate sheet of paper for each ad, as we'll be separating them later on.
Note: I only received about half the pen pal letters electronically. These NEED to be emailed to me asap.

Thursday
Students finalized the final drafts of the pop star formal letters and spent time in the lab typing them up before emailing them to me. I collected the rough drafts. Several students shared their letters.
Homework:
Pen Pal letters due tomorrow. Hard copy (printed) and by email to me. Have both rough drafts as well.

Wednesday
Tales #39
when class is finally over the popular students converged in the hallway
Vocab: converged
Tales #40
awesome said conan belinda is going to throw one of ther incredible partys he expounded
Vocab: incredible, expounded
We went over and I collected the homework.
We went over the criteria for a formal business letter and examined some letters for errors.
In pairs, worked on Task #1 or #2 (formal letter to pop star of band).
Homework:
Work some more on it tonight, if possible; I'll give you a little bit of time to finish the rough draft tomorrow in class, but it will need to be done as we're going to the lab to type up the final draft.

Tuesday
Handout: new roots (fer). Test on Friday.
We went over and I collected the homework.
I handed back RD#2 of the letters and we had some discussion about them. Final draft should be typed, printed out for your portfolio at school, and emailed to me. Keep both rough drafts and rubric.
We finished the Persuasive Techniques packet.
Finally graded the last Roots Quiz (cap, pel, puls).
Homework:
Study roots; final draft due Friday (email and hard copy).

Monday
No School - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Week of Jan. 10

2011-01-10T12:18:00.000-08:00

Friday
Modified schedule due to the Honors Assembly.
I collected the homework.
Students worked on Adjectives as a Method of Elaboration: they wrote in their journals for 6-7 minutes, and then switched with a neighbor who drew the scene. The idea behind it was to be as descriptive as possible in your writing so the reader can picture it in their mind.
Homework:
Choose your Words w/s.

Thursday
I collected the Sentence w/s.
We listened to an audio recording of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, once without and then with the text, analyzing the speech and looking for persuasive techniques.
Homework:
Two questions on the speech. Answer each in a good paragraph. Due tomorrow.

Wednesday
I collected Rough Draft #2 of the pen pal letters.
We covered techniques of persuasion, logos, pathos, and ethos, and practiced using different techniques in writing.
Homework:
Sentence w/s.

Tuesday
Tales #38
one day a rumor circulated around mrs noisomes classroom and everyone couldnt wait for their class to be over
Vocab: circulated
We continued with ways to vary sentences, reviewing appositives, balanced sentences (repeated structures), and dependent clauses at the start of the sentence.
We reviewed w/s 27-28 from last week (Because I Said So).
Homework:
Study and know examples of the persuasive techniques from w/s 15.
Rough Draft #2 is due tomorrow.

Monday
Tales #37
conan and his hip crowd made occasional fun of harold and gnarly while classy cassandra and her freinds remained aloof
Vocab: aloof
Handout: New Roots sheet (tain, ten). Test next week due to Honors Assembly on Friday.
I checked for HW (both w/s) and we went over the A CARP PIE.
I returned the first rough drafts of the pen pal letter and we discussed ways to improve them.
We continued with sentence variety examples and practice (-ing at the beginning and appositives).
Homework:
Rework the pen pal letter by Wednesday (on a separate sheet). You may type it if you want.

Week of Jan. 3

2011-01-03T14:47:00.000-08:00

Friday
Early Release - Special Schedule
No class today
Homework:
See Thursday for homework

Thursday
I collected the rough drafts of the pen pal letters.
We practiced ways to vary sentences. Students took notes in their "Tales" notebooks of examples and worked with a partner to create their own versions.
Homework:
A CARP PIE w/s - there is room on the sheet for your example
w/s 27-28 - write on the sheet
No class tomorrow, so they are due Monday.

Wednesday
Students took the Roots Review Test (cap, pel, puls). There was time for silent reading before we left for the library to check out a class set of Orphan Train Rider.
Homework:
In the excitement, forgot to hand out the w/s, so it will be homework tomorrow, due Monday, since we don't have class on Friday.

Tuesday
We continued with our persuasive writing lesson and defined what a persuasive paper does (makes a point - expresses an opinion - and supports that point with evidence - gives reasons why that opinion is correct).
We practiced making declarative statements (w/s 23-24). Then students had to give three reasons why a certain statements was true (w/s 25-26).
Homework:
For the same statement, come up with several reasons why it is false.
Review cap, pel, puls roots for quiz tomorrow.

Monday
Welcome back!
We discussed Point of View in reference to persuasive writing and broke into groups to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood from the perspective of LRRH, the grandmother, the wolf, and the woodcutter.
We practiced determining the difference between fact and opinion and covered five types of persuasive techniques.
Homework:
Bring magazines from home if you can - ones with advertisements (e.g., Family Circle, Better Homes & Gardens, etc.)
Review cap, pel, puls roots for quiz on Wednesday.

Week of Dec. 13

2010-12-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

Friday
Early Release - Special schedule
We graded the last Roots and Parts of Speech Quizzes.
Students set up FreeRice accounts and joined the class group in preparation for our collaboration with our pen-pal class.
Homework:
Finish Course 3 of the Middle School Writing over the Break.
If you didn't get your FreeRice account set up, do that before we return Jan. 3.

Thursday
Quarters for Caring Fair

Wednesday
Students continued with the Middle School Writing Course 3: Revising.
Homework:
Finish Course 3 over the Break.

Tuesday
Students continued with the Middle School Writing Course 2: Drafting and began Course 3: Revising.
Homework:
Finish Course 2 if you haven't already.

Monday
Students worked on the Middle School Writing Course 2: Drafting via the Phoenix Public Library.
Homework:
Read towards your goal or just for the sake of reading.

Week of Dec. 6

2010-12-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

Friday
Early Release - Special Schedule
No class
Homework:
Be sure to finish the first course (MS Writing Course 1: Prewriting) so we can begin the next one on Monday.

Thursday
We missed class (and hence the DRA) due to the bus evacuation drill. Some students were able to take it during my 4th period. Tomorrow is the last day it is available online, so be sure to take it on some computer at school.
Homework:
Read towards your goal or just for the sake of reading.

Wednesday
Students took the Roots and Parts of Speech Quiz.
We watched the final "Best Commander" and Figurative Language presentations.
Homework:
District Reading Assessment tomorrow. Review Lit. Terms.

Tuesday
Students took the STAR test and then typed their final drafts of the process essay.
Homework:
Study for Roots test (pel, puls).
Tomorrow we will have the final "Best Commander" presentations.
Process essay due tomorrow.

Monday
I collected the webbing from Practice 4.
Handout: How to write instructions and Rubric for Process Essay.
Students chose one of two prompts and began writing a process essay, beginning with Pre-writing and Rough Draft. Tomorrow they will type their final after the STAR test.
Homework:
Work on editing and revising your rough draft.
Roots test (pel, puls) is on Wed.

Week of Nov. 29

2010-11-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

Friday
In the computer lab, students worked on their pre-writing skills.Homework:
If you didn't already do this at school, get as far as the webbing (Clustering Practice 4). Do the webbing on a sheet of paper and turn it in Monday.

Thursday
We finished presenting the "Who's the Best Commander?" projects and graded the last Roots Quiz (cap).
Homework:
Have library card or # tomorrow!

Wednesday
Students presented the "Who's the Best Commander?" projects.
Homework:
Study roots, vocab, etc.

Tuesday
Ms. Ronemous had a sub.
Students read "When the Earth Shakes" on p. 435 in the literature textbook.
They created a flow map to show the organizational structure of the article.
On the back of the flow map, they were to develop a thesis statement for the article, and under that, comment on whether or not the author provided an effective introduction and conclusion. All answers must give evidence from the text for their argument.
Homework:
"Best Commander due tomorrow.

Monday
Tales #36
as the weeks wore on harold adjusted to gavilan peak and theiri terrable nagging harridans who are called teachers
Vocab: adjusted, harridan
Handout: Roots List (pels, puls)
We wrapped up the final presentations on Literary Elements.
Be sure to do these yourself before Dec. 9 (District Reading Assessment day). On your sheet: #20, 29, 30.
Homework:
Roots quiz next Wednesday.
"Best Commander" due this Wednesday.

Week of Nov. 22

2010-11-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

Thursday & Friday
No School - Thanksgiving Break

Wednesday
Students presented their assigned literary terms. Classmates took notes in their Vocab (Tales) notebook. We will finish up the remaining ones on Monday.
Homework:
The "Best Leader" project is due Nov. 30.

Tuesday
7th grade field trip

Monday
Students continued to work in groups on the Literary Terms. We will present on Wednesday.
Homework:
The "Best Leader" project is due Nov. 30.

Week of Nov. 15

2010-11-15T18:54:00.000-08:00

Friday
We graded the Vocab and Roots (sed) Quizzes.
Handout: Who Was The Best Leader?
Project due Nov. 29
Students worked in groups on the Literary Terms. Each group will present and the class will take notes in their Vocab notebook.
Homework:
Plan the "Best Leader" project.

Thursday
Students took The Killer Angels Vocab Quiz.
Homework:
Wed., Week 7 w/s
Note: For question #3 on the Mon., Week 7 w/s, go to my Lang. Arts Resources page and work through the Diagramming Sentences program. Then tackle question #3.

Wednesday
Students took the AR test for The Killer Angels.
Homework:
Mon. and Tues., Week 7 w/s
Vocab Quiz on the novel tomorrow

Tuesday
Tales #35
i know what you meen gnarly interjected. even if ido good i can never do good enough to suit my mom with who i argue alot
Vocab: interjected
I collected the final set of questions on The Kiler Angels.
Students took the Roots (cap) and Vocab Quizzes.
We went over the Tues., Wed., and Thurs., Week 6 w/s.
Homework:
Forgot to hand out the half sheet - there will be two tomorrow.
Note: AR Quiz on the novel tomorrow; Vocab Quiz on the novel Thursday

Monday
Ms. Ronemous was off campus.
Students used the Elements of Literature textbook to define literary elements. Write the term, its definition, and an original example - your own, made up or taken from a literary work (cite work and p.#). Skip a line between terms. Write legibly!
You will need to memorize the terms and definitions and be able to recognize and give examples of them. Due (completed and memorized) Dec. 3.
Homework:
Last set of The Killer Angels questions due tomorrow.
Roots Quiz (cap) tomorrow.

Week of Nov. 8

2010-11-08T11:12:00.000-08:00

Friday
I collected the Commanders Packet.
We watched a segment from the movie "Gettysburg" that corresponed to the last section of the book.
Homework:
Thurs., Week 6 w/s
Last set of The Killer Angels questions due Tuesday.

Thursday
No School - Veterans Day

Wednesday
We finished the novel!! We also read the Afterword. Students had some time to work on any outstanding Killer Angels work.
Homework:
Wed., Week 6 w/s
Commanders Packet due Friday
(No Roots or Vocab quiz on Friday!!)

Tuesday
We read Day 3, Chapter 4: Armistead and Chapter 5: Longstreet to the middle of page 333 ("...His face was oddly wrinkled.")
Homework:
Do not finish reading at home. We will continue tomorrow.
Finish the questions for the parts we read in class.
Tues., Week 6 w/s

Monday
Tales #34
my Dad is busy with his own new life and my Mom thinks that im an infant. shes a real shrew about good grades too harold moaned and I allways do good
Vocab: shrew
Students took a Reading Quiz on pp. 292-300 of The Killer Angels.
Handout: Roots list (cap)
We read Day 3, Chapter 3: Chamberlain.
I reminded students there would be a test on the vocabulary from the novel (back page of the commanders packet). Know definitions and spelling.
Homework:
Finish the chapter questions.

Week of Nov. 1

2010-11-01T10:57:00.001-07:00

Friday
I collected the Wed. and Thurs., Week 5 w/s.
Students took the Roots Review (pos, sed) and Vocab Quizzes.
We graded the Roots (sed) Quiz.
We read Day 3, Chapter 2: Longstreet to page 292 ("...could take that hill.")
Homework:
Finish the chapter and questions. Be ready for a reading quiz on the part you read by yourself.

Thursday
Students took the 7th grade Persuasive Text diagnostic via Learning Express on the Phoenix Public Library web site.
Homework:
Thurs., Week 5 w/s
Study for Roots/Vocab Review (pos, sed) tomorrow.

Wednesday
Tales #33
oh poor you said gnarly. i know what you mean i have a sibling just like that who drives me crazy
Vocab: sibling
We went over Mon. and Tues. Week 2 w/s. I collected the Monday one to review the summaries (question 5).
We took the Vocab and Roots (sed) Quizzes, and then had time for AR reading and quiz-taking.
Homework:
Wed., Week 5 w/s

Tuesday
Students took a Persuasive Techniques Pre-Test (not graded - turned in).
Students worked on the Fri., Week 4 w/s (used the back of the handout).
In their journals, they responded to Write What You See w/s 27, and then pasted the half-sheet into their journal. The journals stayed at school.
Homework:
Tues., Week 5 w/s
Study for Roots/Vocab Quizzes tomorrow.

Monday
Tales #32
my big dapper brother in collage who my family thinks is gods gift to parents nags me about my grades he continues
Vocab: dapper
I collected the green Day 2 questions.
We went over Wed. and Thurs. Week 4 w/s.
We began Day 3 of the battle, reading pp. 275-281 ("...the Regiment of Home.").
Homework:
Finish Chapter 1 and questions on the pink sheet.
Mon., Week 5 w/s
Note: Vocab Quiz and Roots Quiz (sed) on Wed. Roots Review Quiz (pos, sed) on Friday).

Week of Oct. 25

2010-10-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

Friday
Early Release - Special Schedule
Tales #31
well gnarly my Mom and Dad are getting divorced and are fighting over me he said with a lament
Vocab: lament
We worked on a Fluency exercise to improve our brains.
Homework:
Finish the questions on the green sheet.
Thurs., Week 4 w/s

Thursday
Tales #30
and after school harold tells gnarly all about himself and his dilemmas
Vocab: dilemmas
We read pp. 248-270 of The Killer Angels, finishing Day 2 of the battle.
Homework:
Finish the questions on the green sheet.
Wed., Week 4 w/s.
Due to the "social" activity tonight, the quiz has been postponed until Wed. of next week.

Wednesday
Tales #29
when the bell rang harold sallied forth from the classroom with gnarly he had found a best freind
Vocab: sallied forth
Students took the Commanders Quiz.
We reviewed and discussed the Thurs., Week 3, Mon., Week 4, and Tues., Week 4 w/s.
We read Chapter 5 Longstreet up to page 248 ("Longstreet shrugged.") Homework:
No reading at home tonight. Just finish the questions on the part we read in class.
Study vocab, etc. for Friday's quiz.

Tuesday
Tales #28
everyone transcribed the assignment into their notebook accept conan from who nobody ever expected any homework
Vocab: transcribed
We reviewed elements of a plot diagram. Students completed a plot diagram after having the story Saving Sweetness read to them.
Students took the Reading Quiz on pages 220-236 of The Killer Angels.
We reviewed and discussed the Wed., Week 3 w/s.
Homework:
Mon. and Tues., Week 4 w/s

Monday
Students who had not had time to finish their persuasive writing promts on Tuursday had time to do so.
Library visits were available for those who needed books.
We finished the segment from "Gettysburg" that corresponded to what we had read (The Battle of Little Round Top)
Homework:
Mon., Week 4 w/s
Reading Quiz tomorrow(pp. 221-236)
Root Quiz (sed, sid) Friday
Commanders Quiz Wednesday

Week of Oct. 18

2010-10-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

Friday
Early Release - Abbreviated Schedule
Tales #27
oh no not mrs noisome groaned gnarly in an aside to harold. i here she gives tons of homework calls parents and makes students write and write
Vocab: aside
We watched a segment of the movie Gettysburg that covered what we had just read.
Homework:
Thurs., Week 3 w/s
Reading Quiz on Monday (pp. 221-236)
Root Quiz (sed, sid) next week
Commanders Quiz next week (know which side they're on)

Thursday
Early Release - Special Schedule - No class - Period 1 and then HR until dismissal

Wednesday
Tales #26
this may be the 1st day of school she said but you have homework tonite my name in case your interested is mrs noisome
Vocab: noisome
We reviewed and discussed the Tues., Week 3 w/s.
Students took a Reading Quiz on what they read last night.
We read Day 2, Chapter 4: Chamberlain to bottom of page 220 ("...Any questions?").
Homework:
Finish the chapter and the corresponding questions. Be ready for a quiz on what you read by yourself (on Friday - no class tomorrow).
Wed., Week 3 w/s
KNOW THE COMMANDERS!

Tuesday
Tales #25
as gnarly concluded his sentence the teacher a short bizarre middle aged lady dressed in tennis shoes and an loathsome purple dress sauntered in the door
Vocab: bizarre, loathsome, sauntered
We reviewed the Mon., Week 3 w/s.
We read Day 2, Chapter 3: Longstreet to top of page 199.
Homework:
Finish the chapter and the corresponding questions. Be ready for a quiz on what you read by yourself.
Tues., Week 3 w/s

Monday
Tales #24
she's shy and she's nice and she's comely and she gets good grades and all the cool dudes are after her but she ignores them gnarly concludes
Vocab: comely.
I collected the remaining reflections on the Inference Courses from last Thursday.
Handout: Roots (sed, sid, sess) - quiz will be next week.
Students shared their Be Specific #1 stories.
We read pp. 166 to top of p. 176 of The Killer Angels.
Homework:
Finish Ch. 2: Chamberlain - reading and questions. No reading quiz tomorrow.

Week of Oct. 11

2010-10-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

Friday
Tales #23
gnarly nerd a strait A student continued to inform harold. and classy cassandra is to good a student to be interested in conan he elucidated
Vocab: elucidated
We review the Thurs., Week 2 w/s.
Students completed the activity associated with Be Specific #1. They got feedback from a partner and then made changes based on those comments.
Homework:
Parts of speech, vocab, etc.
We will share more of the writing on Monday.

Thursday
Using the Learning Express Library, students completed Reading Comprehension Inference Courses 1-3.
Homework:
In a good paragraph, describe what you learned in the Inference Courses and how it will help you in the future.

Wednesday
Tales #22
a obese pimply faced kid in the next desk leans over to harold dont pay no attention to conan he whispered. hes not as tough as he looks
Vocab: obese
Students took the Roots(pos) and Vocab Quizzes.
They worked on and we reviewed the Semicolon w/s.
We went over last night's HW.
Homework:
Thursday, Week 2 w/s

Tuesday
Tales #21
as the affects of her stunning beauty wore off harold heard conan shouting at him she thinks shes to good for us
Vocab: stunning
Handout: Affect/Effect
I collected the yellow question sheet from Wed., July 1.
We finished Day 1 by reading Chapter 7, Buford; then moved on to Day 2, reading Chapter 1, Fremantle.
Homework:
Wed., Week 2 w/s
Study for Roots Quiz (pos) and Vocab Quiz tomorrow.

Monday
No School - Fall Break Day

Week of Oct. 4

2010-10-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

Friday
Using the Learning Express Library, students learned strategies to find the main idea of a passage, define vocabulary in context, and tell the difference between fact and opinion.
Homework:
Anything you need to catch up on, including any Learning Express modules you may have missed.

Thursday
Tales #20
harold mesmerized by the sight stared at classy cassandra for a full minute before he sat down; he was smitten
Vocab: mesmerized, smitten
We played the envelope game with sentences to elaborate on and then shared out the best ones.
Homework:
Know the commanders

Wednesday
Tales #19
she was beautiful and she was classy and she was wonderful and she had long curly black hair and a ghost of a smile manifested itself on her lovley lips
Vocab: manifested
We reviewed the answers to Tues. Wk 2 w/s (students keep as a study guide).
We read Wed., July 1, Chapter 5: Longstreet and Chapter 6: Lee up to page 139 (...by General Hill).
Homework:
Finish Chapter 6, answering chapter questions as you go.
There will not be a reading quiz, but you need to make points on your yellow sheet on what you learned from the chapter about Robert E. Lee.

Tuesday
Tales #18
sitting there at the desk in front of him reading the book war and peace was a apparition of beauty that affected his ability to move
Vocab: apparition
Students did a great job presenting The Comedy of Secession Readers Theater play.
We checked the HW and students then had time to work on tonight's homework or read.
Homework:
Tuesday, Week 2 w/s

Monday
Tales #17
his corpulent knees knocked together in shock and his eyes grew bigger under his glasses
Vocab: corpulent
I collected the Vicki Murray paragraphs.
We worked on our reading comprehension skills in the lab. If you were absent, follow these directions:
1. Go to phxlib.org
2. Click on Learning and Research (on the left)
3. Click the L (at the top of the page)
4. Click Learning Express Library
5. After logging in, Click Middle School
6. Choose MS Reading Comprehension: Foundation Course 1
Your answers are saved automatically. To pick up where you left off, click on MyCenter (you may have to "fast foward" to where you stopped).
Homework:
Monday, Week 2 w/s

Week of Sept. 27

2010-09-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

Friday
No class - special Middle School schedule.

Thursday
Tales #15
perambulating to the only vacant desk harolds hands began to shake
Vocab: perambulating
I collected the yellow Killer Angels questions for Chapters 3 and 4 (from yesterday's reading in class).
Today was our writing day. We did some more work on ways to elaborate. Students used adjectives to describe a picture, then read an article on the person in the picture. Based on the reading, they had to decide which adjectives to keep (with justification) and which adjectives to add (with justifications).
They then, individually, had to write a paragraph using the Ways to Elaborate we have been working on (today we added Cause and Effect & Compare/Contrast).
Homework:
Finish the paragraph. The paragraph and one picture per group (remember to add members' names) with adjectives added and justified due Monday.
No class tomorrow - special schedule.

Wednesday
Ms. Ronemous had a sub.
Students worked on The School for Scandal w/s, then turned it in.
They read Wed., July 1, Chapters 3 and 4, pp. 97-125, from The Killer Angels, making additions to the Commanders packet, tracking the vocab, and answering the questions on the yellow sheet.
Homework:
Finish reading through p. 125. No reading quiz tomorrow!

Tuesday
Tales #15
her and her freinds jabbed there noses in the air and didnt even say hello to harold
Vocab: jabbed
We read Wed., July 1, Chapter 2: Buford.
Homework:
Finish questions on Chapter 2

Monday
Tales #14
belinda and her cohorts took one look at harolds ugly bronw glasses round face and serious expression and the whole crew dismissed him as worse then the kid gnarly nerd
Vocab: cohorts
I collected the first white worksheet on The Killer Angels (questions on the chapters).
We took a Reading Quiz on pp. 60-68.
Handout: Roots list (pos)
Handout: Green comma info sheet
Handout: Yellow w/s on Day 1 of Gettysburg
We read July 1, 1863 - Chapter 1: Lee and then watched a few scenes from the movie Gettysburg.
Homework:
Roots, parts of speech, etc.

Week of Sept. 20

2010-09-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Friday
Half day - special schedule.
Students took the mob/grad Roots Review Quiz.
We graded the grad/gress quiz from last week.
Homework:
Anything you need to catch up on.

Thursday
Tales #13
their was belinda beautiful a pulchritudinous babe with long blond hair and designer clothes who was queen of the snobs
Vocab: pulchritudinous
We did some more work on the different ways to elaborate, getting down to "the beggar's hand." Students responded to the prompt: Arizona is an ideal place to live. They then worked in groups to improve upon their individual responses. Most groups presented - the remainder will present tomorrow.
Homework:
Study for tomorrow's quizzes.

Wednesday
Tales #12
there were other clutches of kids in harolds classes but they didnt want to have anything to do with a four eyed wierdo either
Vocab: clutches (collective noun)
I checked the Commanders section of the KA Study Guide.
Students took and turned in a reading quiz on the section of The Killer Angels they had read last night.
We read to p. 60 ("...curls agiggle.") of Ch. 4 - Longstreet.
Homework:
Finish Ch. 4 and be ready for a reading quiz on what you read tomorrow.
Complete the Ch. 4 questions.

Tuesday
Tales #11
all he could see was conans cool audacious exterior and he wanted to be like him
Vocab: audacious, exterior
I collected the Literary and Informational Text Diagnostic Reflections.
Handouts: Booklet on commanders (blank pages to be filled in as you go): things you relate to, comments on their courage, attitudes towards the war, leadership skills, etc.
We read Ch. 2 - Chamberlain and Ch. 3 - Buford up to p. 36
Homework:
Finish Ch. 3 and be ready for a reading quiz on what you read tomorrow.

Monday
Tales #10
harold didnt know about conans and his freinds appalling grades
Vocab: appalling
We began reading The Killer Angels, starting with Mon., June 29, 1863 - Chapter 1: The Spy, and finished the chapter. Remember to note page numbers of the vocabulary words (on the back page of the study guide) as we go.
Handout: The Killer Angels questions (white sheet).
Homework:
Reading Diagnostic Reflections are due tomorrow.
Finish questions related to Chapter 1 by tomorrow.
Finish the To the Reader and Foreword sections by Wednesday.
Finish the commanders part of the study guide by Wednesday. You can use some of the information from this section for #3-6 of the Foreword.
These questions do not have to be in complete sentences, but be sure to note the page numbers.
There will be a review quiz on Roots mob and grad on Friday.

Week of Sept. 13

2010-09-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

Friday
Tales #9
poor chainless harold pondered wow those dudes are awesome
Vocab: pondered
Students took the Roots (grad, gress) and Vocabulary quizzes.
We graded the mob, mot quiz from last week.
Handouts: KA Anticipation Guide; KA Study Guide
Students finished the first handout and began the second.
Homework:
Finish (and print) the diagnostic reflection. If you have printer issues at home, send it to yourself or put it on a thumb drive and print it at school. The reflections will be collected on Tuesday.
The KA study guide will be homework on Monday. We will begin reading the novel on Monday.
Next Friday there will be a review quiz on mob, mot, grad, gress roots (the last two roots sheets).

Thursday
Tales #8
conan the flunking macho dude led alot of the hip dudes at school and him and his sycophants all wore alot of fake gold chains
Vocab: sycophants
Students went through their results from the 7th Grade Reading Diagnostic 1: Literary Text and Informational Text. Some students were still finishing the Informational Text diagnostic.
They were to complete the following assignment:

[Save this file as: LT+IT-pre.docx]
Name
Date
Period

Learning Express Literary Text
(Select the text from the skill all the way down to the end of the explanation.)
Copy and paste into Word (saved as LT+IT-pre.docx)
Skip a line.
In your own words, and for each incorrect answer, write a sentence or two about
• what you learned
• what you didn’t know
• what you missed
• why your answer was wrong

Then do the same for the
Learning Express Informational Text

Homework:
Study for tomorrow's test (roots and vocab).
Finish the diagnostic reflection by Monday (some students sent it to themselves or saved to a flash drive).

Wednesday
Finished the 7th Grade Reading Diagnostic 1: Literary Text on the Learning Express Library and turned in results.
Most students completed the 7th Grade Reading Diagnostic 1: Informational Text and printed their results. We will review these results tomorrow.
Homework:
Moral/Theme w/s

Tuesday
Finalized and turned in the RTT plot diagrams and rationales.
Logged in to Learning Express via the Phoenix Public Library.
Worked on the 7th Grade Reading Diagnostic 1: Literary Text.
Homework:
Study roots, parts of speech, etc.

Monday
Handout: Latin roots w/s (grad, gress)
Collected the Dies Drear questions (writing journals).
Students took the AR reading and vocabulary tests on The House of Dies Drear.
Students returned Dies Drear book to the library and checked out The Killer Angels, which we will begin on Wednesday.
They continued their group work on plot diagrams and rational for their sequence of events of "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi." We will print them out tomorrow.
Homework:
Study roots, vocab, parts of speech.

Week of Sept. 6

2010-09-08T06:36:00.000-07:00

Friday
Students took the Roots and Vocab tests (we will grade them next week).
In the computer lab, students worked in groups to draw up their plot diagrams of "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," also giving their rationale as to why they organized the parts of the plot the way they did. We will continue with this on Monday after the Dies Drear AR test.
Homework:
The House of Dies Drear assignments due Monday.

Thursday
We continued working with "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," examining plot components.
Homework:
Continue with Dies Drear and vocab, parts of speech, roots, etc.

Wednesday
We read "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling.
Students discussed possible themes in the story. Remember that a theme is not a word or a phrase - it's at least one sentence (try the Most Important Word strategy).
Homework:
Continue with Dies Drear and vocab, parts of speech, roots, etc.

Tuesday
Students had time to finalize their "Open Mind" posters before presenting.
The following were turned in:
- "The Open Mind" poster
- "I Am" Poem from point of view of either lawyer or banker
- "The Bet" chart
Homework:
Continue with the Dies Drear assignment (due next Monday).
Roots (mot, mov) & Vocab (from Tales, etc.) test Friday; AR Test on Dies Drear next Monday

Monday
No School - Labor Day

Week of Aug. 30

2010-08-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

Friday
Students received a half sheet with the assignments for The House of Dies Drear Ch. 8-19. They had time to work on this in class.
Homework:
On Tuesday I will give you time to finish your "Open Mind" assignment. We will present those and the banker/lawyer "I Am" poems.
Keep studying the roots, vocab, parts of speech, etc. Roots test will be next week.
The House of Dies Drear tasks are due Mon., Sept. 13, when we will also be taking the AR test on the book (worth 9 points towards your AR goal).

Thursday
Tales #7
conan an otherwise intelligent dude is so busy impressing his peers with his virility that his grades dropped to Fs
Vocab: virility (= manliness)
The Open Mind Activity:
Students were broken into six groups. Each group focused on one of the stages (beginning, middle, end) for either the banker or the lawyer.
Using "The Bet" story and their completed worksheet from last night, inside a "blank mind" students were to draw symbols or select phrases from the text to represent either the banker's or lawyer's thoughts at that point in the text. Outside the diagram, they explained why they chose those particular symbols and phrases. Student will present to the class next week.
Homework:
"I Am" Poem from the perspective of either the banker or the lawyer (half sheet template was distributed).
Vocab/Roots/Parts of Speech test has been postponed until next week.
Have your "Dies Drear" book in class tomorrow.

Wednesday
Tales #6
conan a really cool dude looked at non athlethic porky four eyed harold with disdain as if he were lower than the belly of a rat
Vocab: disdain
Shared answers to "W of W" questions, then collected homework.
Students responded to this prompt in their writing journals:
How long would you be willing to stay in solitary confinement for $2 million?
We then shared responses.
We read and discussed "The Bet" short story by Anton Chekhov.
Homework:
Complete the handout on how the lawyer and the banker changed during the story.

Tuesday
Collected "All Summer in a Day" tasks.
Read and discussed "Windows of Wonder" short story (vocabulary, fig. language, mood, etc.).
Students worked with a partner to describe the main character, filling in a graphic organizer.
Homework:
Answer any two of these questions on the back of the graphic organizer and using complete sentences:
p. 148 #3, 6
p. 149 #2
Study Tales vocab, parts of speech, roots, etc.

Monday
Tales #5:
well the 1st day of school hapless harold wierd cringed at the cool treatment he got from his peers
Vocab: cringed, peers
New Latin Roots: mob, mot, mov
I checked that students had the questions to the first seven chapters of The House of Dies Drear finished (did not collect).
We learned five ways to elaborate, and then practiced doing so. Using the story of Tough Boris as a springboard, students chose two adjectives and elaborated on them using any three of the new ways we learned today.
Homework:
All Summer in a Day tasks are due Tuesday.
There will be a Roots / Vocab test on Friday. Study Tales vocab, parts of speech, roots, etc. for it.

Week of Aug. 23

2010-08-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

Friday
Half day - abbreviated schedule.
Tales #4:
unfortunate hapless harold also had to get all As and Bs on every report card or he would be diseased pachyderm meat at home
Vocab: pachyderm
Students responded to This Is Your Life prompts.
Homework:
"All Summer in a Day" tasks are due Tuesday.
Study vocab (from Tales); continue with Dies Drear (Chapter 1-7 due Monday).
This Is Your Life is not homework!

Thursday
Tales #3:
poor hapless harold however is inept at every sport he had tried so far in his 13 years of life
Vocab: inept
Students completed their "Seventh Grade" story map and turned it in.
Handout: DVUSD Analytic and Holistic Six Trait Rubrics (will be used to grade writing)
We read "All Summer in a Day" and reviewed what we mean by "theme."
Homework:
1.Respond to the prompt:
What happened as a result of the classmates on Venus experiencing the sun when they go outside?
2. Plot diagram of the story
3. Draw a picture to represent some aspect of the story.
#1, 2, and 3 are due Tuesday.
Study vocab (from Tales); continue with Dies Drear (Chapter 1-7 due next Monday).

Wednesday
Students spent the period responding to a choice of three narrative writing prompts.
We will continue the "Seventh Grade" story map in class tomorrow.
Homework:
Study vocab (from Tales); continue with Dies Drear (Chapter 1-7 due next Monday).

Tuesday
Tales #2: hapless harold weird a chubby kid with horn rimmed glasses fat tummy chocolate brown skin and zits on his cute round face was assigned to gavalin peak in anthem arizona
Vocab: hapless
Reviewed the Parts of Speech poem.
Handout: Parts of Speech examples and definitions
Read "Seventh Grade" by Gary Soto.
Noted meaning of connotation and denotation.
Students worked with a partner to create a plot diagram of the story, using the Story Mountain Diagram from last week.
Homework:
Study vocab (from Tales); continue with Dies Drear (Chapter 1-7 due next Monday). The plot diagram is NOT homework.

Monday
Tales #1: once their was a four eyed weirdo from baltimore maryland who moved to anthem arizona against his volition
Vocab: volition
Presented and collected the "I Am" Poems.
Reviewed the eight parts of speech and began the Parts of Speech Poem.
Homework:
Finish the Parts of Speech poem for tomorrow.
Dies Drear questions on Chapter 1-7 due next Monday.

Week of Aug. 16

2010-08-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

Friday
Collected the Top Five Books Ever.
Handout: Questions for Ch. 1-7 on The House of Dies Drear.
Students took the STAR and DVRA (Deer Valley Reading Assessment) tests online.
Homework:
"I Am" Poem is due Monday. Final draft to be typed or neatly written.
Dies Drear questions due next Friday.

Thursday
Handout: Template of the "I Am" Poem.
We read two examples and then did one stanza as a class.
Students then worked on a rough draft of their own poem in their composition notebooks.
Homework:
"I Am" Poem is due Monday. Final draft to be typed or neatly written.
Top 5 books are due tomorrow (one paragraph on each, including the recommendation).
If the network is working, we take the STAR and DVRA tests online tomorrow.

Wednesday
We shared excerpts from the Learning Style Reflection and then turned them in.
Students brainstormed the main parts of a story before filling in the details on the Short Story Mountain handout (study guide for tests).
Homework:
Study Short Story Mountain info.
Make a list of your top 5 books ever. Write a short paragraph on each, and say why you would recommend them to someone else.

Tuesday
I collected the Phoenix Library card application forms - please be sure to have them all in by tomorrow, as I'll be going down to the library tomorrow afternoon to turn them in.
I also collected the yellow Pet Permission/Student Info sheets and the Adv. Lang. Arts syllabus acknowledgement sheets.
We took a Multiple Intelligences survey to discover what kind(s) of intelligences we have and then graphed the results. Students took notes on the traits of their top 2-3 intelligences and any careers that appealed to them. Many students had time to begin their homework.
Homework:
On a lined sheet of paper and using the surveys from today and yesterday, answer the following questions in complete sentences. Skip a line between each answer. Incorporate the question into the answer.
Learner Survey Reflection
1. What had you already known?
2. What surprised you?
3. What 2-3 things (from the Strategies section) can you do to make sure you'll have a successful academic year? (use what you learned in the Descriptions and Strategies paperwork)
4. What did you learn from the Multple Intelligence inventory?
(a) Did anything surprise you?

Monday
I enjoyed meeting my new students! We reviewed the syllabus and discussed general rules and procedures.
Students received a Phoenix Library card application form to fill out (needed for online work - see syllabus). I will be bringing the forms down to the library and collecting the cards myself.
We also took a Learner Survey to discover what kind of learner we are and discover strategies to help us study more effectively.
Homework:
Get paperwork signed. Complete library card application and show to your parents. Have it with you tomorrow.

Summer...

2010-06-18T19:52:00.001-07:00

Hope you're enjoying your summer vacation. Keep up on your reading, and I'll see you August 16!

Week of May 24

2010-05-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

Wednesday and Thursday
End-of-year activities. Thursday is early release.
Have a great summer!!!

Tuesday
Field Day and Water Day for 7th and 8th graders.

Monday
Students added their survival project to the poster.
Homework:
None

Week of May 17

2010-05-17T16:38:00.001-07:00

Friday
Students had time in the computer lab to type up their survival project and take AR tests.
Homework:
Survival project due Monday.

Thursday
Students shared and turned in the modern-day Cinder Tale (including 5 common ingredients and 2 themes). We then discussed the survival project, and had time for reading and AR tests.
Homework:
AR comprehension and points due tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will have time in the lab to work on the survival project.

Wednesday
Students took the online portion of the Adv. Language Arts Final Assessment.
Afterwards, there was time to work on their original, modern-day Cinder Tale.
Homework:
Tales will be presented on Thursday. Remember to list the common ingredients and themes.

Tuesday
Today we finished the presentations and then brainstormed what characteristics Cinderella tales have in common (5 ingredients and 2 themes from each group). After sharing these out to the class, groups were challenged to create their own Cinderella (or Cinderfella) tale in a modern setting.
Homework:
Tomorrow we take the online portion of the Advanced Language Arts Assessment and work on the Cinderella tales, if time permits. We will present the tales on Thursday.

Monday
Students shared and turned in the double-bubble thinking map of "Yeh-Shen" and "The Twelve Months" as well as their write-ups of the two Cinderella tales.
Homework:
More presentations tomorrow.

Week of May 10

2010-05-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

Friday
Students shared their Mythological Barbie products.
Homework:
Cinder Tales are due Monday.

Thursday
7th Grade Field Trip to the Biosphere.

Wednesday
Students took the 7th Grade Advanced Language Arts Final Exit Exam, after which they put the finishing touches to the Mythological Barbie project.
Homework:
Mythological Barbie project presentations will begin right off the bat on Friday.
Cinder Tales Projects are now due Monday.

Tuesday
Final STAR test of the year.
Continued work on the Cinderella project.
Homework:
Mythological Barbie project due tomorrow.

Monday
Handout: Cinder Tales Tasks.
Students worked in groups of two. #3 is to make you more familiar with the characteristics of a Cinder Tale...you will be creating your own next week.
Homework:
Mythological Barbie project due Wed.
We're in the lab tomorrow for our final STAR testing and then to continue with the Cinder project.

Week of May 3

2010-05-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

Friday
Read Aschenputtel, beginning on p. 592 of the literature textbook.
Homework:
Answer questions 2-6 on p. 604 (lined sheet of paper; complete sentences; skip a line between answers).

Thursday
Time to work on Barbie project in lab.
Homework:
Work on the Barbie project. Due Wednesday.

Wednesday
Early Release ~ Special Schedule
notMYkid presentation, then P2.
Homework:
Continue planning for the Barbie project at home.

Tuesday
Collected the questions from yesterday (Literature textbook) and the Bad Hair Day assignment.
Handout: Mythological Barbie assignment (w/ rubric).
In groups of two, students used the Mythology links on my web site to conduct research for the assignment. We will have time in the lab on Thursday; the assignment is due Wed., May 12.
Homework:
Project planning.

Monday
Read The Origin of the Seasons, beginning on p. 501 of the literature textbook. Homework:
Complete questions 2-7 on p. 509.
Bad Hair Day assignment due tomorrow.

Week of April 26

2010-04-26T11:40:00.001-07:00

Friday
Tales #83
when harold and his freinds arrived in mrs noisomes classroom the sub loomed over them menacingly and asked for there homework
Vocab: loomed , menacingly
Tales #84
everyone in the class except the slothful conan of course had their homework
Vocab: slothful
Tales #85
as the sub prepared to verbally pulverize conan harold with a wink skiped him a copy of the homework so conan could pretend to find it
Vocab: pulverize, verbally
We graded Roots Test (pend) and shared Original Myth Movie Projects.
Homework:
Work on the Bad Hair Day narrative (details under Wednesday).

Thursday
More time to work on the creation myths in the lab. Students also conducted research for the Even Gods have Bad Hair Days assignment. Some typed their papers.
Homework:
Finalize the poster project. Due tomorrow.

Wednesday
Students continued working on their creation myths in the lab. As time permitted, students conducted research for the Even Gods have Bad Hair Days assignment.
Handout: Even Gods have Bad Hair Days.
This is an individual assignment, due May 4.
Homework:
Work on the poster project. Due Friday.

Tuesday
In groups of two or three, continued researching creation myths in the lab. Began brainstorming poster project.
Homework:
Work on the poster project. We will share them on Friday.

Monday
Today we researched Creation Myths (took notes in our composition books). We will use this information to develop our own creation myth according to the handout.
Handout: Original Creation Myth Movie Poster Project - with directions and rubric.
Tomorrow we will work on developing the original myth. Wednesday and Thursday will be spent continuing the research into mythology (using links under Mythology on my Lang. Arts Resources web site), which will be used for upcoming assignments (see Upcoming Deadlines link at top of blog).
Homework:
Creation Myth Movie Posters will be presented on Friday.

Week of April 19

2010-04-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

Friday
Tales #79
and this substitute is a nightmare designed to torment striplings
Vocab: stripling
Tales #80
he is big burly and odurate and he hates kids and he especially hates seventh graders
Vocab: obdurate
Tales #81
harold set among his new freinds at lunch and plotted to thwart this knavish sub
Vocab: knavish, thwart
Tales #82
him and gnarly contrived the perfect ploy to get this person--at his signal all of the students would drop there english book boring language on the floor
Vocab: ploy, contrived
Students shared their plot diagrams and myths.
Homework:
None

Thursday
Students worked on their plot diagrams and presentations.
Homework:
None

Wednesday
Early Release - Special Schedule

Tuesday
Tales #78
a few days later 3 things happenned at gavalin peak harold the hero convinced his parents to get him contact lenses the toothsome greatful belinda spoke to him and a substitute came in for mrs noisome
Vocab: toothsome
In groups, we read several myths: Orpheus; Echo and Narcissus; The Flight of Icarus; The Labors of Hercules; The Twelve Tasks of Heracles.
Each group will present their myth to the class and will share one plot diagram/story map per group.
Homework:
None

Monday
Tales #77
thats ok conan murmured harold with a leer at gnarly. me and my freind gnarly just want to somehow fit in
Vocab: leer
We read an excerpt from the Introduction to Thomas Bullfinch's Age of Fable: Vols. I & II: Stories of Gods and Heroes, and then completed an outline activity. We then checked our work against the answer sheet and handed in the half-sheets.
After that, just had enough time to read Sky Woman, a creation myth from the literature book.
Homework:
None

Week of April 12

2010-04-12T13:42:00.000-07:00

Tuesday through Friday
AIMS testing - students will have one core class and one special each day.

Monday
Tales #74 - click here.
Vocab: incinerated
Tales #75
conan the swinish fighter with a plethora of cool freinds comes up to harold like a repentant dog who had peed on the rug
Vocab: a plethora of, swinish, repentant
Tales #76
hey man i didnt mean nothing bye my comment me and my freinds are thankfull to you for shouldering the culpability for the fire
Vocab: shouldering, culpability
Did some more review for AIMS.
Homework:
We will continue to work on the Idioms w/s on Thursday (the next time we have class).

Week of April 5

2010-04-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

Friday
Tales #72 view here
Vocab: calamity, averting
Tales #73
harold sat down and hastily penned a letter to his vision of pulchritude
Vocab: vision, penned, pulchritude
We took this week's Roots Test (pend) and graded the last two Roots Tests (tain/stat).
Homework:
Review vocab, lit. terms, roots

Thursday
Collected the plot diagrams of The Highwayman.
Did some intensive AIMS review in the lab. If you were absent, be sure to visit my Lang. Arts web site and work on the games under the Literary Elements heading. Then do some of the Analogy games as well.
Homework:
Review for the quiz tomorrow (Roots - pend).

Wednesday
Tales #71
cassandra wrote a note to the valiant bespectacled young man to tell him that she is proud of him
Vocab: valiant, bespectacled
We continued our in-depth work on The Highwayman poem, sharing, reworking, and improving the extensions we wrote last night.
Homework:
Create a plot diagram/story map of the poem; include setting, characters, etc.

Tuesday
More work on imagery in The Highwayman poem.
Students found examples of figurative language in the poem, and later compared their findings to this online interactive version.
Homework:
Write an additional verse to the poem, describing a ghostly meeting between Bess and the highwayman. Start the verse with a line from the poem such as: “over the cobbles he clattered” or “the wind was a torrent of darkness.” Perhaps write from the point of view of a traveller witnessing the scene. Try to stick the same style and rhythm of the poem as much as possible.

Monday
Tales #70
the next day in school there was a renewed respect for the four eyed weirdo since their werent many middle school heros
Vocab: renewed
Copy into composition notebook and respond:
-- Some call death "the ultimate sacrifice." What are some examples of people who have died to save others? What do you think were their reasons for giving their lives?
Review rhythm, meter, internal and end rhymes, alliteration, and onomatopoeia.
Discussed what a highwayman was; read about the background of the poem.
While listening to a reading of "The Highwayman" poem by Alfred Noyes, students took notes about the plot, the characters, and what happens to them.
With a partner, answered 12 questions related to the poem (in composition notebook).
Homework:
Review vocab, roots, literary terms, etc.

Week of March 29

2010-03-29T14:59:00.001-07:00

Friday
No School - Spring Break Day

Thursday
Tales #68
and to farther complicate things at that moment belindas parents return to there abode
Vocab: complicate, abode
Tales #69
harold the brave hero never faltered. its my fault he told belindas irate parents as he rose up to greet them
Vocab: faltered, irate
Completed, graded, and collected packet on figurative language and rhyme scheme.
Practiced writing imagery and personification.
Homework:
Review vocab, roots, literary terms, etc.

Wednesday
Collected w/s 112 from yesterday.
Completed, graded, and collected packet on figurative language and finding information in the dictionary.
Played a Jeopardy-style game to review figurative language.
Homework:
Review vocab, roots, literary terms, etc.

Tuesday
Checked and discussed w/s from yesterday (Cliches, Vivid Lang.).
Completed, discussed, collected w/s 111 and 113 (sensory details, proofreading).
Homework:
w/s 112 - Visualizing Comparisons

Monday
Tales #67
everyone else stood stupefied unable to move their limbs like frogs who have been mesmerized by a flashlight
Vocab: stupefied
Graded "Why I don't shoot bears" packet.
Copy into Composition Notebook and respond:
Serene, Scary, or Suspenseful
The mood of a story of passage is the general feeling it conveys. A story's mood might be tense in one passage and light in another. U se the sentence below as the first line of a story, and then create six differet second sentences, each of which creates a different mood.
Pierre sat quietly and stared out the window.
Homework:
w/s 70 and 94: Cliches and Using Vivid Language

Week of March 22

2010-03-22T14:55:00.001-07:00

Friday
We took this week's Roots Quiz (tain, ten).
Completed, graded, and collected w/s 21 [Dear Santa: personal pronouns] and w/s 22 [Colorful Clues: subject and object pronouns].
Graded and collected Great Pecan Caper packet.
Homework:
We will check the "Why I don't shoot bears" packet on Monday.

Thursday
No class today - special half-day schedule

Wednesday
Tales #66
the fight stopped quick and harold ran to throw water and baking soda on the conflagration
Vocab:
conflagration
We worked on reading comprehension packets. One we graded in class, the other is due Friday (no class tomorrow).
Homework:
Review roots, vocab, literary terms, etc. The Great Pecan Caper is due Friday. Roots test Friday as well.

Tuesday
We worked on poetic elements, allegories, and reading comprehension.
Homework:
Review roots, vocab, literary terms, etc. The Great Pecan Caper is due Friday.

Monday
New Latin Roots list (tain, ten, tent).
Students completed w/s 14: Winds that sigh and clouds that cry (personification). They then took their favorite sentence from that activity and used it as a starter for a paragraph.
Students then worked on Personification w/s #4 - personifying the sentences.
Homework:
Finish w/s #4 and w/s 14, if necessary.
Roots test on Friday.

Week of March 15

2010-03-15T19:22:00.000-07:00

Spring Break ~ Enjoy your time off!

Week of March 8

2010-03-08T17:27:00.000-08:00

Friday
Students completed writing activities centered around surprising elements and getting the reader's attention at the start of a piece of writing (Gotcha w/s 21 and Bodacious Beginnings w/s 26-27).
Homework:
Read!

Thursday
Students took the 3rd quarter DVQRA (Reading Assessment) and the Student Gallup Poll.
Homework:
Review literary terms, vocab, etc.

Wednesday
Tales #64
from beneath conans armpit harold espied flames that licked up the curtains
Vocab: espied
Tales #65
he shouted to conan that the fight should stop because the house would soon be engulfed in flames
Vocab: engulfed
Worked on Hyperbole, Allusion, and wrote Haiku poems.
Homework:
Review roots, vocab, literary terms, etc.

Tuesday
Tales #62
in the distance harold heard gnarly and cassandra shriek in unison harold the trash cans on fire
Vocab: shriek
Tales #63
from under the pounding that conan was delivering his freinds voices alerted harold to the danger
Vocab: alerted
Roots Test [stat] plus dictation and parts of speech.
Graded Roots test [lect] from last week.
Poetry Ingredients w/s (The Sound of Poetry) - worked on in class. Rhyme scheme practice on the back of the w/s.
Homework:
Review roots, vocab, literary terms, etc.

Monday
Tales #61
harolds blubber protected him from any egregious harm but his glasses bit the dust as they laid under conans feet
Vocab: egregious
Students completed A Really Bad Beginning - w/s 66 and Duke's Dilemma w/s - 50.
Individually and as a class, we then worked on syllables and stress (part of our poetry unit).
Homework:
Roots test tomorrow!

Week of March 5

2010-03-01T14:16:00.001-08:00

Friday
Tales #60
the fight that ensued is not a pretty site but harold fueled by cassandras lovley brown eyed gaze did good for a chubby four eyed straight A student.
Vocab: ensued
Tales #59
conan leapt at harold and he aimed his ham sized fist for harolds face and harold ducked and conans fist slammed into the wall and the cigarette fell from the now gaping aperture of his mouth
Vocab: aperture
We completed some exercises on personification and then wrote in our composition notebooks for 10-15 minutes, using the following as the starter:
Roosevelt buried the shoe in the back yard, then took off.
Homework:
Roots test on Tuesday!

Thursday
Tales #58
your lower then the belly of a flatulent basset Hound he adds
Vocab: flatulent
We completed some exercises on personification and then reviewed the limericks from last Tuesday. Many needed improvements here and there, which we worked on during class.
Ms. Ronemous was prodigiously surprised and feels extremely fortunate to have such wonderful students who continued to express birthday wishes throughout the day; a special thanks to Aubrey H for the beautiful poster, Nalani L for the card, and Katie S for the poem!
Homework:
Write a poem that incorporates personification. Desirable, but not mandatory, would be to write it in the form of a limerick.

Wednesday
Early Release - Special Schedule

Tuesday
Following up on yesterday's work on rhythm and rhyme in poetry, students practiced correctly dividing words into syllables before creating their own poem based on their phone number (each number indicated the amount of syllables in that line).
We then read some examples of Limericks on the overhead, practicing the meter and end rhymes, followed by the Instant Limerick w/s.
The best two limericks each student created from the template were to be copied into their composition notebook.
Homework:
Write an original limerick, being careful to keep the correct meter and end rhyme (use "A lady wile dining in Crewe" as a model to help with the correct cadence). Due Thursday.
Study vocab, literary terms, roots, parts of speech, etc.

Monday
New Latin Root (stat); test next Tuesday.
Shared Howling for Justice responses from Friday.
Began our introduction to poetry with w/s 16 and 15: Rhythm and Rhyme. Practiced writing free-verse and metered versions, and identifying end and internal rhyme patterns.
Homework:
Study vocab, literary terms, roots, parts of speech, etc.

Week of Feb. 22

2010-02-22T14:41:00.001-08:00

Friday
Took Roots (leg) quiz and vocab/parts of speech quiz.
Tales #57:
well if it isnt that cool dude with the fake chains and the atrocious grades he said. hello conan have you taxed you're brain lately
Vocab: atrocious, taxed
Howling for Justice (respond to and tape prompt into composition notebook).
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc.

Thursday
Our warm-up was a political cartoon about the Winter Olympics, with the question: What is the author trying to say; what is being implied? What can we infer from the image? We got some terrific responses and saw how our schema, or prior knowledge, plays into what we infer from images and text.
Unjournaling #197 (paragraphs one and two only): Create a character named Pat.
Remembering what we learned yesterday about inference (the stew story), students were to follow the prompt, but imply as much as possible. They then swapped with a partner and had the partner make inferences about the character.
Picture Prompt Writing: complete in composition book, and tape 1/2 sheet in afterwards.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc. Roots test on tomorrow.

Wednesday
Tales #56
harold mortified that the lovley cassandra might think he is a wimp stood up to conan like a true warrior
Vocab: wimp, mortified
Worked on inference techniques. Practiced inferring from text and giving reasons behind inference.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc. Roots test on Friday.

Tuesday
Students solved literary elements clues using the language arts textbook and previously received handouts.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc. Roots test on Friday.

Monday
New Latin Roots vocabulary (leg).
Tales #55
just then harold spied cassandra who was setting on the couch chattering to another classy girl
Vocab: chattering, spied
Graded last week's vocab/roots quiz.
Worked on predicting activity: speculating about future events based on elements in the text.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc.

Week of Feb. 15

2010-02-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

Friday
Collected "Carol" assignment - from Monday; Literary Devices packet and School for Scandal crossword and short story - from Wednesday.
Took the Roots Vocab Test (cred, fid).
In composition notebooks, wrote responses to It All Started Like This prompts (taped half-sheet with prompts into notebook).
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc.

Thursday
Science Fair Expo Day - Special Schedule

Wednesday
Students worked on a Literary Devices Packet and A School for Scandal Crossword.
Homework:
Will collect on Friday.
Study roots - test on Friday.

Tuesday
Finished watching the movie version of A Christmas Carol.
Homework:
Writing assignment comparing and contrasting the movie and the book. Due Friday.
Study roots - test on Friday.

Monday
Presidents' Day - No School

Week of Feb. 8

2010-02-09T07:02:00.000-08:00

Friday
Collected yesterday's assignment from When the Earth Shakes.
Watched part of A Christmas Carol; took notes relating to the differences between the movie and the book.
Homework:
Roots, vocab, etc.

Thursday
In the Elements of Literature textbook, read When the Earth Shakes, pp. 435-439. After reading, create a multi-flow or a cause and effect thinking map to record the organizational structure of the article. On the back of the thinking map,
- write your own thesis statement relating to the article, and
- comment on whether or not the author provided an effective introduction and conclusion. All answers must contain support for your argument.
Homework:
Roots, vocab, etc.

Wednesday
Students continued with their Response to Literature assignment. Due at end of period.
Homework:
Roots, vocab, parts of speech, etc.

Tuesday
Students worked on their Response to Literature assignment.
Homework:
Roots, vocab, parts of speech, etc.

Monday
We discussed the themes in A Christmas Carol and how to write a literary response.
Homework:
Decide which theme from the story you would like to discuss in you response to literature.

Week of Feb. 1

2010-02-01T13:46:00.000-08:00

Friday
Students took the test on the study guide for A Christmas Carol.
Afterwards, there was time for silent reading and AR testing. The vocab quiz from Tuesday was returned.
Homework:
Think of one theme and an example of it from A Christmas Carol.

Thursday
Timelines due.
Students took the second vocabulary test for A Christmas Carol.
Afterwards, there was time for silent reading, AR testing, and studying for tomorrow's quiz.
Homework:
Study for tomorrow's study guide quiz.

Wednesday
No school for students - Staff Development day.

Tuesday
Students took the AR test for A Christmas Carol and the first vocabulary test on the book.
Thereafter, we spent some time in the computer lab getting more practice with analogies.
Homework:
Timeline due Thursday. On Thursday we'll also take the second vocab quiz. On Friday will come the test based on the study guide.

Monday
Tales #54:
well look whose hear sneered conan to his freinds its the obese creep and the four eyed wierdo
Vocab: sneered
We worked on analogies using vocabulary from A Christmas Carol. Students used thesauri and dictionaries to help with the activity.
Then students began a worksheet about similes in the story. Since this generated quite a bit of discussion, we will continue in class tomorrow.
Homework:
Tomorrow we take the AR quiz on A Christmas Carol and the first vocab test.
Have your plot diagram/story map with you. Vocab Quiz #2 is Thursday.

Week of Jan. 25

2010-01-25T12:04:00.000-08:00

Friday
We graded the cap, pel/puls Roots Review Test and completed Stave Five Review.
Tales #53:
no the whole group are here and were going too stick it out reiterated gnarly
Homework:
Quiz(zes) on the novel next week. AR quiz day is Tuesday.
Bring your plot diagram/story map to class next week!

Thursday
Students took the cap, pel/puls Roots Review Test.
Handout: Scrooge's Timeline project (due 2/4).
Students had time to read in class.
Homework:
Quiz(zes) on the novel next week.

Wednesday
Tales #52
hey let's get out of here before we go any further harold rasped in gnarlys left ear
Vocab: rasped
We finished reading Stave Five of A Christmas Carol, then worked on vocab and study guide questions.
Homework:
Quiz(zes) on the novel next week. Review for cap/pel, puls quiz tomorrow.

Tuesday
Copy the prompt into your composition notebook. Skip a line. Respond to the prompt.
"My worst mistake was..."
Worked with a partner on Stave Four Review questions. Turned these in. If not finished, due Wednesday.
Homework:
Finish questions.

Monday
Tales #51
Conan lounged between all his cool friends against a wall smoking a cigarette to look cool
Vocab: lounge
Reviewed how to summarize (handout). Practiced summarizing a paragraph. After viewing and discussing a poor example, worked a little more to perfect own copy. Then viewed and discussed an example of a well-written summary.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc. Work on study guide.
Cap/pel, puls roots quiz on Thursday.
A Christmas Carol quizzes next week.

Week of Jan. 18

2010-01-19T14:39:00.000-08:00

Friday
Tales #50
everyone was in their best attire accept conan who wore his best holy jeans which had been cut with knifes for effect
Vocab: attire
Listened (as we followed along) to a reading of Stave Four.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc. Work on study guide.
Cap/pel, puls roots quiz next week (not Monday).

Thursday
In composition notebooks: Write the prompt, skip a line, respond to it.
Prompt: What piece of furniture in your house has the most interesting story behind it? Write about it.
Finished and collected the Stave Three Reviews from yesterday.
Time for silent reading.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc. Work on study guide.

Wednesday
Tales #49
when harold jaunty in his good slacks and chubby gnarly arrive at belindas parents house the party is already in full swing
Vocab: jaunty
Finished and collected the green w/s from yesterday (Comparing Christmas Parties).
Worked in partners to complete the Stave Three Review.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc. Work on study guide.

Tuesday
Worked on Stave Three activities:
- The Cratchit Family w/s (collected)
- Comparing Christmas Parties (will finish in class tomorrow)
Remember to give evidence from the text and to cite the page numbers!!
Homework:
Cap, Pels/Puls roots quiz next week. Continue to work on vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc.

Monday
No School - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Week of Jan. 11

2010-01-11T17:39:00.000-08:00

Friday
Took, graded, and collected Roots (Pel/Puls) Quiz.
Time for silent reading and review of language arts vocabulary.
Homework:
Cap, Pels/Puls roots quiz coming up.

Thursday
Prompt for composition notebooks:
Write the prompt, skip a line, and respond to it:
Write a fake news story that includes the following words:
- tater tot casserole
- geraniums
- zipper
- karate
Finished reading Stave Three in class and then had some time for silent reading and AR tests.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc., for tomorrow's quiz.

Wednesday
Early Release - Special schedule.
Homework:
Vocab, parts of speech, roots, etc.

Tuesday
Today we read and discussed Stave Three as far as the bottom of p. 231 ("-in a glow!")
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc.

Monday
This week's root word list (pel, puls) was distributed.
Students worked on a characterization exercise about Scrooge using quotes from Stave Two. Last week's Stave Two Review was handed back, and students were given feedback on the grade they received. We also graded Friday's Roots Quiz.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc.

Week of Jan. 4

2010-01-04T07:44:00.001-08:00

Friday
Students took this week's Roots Quiz (cap) and then worked on a characterization exercise, which was turned in at the end of the period.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc.

Thursday
Finished reading Stave Two and worked with partner on Stave Two Review questions. These were turned in at the end of the period.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc.

Wednesday
Handed out A Christmas Carol Study Guide. You will need to know the answers to these questions for a test on the novel (after we've finished reading).
Continued reading A Christmas Carol, picking up with Stave 2. We will finish the section in class tomorrow.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc.

Tuesday
Stave One Vocabulary quiz - graded and collected.
We continued with the Word Chop activity from yesterday (graded and collected) - it went longer than expected and so we did not get to read the novel today. Tomorrow for sure!
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc.

Monday
Writing Prompt (to be completed in composition notebooks): In 1789, the first U.S. Presidential election was held. If you were running for President at that time, on what issue(s) would you have based your campaign?
Gap-fill exercise on A Christmas Carol.
New roots word list - cap. Quiz Friday.
Stave One Vocabulary review - graded and collected.
We read a w/s on The Worth of Trivia (Jan. 4 is Trivia Day), then answered comprehension questions on the piece. This was graded and collected.
We began the Word Chop w/s, related to the Trivia article, and will finish in class tomorrow.
Homework:
Study vocab, roots, parts of speech, etc. Roots quiz (including parts of speech, etc.) on Friday. Tomorrow we continue with the story.

Week of Dec. 14

2009-12-14T15:05:00.000-08:00

Friday
Grammar (error/fixit) competition in class.
Homework: Read and work on vocab over the break. Enjoy the time off!

Thursday
Quarters for Caring Fair; time in Homeroom after lunch. No Language Arts class.
Homework: Plan to read over the break.

Wednesday
Students received graded Stave One Review questions back, with comments as to their score. They then worked on and turned in What Would Be on your Chain w/s. The plan is to share on Friday.
Homework: Prepare for Quarters for Caring Fair.

Tuesday
Students completed a Stave One Review.
Homework: Continue to review vocab, parts of speech, etc.

Monday
Students completed a Narrative Hooks w/s from a section of Stave One of A Christmas Carol. We then finished reading Stave One in class.
Homework: Continue to review vocab, parts of speech, etc.

Week of Dec. 7

2009-12-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

Friday
Students created comprehension questions based on a section of A Christmas Carol that we read yestday. They had to vary the level of difficulty (Bloom's taxonomy) and supply a rubric that included the point value and the acceptable answers.
Homework: Continue to review vocab, parts of speech, etc.

Thursday
We started reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Homework: Continue to review vocab, parts of speech, etc.

Wednesday
We graded Monday's quizzes and had time to read silently towards AR goal.
Homework: Continue to review vocab, parts of speech, etc.

Tuesday
Students took the mid-point online STAR Reading assessment and had time to read and take AR tests.
Homework: Continue to review vocab, parts of speech, etc.

Monday
I collected the thinking maps from last Wednesday (on Charles Dickens).
We took the pos/sed roots quiz.
Students received a handout with the vocabulary words from A Christmas Carol (directions are on sheet). Note page numbers where they occur in the text!!
We read an article on the Historical Setting for A Christmas Carol.
Homework: Continue to review vocab, parts of speech, etc.
Upcoming: Mid-year STAR test tomorrow.

Week of Nov. 30

2009-12-01T05:58:00.000-08:00

Friday
We worked on metaphors in class.
Homework: Continue to review vocab, parts of speech, etc. Po, Sed test Monday.
Upcoming: Mid-year STAR test next Tuesday.

Thursday
Students had time in class to read their AR books.
Homework: Continue to review vocab, parts of speech, etc.

Wednesday
Students prepared for reading A Christmas Carol by reading a biography of Charles Dickens and an article entitled "The Second Greatest Story Ever Told." Use this information to create a brace or classification (tree) thinking map of the information in the handouts. No circle maps!
Homework: Finish thinking map.

Tuesday
Tales #48
attempting to pull up his only stylish pair of pants his hole body quivered and harold felt qualms about his descision to attend the party
Vocab: stylish, quiver, qualms
We completed a worksheet on metaphors.
Homework: There will be a review quiz on the pos and sed, sid root words later this week. Continue to review vocab, parts of speech, etc.

Monday
Finished the "Cole" packet, completed Medal of Honor w/s, and went over the answers to both.
Discussed introductory and concluding paragraphs (yellow handout) in regards to what format would be appropriate for a research essay (e.g., the one students are working on in Social Studies).
Homework: Study parts of speech, vocab, etc. There will be a review quiz on the pos and sed, sid root words (last two Roots quizzes material) on Friday.

Week of Nov. 23

2009-11-23T16:09:00.001-08:00

Thursday and Friday
No school - Thanksgiving Holiday

Wednesday
Worked on The Cornucopia Mystery (reading comprehension questions and 25 parts of speech words to define). We reviewed the parts of speech. The words will appear on upcoming quizzes.
Homework: Create a metaphor using the phrase "the red ant" somewhere in the sentence. Try to avoid using the verb 'to be' (is, was, etc.). Study for review quiz on the pos and sed, sid root words next week(last two Roots quizzes material). Remember to read (and test on) at least one non-fiction book this quarter. Check AR BookFinder to see whether a book is fiction (F) or nonfiction (NF).

Tuesday
Continued with presentations.
We graded the Roots Quiz on sed, sed, siss words and the Parts of Speech/Dictation Quiz.
Homework: Study parts of speech, vocab, etc. There will be a review quiz on the pos and sed, sid root words after Thanksgiving (last two Roots quizzes material).

Monday
Turned in The Killer Angels worksheets: Commanders Chart (blue), Anticipation Guide (yellow), and four sheets on Monday through Thursday of June/July 1863. Students began presenting The Killer Angels Challenge Assignment. Those viewing the presentation also had a review sheet to fill out for each presenter.
Homework: Review vocab, parts of speech, roots, etc. There will be a roots quiz next week on pos and sed, sid words (last two quizzes).

Week of Nov. 16

2009-11-16T14:10:00.000-08:00

Friday
Tales #47
the next saturday however gnarly and harold are filled with apprehension as they get dressed for the upcomming party
Vocab: apprehension
Students took the Roots Quiz on sed, sed, siss words.
Homework: Work on KA project, which is due Monday. KA paperwork will be collected Monday (should have been completed long ago!!). There will be a review quiz on the pos and sed, sid root words after Thanksgiving (material from the last two Roots quizzes).

Thursday
Students took the DVQRA reading assessment in the computer lab.
Homework: Work on KA project. Study for tomorrow's quiz. Remember that you will be reading and taking an AR test on at least one non-fiction book this quarter.

Wednesday
Early Release Day - special schedule

Tuesday
Tales #46
ok ill go gnarly capitulated hapless corpulent harold
Vocab: corpulent, capitulated
Reviewed Paragraph Review w/s 4. Completed w/s on Persuasive Techniques in Advertising. Read "A Surprise for Cole," wrote a paragraph describing what the farmhouse would look like when Cole and his dad finish fixing it up, and began working on comprehension questions on the story.
Homework: Work on KA project - we will finish the comprehension packet before and after the DVQRA on Thursday.

Monday
Tales #45
aw come on harold beseeched gnarly i don't want to go alone into that pool of piranhas but i do want to go
Vocab: beseeched, piranha
Continued reviewing Paragraph Review w/s 3. Worked on part of Paragraph Review w/s 4 in pairs.
Handed out new set of Root Words (sed, sis, sess) for this week (test Friday).
Handed out and discussed The Killer Angels Assignment (including rubric). Due 11/23 (next Monday).
Homework:
Finish Paragraph Review w/s 4; study root words, parts of speech, vocab, etc.

Week of Nov. 9

2009-11-09T18:52:00.001-08:00

Friday
Tales #44
no im afraid theyll make fun of my stoutness and my glass's said harold. they allways do reiterated gnarly
Vocab: reiterated
Continued reviewing Paragraph Review w/s 1. Completed Paragraph Review w/s 2 independently and discussed best choices for topic sentences as a class. Worked on Paragraph Review w/s 3 in pairs.
Homework:
Finish Paragraph Review w/s 3.

Thursday
Tales #43
yes i think i will well how about you harold asked gnarly in a supplicating voice
Vocab: supplicating
Collected C-S-C w/s from Tuesday. Discussed parts of a well-written paragraph using example on overhead. In pairs, worked on Paragraph Review w/s 1. Didn't finish discussing answers, so will continue tomorrow.
Homework:
Finish w/s if not completed.

Wednesday
No School - Veterans' Day

Tuesday
Tales #42
hey gnarly are you going too go? queried harold when he herd the news
Vocab: queried
Reviewed components of a paragraph (topic sentence, supporting details, concluding sentence). In pairs, students worked on the Claim-Support-Conclusion w/s.
Homework:
Finish C-S-C w/s.

Monday
Tales #41
everyone even gnarly ad that bespectacled wierdo freind of his are invited and me and all my freinds are going conan added
Vocab: bespectacled
Watched short video on Persuasive Techniques in Advertising (focus: ethos, pathos, logos). Completed w/s 59A and B on complete sentences. Read Paragraph Review sheet (green) with list of transitions on the back and Steps for Paragraph Writing.
Homework:
Pet Peeve 12: kinda, sorta, hafta

Week of Nov. 2

2009-11-02T18:20:00.001-08:00

Friday
We took the AR quiz on The Killer Angels and my vocabulary quiz on terms from the novel. Handout on parts of speech (pink).
Homework:
Complete pink sheet and study in conjunction with the green parts of speech sheet. Will not check on Monday, but must be finished and studied in a timely manner.

Thursday
Students worked on prefixes and classification.
Homework:
Review for quizzes (Killer Angels vocab and AR quiz) tomorrow.

Wednesday
Tales #40
awesome said conan belinda is going to throw one of her incredible partys he expounded
Vocab: incredible, expounded
We viewed and discussed two PowerPoints on persuasive techniques and filled in examples on yellow Persuasive Strategy Definitions sheet (handed out previously).
Homework: Review for quizzes (Killer Angels vocab and AR quiz) on Friday.

Tuesday
Tales #39
when class is finally over the popular students converged in the hallway
Vocab: converged
Business letter packet - reviewed uses of formal letters and tips for writing them. Read through some examples.
Homework: KA questions, characterization chart, yellow before/after paper.

Monday
Tales #38
one day a rumor circulated around mrs noisomes classroom and everyone couldnt wait for their class to be over
Vocab: circulate
We read the final pages of The Killer Angels, including the Afterword.
Homework: KA questions, characterization chart, yellow before/after paper.
Note: KA AR quiz and vocab test on Friday.

Week of Oct. 26

2009-10-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

Friday
Endangered Pumpkins creative writing assignment. No guns (any type), darts, harming animals, blood, or gore. Three-quarters of a page to one page in length. Final draft on a separate sheet, with orange sheet on top when turning in. You can change the form of the vocab words (use the ones from Tales) - eg., tense of verb.
Homework: Finish final draft. If typing, please double-space.
NOTE: Finish up Killer Angels worksheets. Vocab quiz next week. AR test on The Killer Angels Nov. 6.

Thursday
Tales #37
conan and his hip crowd made occassional fun of harold and gnarly while classy cassandra and her freinds remained aloof
Vocab: aloof
Watched Picket's Charge from Gettysburg (corresponding to July 3, Ch. 4-Armistead).
Read Ch 5-Longstreet as far at top of p. 335 (...there was no attack.) Don't read any at home...we'll finish in class.
Homework: KA vocab, w/s, etc.

Wednesday
Roots Quiz -pos-.
Read July 3, Ch. 4-Armstead.
Homework: Finish questions.

Tuesday
Tales #36
as the weaks wore on harold adjusted to gavalin peak adn their terrable nagging harridans who are called teachers
Vocab: harridan
Reading Quiz on July 3, Ch. 3-Chamberlain; make-up quizzes from earlier days.
Watched the portion of Gettysburg relating to that chapter.
Homework: Roots vocab, parts of speech, etc.

Monday
Tales #35
i no what you meen gnarly interjected. even if i do good i can never do good enuf to suit my Mom with how i argue a lot
Vocab: interject
Presented Persuasion Is All Around You assignment (collected).
Homework: Roots vocab, parts of speech, etc. Anyone who missed a Killer Angels reading quiz will be taking it (them) tomorrow.

Week of Oct. 19

2009-10-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

Friday
Tales #33
oh poor you sayd gnarly. i now what you meen i have a sibling just like that who drives me crazy
Vocab: sibling
Tales #34
my dad is busy with this own new life and my mom thinks that im an infant. shes a real shrew about good grades to harold moaned and i allways do good
Vocab: shrew
Shared results of analyzing television commercials. Collected w/s.
Homework: Persuasion is all around you (green half-sheet). Read Fri., July 3, Chapter 3-Chamberlain and answer the questions. Be ready for a reading quiz.
If you were absent for one or more of the previous KA reading quizzes, be prepared to take them when you return!

Thursday
Tales #32
my family think my big dapper brother in collage is gods gift too parents and he nags me about my grades he continues
Vocab: dapper
Persuasive Writing w/s (blue). Worked on this in class. Be sure to memorize #1-5 (methods of being persuasive). Handout: Fact Sheet - Techniques of Persuasion. Read this side; don't do anything with the second side yet.
Homework: Analyzing Television Commercials w/s

Wednesday
Tales #31
well gnarly my mom and dad are getting divoarced and are fieghting over me he sayd with a lament
Vocab: lament
Reading quiz Fri., July 3, Chapter 1-Chamberlain.
Comma Rules handout (commit to memory).
Homework: Read Fri., July 3, Chapter 3-Chamberlain and answer the questions. Be ready for a reading quiz.

Tuesday
Handed out new roots w/s - pos words. Test next week.
Read Thurs., Ch. 6-Lee as a class and worked on questions.
Homework: Read Fri., July 3, Chapter 1-Chamberlain and answer the questions. Be ready for a reading quiz.

Monday
Took Reading Quiz on Thurs., July 2, Ch. 4-Chamberlain. Watched the part of the movie "Gettysburg" that corresponds to this chapter. Read to bottom of p. 242 [..."I'll be along directly."] of Ch. 5-Longstreet.
Homework: Finish Ch. 5 by tomorrow and do the questions. Be ready for a reading quiz on what you read at home.

Problems updating information

2009-10-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

10/19: Problems are continuing this week as well. The district is experiencing Internet problems.

I've been experiencing a lot of difficulty posting updates to the web site this past week, so keeping the agenda up-to-date is even more important right now.

Week of Oct. 12

2009-10-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

Friday
Ms. Ronemous at a district meeting.
Complete grammar w/s (verbs).
Start reading Thurs., Ch. 4-Chamberlain in class.
Homework: Finish Chapter 4 and answer the questions. Be ready for a reading quiz on Ch. 4.

Thursday
Multiple test re-takes due to student absences. Still some more re-takes on the horizon.
Commanders Quiz and Reading Quiz on Thurs., Ch. 1-Fremantle.
Homework: Finish Chapter 3 and answer the questions.

Wednesday
Read Day 3, Thursday, Ch. 2-Chamberlain and began Ch. 3 Longstreet.
Homework: Read Chapter 3 to p. 194("...let's see what's up.") and answer the questions. Be prepared for a reading quiz on Ch. 1-Fremantle and of Ch. 3-Longstreet. Commanders Quiz, Roots mob/grad Quiz, and Ch. 4 Chamberlain make-up quizzes on tomorrow!

Tuesday
Watched excerpts from the movie "Gettysburg." Continued with Day 3, Thursday, Ch. 1 - Freemantle.
Homework: Finish Chapter 1 and answer the questions. Be prepared for a reading quiz! Commanders Quiz, Roots mob/grad Quiz, and Ch. 4 Chamberlain make-up quizzes on Thursday!

Monday
No School - Fall Day Break

Week of Oct. 5

2009-10-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

Friday
Verbs w/s 15 (Verb Variety)
Collected It Tolls for Thee w/s. Read Chapter 5: Longstreet and to page 139 of Chapter 6: Lee of The Killer Angels. Worked on questions for Ch. 5.
Homework: Finish Chapter 6 and read the short Chapter 7 (Buford) and answer the questions. Be prepared for a reading quiz! Commanders Quiz next week!

Thursday
Verbs w/s 17 & 12 (It Tolls for Thee)
Graded Vocab Quiz grad, gress. Took Vocab Quiz mob, gress and Reading Quiz on Chapter 4 - Chamberlain - of The Killer Angels. Finished AIMS Writing Simulation if necessary; time for silent reading and AR quiz-taking.
Homework: Finish and anything that needs finishing or reviewing (KA questions up to and including Ch. 4, parts of speech, vocab, literary terms, etc.)

Wednesday
No class - half-day schedule.

Tuesday
Verbs w/s 11 & 12 (What Are Verbs? & Five Hundred Horsepower Verbs)
Read p. 86 to top of p. 102 ("...They really put up a scrap.")
Homework: Finish Chapter 3 Lee and read Chapter 4 Chamberlain by Thursday. Be ready for a reading quiz on Ch. 4. Answer questions on study guide and note vocab as you go.
Continue to review mob/grad roots, parts of speech, KA vocab, etc. - quiz Thursday; Commanders Quiz next week.

Monday
Collected Reaction Paper Assignment. Finished and collected AIMS Simulation writing assessment
Homework: Continue to review mob/grad roots, parts of speech, KA vocab, etc. - quiz Thursday.

Week of Sept. 28

2009-09-28T15:10:00.001-07:00

Friday
Took Roots quiz (grad/gress) and spelling test. Worked on AIMS Simulation writing assessment - brainstorming and rough draft, editing if time allowed. Finish editing and final draft on Monday.
Homework: Reaction paper assignment is due Monday. Continue to review mob/grad roots - quiz next week.

Thursday
Caught ‘Ya #30:
and after school harold tells gnarly all about himself and his dilemmas
Vocab: dilemma
Reviewed in pairs for Roots quiz tomorrow (5 min.). Checked yellow sheet (Chapter 4 questions). Took Reading Quiz on pp. 56-68 of The Killer Angels. Read Wed., July 1, 1863, Ch. 1 Lee in class. Handed out pink sheet with questions for Wed., July 1, 1863, and The Killer Angels Reaction Paper assignment.
Homework: Ch. 1 (Lee) questions 22-25. Reaction paper assignment is due Monday. Roots quiz (incl. spelling) tomorrow.

Wednesday
Caught ‘Ya #29:
when the bell rang harold sallied forth from the classroom with gnarly he had found a best freind
Vocab: sallied forth
Completed, shared, and collected A Happy Day in Language Arts w/s. Read Chap. 4 Longstreet to page 56 in class ("...and look were it got them."]
Homework:
Finish Chapter 4 (to p. 68) and answer questions on study guide (#17-21). Be ready for a reading quiz.

Tuesday
Caught ‘Ya #28:
everyone transcribed the assignment into their notebook accept conan from who nobody every expected any homework
Vocab: transcribe
Completed and collected w/s 18A and 18B. Took Reading Quiz on pp. 27-32 of The Killer Angels. Read to top of p. 44 [Buford nodded.] in The Killer Angels Study Guide.
Homework: Finish Buford chapter (to page 48). Be ready for reading quiz on the section you read at home. Complete study guide questions on Chapter 3 (#14 and 15).

Monday
Caught ‘Ya #27:
oh no not mr noisome groaned gnarly in an aside to harold. i here she gives tons of homework calls parents and makes students write and write
Vocab: aside
Handed out Latin Roots for this week (grad, gress). Read to bottom of p. 27 in The Killer Angels Study Guide.
Homework: Finish Ch. 2 Chamberlain and answer questions 10-13. Answers do not need to be in complete sentences. N.B. Note page number!! Be ready for reading quiz on the section you read at home (pp. 27-32).
Learn spelling and definitions of grad & gress root words, and revise spelling and definitions of mob, mot, mov root words.

Week of Sept. 21

2009-09-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

Friday
Caught ‘Ya #26:
this may be the 1st day of school she said but you of homework tonite my name in case your intrested is mrs noisome
Vocab: noisome
Handed out Character Comparison Chart (blue) and part 1 of The Killer Angels Study Guide (through June 29, 1863 - yellow). Answers do not need to be in complete sentences. N.B. Note page number when answering!!
Read Monday, June 29, 1963 Ch. 1 - The Spy in class.
Homework: Yellow study guide - questions one through nine.

Thursday
Caught ‘Ya #25:
as gnarly concluded his sentence the teacher a short bizarre middle age lady dressed in tenis shoes and an loathsome purpel dress sauntered in the door
Vocab: bizarre, loathsome, saunter
Graded Parts of Speech and Literary Elements Quiz #2.
Worked on the Army of the Potomac commanders in the Introduction Activity. Learn the commanders: there will be a quiz.
Homework: Catch up on work; read; review worksheets.

Wednesday
Caught ‘Ya #24:
shes shy and shes nice and shes comely and she gets good grades and all the cool dudes are after her but she ignores them gnarly concludes
Vocab: comely
Graded Roots Quiz mob, mot, mov and Vocab Quiz #2.
Filled out the Before column of The Killer Angels' Anticipation Guide, and the commander section if applicable.
Handed out the Introduction Activity; did #1 and 2 in class. Pointed out vocab on back of handout - note page numbers as we come across them. Learn meanings, definitions, and spelling.
Homework: Read the Foreword. Fill in the information on the Army of Northern Virginia and its commanders (pages 2-3 of the handout).

Tuesday
Caught ‘Ya #23:
gnarly nerd a strait A student continued to inform harold. and classy cassandra is to good a student to be intrested in conan he elucidated
Vocab: elucidate
Shared and collected answers to the Frank O'Connor short story. Used Literary Meet Me @ to work on Inferring Character Traits w/s.
Homework: Finish w/s if necessary. Have The Killer Angels novel tomorrow.

Monday
Caught ‘Ya #22:
a obese pimply faced kid in the next desk leans over to harold dont pay no attention to conan he wispered. hes not as tuff as he looks
Vocab: obese
Finished reading and discussing First Confession short story by Frank O'Connor. Character Traits handout (with list of traits on the back).
Homework: Questions #2, 4, 5, 7, and 10 under Explorations (after the story).

Week of Sept. 14

2009-09-14T14:36:00.001-07:00

Friday
Caught ‘Ya #21:
as the affects of her stunning beauty wore off harold heard conan shouting at him she thinks shes to good for us
Vocab: stunning
Students took vocab quiz #2 (including dictation) and roots test mot, mov, mob. We graded parts of Parts of Speech and Literary Elements Quiz #1.
Homework: Review and read.

Thursday
Caught ‘Ya #20:
harold mesmerized by the site starred at classy cassandra for a full minute before he sat down; he was smitten
Vocab: mesmerized, smmitten
Reviewed this week's root words. Read and discussed part of Frank O'Connor's short story: First Confession.
Homework: Roots quiz on Friday will incorporate dictation.

Wednesday
Early Release - special schedule.
Took and graded spelling test; took vocab/parts of speech/literary elements quiz.
Homework: Roots quiz on Friday will incorporate dictation.

Tuesday
Caught ‘Ya #18:
sitting their at the desk in front of him reading the book war and peace was a apparition of beauty that affected his ability to move
Vocab: apparition
Caught ‘Ya #19:
she was beautiful and she was classy and she was wonderfull and she had long curly black hair and a ghost of a smile manifested itself on her lovley lips
Vocab: manifested
Students responded to journal prompt #16, dealing with characterization, in their composition books. We revisited the worksheet on Characterization from Monday and finalized in class - due tomorrow.
Handed out information on the IB program at Barry Goldwater.
Homework: Vocab/Parts of Speech/Lit. Elements quiz tomorrow; roots quiz on Friday

Monday

Caught ‘Ya #16:
perambulating to the only vacant desk harolds hands began to shake
Vocab: perambulate
Caught ‘Ya #17:
his corpulent knees knocked together in shock and his eyes grow bigger under his glasses
Vocab: corpulent
We did a worksheet on Characterization - the descriptive paragraph will be finalized in class tomorrow (Jane Austen pairs).
Latin roots: mob, mot, mov - words in bold (handout) will be incorporated into spelling tests
Homework: Study vocab, parts of speech, literary elements - quiz on Wednesday; test on roots on Friday.

Week of Sept. 7

2009-09-08T14:39:00.001-07:00

Friday
Caught ‘Ya #15:
her and her freinds jabbed there noses in the air and didnt even say hello to harold
Vocab: none; "jab" as an example of a strong verb (use strong verbs in your writing)
Checked out The Killer Angels novel from the library (issued to each student). Don't begin reading yet - if absent, check out from library aide when you are on campus again.
Acted out The Comedy of Secession.
Homework: Original sentences with vocab words due Monday. Vocab/spelling test early next week. Test will also include literary elements and parts of speech.

Thursday

Caught ‘Ya #14:
belinda and her cohorts took one look at harolds ugly brown glasses round face and serious expression and the hole crew dissmised him as worse then the kid gnarly nerd
Vocab: cohort
Did w/s 10B (There You Are). Decided on parts for The Comedy of Secession.
Homework: Prepare your lines if you have a part in the play. Think about the meaning behind the play.

Wednesday
Caught ‘Ya #13:
their was belinda beautiful a pulchritudinous babe with long blond hair and desiner close who was queen of the snobs
Vocab: pulchritudinous
Did w/s 26 (Verbs Doing Two Jobs) and w/s 10A (There You Are). Handout: The Comedy of Secession. Read through and decide what, if any, part you would like. We'll discuss tomorrow in class and present on Friday.
Homework: w/s 14: Verbs Alive. Put a line through the italicized word and write another over it. Write a sentence on the lines using a verb that is alive.

Tuesday
Caught ‘Ya #12:
there were other clutches of kids in harolds classes but they didnt want to of anything to do with a four eyed wierdo either
Vocab: clutch (collective noun)
Collected Windows of Wonder answers. Read part of Mr. Pickwick Goes Skating, by Charles Dickens.
Homework: Finish the story; answer questions 1-5 on p. 91.

Monday
No School - Labor Day