Monday 2/1/10

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.

--Muhammad Ali

IN CLASS:
Today we followed up on When We Were Kings by looking at the more recent life of Muhammad Ali. We watched clips of him lighting the Olympic Torch at the 1996 games in Atlanta and his most recent television appearance on the Hope For Haiti fundraiser a few weeks ago. We then came up with a class definition of what truly makes a champion. These definitions will guide students in choosing a champion to research. Finally, we brainstormed lists of champions to use for the project. Students need to complete a champion proposal page outlining three people they consider champions as well as giving some info on that person to justify their champion status.

Hour 2 definition: A champion is an influential role model who does something heroic in thier life that people will remember. They make history by making a difference for the better until they achieve their goals.

Hour 5 definition: A champion is someone who helps others with their struggles. Others benefit from a champion who fights for what they believe. A champion is remembered for a long time because of what they have achieved in their life.

Hour 6 definition: A champion is an inspiration who doesn't always have to win, but always tries to achieve their goals. Champions leave a legacy and are remembered for their good deeds.

Watch the videos from class:
Ending montage of When We Were Kings
Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic torch
Muhammad Ali at the Hope For Haiti fundraiser

See lists of possible champions:
100 Most Important Blacks In The World In The 20th Century (from Ebony Magazine)
Top 100 people who changed our world (from youcanchangetheworld.net)
A list of possibilities from Ms. Keasling


ASSIGNMENT:
Hours 2, 5, 6--Complete the champion proposal page. Download it by clicking here--

Hours 7, 8

• Create a CHAMPION definition (see above for inspiration)
• Choose three people you consider to be champions
• For each champion write a bit on what you know about that person (just from your own knowledge), and justify why that person would be considered a true champion and not just a celebrity. **You may download the form above if you would like to use it.**

Image: Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic Flame for the Atlanta Olympic Games, 1996
Source: http://www.ctvolympics.ca/mm/photo/newscenter/general/01/83/88/18388_m03.jpg

IN CLASS:
Today we watched more of When We Were Kings. Students did some summary writing of what they already knew about Mohammad Ali, what they still wanted to know, and what they learned from the video. We had some discussion about what made Mohammad Ali a real champion aside from the fact that we was an exceptional boxer. Over the weekend, students should begin thinking about what "champion" they would like to research. We will continue our work on Monday.

To watch a video of Mohammad Ali vs. George Foreman (The Rumble in the Jungle) follow this link.

ASSIGNMENT:
none

Image Source: http://leeh.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/6a00d834517b5669e200e5521ce0518834-800wi.jpg

Thursday 1/28/10

IN CLASS:
Today we started dabbling in our upcoming research project on "Champions." After doing some brainstorming about what makes a champion and who is a real champion, we began viewing segments of the Mohammad Ali documentary When We Were Kings. Being a true NON-fan of boxing, I believe Ali's charming demeanor and witting dialogue will win over even the most skeptical viewers. Not only a film about box, When We Were Kings also addresses the challenges Ali faced being a black man living and fighting for rights in a racist 1970's America. You can view the documentary in parts on YouTube. Follow this link to watch segment 1.

ASSIGNMENT:
none

Wednesday 1/27/10

IN CLASS:
Today we (almost) finished up book talks. Some classes have a few more for tomorrow. All classes will begin working on a research project tomorrow. Enjoy one more evening with no homework!

ASSIGNMENT:
none

January Blue Stars

Each month we try to recognize some students on the Blue Team who are outstanding students and leaders in our school. Here is a picture of students who we recognized this month.

From Left to Right: Zach, Simone, Anna, Maris, Gabrielle, Martell.

Congratulations and KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!

Monday and Tuesday 1/25-1/26

IN CLASS:
Today students began presenting book talks in class. Other students simply get to watch and enjoy hearing about good books read by their peers.
Download Book Talk Guidelines

ASSIGNMENT:
None

Thursday 1/21/10

IN CLASS:
Today all students took a vocabulary exam over the words from unit 5-8. Overall, scores were very good. The tests were taken on the student clicker response systems, so scores have already been posted. After that, students filled out reflections for 2nd quarter. To download the reflection page, click here. Remember to finish up Book Pages and prepare for Book Talks on Monday!

ASSINGMENT:
Book Talk and Book Page due Monday, Jan 25

Wednesday 1/20/10

IN CLASS:
Today students took a quiz over the Parts of Speech. After that, we played a rousing game of TABOO to help us review for tomorrow's vocabulary exam. If you need suggestions to help your student review, try making them define or explain the given word WITHOUT using the words in the definition. This helps them to push their brains to think differently than usual. Remember that tomorrow is the end of quarter vocabulary exam over lessons 5-8.

ASSIGNMENT:

• Review for tomorrow's vocabulary exam
• Prepare for Book Talks (begin Monday, Jan 25)

Downloads for Today:

• Review sheet for hours 2, 5, 6
• Book Talk Guidelines

Tuesday 1/19/10

IN CLASS:
Hours 2, 5, 6--Today we took a little extra time to go over grammar packets. During that time, I met individually with students to go over any missing or late work. We went through the packet, and then we did a grammar review using the clicker response system. Tomorrow there will be a quiz over the Parts of Speech.
Download Notes for Parts of Speech:

• Noun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb Notes
• Pronoun, Conjunction, Preposition, Interjection Notes

Hours 7, 8--Today we went over the Parts of Speech packet. There will be a short quiz over Parts of Speech tomorrow at the beginning of class. Then we began reviewing for the vocab exam by creating Taboo cards for tomorrow's review activities.

ASSINGMENT:

• Grammar Quiz tomorrow over Parts of Speech (see notes above)
• Vocab Exam over lessons 5-8 on Friday
• Book Talks begin Monday, January 25

Friday 1/15/10

IN CLASS:
Today all students took the vocab quiz for lesson 8. Also, short stories were due today. Vocab assignments for lesson 8 should have been turned in today if they were not turned in earlier in the week. After the vocab quiz, students received some grammar practice over parts of speech. Notes taken earlier in the week should be used in completing these worksheets. To print the powerpoint notes from class, see the post from Thursday, Jan 14.

Students in hours 2, 5, 6 should also have picked up a review sheet for next week's vocabulary exam.

ASSIGNMENT (immediate and upcoming):

• Grammar Packet due Tuesday, Jan. 19
• Vocab Exam over lessons 5-8 on Thursday, Jan. 21
• Book Talks begin Monday, Jan. 25

Thursday 1/14/10

Downloads from this week:

• Noun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb Notes
• Pronoun, Conjunction, Preposition, Interjection Notes
• Book Talk Guidelines

IN CLASS:
Hours 2, 5, 6--Today we finished up taking notes on the Parts of Speech (conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns, interjections). Then we had some additional time in the media center to work on short stories. I was also in the lab after school from 2:30-3:30 for any students who needed more time to complete the assignment. Stories are due tomorrow (Friday).

Hours 7, 8--We finished up Parts of Speech work and then took a clicker quiz to test our skills.

ASSIGNMENTS (both immediate and upcoming):

• Vocab Quiz tomorrow
• Short Story due tomorrow
• Vocab Exam over lessons 5-8 on Thursday, Jan. 21
• Book Talks begin Monday, January 25

Wednesday 1/13/10

IN CLASS:
Today we started by checking vocab assignments. Then we moved onto root words. Here they are in an abbreviated versi on:

• figo/fixum=fix or attach (as in a light fixture or prefix)
• jungo/junctum=connect, unite, join (as in junction, conjugal, conjunction, join)
• cum=together or with, similar to con in Spanish, usually seen as co- in English (as in cooperate, community, connnect, co-star)

After that we went over expectations for the book talks that will begin on Monday, January 25th. All students are expected to be doing independent reading outside of class. They should have finished at least one book during this quarter. I will post guidelines for book talks tomorrow.

Finally, we began taking notes on the final four parts of speech. Most classes made it through pronouns and conjunctions. We'll tackle prepositions and interjections tomorrow.

ASSIGNMENTS:

• Finish short story (due Friday)
• Vocab Quiz 8 on Friday

Tuesday 1/12/10

IN CLASS:
Today students had the full hour to work on their short stories. We will have part of one more day in the lab. Students who are far from finished will need to spend some additional time working on their stories at home, during a study hall, or after school.

ASSIGNMENT:

• Vocab 8 due tomorrow
• Vocab Quiz 8 on Friday
• Short Story due on Friday

Monday 1/11/10

IN CLASS:
Today I returned a LOT of work to students at the beginning of class. Then we began the ever-frustrating task of attempting to log in to computers in the lab. Once all the syncing and loading was complete, students had time to work on their short stories (due Friday).

ASSIGNMENT:

• Vocab due Wednesday, Jan 13
• Vocab quiz on Friday, Jan 15
• Short Stories due Friday, Jan 15

Friday 1/8/09

IN CLASS:
Today we watched a (ridiculous) video on punctuating dialogue. Then we practiced with some more together in class.

• Watch the video.
• Download the practice worksheet.

For the latter half of class we went to the computer lab to practice our dialogue writing by starting our short stories. Remember, final drafts of short stories are due Friday, January 15th.

ASSIGNMENT:
Nothing due Monday.

• Vocab Lesson 8 due Wed. Jan. 13
• Vocab Quiz 8 on Friday, Jan. 15
• Short Stories due Friday, Jan. 15

Thursday 1/7/10

IN CLASS:

Hours 2, 5, 6--Today we finished up the terminology we needed from yesterday (dialogue, imagery, metaphor, simile) and did some brainstorming for possible ideas for our 60 second stories. Here is a list of some suggestions:

• Start/end of a sports game
• Waking up in the morning after break
• Falling on the ice
• Car accident
• Performance
• Waiting at the principal's office
• Waiting at the doorbell
• Waiting for bag at airport
• Turbulent flight
• Lost
• Naming a winner
• Ride
• Plane crash
• Phone call from office
• Picking names
• Noises in the night
• Procrastinating
• Falling up/downstairs
• Start of concert
• Ride
• Plane crash
• Choosing numbers in the lottery

On the back of their assignment page, students need to write three possible lines to start their story. Each should be creative, engaging, and unique. Then in the boxes below, they need to start mapping out the story. Who are the characters? What is the setting? What is the plot? What is the conflict? All this should be completed by tomorrow so they can begin writing the story in class.



Hours 7, 8--Students got their next round of assignments: mapping out the story and developing the character for the protagonist. This, along with the four possible first lines, should be completed by tomorrow. We will begin typing the stories tomorrow in class. Flash drives are helpful when transferring between school and home for typing. At the end of class, we went to the computer lab to take a quiz over the four parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb) we have been practicing in class.



ASSIGNMENT:

Hours 2, 5, 6--

1. Decide on a topic.

2. Write three creative, unique, and interesting possible first lines for your short story.

3. Map out the story: Brainstorm ideas for setting, character, plot, conflict



Hours 7, 8--

1. Choose a first line

2. Map out the story: setting, character, plot/conflict, theme

3. Fill out characterization page

Wednesday 1/6/10

IN CLASS:
Hour 2, 5, 6--Today we did some reviewing of the parts of speech. Also, we began talking about the short story students will be writing in the next week and a half. The short story will need to include all the elements of fiction we learned about in December. Additionally, the story (750 word minimum) will describe an event that take place in only 60 seconds. We will do some brainstorming tomorrow to come up with possible events. Each story will need to include dialogue, imagery, simile, and metaphor. We will begin typing in class on Friday. The final draft of the story is due Friday, January 15th.

Students also received the packet for Vocab 8 in class today.

Hours 7, 8--Today we spent class prepping for the short story writing. Since we learned all about the elements of fiction in December, now we're going to put them into action. Today students received a yellow packing explaining the process and expectations. The front page gives some instruction. The second page gives a rubric. The third page is due tomorrow--each student needs to come up with four beginning lines for their story. Each start must use one of the following: dialogue, imagery, simile, or metaphor (and their must be one start for each)

We will start typing in class on Friday. The final draft of the story is due Friday, January 15th.

ASSIGNMENT:

• Hours 2, 5, 6--none
• Hours 7, 8--Four First Lines due tomorrow

Tuesday 1/5/10

IN CLASS:
Today we tackled four parts of speech. We spent the day taking some notes on...
NOUNS--person, place, thing, or idea
ADJECTIVES--describe or modify a noun
VERBS--show action or a state of being
ADVERBS*--modify a verb. Show HOW something is done and usually end in --ly.
*Adverbs can also modify other adverbs or adjectives.

Then most classes used the clicker response systems to do some practicing.

ASSIGNMENT:
None

Monday 1/4/10

IN CLASS:
It's always a difficult transition back to school after a long winter break. The kids did very well today. I, however, spent a lot of the day fumbling with words. Luckily, it was the kids who did the writing today. We are moving into a unit of creative writing, so we started off with the quintessential January question: What did you do over break? Each student wrote about a very short part of their break (I recommended 5 minutes or less) that stood out for being exceptionally funny, poignant, scary, annoying, exhilarating, or nerve wracking. Students had about 20 minutes to write, and then we heard their tales of adventure. It was a good way to return to Language Arts in 2010. Happy New Year!

ASSIGNMENT:
All students need to be reading an independent reading book. This will need to be finished in the upcoming weeks so the student can complete a book talk on their book. Instructions and expectations will follow.