Thursday 9/30/10

IN CLASS:
Hours 2, 4, 8--Classes today finished up with "The Man to Send Rainclouds" and turned in the writing on situation and conflict from the story. Then we began reading "The Lady or the Tiger."

Hours 3, 5--Students finished reading "The Lady or the Tiger." Then they did some review of the Elements of Fiction. The writing assignment for the day was to answer the question posed in the last line of the story in the form of a paragraph.

ASSIGNMENT:

• Hours 2, 4, 8--none
• Hours 3, 5--Finish elements of fiction formative assessment and write paragraph answering the question at the end of the story.

*My apologies to students who may have stopped by my room to pick up a copy of the story after 6th hour. I was delayed in the lunch room and didn't make it back until the buses had left. You will have until Monday to turn in the assignment as needed.

Wednesday 9/29/10

IN CLASS:
Classes today started with root words:

• DORMIO=sleep (as in dormitory, dormant)
• HYPNOS=sleep (as in hypnotize, hypnology)
• ANNUS=year (annual, annuity, anniversary, centennial)

Next all classes finished up notes on the Elements of Fiction. Some classes needed to finish reading "The Man to Send Rainclouds" by Leslie Marmon Silko. Hours 3 and 5 began reading the next story, "The Lady or the Tiger."

ASSIGNMENT:
none

Tuesday 9/28/10

IN CLASS:
All hours today read the short story "The Man to Send Rainclouds" by Leslie Marmon Silko. Students worked on describing the situation of the story as well as identifying the conflict of the story. This work, along with the 3-2-1 notes from yesterday's reading, were turned in at the end of class. If students did not finish, it is homework.

ASSIGNMENT:
All hours--

• Finish reading "The Man to Send Rainclouds"
• Complete situation and conflict writing if not turned in already

3rd hour only--Complete the classwork above as well as the double bubble map comparing the rituals of Leon and the Priest.

Monday 9/27/10

IN CLASS
Hours, 2, 3, 4, 5--Today classes did some non-fiction reading preparing us for the fiction reading we'll do tomorrow. The topic for this cheery morning was death and the way different cultures deal with the ultimate unknown. Tomorrow's short story will look at the conflict that arises between two different cultures when trying to reconcile their opposite rituals for the dead.

Hour 8--Because 8th hour is behind in our note-taking, we took today to get caught up with notes.

ASSIGNMENT:
none

Friday 9/24/10

IN CLASS:
All classes took the vocabulary quiz for lesson 18 today. Also, there was time for silent sustained reading. Some classes got to watch a bit more of Alfred Hitchcock's version of "Lamb to the Slaughter." Per their request, I also showed the full film after school for those who were interested in staying.

• Click here to read Roald Dahl's short story "Lamb to the Slaughter"
• Click here to watch the full episode on You Tube

ASSIGNMENT:
none

Thursday 9/23/10

IN CLASS: Hours 2, 4, 8--Today we checked the vocabulary assignment for lesson 18 (though it was technically due yesterday). After that, students took a short answer quiz on "Lamb to the Slaughter." At the end of class, we watched the first few minutes of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode of the same title.

Hours 3, 5--Today students had the opportunity to share a few of the Point of View rewrites they did on "Lamb to the Slaughter." After that we played a short review game for the vocabulary lesson--they may still want to do some studying for tomorrow. Then we got started watching the Alfred Hitchcock Presents interpretation of Roald Dahl's short story.

Watch the Alfred Hitchcock Presents version of Lamb to the Slaughter

ASSIGNMENT: All Classes--

• Review for Vocab Quiz 18 tomorrow
• Bring Independent Reading Book to class tomorrow

Wednesday 9/22/10

IN CLASS:
Hours 2, 4, 8--These classes finished up the last of the reading assessments. They also turned in their vocab, but we didn't have time to check it. We'll do that at the beginning of class tomorrow. All students should have finished reading "Lamb to the Slaughter" by tomorrow's class.

Hours 3, 5--Today we checked vocab lesson 18. Then we took a spelling test recommended by the state to identify students who may be missing certain phonetic patterns. Students turned in their Point of View rewrites.

ASSIGNMENT:
Hours 2, 4, 8

• Finish reading "Lamb to the Slaughter" (due tomorrow)
• Vocab Quiz 18 on Friday
• Bring Independent Reading Book to class on Friday

Hours 3, 5

• Vocab Quiz 18 on Friday
• Bring Independent Reading Book on Friday

Winter Play Auditions!

"The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet"

Auditions: Mon. 9/27 & Tues. 9/28
Show Dates: December 10-13

Auditions for the winter play, "The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet", will be held after school on Monday 9/27 in the choir room. Callbacks will be Tuesday 9/28--same time, same place. Students should come prepared to read for a scene (we'll provide it for you) as well as do a few improvisational games. Auditions will be over in time for kids to take the 4:30 bus home. EVERYONE is encouraged to try out!! We are able to work around sports schedules as well as other interferences; we love new faces and are excited to have a 6th- 8th grade program!! Show dates are 12/10-12/13. There will also be a musical in the spring of 2011.

Tuesday 9/21/10

IN CLASS:
Hours 2, 4, 8--Today students took a spelling test to evaluate their working knowledge of phonics. This is the second part of the assessment we started yesterday in class. Tomorrow we will complete the final part of the assessment. Additionally, students received a copy of the Roald Dahl story, "Lamb to the Slaughter." It tells the tragic (but also ironically funny) story of a disgruntled housewife driven to desperation and her sneaky (but also tasty) attempt at covering up her crime of passion. This story should be read independently before the beginning of class on Thursday.

Also, remember that vocab lesson 18 is due tomorrow.

Hours 3, 5--Today students in 3rd hour finished up notes on different types of characters. Then we did a brief review on writing and punctuating dialogue. Students then had the rest of the hour to work on their Point of View rewrite for "Lamb to the Slaughter."

Here's what to do:
The story is written in 3rd person limited (the narrator knows what the main character, Mary Maloney, is thinking, but not any of the other characters).

Your task: Rewrite the story in FIRST PERSON Point of View. Choose a different character (i.e. NOT Mary Maloney) to narrate the story. Use the plot elements discussed to fill out your story--give it a situation, some rising action, the climax, and a resolution. You can add to the story, but you cannot change the plot. It must be a realistic retelling of the story from another character's perspective. It must use dialogue. There is not a length requirement, but it should take some effort (and yes, I can tell). This is due tomorrow.

ASSIGNMENT:
Hours 2, 4, 8--

• Vocab Lesson 18 due tomorrow
• Read "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Thursday
• Vocab Quiz 18 on Friday
• Bring Independent Reading Book on Friday

Hours 3, 5--

• Vocab Lesson 18 due tomorrow
• Point of View Rewrite due tomorrow
• Vocab Quiz 18 on Friday
• Bring Independent Reading Book on Friday

Monday 9/20/10

IN CLASS:
Hours 2, 4, 8--Today students took the first part of a 3 part reading assessment. While not graded, the test is designed and endorsed by the Minnesota Department of Education to help us pin-point where our students need the most work in their reading growth. Part comprehension, part phonics, the results of the assessment will help us tailor our instruction to best meet the needs of our developing readers.

Students were also reminded that the lesson for vocab 18 is due on Wednesday.

Hours 3, 5--After a brief discussion on favorite genres for reading, we dove back into literary terminology. Today we tackled irony, theme, and direct & indirect characterization. Students received a copy of Roald Dahl's short story "Lamb to the Slaughter." The assignment for this text is to first read it, then determine the Point of View (1st or 3rd--If 1st, who is the narrator? If 3rd, is it omniscient, limited, or objective. Notes may be needed for this). Next, students will choose one of the supporting characters and rewrite the story from his or her perspective as a 1st person narrative.

In class tomorrow, I will give students some time to work and will have laptops available. If they want to use a laptop, they need to have a flash drive available as internet and printers will be unavailable. Flashdrives are available for purchase at $7 for a 1GB drive.

ASSIGNMENT:
Hours 2, 4, 8

• Vocab 18 due Wednesday
• Vocab quiz on Friday

Hours 3, 5

• Read "Lamb to the Slaughter"
• Rewrite due Wednesday (see description above)
  
• Vocab 18 due Wednesday
• Vocab Quiz 18 on Friday

Friday 9/17/10

IN CLASS:
Today students had time for independent reading in class. Then they got their next four root words for next week's vocabulary unit (due on Wednesday, quiz on Friday):

• DIA=across, through (as in diagonal, diameter, diagram)
• TRANS=across, beyond, through, over (as in transit, transform, transportation)
• GEO=earth (as in geology, geometry, geode)
• TERRA=land (as in terra cotta, extraterrestrial, territory, terrain)

After that, each class continued on with a few more Elements of Fiction notes.

ASSIGNMENT:
none

Thursday 9/16/10

IN CLASS:
Hours 2, 4, 8--Today students finished their Critical Response Writing Assignment and then took some more notes on the Elements of Fiction.

Hours 3, 5--Today students turned in their plot maps for "Eleven," took a brief quiz on the story, had some discussion about the meaning of the story, and then took some more notes on Point of View.

ASSIGNMENTS:
Hours 2, 4, 8--

• Finish Critical Response (due at the beginning of class tomorrow for full credit)
• Bring Independent Reading Book tomorrow

Hours 3, 5-- Bring Independent Reading Book tomorrow

Wednesday 9/15/10

IN CLASS:
Hours 2, 4--Today we took some notes on the Elements of Fiction. Then we did a little work on our first Critical Response writing assignment. We will finish up both of these in class tomorrow.

Hour 8--Today we finished reading "The Most Dangerous Game." After that we began working on our first Critical Response writing assignment. We will finish it up at the beginning of class tomorrow. Click here to read "The Most Dangerous Game."

Hour 3, 5--Today we took notes on the Elements of Fiction. As homework, students are to reading the short story, "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros and create a PLOT MAP for the story correctly labeling the situation, 3 complications (or rising action EVENTS), the climax, and the resolution. Students should also identify either the main internal OR main external conflict in the story. See the notes for help.

ASSIGNMENT:
Hours 2, 4, 8--Be prepared to write Critical Response #1 in class tomorrow.
Hours 3, 5--Read "Eleven" and create a PLOT MAP as directed above.

Tuesday 9/14/10

IN CLASS:
Hours 2, 4, 8--Today we finished reading "The Most Dangerous Game." If you missed the ending of the story, you can read it online by CLICKING HERE.

Hours 3, 5--Today we began working with some of the fiction terms you'll be expected to know by the end of this unit. Most of them are review, so today students started some lovely posters to decorate our hallway focusing on the terms. Tomorrow we'll take some real notes on them, so be sure to have your notebooks with you!

Everyone in hours 3 and 5 should have turned in their first critical response today. If you didn't turn yours in, do it tomorrow! If you didn't do it, here are the instructions for the assignment.

ASSIGNMENT:
none!

Monday 9/13/10

Sorry for the lack of postings the last few days. My grandmother died over Labor Day weekend, and I spent a greater portion of last week in Nebraska with my family. I am back, and will do my best to keep the postings current. Thanks for understanding.

IN CLASS:
Hour 2, 4, 8--Today we continued reading "The Most Dangerous Game."

Hour 3, 5--Today students who had completed the reading assignment over the weekend began their first Critical Response writing assignment on "The Most Dangerous Game." Those who had not completed the work spent the hour reading and will need to complete the writing assignment after they have finished. Click here to read "The Most Dangerous Game."

ASSIGNMENT:
Hours 2, 4, 6--none
Hour 3, 5--Finish Critical Response #1

Tuesday 9/7/10

IN CLASS:
Today classes filled in agendas with important dates for first quarter. Here's the rundown:

Vocab 17 lesson* due on Friday, Sept. 10 (*Link is for Hours 2, 4, 8 only)
Vocab quiz 17 on Friday, Sept. 10

Vocab 18 lesson due Wednesday, Sept. 22
Vocab quiz 18 on Friday, Sept. 24

Vocab 19 lesson due Wednesday, Oct. 6
Vocab quiz 19 on Friday, Oct. 8

Vocab 20 lesson due TUESDAY, Oct. 19
Vocab quiz 20 on WEDNESAY, Oct. 20
NO SCHOOL Thurs, Oct. 21 & Fri, Oct. 22

We also filled in other important dates like early release/late start, conferences, and end of the quarter. Today students received a parent/student information form which will help me get to know the students better and help create a class and curriculum most appropriate for their interests and needs. They need to fill out the first page, parents/guardians need to fill out the second page. This should be returned no later than Friday, though I am encouraging students to get it turned in tomorrow. After that, students received their first vocab assignment (due Friday). At the end of class, we had some time for browsing books in the LMC or working on vocabulary assigments.

ASSIGNMENT:

• Parent/Student Info sheet--due Friday (click the link to print the document)
  
• Vocab Lesson 17--due Friday (click the link to print the lesson for Hours 2, 4, 8)
  
• Vocab Quiz on Friday

Day 3 Festivities

A HUGE thank you to all the parents and volunteers who helped out with the Day 3 event. There were art projects, (chilly) outdoor games, snacks, and our first EVER full school pep rally. Seeing the students' enthusiasm and pride was a great way to start of the year. Have a wonderful long weekend, and we'll start up in full swing on Tuesday.

Friday 9/3/10 (Day 3)

IN CLASS:
Today students chose their Homework Partners and received the syllabus for Language Arts. I asked them to share it with their parents. Hopefully they do that. It's a yellow sheet of paper. The name of their Homework Partner should be written on the "My Language Arts Information" sticker inside the front cover of the agenda.

ASSIGNMENT:
None (which should be written in the Language Arts section of their agenda)

Thursday 9/2/10

IN CLASS:
Today students shared some of their favorite things and looked for common favorites. What we generally discovered is that there are things we share in common, but also things that make us unique. Some classes got info stickers for their agendas, others will get them tomorrow. 8th hour got a yellow syllabus with instructions to share it with parents and to keep it.

ASSIGNMENT:
None (which is the word that should be written in their agendas for today in Language Arts)

FIRST DAY!

Well, here we go again. It was great to see so many smiling faces today in class. Hopefully those smiles will get us all the way through to June!

Classes today were all a little irregular. OT lasted for two hours, then hours 2, 3, 4 were 18 minutes, Hour 5 was 30 minutes, Hour 6 was 53 minutes, and Hours 7, 8 were the regular 46 minutes. I think most everyone made it through just fine.

In Language Arts today we did some introductions and talked about some of our favorite things. Students in each class generated a list of 10 categories. Their assignment was to name their favorite thing in each category (favorite food, hobby, animal, etc). Their assignment was to complete the list and bring it back tomorrow. I told them this is probably the easiest assignment I'll ever give. Hopefully everyone will have it for class tomorrow.

Looking forward to Day 2!