Christmas Break!

Well, long time no talkie all you Smartypants!

December was a month of classwork on verbs. We finished the Winter Book Report (if you didn't turn it in before break, you have MONDAY 1/4/10 as the turn in date. After that it is late. We also finished presentations for our Native American research projects.

There is no other winter break homework, but, if you want to get a head start...

I have already posted the january research project which is on American Presidents. Please look under 8th grade materials for three seperate handouts, one is the directions. Please FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS!!! The other two are the rubrics for the essay and the overall presentation. You will notice that there are now extra points for the essay, so please be sure you follow the directions.

Last, there is an essay checklist, created by Jake B. in period 3 that has been posted to 8th grade materials to help you make sure that you have everything you need to write a solid essay. We used these on the last essay, as well. Please download the checklist and compare it to your work to make sure that you are not missing anything.

Happy holidays to you all! Have a great break and I look forward to seeing you in January!

Mrs. Anderson

Midweek Homework!

Boo!

Well, in order for us to stay on target (as we are losing Wednesday to a very deserved holiday to honor our veterans), we have midweek homework.

ALL CLASSES: ENGLISH

We began to read and listen to "Flowers for Algernon" today in the lab. Students need to finish reading and listening to the story at home (http://www.pearsonsuccessnet.com/). Students need to finish answering all of the "more" questions from the story sidboard. They should have started this in class. Please make sure to answer the questions in a word document. Fold the question into your answer and number your work.

There is also a quick worksheet that needs to be answered. This can be done on the same sheet of paper. I would prefer that students use a word processing program to write their answers as opposed to hand writing, so that we can practice our word processing skills.

Be sure to put a title on the paper ("Flowers for Algernon" questions) and from the top toolbar use the header/footer button and then right justify to type in your name, date, and period.

We will be grading these questions and discussing the text on Thursday. Next week you will need these notes, as we will be watching the movie "The Awakening" and doing a comparison of the main characters.

Thanks!
Mrs. A

11/5/09 Homework

Hey there all you Smarties!

Apologies for the late posting, unfortunately there was a feline death in the family on Friday. I was called to my mom's house in the morning and spent the day doing kitty hospice for Emmitt Anderson who was 15. Emmit was from the 24th and Mission SPCA in San Francisco and was adopted a couple months after my college graduation from San Francisco State. He came back to the East Bay with me after a couple of years and took up residence at my parents house. When I moved out to get married my dad said that I could go, but the cat was staying. I am the youngest child, so I thought it was a fair tade. My dad, stoic man that he is, has never been able to handle the loss of pets well, and Emmitt was his football and news buddy. He stayed away until the mobile vet had come and gone, and then he came home to do "dad duty" (you know- he dug the kitty hole in the gladiola garden). :(

So this was a short week in school, with a minimum day on Thursday and no school on Friday. In class we read a little farther in You Don't Know me by David Klass, and we did most of our oral presentations for the American Invention project (except for period 2, which will be doing them this week). Over all, the projects were much improved this time around. This week we will begin to go over the parts of an essay, so that we improve again next month!

We also watched the television production of "The Landlady" a short stroy by Roald Dahl, which we had read last week. Interestingly, Roald not only wrote the story, but he wrote the television adaptation. This coming week students will be writing about some of the similarities and differences that they noticed between the two types of writing, and discussing why they think Roald whould make these changes to his work.

On the Homework front, students were assigned this month's research project, which is on Native American tribes. This is already up on the teacherweb site under 8th grade materials, and students got a hard copy in class (exept period 3, who I inadvertantly skipped- they can download it or pick it up on Monday).

This coming week we will spend the majority of our time on the writings of Lincoln (history). You may see some mid-week homework on this front, but it won't be anyhing that takes more than 20-30 minutes. In English we will be finishing You Don't Know Me by David Klass, working on essay structure, and finishing presentations.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. A

10/3009 homework

Hi all!

Happy Halloween to you, have a safe weekend! If you end up with leftover candy, please bring it to me at school. I will forward it to the Blue Star Moms to put into the care packages for the troops.

This week there is NO HOMEWORK. That said, students were given an opportunity for fix mistakes on their American Invention projects and turn them in on Monday. Book reports can be turned in on Monday for 90% maximum credit.

All students need to have made speech notecards and bring them to school to practice on Monday. Speeches will be all week.

Please return all book report books to me by Friday at the latest. New reading will be assigned this coming week.

Have a fun and happy Halloween!
Mrs. Anderson

HoMework update: This week we finished unfinished work and read "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. Grade checks went home Friday, students have through Monday to make up work. This Friday book reports and research reports are due. :) Mrs A

Homework Updaate! Tuesday 10/13/09

Hey there all you Smarties!

In class today students began to analyze their essays on Schooled by Gordon Korman. This is a 30 point assignment. 10 points for correct formatting (do you know what parts of an essay go where?- For help see the power point under 8th grade materials).

10 points for content (I asked students to write me an essay that analyzes an aspect of the PLOT of the book. Specifically: I am grading essays based on their analysis and understanding of elements of the plot. For example, a student can analyze the three most important complications in the book.

In the thesis statement, the student would write something like: One important aspect of plot is conflict or complications. The three most important complications in the book are...  In the first body paragraph the student would start with a topic sentence along the lines of The initial conflict of Rain falling out of the tree is important to the basic situation or exposition of the book. Then students would add commentary: it is important because... and they would go on to discuss WHY this complication is an important part of the plot. Think of things like, what does it add to the book? How does it help the reader? How does it further the plot? Does it cause us to meet anyone, or does it cause anyone to do anything that furthers the plot?

Follow with evidence- this is where you give facts or examples from the book that prove your point.
End with opinion. This last part is also where you are transitioning to the next paragraph.

Make sure that you are always keeping the purpose of the essay in mind: I am grading your essay on CONTENT. Specifically your analysis and understanding of aspects of plot using the book schooled as evidence.

Essays should have a balance of commentary and evidence. Please make sure that you have eliminated all contractions because we don't use them in formal writing. All essays must be formatted in Times New Roman or Arial 12 point font with 1 inch margins. We will be going over essays again tomorrow and if needed students will be revising again tomorrow night.

The third area being assessed (10 points) is the use of academic vocabulary (correctly) these are words like rising action, falling action, basic situation, exposition, conflict, complication, climax, flat character, round, stock, etc.

Students need to revide their work tonight. I would love to give perfect scores to everyone! So please do your part and revise your work!

There is a sub for my 6/7 core tomorrow because I have a grade level meeting off site. If students in the PM CORE have any quesstions, please feel free to email me at luvmysmartypants@yahoo.com.

Mrs. Anderson

Homework 10/9/09-10/30/09

Hey there all you Smartypants!

So this week in class was all about finishing our test fixes on the Reconstruction for extra points, finishing our Word-A-Palooza cards and turning them in, and finishing reading the "Speckled Band". In class we started two sets of Cornell Notes- 15.1 and 15.2. Students were to finish the notes at home. On Friday students had time in class to work on noted for 15.3. These are the last set we need for our work on the Civil War. On Monday we will be creating summaries together and going over what one should put into a summary to make it good.

We will also be starting work on the Civil War, adding to our vocabulary flash cards, beginning the book You Don't Know Me by David Klass and as it is October, we will be reading "The Tell Tale Heart" by Poe.

In You Don't Know Me we will be focusing on literary devices. We will alsow be comparing the main character of the book (who is a 14 year old boy- freshman in HS) with the main character from the last book Schooled (who was 13 and in grade 8).

There will be no essays for the rest of the month as students have two projects to work on.
1. Book report - Book Jacket
Students have their books and have already started reading. The Directions for the book report are on the Teacherweb page under 8th grade materials.
Periods 2 and 3 are reading The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. It is a creepy book, one of Stephen King's reported favorites, which means fun for everyone!
Period 6 is reading Downriver by Will Hobbs. Always a student favorite, this book has great characters and an engaging plot.

Book reports are DUE on 10/30/09
2. All Students are completing the American Invention project. This is also due on the 30th, and directions as well as the grading rubric are posted on the Teacherweb site under 8th grade materials. This project involves a one (1) page research paper WHICH HAS NOT BEEN PLAGIARIZED (COPIED) FROM THE INTERNET, an oral presentation that has been outlined on note cards and practiced ahead of time of time, and a visual.

These are the main assignments for the next three weeks along with reading at least 30 minutes a night. There may be occasional unfinished classwork as well, but that really depends on how much the kids are choosing to focus and work during the time that they have with me.

Have a great week!

Mrs. A

Homework 10/2/09

Hey there all you Smarties!

Another week has gone by, and here we are again with homework to do. This week we spent time looking at our Reconstruction tests. Test fixes are due by WEDNESDAY, and there is time in class and at home to accomplish the task. Remember, you get 1/2 credit for every question you fix! Directions are in class.

This week we also finished the book Schooled by Gordon Korman, and we had a history demonstration by Mr. Wells. He focused on the soldier in the American Revolution. He will be back in the spring to repeat with the soldier in the Civil War.

Homework for this week:

English: students were given this months book report book to take home and begin reading. They will receive their book report directions this Friday.

Students were also given (if needed) an extension on their timelines and essays that were due last Friday. They are now due on MONDAY. We will be going over and dissecting this work on TUESDAY so be sure they are done or you will miss out on classwork credit!

Students were assigned a fictional narrative in class on Friday. The purpose of this short story is for students to demonstrate an understanding of how to structure a plot. As a class students chose the genre, time frame, and general setting. for this assignment it is OK to write fanfiction. Collaboration is also OK, as long as the primary author is the student turning in the piece.

We spent a significant amount of class time on this on Friday, students should have notes on how to make their stories.

DUE MONDAY: outline of your story that shows the basic situation (characters, setting, initial conflict) complications, and resolution. Remember: Start with the basic situation, then decide upon the resolution (be specific!!!), only then should you go through and sketch in complications.

See you all Monday!

Mrs. Anderson

9/25/09 Homework

Hey all you Smarties!

This week we continued to work on Word-A-Palooza vocabulary cards. We surveyed some video clips to give us a visual insight into the Reconstruction after the Civil War, and we continued to read in schooled.

On Thursday we took two tests: vocabulary (the six words from the student reading selections- "A Retrieved Reformation" and "Raymond's Run") and Periods 2 and 6 took the Pearson selection test. Period 3 will be taking the test on Monday (there were technical difficulties on Thursday).

The main standard that was not mastered by many of the students on this test was identifying and sequencing the plot of a story. With that in mind...

Here is the homework for this week:

Timeline of the plot of Schooled by Gordon Korman: Students create a timeline using words and pictures (they have notes) that correctly sequences the basic situation, setting, characters; complications, effects of complications; climax; falling actions; resolution of the story.

Essay:

Students use their timeline to write a standard 5 paragraph essay that discusses the plot of the book. This is a 30 point essay. Here is how I will be scoring it:

10 points: Structure; Do you know what is supposed to go where in a standard format essay? Look under 8th grade materials for a power point that will help.

10 points: Content; is your essay focused clearly? Does it discuss three elements of the plot? Do you have evidence as well as your own opinion? Does the background in the first paragraph help the reader to understand what you are talking about in the essay? Is the thesis statement focused on what you are talking about in the essay? Do your topic sentences help to guide the reader through your essay?

10 points: Academic vocabulary; have you correctly used the appropriate academic and formal vocabulary when discussing the plot of the book? Do you know what the formal and academic vocabulary is that refers to Identification and analysis of elements of plot?

So, work on this as the week progresses, come in and see me after school if you want to check anything, get my opinion, or get extra help. :)

History:

We will be taking a test on the Reconstruction on TUESDAY!

Cheers!

Mrs. Anderson

Homework 9/18-09

Happy weekend all you Smarties!

This week in class we spent the majority of our time looking at vocabulary from the stories we are reading (A Retrieved Reformation by O'Henry in Honors and Raymond's Run by Toni Cade Bambara). The literary elements I am focusing on for these two stories are 1. Identification of elements of plot (basic situation, setting, conflicts/complications, climax, resolution) and 2. Making predictions.

In grammar the focus this week was on common and proper nouns. We are beginning Word-A-Palooza with our vocabulary. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, Word-A-Palooza is a vocabulary exercise that allows students to investigate words that they find interesting in a literary piece. Students begin by creating a list of words that catch their attention. On the list they have to copy the word, the sentence the word appears in (with open and end quotes, as well as correct capitalization and punctuation), the page number and the paragraph number.

Students then choose their favorite five words to put on index cards (students keep an evolving set of vocabulary flip cards in class that they study each week). For these five words they look up and copy the correct definition of the word based upon how it was used in the sentence from the story.

After, students gather in groups of three to combine lists and categorize their words. Students decide what ways in which they want to group words, rearranging and making changes until they have found a way to identify every word on their lists.

From these categories, students debate, compromise, and finally choose their combined favorite five words. Students use these five words to make 5x7 index cards (one side only). Each member of the group must work on a different aspect of each card (in other words one student is not to be doing the writing on all cards, another drawing the pictures on all cards...)

In the end, each finished card is a visual and verbal representation on the meaning of the word chosen. The word is written out on the card in a way that reflects its meaning (for example, the word 'bouncy' may be written with the letters bouncing all over the card), the background of the card depicts the words meaning (the card may have a playground with bouncing balls all over it), the part of speech of the word, the definition of the word, and the sentence from the text that uses the word (correctly cited and quoted).

The cards are then presented to the rest of the class. From the class cards all students choose the class favorite five, which they add to their vocabulary flip cards for study.

This is an in-class process and is usually spread over seven class days. This week we made lists and we defined and created flip cards for our favorite five words. We will be moving on next week!

We also continued to read and take notes on the book Schooled by Gordon Korman, we began our reading and writing folders, tried our hand at the online essay scorer, and went to a magazine drive assembly.

In history, we started the Reconstruction and spent a significant time in class learning how to do Cornell notes. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday students started Cornell notes with me in class and then were asked to complete them at home. We then went over them the next day. Our notes were focused on specific information. We were looking for information that would help us understand what the Reconstruction was, how it affected society (groups of people), and how it affected politics (rules and procedures).

Last week students were assigned a small research project on notable immigrants (history only). This project is due THIS FRIDAY 9/25. Students have a handout with a rubric. This is the only homework for the week. There is no homework this week in honors.

That said- students are ALWAYS to be reading- a minimum of 3.5 hours a week. Students are beginning to track their reading progress in the form of line graphs located in their reading and writing folders in class. If you would like to see your students reading and writing folder, please feel free to stop by A2.

At this point you should be noticing a homework pattern, light followed by not so light. This will continue all year. Also, I do not like to assign large amounts of homework over holiday breaks.

This Friday is the end of Quarter 1 progress. I will be sending home grade checks on MONDAY. Students need to have them signed by a parent and returned by Friday 9/25. Late work is due by FRIDAY 9/25. At the end of the day on Friday I will be sending grades to the office. Any students who have F's in either of my classes will be assigned AIM for study hall for the next five weeks. I also hold study hall on Wednesdays in A2 from 3-3:45pm.

Students will be finishing the majority of their work in school this week. It is my aim that they finish all of it in school with me so that we can work together and I can discuss their work with them.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. A

Technical difficulties (I left my laptop with my example for Cornell notes at school so it isn't on Teacherweb- it will be posted Wednesday morning)

Changes to the student rules and procedures!

Hi all!

There are two additions to the student rules and procedures for my classes. Please be advised that:

1. Students must have their name (first and last), date, and period on the top right hand corner of all papers. I will deduct 1 point from any assignments with incomplete headers.

Due to the volume of papers I see, spending extra time trying to figure out who a paper belongs to, what class they are in or when the assignment was from can cause hours of extra work.

2. Cornell Notes MUST have a correct header and must be formatted correctly. Cornell Notes are worth 10 points: 1 point for a correct header, 1 point for correct formatting (including color coding and symbols), 5 points for notes, 3 points for summary.

For information on how to create Cornell Notes please visit the 8th grade materials page on my Teacherweb site.

Thanks!

Mrs. A

Midweek Homework for HISTORY CLASSES

Hi all!

Students started their first set of Cornell Notes today in class. I am asking all students to complete the notes at home. We will be going over them and fixing any mistakes/adding to our work tomorrow.

For information on how to set up Cornell Notes please see the 8th grade materials page of the Teacherweb site.

Mrs. A

Boxtops for Education

Don't forget to keep collecting boxtops for education! Have your student drop them off in my class A2, we need all we can get!

http://www.boxtops4education.com/

Mrs. Anderson

Homework 9/11/09

Hi there all you Smarties!

Today we took a moment in school to remember those lives lost on 9/11/01, as of 2008 the total lives lost were 2,998.

This week in class we finished comparing fiction and non-fiction and we started working on vocabulary for the student reading selections for next week. Period 2 will be focusing on A Retrieved Reformation by O'Henry and Periods 3 and 6 are reading Raymond's Run by Toni Cade Bambara.

We contimued to read Schooled by Gordon Korman, analysing plot and character.

On Friday students were given several assignments that need to be completed as the week progresses in order for us to most efficiently complete our work in class. Below is an outline of this week's homework. This is our first foray into this new book, so adjustments will be made each week until we achieve a good balance of homework and classwork.

This is the same website they use for their science textbook.

www.pearsonsuccess.net the student username and ID are the same: 7 followed by student ID number.

Period 2: Reading A Retrieved Reformation by O'Henry

This is a more challenging piece of literature. Students should be practicing the vocabulary and take their time in the journal activities.

1. Before reading:

9/11-9/14 backround video: safecracking- watch video (about a minute)

9/11-9/14 Getting started video and quick write (5-15 minutes of time)

9/11-9/14 Common and proper nouns- watch video (about 3 minutes)

9/11-9/17 Vocabulary central- Three times this week play games, song, and practice vocab cards. You don't need to do the worksheets.

2. The story:

Our lab day at school is TUESDAY. While at the lab students will take a language arts diagnostic test and they will begin to read the selection.

9/15-9/17 The story- finish reading the story and answer the journal questions.

Period 2: Reading Raymond's Run by Toni Cade Bambara

This is an at grade level piece of literature. Students should be practicing the vocabulary and take their time in the journal activities.

1. Before reading:

9/11-9/14 Getting started video and quick write (5-15 minutes of time)

9/11-9/14 Common and proper nouns- watch video (about 3 minutes)

9/11-9/17 Vocabulary central- Three times this week play games, song, and practice vocab cards. You don't need to do the worksheets.

2. The story:

Our lab day at school is TUESDAY. While at the lab students will take a language arts diagnostic test and they will begin to read the selection.

9/15-9/17 The story- finish reading the story and answer the journal questions.

Students will be taking a test on their story on THURSDAY. Students will be assigned homework on Friday based on their test results.

In these stories we will be focusing on identifying elements of the PLOT and making predicions. The selection test also covers vocabulary.

Students were also assigned Writing assignment #3. This is our first try at the holistic grader. This essay scorer gives the students tips on how to improve their essay for a better grade. They get up to 12 tries. I encourage students to type their essays in Microsoft Word and then copy and past into the grader window. This will make it easy for students to make changes to their work. Students should SAVE their papers in word (better safe than sorry!). Remember, this is brand new to them and us so just try your best. :)

www.essayscorer.com/ph/ca/wms Student log-ins are the same. 7 followed by student ID number.

Students log in and then click on the essay assignment. The prompt will then come up along with the box to paste the essay in. Once students have written their essay they paste it into the window and save. The grade will then give them a score and tips for improvement. I have set this essay on a 6 point rubric.

I am posting the student how-to guide for the essay scorer under 8th grade materials on the Teacherweb site.

Finally: In HISTORY (period 4 and 7)

Big books are DUE on Monday

Students were assigned the first of their monthly research projects. This handout was sent home on FRIDAY. The rubric for this project is on the instructions sheet. This project is due on Friday 9/25/09.

Please note: Feel free to have your student use the computers in my classroom or in the library to work on their homework. or to use my room as a place to study. My room is opened daily at 7:45am. It is also open on Tuesdays until about 3:45 (then I have off-site meetings), Wednedsays until 4pm, Thursdays until 3:45 and Fridays by prior notice. My room is also available at lunch, students need to get a pass from me.

All students should continue to read for 30 minutes per night.

Students: see me on Monday if you need ANYTHING! :)

Mrs. Anderson

Homework 9/4/2009

Hi there all you smarties!

Well, This week went by fast! In class we continue to read Schooled,and on Thursday the Grade 8's spent 30 minutes practicing meditation and learning yoga (the main character of the book is a 13 year-old grade 8 who does Tai Chi and meditation, but none of us actually know how to do Tai Chi so... yoga it is!) Our school counselor, Mr. Levin led the yoga and I led the guided meditation and relaxation.

Next Friday we are doing tie-dye (the main character wears tie-dyed clothing). To make everyone's life easier, we are going to tie-dye paper. Please have your student bring food coloring and shaving cream, along with a cookie baking sheet (needs to have edges to hold the shaving cream, so no edgeless chookie sheets please). Make sure that you label your cookie sheet with a piece of masking tape and your students name so that it gets back to you! The paper needed is card stock.

This great book addresses several key issues for students and is a great way to start the year. First, one of the central issues is bullying, and the idea of not being the bully, but being a person in the crowd who goes along with it.

The second is the idea of accepting peoples differences and looking beyond the surface of a person.

And the third is ethics. What makes something right or wrong?

All of these issues help us to address our Big Question for the first six weeks of school: Is the truth the same for everyone?

This week in History we also began to work on our big books. These are stories about people from our history textbook. There will be time all next week in class to work on these. The only students working on them at home will be stuednts whose groups are behind, or students who have an extra interest in the project.

Homework:

This was a light homework week.

Period 2 was assigned writing assignment #2. It is listed for download under 8th grade materials and is due on Friday, typed. Students will have time during the week to gather evidence from the book to support their opinions and should work on the essay a little bit every day. This weekend (if possible) students should make an outline of the essay. For help with this please download the power point "how to write an essay" from 8th grade materials.

All students are to read a minimum of 3.5 hours this week or 30 minutes every night.

Students will be assigned a 3 week project this upcoming week either on Tuesday or Wednesday. It will be a SMALL research project and will focus on notable immigrants. It will be due at the end of September, with small project check-ins along the way.

On a last sad note, every year many people are lost on these longer holiday weekends. Friday night my 23 year old cousin died in a car accident. He was riding with two friends and was in the back seat when they hit another car. The boy who was driving was legally drunk and my cousin, who was in the back seat, was not wearing his seatbelt and was ejected from the car on impact. Please, please watch out for other drivers, don't drink and then get behind the wheel- even if you are sure you are OK, and make sure you and your kids are wearing their seatbelts, it probably would have saved his life.

http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/5943396

Mrs. Anderson

8/28/09 Homework, etc.

Hey there all you Smarties!

Well the first week is over and what a week it was! There was a fire drill (all students are now to proceed to the BLACKTOP instead of out to Penn Drive), there was a welcome assembly (remember appropriate bagginess and coverage of your clothes, and to get to my any of the A and B rooms at lunch you need a pass).

In class we began looking at the Holt History textbook, got into groups and will be making a "big book" together in class next week. In English We cracked open our BRAND NEW Pearson Lit books and began discussing the Big Question for the next six weeks- "Is the truth the same for everyone?".

We also started the book Schooled, which we are reading along with Mr. Hoex, Ms. Anderson, and Ms. Saylor's classes. This is our first novel of the year and we are looking at the elements of fiction as well as integrating our Big Question, "Is the truth the same for everyone?" In the first half of the book the chapters are from the perspective of various characters, thus we are focusing on setting and character development. We will follow with complications, the climax of the book, and then the falling action and the resolution. We will be done with this book in about two weeks.

Students were asked to find a different fiction book to read at home and bring it with them to school on Wednesday and Friday. This is a YEAR LONG assignment. While the type of book read will change (sometimes chosen by the student and sometimes by me), you can be sure that even if I don't mention it, students are required to read for a minimum of 3.5 hours a week (or 30 minutes a day). The state English Language Arts Framework states that students in Grade 8 should be reading 1 million words annually. This translates to roughly 15 minutes per day 365 days a year. Since we know that's not going to happen (an is often not possible) we have set 30 minutes as the goal during the school year.

This year instead of asking students to complete reading logs at home, I am having them bring in their books and I am checking their progress through pages read. Students have 15 minutes of SSR time tin class every Wednesday and Friday to help them attain their reading goals.

Students also turned in their first batch of homework on Friday. As a rule (which, of course, I will be promptly breaking this week) homework is assigned on Friday and due the following Friday. Over the course of the year there will also be classwork that may have to be completed at home on any given day (I really try to keep that to a minimum) if we will need it to move on in class.

So this week we turned in history book contracts (no English books were assigned), movie permission slips, plagiarism policies, honor codes, and the last page of the student information sheet about my class. All of these forms can be found on my website at www.teacherweb.com/ca/wellsmiddleschool-dublin/anderson click on the 8th grade materials tab to find them. While there, click through the other tabs for more information on all kinds of stuff.

The last thing we turned in was our beginning of the year assignment. This assignment asked students to think about who they are and how they define themselves. Then it asked them to find out a little about their families. Students were to bring in the completed assignment as well as an object that represents how they see themselves by Friday. If you or your child were having problems printing, or getting the work to finish, please let me know and I will help on Monday.

In general, after the first few weeks of school I expect students to check that they have what they need to complete their homework early in the week (NOT Friday morning...) so that we can take care of it together. If you need to use the school to get homework done, my room (A2) is open at about 7:45am and students are free to use it as a study hall. There is student computer access in this room.

I am also available on many days after school, just let me know.

So, now to this week's homework:

English- Writing assignment #1: poetry

Students went over this assignment with me in class, there are two poems to be written and then the students need to find a way to orally or visually communicate the work to the rest of us. This assignment is posted on the website, please follow the directions and feel free to stop me at any point in class to ask questions. Students- I will be checking in verbally on your progress this week, so if there are any problems just let me know and I will help you.

Reading: 3.5 hours there will be no Friday check as there is no school, but I expect all students to check in on Wednesday- book in hand.

History: we will continue the "Big Book" in class and at home.

In class- we will continue Schooled and on Wednesday will be doing yoga with the other 8th grade classes (it is part of the book).

We will start our first reading selections from the English book, and will continue to look at the question "is the truth the same for everyone?"

We will introduce our first character trait of the year- respect

among other things...

Mrs. A

2009-2010 School Year begins!

Hey there all you smarties!

So school begins on Tuesday August 25th. There is an assignment already waiting for you, and if you want extra credit you have to bring it to school on Tuesday, so here is where you go to get it...

www.teacherweb.com/ca/wellsmiddleschool-dublin/anderson

Navigate to the Grade 8 materials tab and look for the beginning of the year assignment. You can also take a moment to review the supplies you will need for my classes as well as download the video permission slip, the course outline and anything else that looks like it might be important.

You will find that I update this blog once a week (for the most part) throughout the school year. There will be times when the blog is not updated. If there is no update, then either I am sick, or the students have no extra homework. That said, you can assume that if you student is in Honors, they will have a short weekly practice essay every week as well as a reading log. If your child is in regular English they will have an essay every other week and a reading log.

You will find that I do not assign very many worksheets. In fact, I prefer for my students to be reading and writing above all else. Any grammar or spelluing will be as a part of that process. You will find that students are asked to do several projects throughout the year, alone and in groups. I realize that this can sometimes cause problems. If an assignment is going to be a problem, please have your child let me know. If a change needs to be made in a due date or to an assignment itself, your child needs to come to me and be ready to discuss why they need a change and in the case of asking for a different assignment or a tweak in an assignment to make it more interesting or more applicable to that students' learning needs, what they will be doing instead and why. Whew!

You will also find that students do much of their history work in class.

So, check back to this blog every Friday afternoon, and get onto the website for your first assignment! My class isn't that hard...REALLY!! Instead it's lots of fun and lots of learning :)

Mrs. A

Extra Credit anyone?

Hi-ya Smarties!

So, the homework for break was discussed in class and given out on Thursday and Friday before we left. All students should have copies.

For grade 7-finish your monkeys and fill out the monkey stats sheet. Remember, your monkey is from the middle ages! Let the monkey help you decide who it is.

Extra credit Grade 7- The Cherry Blossom Fesitval, San Francisco Japan town. The festival runs on the weekend. Schedules of events and directions were given out on Friday.

For grade 8- Finish reading and post-iting your books, bring them to school on Monday. 

Extra credit Greade 8- San Ramon civil war reenactment. The flier is on the website under 8th grade materials, and students wrote down information in class.

Congratulations to everyone who made 9th grade honors! there were 75 taken out of 116 who sat for the exam.

Have a great break!

Mrs. Anderson

Homework Alert for April!

Hi all you Smartypants!

We have had a long haul of very light homework, and not much is changing on that front! This month we are working on persuasion and propaganda in English and the Civil War in History. Most of our work is getting done in class.

Over spring break students will have homework dealing with persuasion and propaganda, and students need to finish their book report books (they should be affixing post its to "golden lines", which are lines of text that are really well written, or carry great imagery or meaning.)

When we come back from break students will need their English work as well as their finished books in class every day.

All history work will be done in class. If you have an interest or knowledge or family history about women's rights, civil rights, or the Civil War and would like to come into class to talk to us please give me a call or drop me a line!

As always students should continue to read a minimum of 1:45 each week. Also, I am missing many books. Please look around the house and send any books you find back to school as I buy them out of my paycheck.

There will be extra credit in 7th as well as 8th grade coming very soon so look here for it, and finally, Wells is having a Spring Reading Event at Barnes and Noble on May 1st. I will be there giving book recommendations and advice and would love to see you all there too!

Click on the link below to my Teacherweb page where I posted the article I wrote for the April edition of the GATE newsletter, if you care to read it. Look for the post of the same name.

Reading is a Family Affair

Cheers!
Mrs. Anderson

Homework 3/20-3/27

Hi all you Smarties!

I am at home with allergies today. Grade checks are printed and will be passed out by the sub to all classes. These are not the final grade checks of the quarter (which ends next Friday). I am NOT giving any new assignments on WED, THURS, or FRI of next week as the band will be in Disneyland, and it is the aforementioned and of the third quarter.
Band students: please get this week's HW in before you go. When you return you will be excused from classwork from wed-Fri. All other students, homework is due by Friday. I will be closing the grade book on FRIDAY!!!

So, without further delay, here is this weeks homework:
Grade 8's:
ALL
Reading log
AM CORE and PM-P2- choose a new book report book- any type, must be at or above grade level. Please check it in with me by Friday.
P1- Finish Downriver this week and turn it in.

Hot Sheet 22: Fiction Story. You should have brainstormed the particulars of the story in your classes. You are to write me a short story within your class guidelines.

History test fix: The "how to fix a test" sheet is photocopied onto the back of your test. All students are required to fix their mistakes according to the instructions- sue on Friday.

THESE ARE ALL 3RD QUARTER GRADES!!!

Grade 7's:
Check your grade printouts. As always, there is no homework unless you have unfinished work. All make-up work is due by FRIDAY please.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Anderson

We're BACK!

Yay!

Homework online is back up! Here is the homework for the week of March 2- March 6:

Grade 8:
Biographical Narrative: Students are finishing interviews in class and need to write a narrative draft for class on Friday.

Reading logs

Grade 7:
Plague flip books, in class and at home. Due on Friday.

I should not be out of the classroom again for a long while, thanks for your patience over the last five weeks!

Mrs. Anderson

We're BACK!

Yay!

Homework online is back up! Here is the homework for the week of March 2- March 6:

Grade 8:
Biographical Narrative: Students are finishing interviews in class and need to write a narrative draft for class on Friday.

Reading logs

Grade 7:
Plague flip books, in class and at home. Due on Friday.

I should not be out of the classroom again for a long while, thanks for your patience over the last five weeks!

Mrs. Anderson

Tuesday Homework!!

Hi all you Smarties!

Some of the students did not finish their classwork today, and some of the classes need to work ahead a little so that we can do more content tomorrow. Because of this, there is homework for many tonight in English.

Period 1: please work on your pictures from chapter 10 in You Don't Know Me.
Period 4: Finish Cornell Notes, Chapter 9, Section 2. Please include a summary. This will be graded in class tomorrow.
Period 6: P2 group: please complete period 1 homework.
P1 group: please complete your comic strip.

Grade checks will be given out this Friday, and the end of the quarter is fast approaching, so please stay on top of your work.

:)Mrs. Anderson

January update

hi all you smarties!

I hope you had a great vacation. This is just a reminder that you didn't have any major homework over break. Grade 8's were asked to read a book. We will spend Monday reminding ourselves what we were doing in December, and the rest of the week presenting songshine and reviewing the amendments to the US Constitution in grade 8, and we will begin feudal Europe in grade 7.

Mrs. Anderson