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
Friday, October 30, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
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
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
Saturday, October 10, 2009
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
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
Sunday, October 4, 2009
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
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