Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Friday, April 1, 2011

Bell-Ringer: Prepare for prefix/suffix test. 

Practice test on Prefixes and Suffixes  (Final test next time.)

More on External Text Features and Internal Text Structures

Download the PowerPoint about External Text Features:    external text feature test.ppt

Examples of External Text Features

Download the PowerPoint about Internal Text Stuctures:    internal text structures.ppt


Book Pass
and apostrophes


Media Center to look for books for Book of the Month --
Don't forget to sign up by April 7!

Book-of-the-Month:  Sign up for your book by April 7.  Be half-way through reading it or so by April 18, and bring it to class all that week and the next so you are prepared to do some in-class activities with the book.  The book for this time should be contemporary realistic fiction: a novel that could happen in our time, but is a fictional (made-up) story.  Select a book that has 100 pages or more and that you have not read before.  

Contemporary Realistic Fiction 

 


Coming Attractions:
lie and lay
commas in a series
simile and metaphor

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  Prepare for Prefix-Suffx Bingo

Play Prefix-Suffx Bingo

4th Term Targets:  Receive the handout.

Focus on Internal Text Structures
   Draw a structure.
What is it's purpose?
How does its structure help it to perform its purpose?

(4th period needs to review external text structures.) 

Slide show and notes on Internal Text Structures
A1 needs to finish and take notes:  We just previewed the show -- running through it quickly and reading the paragraphs.
A2  needs to finish and take notes.


Book pass?

Saturday, March 26, 2011

March 28, 2011

First day of Term 4!


Minimal Day (See the schedule on our school homepage.)

Finish Shackleton video
Video -- Last time we got to. . . .
A1 to South Georgia -- still have to scale mountains
A2  to the Whaling Station
A3 to song on Elephant Island: "It's a Lie"
A4 to high mountain ridge -- slid down

Today we took a practice test (for participation points) on our seventh grade prefixes and suffixes, and we took a test on external text features.

External Text Features:
Make sure you can recognize 
captions
graphs and charts
tables
table of contents
index
glossary
titles
headings
subheadings
bolded words
 

Book-of-the-Month:  Sign up for your book by April 7.  Be half-way through reading it or so by April 18, and bring it to class all that week and the next so you are prepared to do some in-class activities with the book.  The book for this time should be contemporary realistic fiction: a novel that could happen in our time, but is a fictional (made-up) story.  Select a book that has 100 pages or more and that you have not read before.  

Contemporary Realistic Fiction 

 

Preview of Term 4 Targets  -- Receive this list in class on March 30.
    We will be taking the State Core Test this term (the last week of April).  Improve your score by reviewing and learning these items.
To download and print this list, click on the link here:
Preview of Term 4 Targets.doc
  1. Review prefixes and suffixes and associated words.  Prefixes and Suffixes Chart 2010 
  2. Test your knowledge of external text features
  3. Review commonly confused words.  confused words chart.doc
  4. Using Apostrophes to Show Possession

  5. Lie and Lay

  6. Internal Text Structures   

    chronological, sequence, description 

    Slide show from April 1 ( internal text structures.ppt ) for -- 
    Descriptive   Description Internal Text Structure
    Chronological  Chronological Internal Text Structure
    Sequence   Sequence Internal Text Structure

  7. Main Idea, Important Details,  Summarizing

         Also writing paragraphs:  Transition Word List from Ms John.doc

    Play some very simple games with recognizing main idea: http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/h/mainideap2.cfm 

    http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/h/mainideap3.cfm   

     

  8. Writing complete, correct sentences, and how to fix sentence fragments and achieve sentence variety.    Clauses and "Is it a complete sentence?"

    9.  Using context clues of definition and explanation to figure out what a word means.

            Context Clues for Seventh Grade

    10.  Review commas in a series.  

    Example:  The orange highlighted part shows commas in a series.

    "Adverbs, words that describe or add information to verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, should be used sparingly."  

           For more information on Parts of Speech, go to  Parts of Speech.

    Game with Commas in a Series

    Remember this?   Commas in a Series -- What's Different?

    11.  Review parts of a story: exposition, rising action, climax, and falling action. 

    12.  Review how we learn about a character in a story:  through his or her speech, actions, appearance, thoughts, and through what others say about that character.  

    13.  Review figurative language used in writing, especially simile and metaphor. 

    Glossary of Literary Terms

    14.  Consider more how to choose the best word to use by recognizing shades of meaning.  

    Is the water she spilled on her lap tepid, warm, hot, or scalding?  That would make a difference! 

    Is that person you're going to the jewelry store with your friend,  your helper, or your accomplice.  That could make a difference to you, and, in the case of the last word, to the police! They're all people you could hang out with, but have different shades of meaning.

    Shades of Meaning

     

    15.  Review effective research and reporting (inquiry), including asking questions, using reference books and reliable sources, and using informal citation.

    16.  We'll also look at more poetry and at author's and reader's purpose.  

 _________________________________

If time: Teacher Read-Aloud
Don't forget to see Ms. Dorsey if you'd like to attend the Writers' Conference on Thursday.

Lie and Lay

Lie/Lay -- Perfect Tense

Overhead to Help You Understand:

LIE -To lie down is an act that can be attributed to the subject.
There is no object of this verb, as the subject is doing the action without a receiver.
(Hint: substitute "recline." If "recline" works, then "lie" is also correct)

Conjugation of LIE:
lie (present tense)
lay (past tense)
will lie (future tense)
lain (perfect tense) (use with have, had, has)

LAY - Lay must have a direct object. One lays something down.
(Hint: substitute "put." If "put" works, then "lay" is also correct.)
Conjugation of LAY:
lay (present tense)
laid (past tense)
will lay (future tense)
laid (perfect tense) (use with have, had, has)

Practice:

Harold reclines in the arm chair.

Harold puts his sister in a car seat.

Leslie reclined on the Spongebob Squarepants chair.

Leslie put her purse on the Spongebob Squarepants chair.

Mark will recline in his hotel room.

Mark will put his briefcase in his hotel room.

Jimmy has reclined by the pool way too much this summer.

Jimmy’s friends have put firecrackers under his lounge chair.

Internal Text Structures

Internal Text Structures
If you're confused, hopefully this will help.

Utah State Core
Standard 1 (Reading): Students will use vocabulary development and an understanding of
text elements and structures to comprehend literary and informational grade level text.
Objective 2b. Comprehend text using internal text structures and their appropriate cue words and phrases (i.e., chronological, sequence, and description).

Internal Text Structure describes how a text is organized. Text Structure is tied to the purpose of a text. For instance, if I want to tell a story in time or chronological order, I would use a chronological text structure. If I wanted to describe something, I would use a description text structure. Most of the time, authors use more than one structure in one piece of writing. However, usually each piece of writing is mostly one type of structure.

You can usually spot a text structure by looking for transition words used in a piece of writing.

Sequence and Chronological Patterns both may use these transition or signal words:
first, second, third, then, next, later, after, finally, etc.

Description may use such words as these:
such as, for instance, for example, and space-relationship words such as by, near, next to, far from, etc.


Clauses and "Is it a complete sentence?"

No, not that kind of Claus!
About creating complete sentences --

Independent clauses each have a subject and a verb, and can be a complete sentence.

Dependent clauses each have a subject and a verb, but cannot stand on their own as complete sentences.

Complete Sentence: They didn’t watch the baby very well.
Not a complete sentence: That they didn’t watch the baby very well.
Not a complete sentence: Because they didn’t watch the baby very well.

Complete Sentence: She is mean and hates Harry.
Not a complete sentence: That she is mean and hates Harry.
Not a complete sentence: Even though she is mean and hates Harry.
Not a complete sentence: Because she is mean and hates Harry.

Context Clues for Seventh Grade

We can use context clues of definition and explanation to figure out what a word means.

A definition or explanation directly states or explains a word’s meaning.

 

  Definition:  "Adverbs, words that describe or add information to verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, should be used sparingly."    The part highlighted in yellow defines -- right there in the sentence what adverbs are.    That is a context clue of definition.  

 

Example:   Please select contemporary  realistic fiction books, such as Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli or Hatchet by Gary Paulsen,  for your next book-of-the-month book.    The part highlighted in yellow provides examples -- right there in the sentence -- of contemporary realistic fiction books.  

 

Example:  Contemporary realistic fiction books, including Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech and  Tangerine by Edward Bloor,  would be appropriate for your next book-of-the-month book. The part highlighted in yellow provides examples -- right there in the sentence -- of contemporary realistic fiction books.  

 

Definition:   "Some species of frogs have become extinct. They have
completely disappeared from the face of the Earth."  The highlighted part explains what it means to become extinct.   I found this sentence at
www.pearson.com.au/LinkedFiles/Free/.../COTCE.pdf 

 

Definition:  "The zebra’s stripes are an example of a kind of camouflage called disruptive coloration.  It is called disruptive because it disrupts—or breaks up—the outline
of the animal."  The highlighted portion defines the word "disrupts."     I found this sentence at
www.pearson.com.au/LinkedFiles/Free/.../COTCE.pdf

 

 The following chart is borrowed from Prentice Hall's Literature New Mexico All-In-One  (NM-Gr11-A10.pdf)


Context Clue Guidelines
Use this table as a reference tool in using common context clues to figure out the
meaning of new words.

Type of Context Clue
Look/Listen for…

General: You’ll want to buy a monitor
with the best resolution you can get. After
all, do you really want to risk having your
graphics or video look grainy or blurry?
clues to meaning that often appear over
several sentences

Definition: The term “conventional
keyboard” usually refers to the design
that features the letters QWERTY in the
upper left.
linking verbs such as is or means, or for
appositives, phrases that name a noun
(there’s one in this sentence)

Example: As a shopper, be on the lookout
for deals that already include peripherals
such as a keyboard or mouse.
signal words such as like, such as, including,
and for example

Synonym: A Website’s front page is
usually linked to the site’s domain name.
Also called a “home page,” it often
includes a search function for the site.
signal words such as likewise, also, too,
and as

Antonym: I expected downloading
to be fast, but it took forever to save the
e-mailed photos to my computer.
signal words such as on the other hand,
however, although, and in contrast


Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Contemporary Realistic Fiction
"Contemporary" means it could happen in our time.
"Realistic" means it really could happen.
"Fiction" means it really didn't happen.  It is a made-up, fictional story.


Here are a few recommendations for the Basic 8 Book #2 book:
(No, I haven't read them all, but have checked out recommendations from generally reliable sources for those I haven't.  I'll star* those I have read and recommend.)

Most of you should be reading at a seventh grade level: at least 735L to 1065L and above

*Absolutely Normal Chaos -- Sharon Creech  900L
Alice, I Think by Susan Juby 950L
Amazing Gracie -- Ann Cannon  680L
* Anything But Typical -- about autism
*Baby by Patricia MacLachlan  670L
*Beardance by Will Hobbs  890L
*Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan  830L
*Best Foot Forward by Joan Bauer  640L
Chicken Boy by Frances Dowell   860L
*Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin
Crazy Lady -- Jane Leslie Conly
Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs
Does My Head Look Big in This -- 
*Downriver by Will Hobbs
Fifteen -- Beverly Cleary
Firegirl by   Tony Abbott  670L  (5th grade +) Pages: 145
*Flipped -- Wendelin Van Draanen  720L
*Freak the Mighty (Also titled The Mighty) by Rodman Philbrick  1000L
** Hope was Here -- Joan Bauer
*Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key -- Jack Gantos  (and other books in the Joey Pigza series)
Kira-Kira by Cythia Kadohata
*The Loser's Guide to Life and Love by A.E. Cannon
Lush by Natasha Friend
*Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
The Misfits by James Howe
Monster by Walter Dean Meyers
*Mockingbird --
MOONGLASS by Jessi Kirby -- I haven't read this one yet, so though it's rated in some places as appropriate for 12 and up, I can't guarantee it.
Nobody Else Has to Know by Ingrid Tomey 
Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes 
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer    750L 
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones
Out of Nowhere by Ouida Sebestyen 
 Perfect by Natasha Friend
*P.S. Longer Letter Later and Snail Mail No More --  Paula Danziger and Martin
*Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff   -- 650L
Probably Still Nick Swansen by Virginia Euwer Wolff
*Ruby Holler -- Sharon Creech
*Rules by Cynthia Lord
Schooled by Gordon Korman 
*Smiles to Go by Jerry Spinelli
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Sticks by Joan Bauer
*Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman (language)
*Summer of the Swans  -- Betsy Byars
*The Cat Ate My Gymsuit -- Paula Danziger
This Can't Be Happening at McDonald Hall by Gordon Korman (Funny!) 
True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff
*Walk Two Moons --  Sharon Creech
*When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt
*Whirligig by Paul Fleischman
*Wringer by Jerry Spinelli

Hold Fast by Blue Balliett
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/hold-fast

Recommended Contemporary Realistic Fiction (from Ms. Dorsey) :
Lupita Manana by Patricia Beatty

Crossing over the border is a dangerous business...
...But Lupita must cross from Mexico to America. After her father dies in a fishing boat accident in the seas near their small Mexican village, Lupita's family is left in poverty. Lupita and her big brother, Salvador, must smuggle themselves into the United States to earn money to support their mother and young siblings. America is not the land of opportunity they had hoped. A new language, hard labor, and the constant threat of la migra -- the immigration police--make every day a difficult challenge. But for feisty Lupita, there is always hope for a better manana -- tomorrow.
 -- Review from Amazon.com

Return to Sender  by Julia Alvarez

After Tyler's father is injured in a tractor accident, his family is forced to hire migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure. Tyler isn’t sure what to make of these workers. Are they undocumented? And what about the three daughters, particularly Mari, the oldest, who is proud of her Mexican heritage but also increasingly connected her American life. Her family lives in constant fear of being discovered by the authorities and sent back to the poverty they left behind in Mexico. Can Tyler and Mari find a way to be friends despite their differences?

In a novel full of hope, but no easy answers, Julia Alvarez weaves a beautiful and timely story that will stay with readers long after they finish it.   -- Blurb from the hardcover edition.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Narrator in Literature

When an author writes a story, he or she needs to decide who is going to tell the story.   Sure, the author is writing it, but he or she must decide which type of narrator will tell that story.  Here are the common types of narrator:

First Person:  Someone in the story is telling the story.  This usually the main character.  The first person narrator uses the pronouns "I," "me," and "mine" while telling the story.  A first person narrator can tell us what is going on in his or her own mind, but can't tell what others are thinking (unless this character has mind-reading powers).  The first person narrator can only tell us what he or she has seen or experienced or been told. 

Second Person (comparitively rare):  The narrator is talking to you.  The narrator uses the pronouns "you" and "your."

Third Person Omniscient:  The narrator is from outside the story and uses the pronouns "he," "she," "they," etc. when telling about the main character.  An omniscient narrator knows everything in the story and in the world of the story.  This type of narrator can tell what is going on anywhere in the story and can tell what any character is thinking or feeling.

Third Person Limited:  The narrator is from outside the story and uses the pronouns "he," "she," "they," "his," "her," etc. when telling about the main character.  This narrator does not know everything in the story. A third person limited narrator knows only what the main character is thinking and feeling.

Verbs -- Strong and Weak

Verbs -- Strong and Weak


Verb:  A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word (part of speech) that conveys an action (bring, read, walk, run, learn), or a state of being (be, exist, stand).
Stong, precise verbs
Weak or overused verbs
She slammed it down.
He slunk (stomped, stormed) into the room.
“I can’t stifle the little feeling of excitement in my stomach.” – Miracle Girls, page 106
“A gush of water squirted into his eyes.” Little Joe, p. 41
“[She was] gazing up at him shyly.” Saving Zoe, p. 110
“His mind flashed with white lightning as he rushed to the wall.”   Where Angles Fall, p. 160
She put it down.
He walked into the room.
I feel excited.

A gush of water went into his eyes.

“She was looking up at him shyly.”

“His mind did strange things as he moved to the wall.

created April 22, 2011 by Ms. Dorsey  -- published originally here April 23, 2011

Chart for Examples and Non-Examples of Simile and Metaphor


Understanding Simile and Metaphor
simile. A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, (e.g., as brave as a lion).
metaphor  a figure of speech in which one object is likened to another (that is unlike it in most ways) by speaking of it as if it were that other.  (e.g., Life is a rollercoaster.)
Simile and Metaphor
Not Simile or Metaphor
similes
metaphors
Other figurative language
Literal (means what it says)
Life is like a dream. (or)
Life is as fleeting as a dream.
Life is a dream.
Time is money.
Life slapped me up the side of the face. (personification)
Life is short.
Life is difficult.
He was strong as an ox.
He was a mountain of a man.
That point guard must have been ten feet tall. (Hyperbole  - exaggerageration)
He looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He was as tall as his father.
“The rain sounded like bullets.” – The Cay, p. 77
The raindrops were bullets.
The clouds angrily threw everything they had at us.  (personification)
It rained hard.
The rain soaked our clothes.
created April 22, 2011 by Ms. Dorsey  -- published originally here April 23, 2011



And more examples:

Alan Ferko's face turned as red as Bo Peep's pigtail ribbons. -- Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl (2000)

Simile:
"He [felt] a throbbing like a snake slithering in and out of the tendons in his left leg." -- Kim Russon writing Giver Chapt 24, 2/4/03

Another sample simile: from Heat by Mike Lupica, pg 3
"He . . . saw the fat cop. . . wobbling like a car with a flat tire. . . . "

___________________________________________________

And, of course, metaphor can go astray!

Metaphor and Simile – Bad Examples

Subject: FUN - Metaphorically speaking
From: "Shawn Holmstead"
Date: Fri, November 09, 2007 3:57 pm
To:

Every year, English teachers from across the USA can submit their
collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school
essays. These excerpts are published annually to the amusement of
teachers across the country. Here are some recent winners.



1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides
gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances
like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a
guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of
those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country
speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar
eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was
room-temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes
just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated
because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a
surcharge at a formerly surcharg e-free ATM machine.

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a
bowling ball wouldn't.

10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag
filled with vegetable soup.

11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an
eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city
and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. Instead of 7:30.

12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when
you fry them in hot grease.

14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across
the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having
left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. travelling at 55 mph, the other from
Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

15. They lived in a typical suburban neighbourhood with picket fences
that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.

16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who
had also never met.

17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was
the East River .

18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap,
only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil,
this plan just might work.

21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not
eating for a while.

22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either,
but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land
mine or something.

23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender
leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around
with power tools.

25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells,

as if she were a garbage truck backing up.



Monday, March 21, 2011

AFJH Young Writers' Conference

This is a yearly event, held for students who enjoy writing and want to become better at doing it.  
Our guest speaker this year is Jessica Day George, nationally published author, and very entertaining speaker. 
We will meet during B4 on March 31 in the Media Center.
You will need an invitation to attend, so see your English or Creative Writing Teacher if you are interested.







Friday, March 18, 2011

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Last day of class for Term 3 -- Last day to hand in March Book Project (One external text feature for your book.)

Bell-Ringer:  Label: "Letter Home"
You're there -- at whatever point you are in the book-- with Shackleton's expedition.  Write (in your composition book) a letter home.  Tell them about what you've been experiencing.  Use letter format. Write 1/2 page or more.

Example of letter format:
Off the Coast of Antarctica
July 15, 1915

Dear Mom, 
      _______________________________
__________________________________
etc.

With Love, 
your signature


Spelling test on -tion.

  Vocabulary/Spelling #18           Test on March 24
 Suffix to study:   -tion  which means act or  state
1.       attention     extra credit:  The "at" part means "towards", and the "ten" part means  "to stretch or extend."  So if you are paying attention, you are stretching toward something.  Tension and tense come from the same word part as the "ten" part of attention. 
2.       population -- extra credit: "pop" means "people."
3.       operation --  extra credit:  "oper" means "work."
4.       transportation -- extra credit:  "trans" means "across."  "port" means "carry." 

Our next spelling task will be to review and test on all of our prefixes and suffixes and the words that go with them.



Video

A1 to South Georgia -- still have to scale mountains
A2  to the Whaling Station
A3 to song on Elephant Island: "It's a Lie"
A4 to high mountain ridge -- slid down

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Friday was the cut-off for revised and late work, and for extra credit.  Please do not ask me for any extra credit at this point, whether on the blog or off.

Bell-Ringer:

Your March Book-of-the-Month Project is due today.
Study for the spelling test next time.

Ice Story --

A1     Video   to Prospice recited by Shackleton

A2    Video  to bagging coal
A3    Video   to end of disc 1

A4    Video to buffoonery on disc 2

 

Statewide Contest for Students

Make a Video

The School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) generates revenue from school trust lands that is saved and invested, and the funds go to each school to support academic programs under the School LAND Trust program.  The Trust Lands Administration has organized a DVD contest to teach students that respecting school trust land benefits all schools. Students will learn that good land stewardship and staying on the trails benefits their local school because healthy school lands generate revenue, the money is saved, and the interest and dividends go to each school for academic programs as determined by the school community council.

The contest is called “RideOn!” and it is a YouTube video contest promoting safe and responsible off-highway vehicle use and stewardship of school trust lands.   Contest winners will receive $1500 cash, distributed evenly to the winning student(s), his or her teacher, and school.  RideOn! is cosponsored with the Trust Lands Administration by Utah State Parks and Recreation and the Larry H. Miller Group. Prizes are paid for by the Larry H. Miller Group and off-highway vehicle registration fees. No SITLA funds, trust dollars, or tax dollars are used for prizes. 

The RideOn! video contest is open through May 13.  The Utah Off-Highway Vehicle Advisory Council will select winners before the end of the school year. Categories are elementary; junior/middle school, high school and post-secondary.  A $1500 prize will be split between students, teachers and schools in each category. 

More information is available at www.stateparks.utah.gov/rideonvideocontest.

State Office of Education


Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Monday, March 14, 2011

What Ms. Dorsey Is Reading -- March 2011

  I'm reading Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.  It's so good!  I'd classify it as distopian fantasy.    You can go to Brandon Sanderson's website and read how he describes the book:   http://brandonsanderson.com/book/Mistborn










     I've found another book I'm interested in, but don't yet have.  It's The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen.  She's the author of one of my favorite mystery series -- the Sammy Keyes books.   The Running Dream is realistic/contemporary problem fiction.  "Sixteen-year-old Jessica is the track team’s star sprinter until tragedy strikes: the team van is struck, killing one runner and demolishing Jessica’s right leg." -- from a Booklist Review published on Amazon.Com.
   After Ice Story, we will probably read Stand Tall by Joan Bauer which also includes a character who has lost a leg.



Behemoth is by Scott Westerfeld, the author of the Uglies series.  For this book he insisted on lots of illustrations, an effective use of external text features.  Also notice the map/illustrations inside the covers.
I finished this on March 17 -- so appropriate since the book cover is green!
Most students would really enjoy it.  Read Leviathan first.

Genre: Steam-Punk, second in the Leviathan Trilogy

Steam Punk

I was trying to explain steam punk.  It is a genre of books.   According to an article about Steam Punk on Wikipedia, "The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. "

For some people, part of it can be a way of dressing. This picture has nothing to do with books I've been talking about, but here are some people in "steam punk" costumes:

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Survive

Information about earthquake preparedness in Utah:

http://bereadyutah.gov/EarthquakePreparedness.html

http://ussc.utah.gov/putting_down_roots.html

Preparedness List from the Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.86f46a12f382290517a8f210b80f78a0/?vgnextoid=3750a5f0f013b110VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD 
Notice that they also provide information for other disasters. 

RadioWest Program:  http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuer/news.newsmain/article/184/0/1773415/RadioWest.%28M-F..11AM..and..7PM%29/31011.Preparing.for.Utah%27s.%27Big.One%27

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Interactive Before and After  Photos from  Japan
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html?src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/12/134470519/double-take-toons-sea-of-troubles

March 18, 2011

We're almost at the end of the term, and the last day to hand in all late and revised work is today!

Spelling/Vocabulary Test on "re-"  

Spelling for March 11 and March 18

 

  Vocabulary/Spelling #18           Test on March 24
 Suffix to study:   -tion  which means act or  state
1.       attention     extra credit:  The "at" part means "towards", and the "ten" part means  "to stretch or extend."  So if you are paying attention, you are stretching toward something.  Tension and tense come from the same word part as the "ten" part of attention. 
2.       population -- extra credit: "pop" means "people."
3.       operation --  extra credit:  "oper" means "work."
4.       transportation -- extra credit:  "trans" means "across."  "port" means "carry."

 

 

We will check your composition books today.  

Grading: Composition Book Term 3.doc

You could also see the tab above for "Composition Book -- What You Should Have So Far."

 

Ice Story:

A1 

A2

A3

A4

Timeline for Shackleton:  

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackleton/1914/timeline.html


Last Day to Turn in Late and revised work for third term.

Reminder: Your March Book of the Month Project -- one external text feature -- is due on March 22.  The score goes on this term, so even if you are late, get it in by Thursday, March 24.  Grades go in to the district on March 25. 

March 16, 2011

We're almost at the end of the term, and the last day to hand in all late and revised work is this Friday, March 18.

 We will have a spelling test on  "re-"next time.

Spelling for March 11 and March 18

Next time we will check your composition books.  

Grading:  Composition Book Term 3.doc

Or you could see  the tab above for Composition Book -- What You Should Have So Far.

 

Today's schedule: 

 Computer Lab 212    

Narrative Essays -- 3 Choices.doc

About 1/2 hour  to write your essay.  

You need a topic sentence in your first paragraph, paragraphs with details, and a concluding sentence in your last paragraph.

Example topic sentences:

"Accomplishing what seemed impossible was one of the best things I've ever done."

"They say that the best way to learn is by personal experience, and I certainly learned a lesson when I . . . "

"It was in fifth grade and in front of over three hundred students that I had one of my most embarrassing moments."

(DO NOT write anything like, "I'm going to tell you about. . . . )

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Spend the rest of the class time in the computer lab working on your March Book-of-the-Month Project.

Here is a tool to create a timeline.  http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline/  

You will have to add your own illustrations.  I recommend printing the vertical format.

Samples for glossary and who's who:

Glossary for The Trouble Begins at 8.doc

Who’s Who for The Trouble Begins at 8.doc

Reminder: Your March Book of the Month Project -- one external text feature -- is due on March 22.  The score goes on this term, so even if you are late, get it in by Thursday, March 24.  Grades go in to the district on March 25.  


Thursday, March 10, 2011

Monday, March 7, 2011

Friday, March 11, 2011

BYOB
Bring your own book.  You will have some quiet individual time to read your own nonfiction book.  If you have finished, you will have time to work on your external text feature for your book or read another book.

Today:

Sign up for your Book-of-the-Month.


1. Bell-Ringer:  subject-verb agreement practice -- with and without prepositional phrases
S-V Prac w wo Preps.doc 



2. Today we will have the spelling test on "-ment."
    See the assignment and the next assignment at     Spelling for March 11 and March 18

3. Receive new spelling assignment.  See link above.

Non-Fiction 
4.        Time to read your nonfiction book and/or work on your project.  See rubrics in the folders in back of the room.

5. Watch video about Antarctica and fill in answers about the video. 
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Your  Book-of -the-Month Project is due March 22.  Examples for External Text Features
                  See rubrics here: Bk of Mnth Rubrics for External Text Features.doc
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For those of you who are finishing or revising your January-February Book-of-the-Month Assignment or your Comparing and Contrasting Paragraphs, please let me know when you are ready for me to check them again.  Email me or write a note to me on a full-sized sheet of paper.

Here are some models for comparison and contrast paragraphs. 

Examples of Comparison and Contrast Paragraphs




We're almost at the end of the term, and the last day to hand in all late and revised work is this Friday, March 18.   
Your composition book will be graded, too, on March 18.
Composition Book Term 3.doc