Tuesday, January 31, 2012

un- and -ist extra credit

Add up to five words that are not on these lists for two points each.   The words must either begin with un- which means not, or end with -ist which means one who. They must be real, dictionary words. 


un- words  un- means not


uncover
undo
unspoken
undisclosed
unmapped
unmarked
unspoiled
uncooked
unmasked
unrequited
unloved
unmitigated
unreal
unappreciated
unsightly
unwashed
unread
unwanted 
unable 
unfit 
unequal 
unearned 
undone
undiscovered
___________
unimaginable
unbelievable
unrestrained
uncomfortable
untouchable
____Thanks, Jeff A. _______________

unaccountable
unaccustomed
uncertain
unconscious
____Thanks, Brandon S. _______________

-ist which means one who (adjective) 
artist
physicist
chemist
physicist
scientist
hypnotist
podiatrist
periodontist
apologist
dentist
flautist 
dramatist
machinist
 novelist
 realist
 socialist
_________________________
biologist
____Thanks, Brandon S. _______________
abolitionist
zoologist
orthodontist
watercolorist
abiogenist
___Thanks, AnneMerie J.______________

Friday, February 3, 2012

Self-Starter:  All students who did not get full points on the quiz should complete the apostrophes practice: Apostrophes 3.   Those who did may read quietly.

Noticing Sentences and Apostrophes


2. Spelling Test on im- words.

Vocabulary/Spelling #9              Test on  February 3
Prefix to study:   im- which means not     
                                   For extra credit, what part of speech are all of these words?
  1. impossible
  2. improbable
  3. imperfect
  4. immobile 

3. New Spelling words: Receive the handout for un- and -ist words.

If you wish, you can see this post for an extra credit opportunity:  un- and -ist extra credit

Vocabulary/Spelling #10 and #19   -- Test on February 9 

Vocabulary/Spelling #10              

Suffix to study:   -ist which means one who (nouns)

  1. artist
  2. physicist
  3. chemist
and

Vocabulary/Spelling #19           
 Prefix to study:   un-  which means   not   (adjectives)
1.      unable
2.      unfit
3.      unequal
4.      unearned
5.      undone



4. Read more of Words By Heart.
 
Words By Heart Student Notes 2012.docx

A1   
top of page 23             Video to end of spelling bee about 8 minutes in. 
A2   
top of page 36             Video to  end of spelling bee about 8 minutes in. 
A3    page 10 to page  25 ?   Video to  end of spelling bee about 8 minutes in. 
A4    page 7, right after  "burdened by something"  to page 20   Video to end of spelling bee about 8 minutes in.  

Your book assessment is on February 9.
Your essay is due by or on February 15.


5. Computer lab  (Lab 201, second half) to do research on the nonfiction background of your book:
Historical Fiction Essay Research.docx

Historical Fiction Books and Topics
 Sample for Historical Fiction Essay
Rubric for Historical Fiction Essay.docx

 
Students who have finished their research could work on their MyAccess narrative story or essay.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

1. Self-Starter  
A. Take E-Reader Survey.

B. In your composition book, under "Editing," combine each set of  sentences into one sentence using commas in a series:
(If you are absent, and want to do this at home, do it on a half-sheet of paper and later tape it into your composition book.)

Set #1: 
  1. The fox coughed.
  2. The fox gagged.
  3. The fox sneezed.
  4. The Stinky Cheese Man flew off his back and into the river, where he fell apart.
(from Jon Scieszka, "The Stinky Cheese Man")
Set #2: 

I have  hair the color of carrots in an apricot glaze.
I have skin fair and clear where it isn't freckled.
I have eyes like summer storms.
(from -- Polly Horvath, Everything on a Waffle -- 2004)

Combining Sentences Using Commas in a Series

 

Example: Her cleats were in her backpack.

Her shin pads were in her backpack.
Her sweats were in her backpack.
Her backpack was slung over her shoulder and heavy with homework.


The above sentences could be combined to become this sentence:
Her cleats, shin pads, and sweats were in her backpack which was heavy with homework and slung over her shoulder.



To practice more with commas in a series, see this post: Commas in a Series

More on apostrophes for those who got less than 20/25.   
Apostrophes 1 and  Apostrophes 2   for those who got under 20 on the test.


2.  Words By Heart 

Words By Heart Student Notes 2012.docx

A1   page 13, halfway down
  to top of page 23
A2   page 21, halfway down
  to  top of page 36
A3  the beginning of chapter 2, page 10
to
A4  page 7, right after  "burdened by something" 
to



Book of the Month Assessment Documents

Taking notes while reading:
Historical Fiction Assess Literary Elements. A(1).docx


Questions:

BoM Questions for Jan Feb.doc


Answers:

My January February Book-of-the-Month Assessment.doc 


Grading:

Grading for Jan-Feb Book of the Month.doc


-------------------------------------------------
Essay Assignment 
We will hopefully have the computer lab   on February  3rd  and 15th, on the third to do some research and on the fifteenth to finish up your essay if needed. 
Create it as a word document.  You may hand it in prior to February 15th.  

Historical Fiction Essay Research.docx

Book of the Month Essay for Historical Fiction.docx


This will be graded based on your writing a complete essay, presenting your research on the background of your novel, using informal citation, and using seventh-grade-appropriate conventions.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

im-

Vocabulary/Spelling #9              Test on  February 3
Prefix to study:   im- which means not
  1. impossible
  2. improbable  F.Y.I. According to the Random House Dictionary,  the origin of probable is
    Origin:
    1350–1400; Middle English  < Latin probābilis  likely, literally, capable of standing a test, equivalent to probā ( re ) to test ( see probe
    ) + -bilis -ble
  3. imperfect
  4. immobile  F.Y.I. If you are mobile, you can move.  A related word is automobile.  "Auto" means "self," and "mobile' means "capable of being moved," so an automobile can move itself.
immobile -- The child is immobile because he has been in an accident and will be moved to the hospital.

    imperfect

    improbable -- It probably wouldn't happen.

    impossible -- This could not be built.

    Monday, January 30, 2012

    1. Self-Starter 
    A. Take the apostrophe quiz. 
    B.  Put the two tape-ins into your composition book, and follow the directions.

    Notice these examples:
    His room smelled of cooked grease, Lysol, and age.   -- Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)

    Hector's room smelled of gym socks, Hot Cheetos, and lies. -- Jeff Anderson

    Mine:  My car smells of Armour-All vinyl cleaner, banana peels, and teenagers.

    Now create your own sentence using commas in a series. 
    Use this pattern.
    [Place] smells of ______________, _____________, and __________________.

    To practice more with commas in a series, see this post: Commas in a Series

    2.  Words By Heart 
    Words By Heart Student Notes 2012.docx
    A1  to page 13, halfway down
    A2  to page 21, halfway down
    A3 to the beginning of chapter 2, page 10
    A4 to page 7, right after  "burdened by something"




    Book of the Month Assessment Documents
    Taking notes while reading:
    Historical Fiction Assess Literary Elements. A(1).docx

    Questions:
    BoM Questions for Jan Feb.doc

    Answers:
    My January February Book-of-the-Month Assessment.doc 

    Grading:
    Grading for Jan-Feb Book of the Month.doc

    ------------------------------------------------- Essay Assignment 
    We will hopefully have the computer lab   on February  3rd  and 15th, on the third to do some research and on the fifteenth to finish up your essay if needed. 
    Create it as a word document.  You may hand it in prior to February 15th.  

    Historical Fiction Essay Research.docx

    Book of the Month Essay for Historical Fiction.docx


    This will be graded based on your writing a complete essay, presenting your research on the background of your novel, using informal citation, and using seventh-grade-appropriate conventions.



    Commas in a Series

    Here is a game -- firing at spaceships -- that reviews commas in a series.
    http://www.childu.com/sample_act/34lang_confusion.html

    Tuesday, January 24, 2012

    Historical Fiction Books and Topics


    Here are many of the books that 
    students  have chosen in previous years:
    1. All Quiet on the Western Front:  World War I, trench warfare
    2. A Long Way from Chicago:  Great Depression, 1930's, Illinois
    3. A Thousand Never Evers: South during the Civil Rights Movement, 1963
    4. Across Five Aprils:  Civil War, Southern Illinois
    5. Adventures of Tom Sawyer:   Mississippi River town in the early 19th century
    6. All Capone Does My Shirts: Alcatraz, Great Depression, Al Capone, autism
    7. Assassin: John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Reconstruction
    8. Black Storm Comin':  Pony Express, racial tensions, wagon trains, Civil War
    9. Book of the Lion: Crusades, King Richard
    10. Book Thief, The :  World War II, Holocaust, Dachau
    11. Boy in the Striped Pajamas:  World War II, Concentration Camps, Holocaust, Auschwitz
    12. Caged Eagles:  Canada, World War II, Pearl Harbor, Japanese Internment
    13. Chains: slavery, Revolutionary War
    14. Charley Skedaddle:  Civil War
    15. Charlotte's Rose: Mormon handcart pioneers
    16. Crossing the Wire:  illegal aliens, border between U.S. and Mexico
    17. Deadly:  Typhoid Mary
    18. Devil’s Arithmetic, The:  Holocaust, World War II
    19. Devil's Paintbox:  1865, drought, Kansas, Seattle lumber camps, Oregon Trail, smallpox
    20. Doomed Queen Anne:  Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII, England
    21. Elijah of Buxton:  slavery, Buxton, Canada,  slave catchers
    22. Emil and Karl:  Holocaust, Vienna, World War II
    23. Fever, 1793: yellow fever, Philadelphia, epidemic
    24. Forge: Valley Forge, runaway slaves, Revolutionary War 
    25. Friedrich:  1830's, Germany, Hitler, Jewish
    26. Help, The;  Civil Rights, Medgar Evers   The Help
    27. Hero’s Don’t Run:  World War II, Pacific Theatre
    28. Honus and Me: Honus Wagner, baseball, baseball cards, 1909 World Series
    29. Jimmy Spoon: Old West, Shoshoni Indians, Chief Washakie
    30. Journal of Ben Uchida:  Japanese-Americans, internment camps, World War II, Pearl Harbor http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/journal-ben-uchida-discussion-guide http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/japan_internment_camps.htm
    31. Light in the Forest:  Pennsylvanian Colony, Lenni Lenape tribe, territorial wars
    32. Little House on the Prairie: The First Four Years:  South Dakota prairie, pioneers, 1880's
    33. Lunch Box Dream:  The Civil Rights Movement
    34. Matilda Bone: medieval English village, medicine in the Middle Ages,  leech, barber-surgeon, apothecary, bonesetter
    35. Midwife's Apprentice:  Middle Ages (Medieval), midwifery, medicine in the Middle Ages
    36. Moon Over Manifest: World War I, Great Depression, Ku Klux Klan, immigrants, coal mining
    37. Most Beautiful Place in the World, The:  Guatemala, poverty
    38. My Brother Sam is Dead:  Revolutionary War
    39. Nightjohn:  slavery, 1850’s U.S. South,  Civil War
    40. Numbering All the Bones:  Civil War, slavery, Prisoner of War,  Andersonville Prison, Clara Barton
    41. Number the Stars:  Holocaust , World War II, Resistance
    42. Once by Morris Gleitzman: Poland, World War II 
    43. Out of the Dust:  Great Depression, Dust Bowl 
    44. Rifles for Watie: Civil War, Cherokee Indian rebels
    45. Rilla of Ingleside:  World War I, Canada, Red Cross
    46. River Between Us, The:  beginning of Civil War, 1916, 1861, Camp Defiance, slavery
    47. Rumors of War: World War II
    48. Run Away Home: 1886, Apache Indians,Geronimo, reservations, African Americans
    49. Sacagawea: Girl of the Shining Mountains:
    50. Secret Life of Bees, The:  South Carolina, 1964, racism,
    51. Shades of Gray: Civil War, Reconstruction
    52. Shakeress, The: Shakers, religious movements in the 1820s and '30s, orphans
    53. Shakespeare Stealer,  Shakespeare’s Scribe, Shakespeare’s Spy:  Shakespeare, Globe Theater, 1600’s,  black plague, Elizabethan England
    54. Slave Dancer:  1840, slave ships, slavery, New Orleans, Africa
    55. Someone Named Eva:  Lebensborn center in Poland, Nazi, World War II
    56. Sounder: Civil Rights,  sharecroppers, early nineteenth century 
    57. Steal Away. . . to freedom by Jennifer Armstrong:  slavery
    58. Summer of My German Soldier: Nazi, prisoners of war (POW camp), internment camp
    59. True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, The:   1832 transatlantic crossing, Puritans, mutiny
    60. Tucket's Travels: Mr. Tucket: Old West, Oregon Trail, Pawnee Indians
    61. Under the Blood Red Sun:  World War II, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Japanese-Americans
    62. Vietnam #1: I Pledge Allegiance : Vietnam War, draft, U.S. Navy
    63. War Horse: World War I, cavalry, trench warfare  War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
    64. Witch of Blackbird Pond, The: Colony of Connecticut in 1687, religious intolerance, Puritanism,  Quakers 
    65. Woods Runner:  Revolutionary War, Hessians
    66. Words in the Dust: Afghanistan after the defeat of the Taliban
    67. Year of the Hangman, The :  This is actually speculative fiction, grounded in our past history.  It asks, what would have happened if the British had won the Revolutionary War? 
    Assignment from a previous year: 
    Historical Fiction Essay -- due February 15
      Historical Fiction Essay Research.docx

      Book of the Month Essay for Historical Fiction.docx
      The essay will be graded based on your writing a complete essay, presenting your research on the background of your novel, using informal citation, and using seventh-grade-appropriate conventions.




      Book of the Month Literary Elements Assessment -- due February 9
      Taking notes while reading:
      Historical Fiction Assess Literary Elements. A(1).docx

      Questions:
      BoM Questions for Jan Feb.doc

      Answers:
      My January February Book-of-the-Month Assessment.doc 

      Grading:
      Grading for Jan-Feb Book of the Month.doc

        This is No-Name-Calling Week

        Watch the video and find other information at
        http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/no-name-calling-books-childrens-books/379002621/?&cm_mmc=Facebook-_-BN-_-product_page-_-no_name_calling

        Monday, January 23, 2012

        Look Forward to Reading This Book in Ninth Grade!

        Commas in a Series

        The comma before the conjunction (and) is called the Oxford Comma.





        Thursday, January 26, 2012

        Self-Starter:  Apostrophes: How'd They Do it?


        Vocabulary/Spelling #8              Test on January 26

         Suffix to study:   -ful which means full of, characterized by (adjective)
        1. careful
        2. beautiful
        3. useful
        4. helpful
        5. frightful
        New Words and Word Part:

        Vocabulary/Spelling #9              Test on  February 3
        Prefix to study:   im- which means not
        1. impossible
        2. improbable
        3. imperfect
        4. immobile


          Lesson on Conflict 





          Words By Heart

          A1 from top of page 3
          A2 from  page 5, middle of page
          A3 from beginning
          A4 from beginning

          Tuesday, January 24, 2012

          Self-Starter:  Apostrophes -- Notice: What is the difference between Version 1 and Version 2?
          Version #1
          It's true.  I don't like her Christmas tree at all.
          versus
          Version #2
          Don't even get me started about my Aunt Rose's Christmas tree.  First of all, it's aluminum.  Second of all, it's pink.  I mean, like the color of PeptoBismol, which makes sense, because I get sick to my stomach just looking at it. -- Neal Shusterman, The Schwa Was Here (2006)

          _________________________________
          This Is Just To Say
          I have eaten
          the plums
          that were in
          the icebox
          
          and which
          you were probably
          saving
          for breakfast.
          
          Forgive me
          they were delicious
          so sweet
          and so cold.
          
                -- William Carlos Williams

          Would you have. . . ?
          Would you have forgiven the speaker in the poem for eating the plums you had been saving for breakfast? 
          Would you have eaten the plums? 
          Answer these two questions, then write until you have at least a half page, responding to any part or all of the poem. 


          _____________________________________


          Computer Lab -- Revise and finish essays/stories on MyAccess.

          If you have extra time,
          you could do research on the background of your historical fiction book.
          (research handout)  

          Historical Fiction Essay Research.docx

          Historical Fiction Assess Literary Elements. A(1).docx


          This is No-Name-Calling Week

           

          Originally published 1/20/12

          Sunday, January 15, 2012

          The Help

          The Help By Kathryn Stockett Character List and Analysis Eugenia "Skeeter" Phela, etc. 

          Skeeter is the 22-year-old privileged daughter of a cotton plantation owner. She returns to Jackson, Mississippi, following her college graduation and finds that her perspective on the division between white Southern households and black maids has changed. Skeeter wants to be a writer, but her mother wants her to be a wife. Skeeter falls for the senator's son but the romance ends when Stuart learns of her civil rights leanings. She approaches an editor in New York City with the idea of writing about black maids in her town and is tentatively given approval. The project begins her transformation from the woman she was raised to be to the independent, brave woman who chooses her own path.
          http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/The-Help-Character-List-and-Analysis-Eugenia-Skeeter-Phelan.id-325,pageNum-2.html

          Aibileen is a wise and weathered black maid who has raised seven white children. She works for Elizabeth Leefolt and adores toddler Mae Mobley Leefolt— even though she knows that the loving relationship could hurt them both. Aibileen has changed since her son's death, and she finds that she cannot accept the way things are so easily now. The book she writes with Skeeter and the other maids empowers her to stand up for injustices. She teaches the children she raises that the color of skin does not matter but love and kindness do; but she often feels that the message is countered by the racism in Jackson. Aibileen realizes she has more to offer in life than being a maid and finds the courage to try something new.
          http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/The-Help-Character-List-and-Analysis-Eugenia-Skeeter-Phelan.id-325,pageNum-2.html


          Minny, a black maid and Aibileen's best friend, has five children and is married to Leroy. She is highly regarded for her cooking skills, but her outspokenness often leads to getting fired. Minny develops an uneasy friendship with her employer, Celia Rae, who becomes devoted to her. Celia and Minny gain strength from each other, leading them to take control of their own lives. In the end, Minny decides to leave her abusive husband and chart an unknown course rather than live with the pain he inflicts.
          http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/The-Help-Character-List-and-Analysis-Eugenia-Skeeter-Phelan.id-325,pageNum-2.html


          Hilly is Skeeter's childhood friend turned wealthy Jackson socialite. She is the president of the Junior League and married to a future politician. She enforces the need for segregation and punishes anyone who disagrees. Hilly tries to control the white women in Jackson, Mississippi, and holds tight to power through blackmail, and threats. When her social status declines, she becomes desperate and pitiful.
          http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/The-Help-Character-List-and-Analysis-Eugenia-Skeeter-Phelan.id-325,pageNum-2.html 

          War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

          Links:
          http://www.michaelmorpurgo.com/books/war-horse/

          Saturday, January 14, 2012

          Friday, January 20, 2012

          1. Self-Starter: What Do You Notice?

          Title: What Do You Notice?  -- You will tape a half-sheet handout  into your composition book under “Editing.” This is what is on the half-sheet:
          What do you notice about these sentences?    Write about three things you notice about them.  What you notice could be about individual sentences or about all of them. Begin at least three sentences with  “I notice that. . . .” (Your “noticings” should be about the sentences themselves, not where they’re from or who wrote them.)
          1.  Harold's eyes were glued to the floor.  He couldn't look.
          2.  Harold is in the principal's office.  
            --Dav Pilkey, Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Potty People (2006)
          3.  Spelda tousled her son’s thick, black hair. 
                  -- Paul Stewart and Chris Riddle, The Edge Chronicles: Beyond the Deep Woods (1999)
          4.  Mac’s office is located in the East Wing boys’ bathroom, fourth stall from the high window.    
                   -- Chris Rylander, The Fourth Stall

          You could notice many different kinds of things, but here is something I hope you'll notice.  

          Noticing Sentences and Apostrophes

          ______________________________________


          2.  Spelling test on "il-" words
          See illustrations for the words here:  Illustrations for il-

          3.  New Words: Vocabulary/Spelling #8              Test on January 26

           Suffix to study:   -ful which means full of, characterized by (adjective)
          1. careful
          2. beautiful
          3. useful
          4. helpful
          5. frightful 

           

          4.  Poem and discussion:

          MERRY-GO-ROUND  by Langston Hughes 


          Where is the Jim Crow section
          On this merry-go-round,
          Mister, cause I want to ride?
          Down South where I come from
          White and colored
          Can't sit side by side.
          Down South on the train
          There's a Jim Crow car.
          On the bus we're put in the back—
          But there ain't no back
          To a merry-go-round!
          Where's the horse
          For a kid that's black?


          _______________________
            5. Character:  How does an author reveal information about a character?

            Examples from the opening scene of the movie Tangled: 

            The narrator shows us what Mother Gothel does.   She hoards the flower.  She steals the baby.  

            The narrator tells us that the king and queen are beloved by their people. 


            We hear what Mother Gothel says and how she says it when she is explaining to Rapunzel why she can't go outside.

             ________________________ 

              Begin Words By Heart.
              A1 to top of page 3
              A2 to page 5, middle of page
              A3 did not read today
              A4

              We noticed ways that the author showed us what some of the characters are like.
              We also pointed out in A2 some conflict and a theme.

              Conflict:  Lena vs. Winslow  = man vs. man
              Theme: Those who are considered weak or foolish can sometimes overcome the strong and supposedly wise.


              See   Third Term Requirements.
              Words By Heart Student Notes 2012.docx


              Research and Essay for Historical Fiction:
              Book of the Month Essay for Historical Fiction.docx

              Historical Fiction Essay Research.docx

              Book of the Month Assessment Documents
              Taking Notes;
              Historical Fiction Assess Literary Elements. A(1).docx




               ______________________________________________________

              Poems for Words By Heart

              A Poem to Go with Words By Heart and the Topic of Identity

              http://www.pbs.org/teachers/thismonth/civilrights/index1.html

              Wednesday, January 18, 2012

              Self-Starter: Pick up your composition book.  When done you will put it back into the proper crate for the class period you are in this semester.
              In the section "Notes and Quickwrites," label this: Prejudice
              What could you say to someone who hates people because of their color, religion, or where they come from?   Write at least a half page.

              Poem Discussion:
              Incident

              Once riding in old Baltimore,
                  Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
              I saw a Baltimorean
                  Keep looking straight at me.

              Now I was eight and very small,
                  And he was no whit bigger,
              And so I smiled, but he poked out
                  His tongue, and called me, "N-----."

              I saw the whole of Baltimore
                  From May until December;
              Of all the things that happened there
                  That's all that I remember.



              Two!  Two!  Two for the Price of One!  
              You will read one  historical fiction novel of your choice and base both your reading assignment and your writing assignment on it.  Have your book read by February 9.
              Together we will read Words By Heart.

              Learning about Historical Fiction cloze activity (fill-in the blanks).
              Portrayed means shown, depicted, described, represented.

              Historical Fiction Assignment:
              Receive book assignment: Literary Elements in Historical Fiction
              Brainstorm:  What do I need to learn to be successful doing this assignment?  
              A1 still needs to do this.
              A1 went over this.

              Receive writing assignment: Researching and Writing to Answer Questions about History
              Brainstorm:  What do I need to learn to be successful doing this assignment? 
              Answers: How to write an interesting essay
              Putting together important ideas
                                                   Using informal citation
                                                   Effectively doing research
                                                   Using transitions in an essay

              Words By Heart Student Notes 2012.docx
              Historical Fiction Assess. A.docx
              Book of the Month Essay for Historical Fiction.docx

               
              A1 and A2 went over this.

              Book Sell

              Begin Words By Heart.
              A1  Did not have time.
              A2
              A3
              A4



              See   Third Term Requirements.

              Next time: Spelling Test on il-  It means not.
              [themes and topics?]

              Parts of a Paragraph, Essay, and Fictional Story



              Comparing the Parts of Three Types of Writing

              Paragraph
              Essay
              Fiction
              Beginning
              topic Sentence
              introductory paragraph with thesis (overall topic sentence)
              exposition
              Middle
              supporting details – body
              supporting paragraphs  -- body
              rising action, climax, falling action
              End
              concluding sentence
              concluding paragraph  with overall concluding sentence
              resolution

              Third Term Requirements




              Historical Fiction Unit -- What you need to know and show that you know

              o   Together we will read the historical fiction novel Words By Heart.
              o   You will select another historical fiction novel to read.  Pick one from a time period you would like to learn more about because you will be doing research on that subject and writing an essay to present what you learned.  You will also be watching in your novel for character, conflict, and theme.  Historical Fiction

              Apostrophes – how to use them to show possession and contraction

              Capitalization – how to capitalize for the beginnings of sentences and proper nouns  (This is a review of earlier in the year.)

              Character -how the author shows you what the character is like

              Commas in a series – using commas when you have a series of ideas

              Commonly Confused Words – continue to use them correctly

              Conflict – what conflict is and types of conflict in literature

              Context clues – how to figure out what a word or phrase means by using the words around it

              Figurative language – recognizing simile, metaphor, and personification   Chart for Examples and Non-Examples of Simile and Metaphor     Figurative Language

              Inquiry – asking and answering questions – doing research and presenting what you found out

              Poetry – knowing how to read poetry and recognizing main idea (theme) and mood in poetry Poems for Words By Heart

              More Prefixes and Suffixes and spelling words using them

              Subject-Verb Agreement   Subject-Verb Agreement 

              Theme  -- How to recognize a theme

              Words – choosing the best words for your purpose (and using the dictionary and thesaurus)

              Writing an Essay – about your subject for historical fiction – using an introduction with a thesis (topic sentence), supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion. 

              Other writing such as writing a narrative (truth or fiction)

              Taking a test – successful testing – hints and helps