Extra Credit -- AAAWWEUBBIS!

Memorize your AAAWWEUBBIS words for up to 12 extra credit points.

Although

After

As

When

While
Even though, even if

Until

Before

Because

If

Since

Apostrophes

You need to know this: 

•    Apostrophes show two meanings.

•    An apostrophe s added to a singular noun shows possession.

•    An apostrophe after the s in a plural word shows possession.

•    Apostrophes also show where letters were removed.

•    Words shortened with apostrophes are called contractions.

Misunderstandings you might harbor: 

•    Not every  word that ends with an s needs an apostrophe.

•    You can't rely on chance rather than meaning with the apostrophe.

•    We do not use apostrophes to show pronoun possession.
(its, his, mine, ours, hers, theirs, yours)

BTW: It's a matter of style whether you write  1800's or 1800s.

Utah State Core Standard 2, Objective 2, Correct use of possessives.
Adapted from Jeff Anderson's Everyday Editing

Another Apostrophe Review

Noticing Sentences and Apostrophes

Help with Apostrophes

Using Apostrophes to Show Possession

Apostrophes and Your Christmas Cards

Apostrophe Practice -- Copy the following sentences, selecting the best answer(s) for each. 

1.  In the school parking lot I saw the 

(a. Long’s, b.  Longs’, c.  Longs’s) car, 

the (a. Phillip’s , b. Phillips’,  c. Phillips’s) van, 

and the  (a. Batemen’s, b. Bateman’s, c. Batemans’ )  pickup.

  

[Notes:  The family names above are Long, Phillips, and Bateman. Consider each vehicle as if it belongs to the whole family.]

2.  My (a. uncles, b. uncle’s, c. uncles’) car is a Hummer.   (I have only one uncle.)

3.  My  (a. uncles, b. uncle’s, c. uncles’) car is a Hummer.   (I have two uncles who share the Hummer.)

4.   All of my (a. uncles, b. uncle’s, c. uncles’)  own great cars.  (I have several uncles.) 

_____________________________________________

Extra credit opportunity:  Find apostrophes uses correctly in published text -- newspapers, magazines, etc. circle the words, and bring me the original or a copy. 

  _________________________________________

Thursday/Friday, February 28/March 1, 2013

Today you will receive registration materials for Eighth Grade.
A counselor will be coming to our class to explain how you will complete  registration.

Pick up your composition book. 


Copy this heading in your composition book:  iWriteRight:  Appositive Experience, February 28/March 1
1a. Read and study this example of an appositive:

Keith, the boy in rumpled shorts and shirt, did not know he was being watched as he entered room 215 of the Mountain View Inn.  
           -- Beverly Cleary, The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965)

1b. Combine  sentences into one sentence that uses an appositive:  (Read and study this example.)

Example:  
Clementine is funny.

She is in third grade.

She lives in New York.

Those sentences could become this: 

"Clementine, a funny third grader, lives in New York." 

Your turn: Combine these sentences into one sentence, using an appositive.  (This is what you will write.)

Avon is a snail.

She is rather small.

She reads a book every day. 

How the author wrote it:  Avon, the Snail

1c.  Create an appositive booklet.    

Appositive Booklet Directions.docx

Example Sentences for the Appositive Booklet:

Subject              , appositive,         verb.

Lucille Ball, a hilarious redhead, was married to Dezi Arnez.

MaryLou,  my best friend, has long, wavy blonde hair.

Elvis Presley, a dead but still famous singing star, was known for swiveling hips. 

My '52 Ford pickup, the beat-up one in the parking lot,  belongs in a junkyard.

My backyard, the one with the huge sandbox, is popular with our neighborhood cats. 

Our school lunch,  prepared everyday by hard-working lunch ladies, tastes delicious.

More Appositives: Examples

We only got to here A1, A3, A4. 

__________________________________

2.  Argument  
Can you solve a case with Evidence, Warrant, and Claim?

Basic Argument
Evidence (Proof)	Rule (Warrant)	Conclusion (Claim)

Today's case:  Case: Slip or Trip?

"Evidence includes concrete, observable information; person al testimony; written documents; and material objects and their condition or appearance."
-- George Hillocks, Jr.  in Teaching Argument Writing: Grades 6-12

____________________________________

3.  Book Groups

a.  Have one member of your group pick up your books and your group booklet.
b.  Finish summarizing and discussing for last time, if needed. Catch up any members who were absent last time. 
c. Read individually. -- Use sticky notes to take notes or mark places you want to discuss.  
d.  When instructed by the teacher, discuss what you've read,  and work on the booklet as a group.  (Today you will continue to summarize, and will write some questions.  
Assignment: As a group, come up with and write down at least three questions about the section you read today -- one each of three of the QAR's.)

Write these in your group booklet:

• Right after your last summarizing, do this: 
•     Write three questions, each labeled as to type of QAR.
•     After that, you can continue your summarizing. 

         Fill out your reading log for this book, and record the page where you left off  on your reading log.
        KEEP UNUSED STICKY NOTES IN YOUR COMPOSITION BOOK.  

If you need more, ask the teacher. 

e.  Have one group member return books neatly to the shelves and turn in the booklet to the wire basket.

If you'd like to, you may bring non-messy treats for your group. 

Tuesday/Wednesday, February 26/27, 2013

Critical Reminders: 
IMPORTANT:  To turn in your scary story, have it ready to be graded, and turn in your pink packet with the plot map, rough draft, and grading sheet. 

• Please write your name and period on your grading sheet. 
• Don't forget to include in your story heading for each part of the plot:  exposition, rising action, climax, falling action/resolution.   

  STUDENT SAMPLE SCARY STORY

• Also, don't forget your three instances of figurative language underlined or highlighted. 

If you lost points for misspelling any of our commonly confused words in your short story, correct your errors and complete the make-up assignment for lost points.  Use one of the yellow slips from the folders at the back of the classroom.  You will correctly write five sentences using that word. 

If you did not finish your Informal Citation assignment on Edmodo, or if you were absent, complete the assignment as soon as possible. 

Find the Assignment on Edmodo titled: "Informal Citations for Historical Information."   The document you will use is there to download.  You will turn it back in on Edmodo, using the Turn In button on that assignment. 

See the information on these posts: 

• Friday/Monday, February 22/25, 2013
• Using Informal Citations
• Using Informal Citations to Share Information -- Example
• These are the links you will use to find information about the background of your book:  Sources for Research About the True Background of Your Historical Fiction Novels

• Pick up the handout about Appositives by the black composition book crates. You will read it and tape it into your composition book.
• Pick up your composition book.  
• Receive back your scary story graded packet if you haven't. 

1a. Receive, tape-in, and read the hand-out which provides help for recognizing and punctuating appositives. 

1b.  iWriteRight Self-Starter: 
Think.  You don't have to write yet.
What do you notice about this sentence?

"Catherine the Great, my Russian grandmother, is already awake." 
-- Cari Best, Three Cheers for Catherine the Great!  (2003)

Let's Have Appositive Experience

You need to know these facts about appositives.  
1c. Copy these facts in your composition book:  

•   Appositives add information to sentences by renaming nouns (people, places, things).

•   Appositives are next to the noun they are naming.

•   Appositives need commas or dashes to offset them from the sentence.

• and Appositives are phrases.

 
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/appositive.pdf

2.   Reminder of  

                     QAR's Question-Answer Relationships

3. iRead:  Book Groups
a.  Have one member of your group pick up your books and your group booklet.
b.  Finish summarizing and discussing for last time, if needed. Catch up any members who were absent last time. 
c. Read individually. -- Use sticky notes to take notes or mark places you want to discuss.  
d.  When instructed by the teacher, discuss what you've read,  and work on the booklet as a group.  (Today you will continue to summarize, and will write some questions.  
Assignment: As a group, come up with and write down at least three questions about the section you read today -- one each of three of the QAR's.)

Write these in your group booklet:

• Right after your last summarizing, do this: 
•     Write three questions, each labeled as to type of QAR.
•     After that, you can continue your summarizing. 

         Fill out your reading log for this book, and record the page where you left off  on your reading log.
        KEEP UNUSED STICKY NOTES IN YOUR COMPOSITION BOOK.  

If you need more, ask the teacher. 

e.  Have one group member return books neatly to the shelves and turn in the booklet to the wire basket.

If you'd like to, you may bring non-messy treats for your group. 

4.  Let's Have an Argument!

Reminders

Find in your composition book the columns labeled with this 

vocabulary:

Claim

Evidence

Warrant 


Elements of Argument

—-- Claim

-- —Evidence: relevant and verifiable facts or exhibits; proof

-- —Warrant: explanation of how the evidence supports the claim; often common sense rules, laws, scientific principles or research, and well-considered definitions.

-- —Backing: support for the warrant (often extended definitions)

-- —Qualifications and Counter-arguments: acknowledgement of differing claims

#19 Broken Wheel -- Pete and Margaret 

If you were absent today, listen to #19,  Broken Wheel,  and write under the three columns dein your composition book what the claim, evidence, and warrant are in this case.
5 minute mystery  http://archive.org/details/Five_Minute_Mysteries

Editing Lessons for MYAccess!

Writing dialogue: http://teacherwriter.net/2009/02/25/how-to-use-proper-punctuation-when-writing-dialogue/

Commas in a series: http://www.childu.com/sample_act/34lang_confusion.html

Friday/Monday, February 22/25, 2013

No composition books needed today.
Pick up the self-starter editing practice: the white sheet by the black crates. 
1.  iWriteRight Self-Starter:  Pick up the handout and complete the Editing Practice with FAN BOYS and AAAWWEUBBIS.

Self-Starter: Editing Practice with Compound and Complex Sentences

If you lost points for misspelling any of our commonly confused words in your short story, correct your errors and complete the make-up assignment for lost points.  Use one of the yellow slips from the folders at the back of the classroom.  You will correctly write five sentences using that word. 

2.  A1  Computer Lab 201 
     A3, A4 Computer Lab 211
     B7, B8 Computer Lab 201

        a.  complete a webquest for information about the topic of your historical fiction book.
                Report your findings using informal citation.
If you are absent, or did not complete the assignment in class, use this handout as a guide to completing this assignment:   Handout for Informal Citations for Historical Information.doc

These are links to help you complete this assignment:
          Read through the information about formal and informal citations below on this post.
(Scroll down to the picture of a man dressed very formally.)  Study the information there, then go to these links and study the information provided:

• Using Informal Citations
• Using Informal Citations to Share Information -- Example
• These are the links you will use to find information about the background of your book:  Sources for Research About the True Background of Your Historical Fiction Novels

• Find the Assignment on Edmodo titled: "Informal Citations for Historical Information"
• Work with ONE or TWO partners reading the same book.

        b.  with any extra time, revise and edit your short stories.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Formal and Informal Citation
We cite sources to give credit to them. 
We cite sources to avoid plagiarizing.
Our seventh grade core requires you to understand how to use informal citation.

If you didn't know it before you read it, 

you need to cite it!

Formal:  Formal citations will include a bibliography(works cited page)  at the end of the paper, and will require carefully formated page set-up, footnotes, endnotes, etc. See an example of a paper written with formal MLA style: http://academictips.org/mla-format/mla-format-sample-paper/  Notice that this paper uses some signal phrases, too.

Informal:  For an informal citation, you tell where you got the information right in the sentence or sentences where you report the information.  
Seventh graders need to be able to use informal citation.  
You should also have a works cited list at the end of your report, but for today we will just collect URLs for our sources. 
+++++

An informal citation has a signal phrase, 
as much information as you can get in about where you got the information, 
and a piece of important and easily understood piece of information about your subject. 

Example:   (signal phrase) According to (information about the source) Jaroslaw Bilocerkowycz, Ph.D in the article he wrote for World Book Online about Lithuania,  (a piece of important and easily understood piece of information about your subject) the Soviet Union took over Lithuania in 1940, it was invaded  by  the Germans in 1941 and the Lithuanians  attempted to establish their own government, but the Germans ruled until Russia regained control in 1944.  

(information about the source)David M. Glanz (signal phrase) reports (information about the source) in his World Book Online article "Gulag" that  (a piece of important and easily understood piece of information about your subject) the  "NKVD was the secret police force of Communist Russia and the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1943."

                                            

                                                ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Reminders for iWriteRight:

Remember the formula for a compound sentence: 

IC, + coordinating conjunction + IC.

See this post for the
Formula(s) for an AAAWWEUBBIS Sentence

Wednesday/Thursday, February 20/21, 2013

Critical Reminder: 
IMPORTANT:  To turn in your scary story, have it ready to be graded, and turn in your pink packet with the plot map, rough draft, and grading sheet. 

• Please write your name and period on your grading sheet. 
• Don't forget to include in your story heading for each part of the plot:  exposition, rising action, climax, falling action/resolution.   

  STUDENT SAMPLE SCARY STORY

• Also, don't forget your three instances of figurative language underlined or highlighted. 

Parent Teacher Conference

Parent Teacher Conference will  be held on 

Thursday, February 21 from 3:30 - 7:30. 

           Today:  
             1.   iWriteRight
             2. Mini-Lesson on asking questions
             3. iRead in Book Groups





1.  iWriteRight:  What do you notice? February 20/21, 2013
Review from last time:  IC, + Coordinating Conjunction + IC. 

Observe: Today we're looking at a different type of sentence.  What do you notice about this sentence? 

"If this were a movie, I'd probably have to kill off my father in the first scene."

-- Paul Acampora, Defining Dulcie (2006)

a. Discuss. What do you notice?

b. Imitate.     Imitate -- "If this were. . . . ."

 

What is the formula?  

2.   Mini-Lesson on asking questions 

                     QAR's Question-Answer Relationships

3. iRead:  Book Groups
a.  Have one member of your group pick up your books and your group booklet.
b.  Finish summarizing and discussing for last time, if needed. Catch up any members who were absent last time. 
c. Read individually. -- Use sticky notes to take notes or mark places you want to discuss.  
d.  When instructed by the teacher, discuss what you've read,  and work on the booklet as a group.  (Today you will continue to summarize, and will write some questions.  
Assignment: As a group, come up with and write down at least three questions about the section you read today -- one each of three of the QAR's.)

Write these in your group booklet:

• Right after your last summarizing, do this: 
•     Write three questions, each labeled as to type of QAR.
•     After that, you can continue your summarizing. 

         Fill out your reading log for this book, and record the page where you left off  on your reading log.
        KEEP UNUSED STICKY NOTES IN YOUR COMPOSITION BOOK.  

If you need more, ask the teacher. 

e.  Have one group member return books neatly to the shelves and turn in the booklet to the wire basket.

If you'd like to, you may bring non-messy treats for your group next time.