Monday, February 24, 2014

Announcements and Reminders:   If you revise your January Book-of-the-Month assignment on Edmodo, send Ms. Dorsey a note on Edmodo telling her that you have. The District Post-Test on Writing has been postponed due to a change in computer lab schedules. The new date to take this is Friday, March 21. Be prepared this Friday to create your brochure about your nonfiction book.  Here is a sample created for the Top-Ten-Facts while reading a biography of George Washington:  Top Ten Facts About George Washington 1. When George Washington was seventeen, he took a job as a surveyor for a county in Virginia.  He did not attend college, but was good at math. He spent three years at that job. 2. George left his surveying job to join the British army.  He fought in the French and Indian War. 3.  George’s father died when George was eleven years old, and his older half-brother Lawrence died when George was twenty, leaving the family estate – Mount Vernon --  to George. 4.   When George married Martha, she already had two children, but George and Martha never had any more children.  5.   At one time Washington had one of the country’s largest whisky distilleries at Mount Vernon. 6. Before he became President of the United States, Washington was Commander of the Continental (Revolutionary) Army and President of the Constitutional Convention. 7.  Washington was the only founding father who freed his slaves. 8.  He was the only president who did not live in Washington D.C. , though it was named after him. 9.  The story about Washington cutting down the cherry tree is probably a myth. 10.  He was the only unanimously elected president.

Today’s Agenda:   1. Individual reading of your nonfiction book and taking notes (as needed) on your pink worksheet for the brochure. 2.  Quiz on complete or non-complete sentences.    Sentence Quiz 1.docx Sentence Quiz #1 3.  Finish writing your essay about cell phones in the classroom.   Highlight your thesis sentence (your overall central idea) with green.   Highlight the topic sentence (central idea) of each supporting paragraph with yellow.   Highlight your concluding sentence (for the whole essay) with red.   Circle each transition.    This will be a five-paragraph (or more). Use your packet to remind yourself who is in your group.  4.  More "Slip or Trip"! Linking evidence to a warrant:  Arthur still has the glass in his hand.  As a rule, when people fall down stairs, they drop what they are carrying to save themselves. Now, you write one: Give the evidence and a warrant as to why it is important. Writing a Report: If we were really an investigative team, we would have to write up a report. To whom would we have to report? What would we need to explain?      We arrived at the home of Arthur and Queenie Volupides at about 2:15 a.m. on February 7, 1935.  We found Arthur lying at the bottom of the main stairs on his back, faceup, his feet on the third step. He was still holding a glass in the fingertips of his left hand.  His clothes were neat.  Nothing on the wall beside the stairs was disturbed.  The carpet where he lay was undisturbed. Queenie said that Arthur slipped and fell on the stairs.  She said he was coming down for another drink.     We believe Queenie is not telling the truth.  The evidence does not support what her claim about what happened.   First, . . .

If you were absent:  See above.  Study this information for writing complete sentences: Sentence Errors Print this to take the quiz: Sentence Quiz 1.docx After you have answered all questions on the quiz, check your answers here: Sentence Quiz #1 Answers Bring in your quiz to turn in to the top wire basket for your class. Essay on Cell Phones in the Classroom: Come to cave time or take your essay home to complete it. Argument Open this document and complete the assignment about the case we were investigating earlier:  Slip or Trip Police Report.docx Here is the original drawing with Queenie's account of what happened: Slip or Trip.docx

originally posted February 11, 2014