Friday, April 4, 2014

Announcements and Reminders:  SAGE Testing (Writing Portion) will wind up today for the B2 class. SAGE Testing Make-Ups today for those who missed other days from B1, B3, B4 Come to CaveTime in Lab 211 with Ms. Dorsey. Some will be able to work on make-up during class.  (If you do, make sure you finish your magical study guide soon.) If you need to make up the district writing test, plan on a day after school.  Let me know when you can stay for about 45 minutes or so. Have a fun and safe Spring Break!

B6: Olivia and Tyler

B5 Needs to finish SAGE	B7 Needs to finish SAGE	B8 Needs to finish SAGE
Andrew B. Yessenia Luke Isaack Ethan McKenna Ellie Marleigh Erin Anthony Kaiya Janetta Isabella Aislinn Garrett	Caleb B. Sarah E. Tautai Isabelle Emily F. Kasady Emily L. Krislyn Dayton Dana  12:50 Sam P. Jason 12:47 Adeline Brendan 12:47	Joseph B Dalton McKayla Bailey 1:55 Jared D. Janae Mercedes Bronson Nichelle 2:23 Kimberlee Austin Gracie Savanah 2:11 Oakley Gerald

Today’s Agenda: 1. Receive Assignment for April/May Book Assessment (Receive the yellow handout and see further down this post.) B2 Only: SAGE Testing -- Final Day for B2  B1, B3, B4: If you need to finish testing -- We will be able to send some of you to Ms. John in Lab 211. Book Interview presentations -- Those who wish to present for the whole class. Building Sentences -- Phrases and Clauses -- with Ian for B7? and B8 Book Interviews for the March Book of the Month -- while the other students are finishing their magical study guides and finishing the How They Croaked assignment. While students are presenting individually or in small groups, those who are not will be completing these items. Finish Magical Study Guide, if you haven't.  Hand it in to the top basket.                Magical Study Guide for Prefixes and Suffixes                         Seventh Grade Prefix and Suffix Chart – 2014.docx                         English Department Root Words.docx Finish How They Croaked.  Select two of the two sided papers and read the chapters about those four famous people and answer the questions provided as instructed on the papers.

If you were absent:  See above. Arrange to make up testing. Plan to come in during Cave Time or after school to complete your magical study guide and the How They Croaked assignment. If you have lost your assignment sheet and sheet of questions for the March Book of the Month Assignment, see the Required Reading tab above. You can download those papers from there -- or here:  March Book Assessment 2014.doc Examples for the book project: Your March Book Project For the April Book Assignment, see below in this post.

April-May Book Assessment  

Genre:  Your choice of a novel (one fictional story) as long as it is 100 pages long or longer and  at an appropriate reading level for you, and would be approved by your parents and teacher. 

Graphic or other highly illustrated novels will not work for this month.

Check with me if you're not sure whether or not a book will work.

You will select a scene from the book to present in class -- to the whole class or in a small group. 

To prepare:

(Sign up for your book.)

1. Select a scene that stands out to you. It might be exciting or fun or show what a character is like or show the conflict in the book. 

2. As you read, notice how you visualize the scene, and where you see it from.

• What do you see happening?
• Are you watching it as if watching a movie or television show?  
• Do you become the main character?
• Are you standing near or at a distance away from the action?
• Are you watching from above or some other position?

3. Consider how you could symbolically portray the characters, setting, actions, and objects in the scene.

What colors would represent the characters, setting, actions, and mood of the scene?

What shapes would represent the characters, setting, actions, and mood of the scene?

What simple materials could you use to represent the characters, setting, actions, and mood of the scene?

4. Consider how you could best summarize the scene.

4. Watch for demonstrations and  instructions to come. 

Book recommendations:  http://cavemanenglish.pbworks.com/w/page/8952526/Recommended%20Books

This post originally published 3-28-2014.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Preparing to continue testing:

• I tried to catch some fog.  I mist.
• I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.
• I'm reading a book about anti-gravity.  I can't put it down. 
• We're taking a class trip to the Coca-Cola factory.  I hope there's no pop quiz.
• What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary?  A thesaurus!
• What does a clock do when it's hungry?  It goes back four seconds. 
• I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger.  Then it hit me!
• Broken pencils are pointless. 

Announcements and Reminders:  Your March Book Assessment should be ready today.  Hang onto your index card, green questions sheet, and notes until you are called on to present. If you have lost your assignment sheet and sheet of questions for the March Book of the Month Assignment, see the Required Reading tab above. You can download those papers from there -- or here: March Book Assessment 2014.doc Examples for the book project: Your March Book Project If you need to make up the district writing test, plan on a day after school.  Let me know when you can stay for about 45 minutes or so.

Today’s Agenda: Two to three volunteers will present their book projects today.  SAGE Testing -- Final Day for B1, B3, B4    If you need more time, we will make those arrangements individually. Second day for B2. Don't forget to use evidence from every passage that you read.  Cite the evidence with an informal citation: According to Wilson Smith, it's fun to take tests.  Or use an author or title tag at the end of the sentence: The best way to prepare for a test is to do your best to learn right from the beginning of the school year (Smith).

If you were absent:  See above and arrange to make up the testing. If you have lost your assignment sheet and sheet of questions for the March Book of the Month Assignment, see the Required Reading tab above. You can download those papers from there -- or here:  March Book Assessment 2014.doc

Monday, March 31, 2014

At the FCCLA State Conference:
Rylee Bateman, Shayla Hendricks, and Emily Farnsworth competed in Food Innovations, Junior Category and received a Gold Medal. They also ranked 2nd in their category and qualified for Nationals in San Antonio, TX. 

Congratulations, Emily!

Announcements and Reminders:  We will be completing the SAGE writing tests for B5, B7, and B8 on Wednesday, April 2. B6 will finish up as a class on Friday, April 4. If you have missed any of the testing days, we will arrange make-up testing on an individual basis. The SAGE reading tests will be administered in May. See our class calendar below. If you need to make up the district writing test, plan on a day after school.  Let me know when you can stay for about 45 minutes or so.

So, don't procrastinate. 

The Three R's for Success: 
Take Responsibility.
Read the Instructions.
Use Your Resources.  (Use the class blog -- read about what we do each day, download handouts, examine examples and explanations and other helps on the blog.  Use the time you are given in class to work on your assignments.  If you don't know what you are supposed to be doing in class, look at what most of the other students are doing, or read the class agenda on the whiteboard and or on the projection screen, and,  if you still need to, ask.)

Today’s Agenda: 1.  Read and prepare your answers and index card for your March Book of the Month.  We will begin the interviews next time, April 2. If you have lost your assignment sheet and sheet of questions for the March Book of the Month Assignment, see the Required Reading tab above.  You can download those papers from there -- or here: Assignment:  March Book Assessment 2014.doc Begin presentations/book talks April 2. Examples for the book project:  Your March Book Project 2. Create a magical study guide to study prefixes and suffixes. Magical Study Guide for Prefixes and Suffixes

If you were absent:  See above.

Magical Study Guide for Prefixes and Suffixes

Magical Study Guide for Prefixes and Suffixes

Magical Study Guide You need a half sheet of card stock, and two strips of paper that are 2" x 5 1/2".

1. Fold your larger paper hamburger style and then *again
so you have 4 sections. *(Fold the ends to the center.)

2. Lay it out flat, and then refold it just in half.

3. Use a ruler to measure and mark every .5 (1/2) inch.
Make a mark on the folded edge and on the open fold.

4. Use the ruler to connect these lines with a straight
pencil mark.

5. Use scissors to cut along the straight pencil lines all
the way from the folded edge to the open fold.

6. Weave the smaller strips of paper through
the cut portions.
One strip will be woven in the opposite way
from the other.

7. Fold your study guide into a "W" and gently open the middle. On each strip of the left side, write one of the following prefixes. Opposite from that, write its meaning.

Prefix	Meaning
anti-	against
dis-	not, opposite of
in-, im-, il-, ir-	not
in-, im-	in
inter-	between
pre-	before
re-	again
sub-	under
trans-	across
un-	not

8. Unfold your study guide, and fold it the opposite way into a "W," and gently open the middle. On each strip on the left side, write one of the following suffixes.
Opposite from that, write its meaning.

Suffix	Meaning
-ing	present participle (verb*)
-ed	past tense (verb)
-ion, -tion, ation,  -ition	act or process,  (noun)
-er, -or	one who, that which (noun)
-ment	action or process (noun)
-s, -es	more than one (noun)
-en	made of (adjective)
-able, -ible	can be done  (adjective)
-er, -est	comparative (adjective)
-ly	characteristic of (adverb)

* when with a helping verb
Helping Verbs song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F2JWKY63K0

Seventh Grade Prefix and Suffix Chart – 2014.docx 

English Department Root Words.docx

Your March Book Project

Due April 2

If you have lost your handouts for this project, see the tab above for Required Reading.

Title:  One Came Home Author: Amy Timberlake Pages: 245 Genre: Historical Mystery Adventure Summary:  Georgie (a 13 year old girl living in 1870s Wisconsin) is looking for her older sister who had run away with some (perhaps dangerous) people, and an unrecognizable body had been sent back.  Georgie is traveling with her sister’s ex-boyfriend to find out whether that body really was her sister.   Rating: 5 Stars!                    Throw caution to the wind; find a comfy chair and some snacks because you won’t be able to put it down! There is lots of adventure and mystery to this book, and I especially like it because I have long wondered what it would have been like to have lived back when flocks of birds darkened the sky!

• Bring your 3 x 5" card 
• and your green sheet with the questions you answered marked, 
• and for extra credit, you could bring your book.  
• Bring the notes you took to help you answer the questions you chose. 

  

Write notes for ten questions.
A Few Sample Notes for Questions:

Factual

      2. When and where did the story take place?  Describe the setting.

           This story takes place in Wisconsin in the 1870's.   Georgie, the main character, says that it has only been six or so years since the end of the Civil Way.   She and her family live in Lake Placid and she and Billy travel to a community called  Dog Hollow -- a town with a river running through and and where the railroad had recently come to.  They also visit the place where the body (her sister's? is found, and the isolated home of some perhaps dangerous people.

           This is a time when birds (pigeons) traveled in such huge flocks that they could darken the sky.  When these huge pigeon flocks nested,  flocks of people followed them to kill them for meat and feathers. 

Main Idea

1. What problem did the characters in the story face?  Explain.

Georgie doesn't believe her sister is really dead. She also feels that it is her fault that her sister had left home, so it would be her fault if her sister died on that trip.   The problems include knowing what really is true, knowing what to do about feelings of guilt, and judging others. 

Comparisons and Contrasts

2.   How is the character similar to or different from you?

Georgie is just a year older than I am at the beginning of the book.  She is a great shot with a rifle and I don't shoot guns.  She is like me because sometimes she gets scared and freezes for a bit, but then she unfreezes and acts to try to protect herself or solve the problem. She and I both love our families.   She blames herself for something bad that happened to someone she loved, and sometimes I do that too.  She blamed herself for making her sister run away, and I blame myself for when my little sister fell off a climbing toy at the playground and broke her arm.  I should have been watching her more carefully and kept her from climbing on something at the playground that she really wasn't big enough to climb on.  

Vocabulary for The Giver

Chapter 9 of The Giver 
Vocabulary:
requisitioned (page 69) = requested from a government source
excruciating: (page 70) = intensely painful
steeled (70) = strengthened, prepared
integral (70) = essential

Chapter 10 of The Giver 
Vocabulary: alcove (74) = small area set off from a room
embossed (74) = raised from the surface
transmit (77) = transfer, giver
tentatively (77) = without certainty
exhilarating (78) = exciting and refreshing

Chapter 11 of The Giver
Vocabulary: frigid (80) = intensely cold
perceived (81) = saw, was aware of
poised (81) = staying in readiness
conveyance (84) = carrying, transporting

Chapter 12 of The Giver 
Vocabulary: fretful (88) = upset
commerce (89) = buying and selling
civil (89) =having to do with legal processes
abuzz (89) = filled with/communicating about
admonition (89) = warning
flustered (91) = confused, upset
distinctive (94) = noticeable; standing out
kinks (95) = imperfections, problems
relinquished (95) = let go of, gave up



Remorse means a deep feeling of sorrow or guilt over a wrong that one has done. 
remorse:  from the prefix  "re-"  +  the word root "mordēre"  to bite

Apprehensive means "anxious or fearful about what may happen."  Jonas is feeling apprehensive about the upcoming Ceremony of Twelve.


Transgression means the breaking of a law or rule; sin.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Knock-knock. Who’s there? 
Broken pencil. 
Broken pencil who? 
Never mind, it’s pointless.  

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Canoe.
Canoe who?
Canoe help me with my homework?

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Claire.
Claire who?
Claire the way, I’m coming through!

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Ya.
Ya who?
Wow. You sure are excited to see me

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Roach.
Roach who?
Roach you a letter, did you get it?

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Harry.
Harry who?
Harry up, it’s cold out here!

Knock, knock
Who’s there?
Alex.
Alex who?
Alex-plain later!

Knock, knock!
Who’s there?
Annie.
Annie who?
Annie body home?

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Norma Lee.
Norma Lee who?
Norma Lee I don’t go around knocking on doors, but I just had to meet you!

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Luke.
Luke who?
Luke through the the peep hole and find out.

Poems about Testing

Announcements and Reminders:  Your March Book Project is due class time after next. We will  have one more day for testing -- taking the writing tests -- two more for B2 who weren't able to test on the first day.   If you did not yet take the District Writing Test which was administered on March 21, plan to come after school. The half hour allowed for Cave Time is not enough time, and the test is to be completed in one sitting.  Plan on taking about 45-50 minutes to complete the test.  Special Note for B2 : Period B2 did not get to start the test last time because of technical difficulties at the state level. An extra testing time will be provided for them.

Today’s Agenda: Prepare for testing: Read the yellow packet and carefully watch the PowerPoint. Read the SAMPLE ESSAY AND THE SCORING FOR IT ON THE BACK OF IT. See the Rubric for Informational Writing Keep Calm and Chew Gum Test-Taking Hints Gum?  Reminder about The Essay Reminder about citations -- See PowerPoint Your March Book Project is due class time after next. SAGE TESTING --Lab 201 -  Finish your argument essay  (if you started it last time)  and,  if time, begin your informative essay. For Today-- Bring your earbuds or other earphones and a clean joke. Bring a book to read in case you finish early. Bring a pencil with you to the lab. Today we will be in Lab 201.  Special Note for B2 : Period B2 did not get to start the test last time because of technical difficulties at the state level.  An extra testing time will be provided for them. Don't forget to use RAFTS to figure out what you are supposed  to write.  Use the essay format we've learned.  Don't forget your hook at the beginning. Don't forget your overall central idea/thesis sentence. Remember to leave off the "I think's."  Instead of "I think dogs are better than cats," say "Dogs are better than cats." Don't forget transitions.  Don't forget your supporting/body paragraphs. Don't forget to use evidence (supporting details) and warrants (explanations).   On your argument essay, don't forget to acknowledge what someone on the opposite side would say, and show why that is not as important as your argument.  (You don't need that with the informational essay.) Don't forget a concluding paragraph at the end of your essay.  Revise (ARMS) and  Edit (SMILEs)

If you were absent:  See the teacher to arrange extra time to finish the test. Study the materials linked below. Review the writing helps at  Writing Helps -- Acronyms Plus View this PowerPoint:  Citing Sources for SAGE.pptx or  Citing Sources for SAGE.ppt If you have lost your assignment sheet and sheet of questions for the March Book of the Month Assignment, see the Required Reading tab above. You can download those papers from there -- or here:  March Book Assessment 2014.doc  Due April 2. Examples for the book project: Your March Book Project

Citing Sources

References and Citations

When referring to evidence and information from passages, students should use paraphrasing and short quotations. To credit sources, students should use informal, in-text citations (e.g., MLA author or title tags). 

SAGE Testing  

Rubric for Argument:  SAGE ARGUMENT RUBRIC.pdf or
http://sageportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/UT-Writing_G6-11_Argumentative-Public-v1-2.pdf

Rubric for Informational Writing:
http://sageportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/UT-Writing_G6-11_Informative-Public-v1-2.pdf

Sample Scoring:
http://sageportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Utah-practice-test_grade-7-scoring-sample-2014.pdf