Saturday, September 29, 2007

October 1, 2007

October 1, 2007 -- Happy October!
- Next time we will be in the computer lab. This is your chance to put together a PowerPoint for you group project. Bring photos, etc. on a thumb drive. If you need to get on the Internet, make sure everyone in your group has his or her Internet/student card.
We will also finish up the SRI on October 3. Print your results, please.
- Bring a book in case you get your other work done early.
- Receive a new progress report (if you weren't at the parent-teacher conference) to have you parents sign. Return it for points required and extra credit points.

Quiz on Sentence Work. Take this seriously. It will show whether or not you have mastered the skills and concepts we've learned so far about sentences.
The Outsiders, page 91 to top of 103
Time for Group Projects.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

September 27, 2007

September 27
Self-Starter: Do this in your binder, on lined paper under “Writing.”
Label it: “Response to ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay.’ ”
• For 2-3 minutes, write as quickly as you can all that this poem brings to mind for you.
• Borrow any line and write as quickly and as specifically as you can, letting your thinking follow that line.

NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY
By Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold. [hue = color]

Her early leaf’s a flower; [Think of early spring when the leaves on the trees look like flower buds.]
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf. [subsides = becomes less or stops]
So Eden sank to grief, [Eden in the Bible was a paradise. --This is an Allusion.]
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
[This poem addresses a major theme of the novel The Outsiders. Watch for other references (allusions) to the poem as we read the book.]

1. The Outsiders, page 75 - 91.
2. Groups -- time to work on projects, have reading books for the reading bingo signed off. read for reading bingo, take a missed spelling test, if needed.




Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Extra Credit

Extra Credit Available only through Term 1.

NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY
By Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Memorize for up to 16 extra credit points.
You must be able to recite it or write it.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

September 25, 2007

September 25
Self-Starter:
Unscrambling to Imitate
The unscrambling of sentence parts helps you see how those parts are connected within the model sentence.
As a result, you will glimpse the mind of an author composing a sentence so you can go through a similar process when you compose sentences.

Directions: In your binder, under “Word Work,” unscramble the sentence parts to imitate the model. Then write your own sentence that imitates the model.

1. MODEL: The girls of her class nearly fought to hang out around her, to walk away with her, to beam flatteringly, to be her special friend.
Katherine Mansfield, The Doll House

Parts to unscramble: (Write this out as a complete sentence with punctuation and capitalization.)
a. really tried to make his best effort with the team
b. to keep up with them
c. to be his absolute best
d. the boy of smallest size
e. to work tirelessly

Unscramble and write out the “imitation” sentence.
Then, write your own sentence that imitates the model.

Teacher’s example:
The firefighters on the truck frantically hurried to leap down to the ground, to move closer with the hose, to search thoroughly, to be the man’s life-saving rescuers.

1. Poetry and Song and The Outsiders – Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” Poems create images (pictures) in your mind.

2 Asking Questions (for the Term Project)
Speak up!
Prepare questions ahead. Share them ahead of time with the person you’re interviewing.
Avoid yes/no questions.
Usually thick questions are better than thin questions
Politely listen to the answers.
You may ask clarifying questions.
Stay positive.

3. The Outsiders Start at page 62. Read through page 75.

Friday, September 21, 2007

September 21

September 21
Self-Starter:
Unscrambling to Imitate
The unscrambling of sentence parts helps you see how those parts are connected within the model sentence.
As a result, you will glimpse the mind of an author composing a sentence so you can go through a similar process when you compose sentences.

Directions: In your binder, under “Word Work,” unscramble the sentence parts to imitate the model. Then write your own sentence that imitates the model.

3. MODEL: Then she swung the switch five more times and, discovering Little Man had no intention of crying, ordered him up.
Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Parts to unscramble:
a. one more time and
b. walked away
c. then he checked the crime scene
d. finding the suspect had been telling the truth

Unscramble and write out the “imitation” sentence.
Then, write your own sentence that imitates the model.

1. More of The Outsiders: Pages 46 to 62.
2. Partner Spelling Tests -- If you weren't ready for a test today, make arrangements to take a test before or after school.
3. On-task Catch-Up time
-- work on spelling
-- read for reading bingo (400 pages by October 9)
-- Have Ms. Dorsey record your reading bingo books on your bingo card
-- work with your term project group
-- turn in your project plan if you haven't (It was due last time.)
-- binder checks

September 19

September 19
Self-Starter:
Unscrambling to Imitate
The unscrambling of sentence parts helps you see how those parts are connected within the model sentence.
As a result, you will glimpse the mind of an author composing a sentence so you can go through a similar process when you compose sentences.

Directions: In your binder, under “Word Work,” unscramble the sentence parts to imitate the model. Then write your own sentence that imitates the model.

2. MODEL: Drawn by the scent of fish, the wild dogs sat on the hill, barking and growling at each other.
Scott O’Dell, Island of the Blue Dolphins

Parts to unscramble:
a. yelping and trembling with delight
b. covered with mud from the yard
c. the frisky puppy rolled on the carpet

Unscramble and write out the “imitation” sentence.
Then, write your own sentence that imitates the model.

1. The SORTING HAT visited our room, and the class was divided into "Houses."
2. We listened to/read from The Outsiders, pages 37 to 46, and students created "living diorama of a scene from this section. Great job, students!
3. Time to work with term project groups.


Friday, September 14, 2007

September 17

September 17
If you were absent, check out the blue envelopes at the back of the room.
Self-Starter: Sentence Imitating by Unscrambling
Directions: In your binder, under “Word Work,” unscramble the sentence parts to imitate the model. Then write your own sentence that imitates the model.

1. MODEL: When I awoke, there were snowflakes on my eyes.
Charles Portis, True Grit

Parts to unscramble:
a. in the sky
b. there was a rainbow
c. after the rain stopped

Unscramble and write out the “imitation” sentence.
Then, write your own sentence that imitates the model.

1. More of The Outsiders We are up to page 37, Chapter 3.
2. Receive a progress report today. Students should return progress reports with a parent or guardian signature by September 21.
3. Group Time to plan term project

Remember to have the teacher record your book(s) on the reading bingo card.
Remember to have a binder check if you haven't.
Spelling test on Friday, September 21. You should be studying your words using the Weekly Word Study sheet.
Tomorrow is Midterm.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

September 13

September 13
Reminders:
Have you been studying your five spelling words for the test on September 21?
Do you still need to check off your binder or hand in your disclosure document?
Do you have a group and a topic for the term project?

Today:
Self-Starter: Students wrote about whether they've ever felt like an outsider, or contributed to making someone else feel that way (or perhaps helped someone feel more like an insider).
If you were absent, write about a half page on this topic.

1. Listen to/read part of The Outsiders.
2. Go to the computer lab to transfer the essays we wrote in Word into GoMyAccess.
Also, take the SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory).

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

September 11

Self-Starter:
1) Copy the model.
2) Choose the matching sentence from the imitations, and copy it.
3) Chunk both sentences.
4) Write your own imitation.
Follow the same steps for the other model.

Model 1: Then, stomach down on the bed, he began to draw.
Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terebithia
Model 2: Slowly, filled with dissatisfaction, he had gone to his room and got into bed.
Betsy Byars, The Summer of the Swans
IMITATIONS
a. Carefully, embarrassed by her mistake, she had repeated the process and done it correctly.
b. Later, knapsack high on his back, he ran to catch up.

*Do you have your 5 spelling words for the upcoming test? Are you studying them?
Test on September 21.

1. The Outsiders page 5 -- 15, middle of page.
Students filled out a graphic organizer for characters -- filling in information about the characters -- the Greasers.

2. Planning time for term projects. Students should have formed their groups and picked their subjects. Today the teacher lets students know whether their requested subjects were already taken or not.

* Have you had your binder for English with four labeled dividers checked off?



Monday, September 10, 2007

September 7

1. We took a brief trip to "the movies" to set the atmosphere of the 1960's for reading The Outsiders. We watched a clip of a Paul Newman movie, since the novel begins (and ends) with the main character stepping out "into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house," thinking about how "tough" Paul Newman looks, and about how he probably should get a ride home.
2. Students listened to and read along with chapter 1 of The Outsiders. On their own copy, they marked any unfamiliar or confusing words or phrases, or any places they had questions.
3. Students filled out an opinionaire, agreeing or disagreeing with statements related to to The Outsiders and with the topic of "How Do I Fit In?" and writing a brief comment about one of those statements.
4. Students received back their spelling tests and Spelling Survival Lists. They are to select 5 more words (reusing words they missed on the first test) to study for a test on September 21.
5. Students had time to form groups for the Term Project, and turned in requests for topics.
(A4 Finished and corrected the Outsiders Slang papers.)

Remember:
*If you haven't had your binder with folders checked off, do it as soon as possible.
*If you haven't taken your first spelling test, come after school (not on Monday).
*Don't forget to be reading outside class for your Reading Bingo (400 pages per term). Have your book approved and recorded on your bingo card by Ms. Dorsey. You may bring your Reading Bingo book to class to read if you finish an assignment early or otherwise have extra time.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

September 5

I hope you had a fun weekend!

Today students received their Term Project Assignment. The assignment for this term is an inquiry project. Students in teams of 3 or 4 will ask questions about some aspect of our school and will prepare a presentation in the form of a video, an iMovie, PowerPoint, or audio-taped segment to teach others what they learned. See the blue packet students received today. Please notice that some of the due dates originally typed on the packets have been changed (I'd forgotten about one of the days we're out of school.) The project should be completed by October 9. (See the packet for interim assignments.)

Today we also took a writing pretest. Students were given a prompt and were given time to organize and do some hand drafting. Then we went into the computer lab and they typed their stories and saved them. Because this was a pretest, points will be given for the work they did today. The stories will be submitted as they are at the end of today's class -- no further revision allowed.

***Don't forget to have your books for Reading Bingo approved and recorded by Ms. Dorsey.

***Another spelling test will be coming on September 21. You may select another five words now (include any you missed last time) and start preparing.