December 16/17, 2009

December 16/17, 2009

1. Take the test on the suffix -less and words using it.

-less = without  (This suffix creates adjectives.)  Be able to tell which part of speech this suffix creates when you add it to a word base.

hopeless
useless
careless
fearless
worthless
 


Be  prepared when you come back after Christmas Break to take a test on all of your prefixes, suffixes, and words so far.   Study your chart.

Prefixes and Suffixes from the Seventh Grade Core for Term 2 (and on) Vocabulary    

2. We are going to the computer lab to type up your review/response for your historical fiction book.
 Writing About Your Book

A1:  http://cavemana1.pbworks.com/November-December-Historical-Fiction-Books

A2:  http://caveman-a2.pbworks.com/November-December-Historical-Fiction-Books

A4:  http://cavemana4.pbworks.com/November-December-Historical-Fiction-Books

B1: http://caveman-b1.pbworks.com/November-December-Book-Reports

B2: http://caveman-b2.pbworks.com/November-December-Historical-Fiction-Books

B4: http://cavemanb4.pbworks.com/November-December-Historical-Fiction-Books

Writing About Your Book

Come to class on December 16/17 prepared to write about your historical fiction book.
title
author
number of pages
main character(s)
setting
main conflict/problem:  Give both the general one (man vs. man, etc.) and the specific conflict(s) for the book.
Tell enough about what happened to interest a reader in reading this.  No spoilers!
Tell about some of the things you learned from this book about the time, place, and or people upon which it was based.
Give the book a rating from one to five stars, and explain why you gave it that rating.

Handout for this assignment:

Writing About Your Book Handout to Prepare a Rough Draft   doc

 

Wikis:

http://caveman-b1.pbworks.com/

http://caveman-b2.pbworks.com

http://cavemanb4.pbworks.com/ 

http://cavemana1.pbworks.com/

http://caveman-a2.pbworks.com/

http://cavemana4.pbworks.com/

November 17/18, 2009

Spelling/Vocabulary
-ate means cause, make, operate upon (This suffix makes verbs.)
1. separate
2. create
3. segregate
4. dominate

Test next time. 
fore- means "front"
1. forehead 

2. forecast
3. forethought
4. forefront



cast -- to throw, calculate, prepare, contrive


O.E. þencan "conceive in the mind, think, consider, intend" (past tense þohte, p.p. geþoht), probably originally "cause to appear to oneself," from P.Gmc.

c.1290, from O.Fr. front "forehead, brow," from L. frontem (nom. frons) "forehead," perhaps lit. "that which projects," from PIE *bhront-, from base *bhren- "to project, stand out."

No retakes will be available, so study the words and word parts sets as they come.

Book Groups -- Doing Research

November 18 -- A-Day students, if you were absent, see the PowerPoint and Handout at

A PowerPoint on doing research on the web: 

The handout to go with the PowerPoint:http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson983/student.pdf
This lesson has lots of great suggestions and helps for creating a PowerPoint and for citing sources and creating Works Cited page:  http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=787

Book Assessment Rubric

Book Assessment Rubric

Rubric for Book-of-the-Month Club Projects –Term 4, 2009
Which project did you do?
-- a book review such as you would see in a newspaper or magazine
-- an informative poster advertising the book (12" by 18", portrait orientation, not landscape)
-- an informative brochure advertising the book
-- an informative "ad" (advertisement) such as you would see in a magazine (8 1/2" by 11")
-- a web page dedicated to the book, the subject, and/or the author -- posted on our new class wikki (If you complete a blog, please e-mail to me a link to that blog.)
Required for All
Basic Information:
 _____/5 points for title
 _____ /5 points for author
 _____/5 points for genre (Check with the teacher to make sure you have correctly categorized your book.)
 _____/5 points for # of pages
 _____/5 points for your name (Of course, you will not receive any points at all if your name is not on your project.)
 _____/5 points for your period
 _____/5 points for the date or term (Term 4, 2009)
subtotal: _____/35

About the Book:
 _____/10 points for Plot: Give a summary of the plot which does not include spoilers. This means it won't give away the ending or give away other things that the reader shouldn't find out until he or she reads the book -- things that would spoil reading the book.

 _____/10 points for Characters: Who are the major characters? List them and give a very brief description for each. You could use a table such as the one I've used on my wiki page for Stand Tall.

 _____/10 points for Setting: place and time setting.

 _____/10 points for Conflict: Do tell what the major CONFLICT is and whether it is man vs. man, man vs. society, man vs. technology, man vs. nature, man vs. self, or man vs. the unknown. (These could also be stated as character vs. character, character vs. society, character vs. nature, etc.) Explain how you know it is that type of conflict.

 _____/10 points for Theme: Identify and briefly explain one or more major themes in the book. How do you know that is a theme in this book?

 _____/10 points for giving the book a Rating (1 to 5 stars), and telling why you have rated it that way.

 _____/10 points for including attractive illustrations. Illustrations will clearly represent the book. Illustrations will not be done on lined paper. Illustrations will be original, except that on the wiki or blog you may use pictures of the book cover, author, and/or illustrations from the book.
subtotal: _____/70

Conventions:
 You will carefully edit your work for errors in conventions including spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and correct and clear sentence structure.
subtotal: _____/15
No points will be given unless these requirements are met:
 Your work will be neat and attractive. subtotal: _______/35 basic information
 Work will be typed or neatly written in ink. subtotal: _______/70about the book
 You will not plagiarize another's work. subtotal: _______/15 conventions
 Your project will meet the requirements for the individual project subtotal: _______/ optional and early
as outlined here and on the back of this sheet. Total: _______/ 120

Optional:
 _____/ 5 Additional information about the author.
 _____/___Propose other?
 _____/___Turned in early
Specific Projects:
Every project should include all required items, and should meet these specific requirements as defined for the specific project.

Book Review:
______ will be clearly labeled as “Book Review.”
______ handed in typed up, or posted on a blog, web site, or wiki page.
______ will cover all the items listed above as "Required for All."
______ will emphasize your opinions, and should express your own understanding of the book in a lively way.

Informative Poster:
_______ will be attractive, neat, and show effort and pride in workmanship.
_______ will be attractively illustrated. Illustrations and decorations used should be related to the book. You may not use book covers or other illustrations already created by others for the book.
_______ will measure 12" by 18", portrait orientation, not landscape. You will need to cut down a regular poster board to this size.

Informative Brochure:
_______ will be attractive, neat, and show effort and pride in workmanship
_______ will be attractively illustrated. Illustrations and decorations used should be related to the book. You may not use book covers or other illustrations already created by others for the book.

Magazine Ad:
_______ will be attractive, neat, and show effort and pride in workmanship.
_______ will be the size of a magazine page, or it could be a two-page spread.
_______ will be attractively illustrated. Illustrations and decorations used should be related to the book. You may not use book covers or other illustrations already created by others for the book.

Web Page or Blog:
_______ will be attractive, neat, and show effort and pride in workmanship.
_______ will be attractively illustrated. Illustrations and decorations used should be related to the book. You may use book covers or other illustrations already created by others for the book.


Comments:

Your Wiki Page

Your Wiki Page

-- You may also add links on your page to other pages on the Internet with information on the book. For instance, you could add a link to web page or blog by the author of the book. Here's Joan Bauer's official web page: http://www.joanbauer.com/ I found the web page, copied the URL (address), pasted it here, selected it, clicked on Insert a link to a new page (look to the right here under "Pages") and made sure that "URL" and the address of that page were in the boxes, and clicked "Okay."

If you are using a blog for this assignment, you could also add one or more links on that, following the procedure for adding links there.

Book-of-the-Month Club for Term 4 Assessment

Requirements for Book-of-the-Month Club Projects

4Remember that your audience is other students in seventh grade.
4Remember that your purpose is to "sell" them on reading the book.

You will create a project to "sell" the book to other students.
Do your best to find a book that you think would be a great summer read for at least a few other students in your class.
You have several choices for your project:
-- a book review such as you would see in a newspaper or magazine
-- an informative poster advertising the book (12" by 18", portrait orientation, not landscape)
-- an informative brochure advertising the book
-- an informative "ad" (advertisement) such as you would see in a magazine (8 1/2" by 11")
-- a web page dedicated to the book, the subject, and/or the author -- posted on our new class wikki

Required for All
Basic Information:
c title
c author
c genre(Check with the teacher to make sure you have correctly categorized your book.)
c # of pages
c your name
c your period
c the date or term (Term 4, 2009)

About the Book:
c 4 Plot: Give a summary of the plot which does not include spoilers. This means it won't give away the ending or give away other things that the reader shouldn't find out until he or she reads the book -- things that would spoil reading the book.

c 4 Characters: Who are the major characters? List them and give a very brief description for each. You could use a table such as the one I've used on my wiki page for Stand Tall.

c 4 Setting: place and time setting.

c 4 Conflict: Do tell what the major CONFLICT is and whether it is man vs. man, man vs. society, man vs. technology, man vs. nature, man vs. self, or man vs. the unknown. (These could also be stated as character vs. character, character vs. society, character vs. nature, etc. ) Explain how you know it is that type of conflict.

c 4 Theme: Identify and explain one or more major themes in the book.

c 4 Give the book a rating (1 to 5 stars), and tell why you have rated it that way.

Optional:
4Additional information about the author.

General expectations:
c You will carefully edit your work for errors in conventions including spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and correct and clear sentence structure.
c Your work will be neat and attractive.
c Work will be typed or neatly written in ink.
c You will not plagiarize another's work.
c You may use short quotes from other places, but must include writing in your own words to cover the required information About the Book.
c Illustrations will not be done on lined paper.
c Your work will show effort and understanding.

Book Review

-- Your book review could be handed in typed up, or it could be posted on a blog, web site, or wiki page.
-- Your book review should cover all the items listed above as "Required for All." It will emphasize your opinions, and should express your own understanding of the book in a lively way.
-- You may use short quotes from other places, but must include writing in your own words to cover the required information About the Book.

Here is an example of book review by a teenager about a book that Mr. Christensen enjoyed: http://www.teenink.com/Books/article/56543/Peak-by-Roland-Smith/

I just found a site where famous authors will teach you about different sorts of writing. Rodman Philbrick, author of The Mighty, teaches us how to write a book review here:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/bookrev/index.htm

Here is another passage from an example:
Raising Dragons | Bryan Davis | Fantasy, Christian from

Billy Bannister seems like just a normal kid—except for one thing—Billy can breathe fire! Not only that, his dad used to be a dragon! Billy soon meets Bonnie, another kid who has dragon blood: Bonnie has wings and can fly. They become friends and soon discover that their principal is an evil dragon slayer out to destroy the only remaining dragons on the earth.

I LOVED this book! I couldn’t put it down, and I’ve already read the 2nd book, “The Candlestone.” There are four books in this series, “Dragons in Our Midst.” Packed with action, adventure, and Christian nuggets, this series is a perfect summer read—or for anytime!

Review by Nathanael, Hastings Middle School, age 12

Informative Poster
-- Include the information listed above as "Required for All." Your poster should be attractive, neat, and show effort and pride in workmanship. It should be attractively illustrated. -
- -- Illustrations and decorations used should be related to the book. You may not use book covers or other illustrations already created by others for the book.
-- You may use short quotes from other places, but must include writing in your own words to cover the required information About the Book.
-- (Your poster should measure 12" by 18", portrait orientation, not landscape. You will need to cut down a regular poster board to this size.)

Informative Brochure
-- Include the information listed above as "Required for All." Your brochure should be attractive, neat, and show effort and pride in workmanship. It should be attractively illustrated. -- Illustrations and decorations used should be related to the book. You may not use book covers or other illustrations already created by others for the book.
-- You may use short quotes from other places, but must include writing in your own words to cover the required information About the Book.

Magazine Ad
-- Include the information listed above as "Required for All." Your ad should be attractive, neat, and show effort and pride in workmanship.
-- The magazine ad should be the size of a magazine page, or it could be a two-page spread. It should be attractively illustrated. Illustrations and decorations used should be related to the book. You may not use book covers or other illustrations already created by others for the book.
-- You may use short quotes from other places, but must include writing in your own words to cover the required information About the Book.


Web Page or Blog
-- Include the information listed above as "Required for All."
-- Your page or blog should be attractive, neat, and show effort and pride in workmanship. It should be attractively illustrated. Illustrations and decorations used should be related to the book. You may use book covers or other illustrations already created by others for the book.
-- You may use short quotes from other places, but must include writing in your own words to cover the required information About the Book.

More Information for Book Assessment

Book Portfolio – Third Term -- Nonfiction
General Information and Helps
☞Dates to Remember: (Write these in your planner, if you haven’t already.)
By January 21: Find your book and hand in this form, filled out and signed by a parent or guardian. (Last day for any points on this is February 6.)
By February 24: Hand in book assignment.
☞ March 13 is the very last day any late or revised work will be accepted for points. (Write this in your planner, but have everything done on time or early so you don’t have to worry about it!)

Quality Standards for the Portfolio

Use 8 1/2" x 11" paper unless otherwise specified.
Do not use lined paper for illustrations.
Do not use paper with spiro-bits.
Work must be neat and legible.
The text must be typed or done in standard blue or black ink. Do not use pencil.
Take pride in your work.


Samples for Fact Sheets and Works Cited Page

The Top Ten Facts I Learned About Memory
by Reading Hmm?: The Most interesting book you’ll ever read about memory

1. “If you stashed away 1000 new bits of info every second of your life, you’d still be using only part of your total storage space.” p. 5

2. The brain has three main sections, and the sections that are most vital to memory, according to scientists, are the cerebrum and the cerebellum. p. 7 (This is just a sample. You’d have at least ten facts sheet.)

The Top Ten Facts I Learned About Memory
from Other Sources
1. According to a reference article in ScienceDaily, “The study of memory “has become one of the principal pillars of a new branch of science that represents a marriage between cognitive psychology and neuroscience, called cognitive neuroscience.” (This is just a sample. You’d have at least ten facts.)

Works Cited

Swanson, Diane. Hmm?: The Most interesting book you’ll ever read about memory. Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2001.

Long Term Memory. (Level of Explanation: Beginner) The Brain from Top to Bottom. Retrieved January 17, 2008, from http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_07/d_07_cr/d_07_cr_tra/d_07_cr_tra.html [sponsored by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research]

Memory. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 17, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com– /releases/2003/06/030606081111.htm

Murphy, Pat, and Paul Doherty. “Messing with Your Mind.” Retrieved January 17, 2008, from
http://www.exploratorium.edu/memory/messingwithyourmind/index.html

National Geographic Society. The Incredible Machine. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1986.

Pendick, Daniel. “This Is Your Brain On Booze.” Memory Loss & the Brain Winter 2007: Retrieved January 17, 2008, from http://www.memorylossonline.com/winter2007/alcohol_brain.html

See page 761 in our Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar text. Use the MLA Style for Listing Sources found on page 761. Another sample Works Cited List is found on page 764.
Utah State Core: ILO’s 1.a.b., 2.b., 5.a-e., 6.d., Standard 1. Objective 2, Standard 2 Objectives 1 and 3, Standard 3 (inquiry/research) Objectives 1 and 2.

January 15/16, 2009

January 15/16, 2009

Self-Starter: Receive and peruse the Book-of-the-Month assignment. (Peruse means to read through with thoroughness and care.)
If you didn't receive the book approval and reading log, see us.
Receive (and write down) your new computer lab number.

We went to the computer lab where Mr. Christensen provided instruction and practice for doing research, and Ms. Dorsey taught about citing sources.

November 3/4, 2008

November 3/4, 2008
Today more students presented their Book of the Month Club Assessments -- presenting their characters to the class through quotes from their books. If you did not present today, and were not absent, it may be awhile before you can change that zero grade.

We also talked about the genre of science fiction.
Science fiction is fiction (made-up rather than things that have really happened) and usually involves either outer space, technology, or ideas about the future.
Many deal with imagined technology, or with the results of the misuse of technology.

The characters usually act as people would if the situations they are placed in were real.

We shared a poem that works as a riddle, and worked on figuring out what was being described and who was seeing it that way. You could call this a "science fiction" poem!
Here is the poem: (By the way, May Swenson originally came from Utah. She was born in Logan, attended the University of Utah, and became a world-famous poet.)

Southbound. . .
By May Swenson

A tourist came in from Orbitville,
parked in the air, and said:

The creatures of this star
are made of metal and glass.

Through the transparent parts
you can see their guts.

Their feet are round and roll
on diagrams or long

measuring tapes, dark
with white lines.

They have four eyes.
The two in the back are red.

Sometimes you can see a five-eyed
one, with a red eye turning

on the top of his head.
He must be special—

the others respect him,
and go slow

when he passes, winding
among them from behind.

They all hiss as they glide,
like inches, down the marked

tapes. Those soft shapes,
shadowy inside

the hard bodies—are they
their guts or their brains?

We also read the short story, "The Boy with Five Fingers," in preparation for more short stories, and for reading the novel The Giver. This story, like The Giver, looks at a possible post-apolcalyptic future. In other words, in these books, man has destroyed civilization and most of mankind. The story and book deal with what sorts of societies might grow up many years after such an event.

In this case, apocalyse means "any universal or widespread destruction or disaster: the apocalypse of nuclear war."
any universal or widespread destruction or disaster: the apocalypse of nuclear war.

October 28/29, 2008

October 28/29, 2008

We finished watching the movie The Outsiders and discussed theme in the book and movie.

Students are presenting their characters from their Book-of-the-Month Club books. Remember to bring your list of quotes from the book that tell us about the character, your book, and, if desired, the items you need to dress up as or otherwise represent your character.

See post for October 14 for this assignment.

October’s Book-of-the-Month-Club Assessment
Grading:
_______/ 10 points On Time: Due October 28/29, 2008
_______/ 60 points 20 quotes from the book that help us understand who the character is and what he or she does in the book.
Two points each for quotes that reveal the character.
One point each if page number is included.

__  five examples of your character’s thoughts,
__  five quotes indicating what you learned from his/her speech and speech patterns,
__ five quotes from other characters that give us insight about the main character,
__ and five actions that let the reader know who your character is.

_______/ 20 points Quotes are in blue or black ink or typed, are neat and legible, and follow the conventions (capitalization, punctuation, spelling) of written language.

_______/ 10 points The character is presented in a clearly audible and understandable voice.

_______/ Extra credit points for dressing up as the character and/or using props.
___ /20 You could have been utterly mistaken for that character. You put real effort into your costume or props and they truly helped us understand the character,
and you could receive an academy award for your performance!
___/15 Your costume/props or acting were great.
___/10 You tried through costume and /or props to portray the character.

______/100 total points

October 15/21, 2008

October 15/21, 2008
B-Day students filled out a triple venn diagram comparing and contrasting the Socs, Greasers, and their own lives. See a sample of a triple venn diagram here.

B-day students (B2 and B3) received their "Book-of-the-Month Club" Assessment assignment. See a nearby post. (A-Day students received theirs October 14.) B1 students, please remind me to give you yours next time we meet, if you haven't already received one.

We listened to The Outsiders, practicing watching for quotes from the book that teach us about the main character by his thoughts, his speech and speech patterns, what other characters say about him, and his actions.

The Outsiders:
B1 -- page 102 through page 123
B2 -- page 100 through page 125
B3 -- page 109 through page 134
A1 -- page 103 through page 123
A2 -- page 100 through page 119

Book-of-the-Month Club Assignment

Book-of-the-Month Club Assignment

You need to have your Book-of-the-Month read by September 25 for B-Day students and by September 26 for A-Day students. Be prepared to bring it to class this day and/or on the next class period. We will be doing an assessment on the book.

Watch for these aspects (Literary Elements) of your book:
What are the time and and place of the setting of your book? What do you find out about this in the exposition?
Who are the main characters? What does the narrator tell us about them -- about their ., thoughts, words, speech patterns, and actions?
Who is the narrator of the book? Who is telling the story?
What is the point of view of the narrator?
What conflicts do you find in the book? What is the main conflict?
See September 9/10 for the types of conflict. Notice which types are in your book, and notice examples of those types.

We've already been learning about conflict. Here is some information on point of view:

Point-of-view
What is it?
The author's point-of-view concentrates on the vantage point of the speaker, or "teller", of the story or poem.


1st person: the speaker is a character in the story or poem and tells it from his/her perspective (uses "I")

3rd person limited: the speaker is not part of the story, but tells about the other characters. He or she limits information to what one character sees and feels.

3rd person omniscient: the speaker is not part of the story, but is able to "know" and describe what all characters are thinking.

A second person point of view is a story that is told from the perspective of "you." It is much less common than first and third. Do you remember children's books like the "Animorphs" series or the "Choose Your Own Adventure" tales? They went something like this: "You turn, and standing there before you is a wolf. You have to decide to approach it or run away."

Here's a handy key for you:

First person: I
Second person : You
Third Person: He, She, They

[adapted from definitions found at http://www.enotes.com/literary-terms/q-and-a/what-second-person-point-view-2208
and http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/2715.html ]

Links to the State Core:
Standard 1 Objective 1.3 (Comprehension of Literary Text): Comprehend literature by evaluating the contribution to meaning of several literary elements within a work of literature.
a. Identify narrative plot structure -- in this case, exposition and conflict (rising action. . . .)
b. Describe a character’s traits as revealed by the narrator (e.g., thoughts, words, speech patterns, and actions).
d. Identify descriptive details and imagery that establish setting.

Books Not Allowed for Class Book Assessments

Books Not Allowed for Class Book Assessments
[Some of these books are used as class sets in our 7TH, 8TH and 9TH grade English classes. Others may be considered by our English department teachers to be too “young” for you, or otherwise inappropriate as homework for a junior high class.]

A Tale of Two Cities
Adventures of Ulysses
And Then There Were None
Animal Farm
Book of Three
Boxcar Children, any of the series
Bud, Not Buddy
Call of the Wild
Captain Underpants, any of the series
Charlotte’s Web
Diary of Anne Frank
Getting Away with Murder
Goosebumps, any of the series
Great Brain, any of the series
Great Gilly Hopkins
Gregor the Overlander (#1 and #2)
Harriet the Spy
Holes
Ice Story
Invention of Hugo Cabret
Left for Dead
Midwife’s Apprentice
Mississippi Trial 1955
Phineas Gage
Regarding the Fountain
Roll off Thunder, Hear My Cry
Romeo and Juliet
Stand Tall
Tom Sawyer
The Giver
The Outsiders
The Whipping Boy
To Kill a Mockingbird
Walk Two Moons
White Fang
Words By Heart
Authors:
Judy Blume
Beverly Cleary
Katherine Patterson (most)
R.L. Stein (all)

Literature Class books:
Stargirl
Witness
Esperanza Rising
Road to Memphis
Princess Bride
Gathering Blue
Pudd’n Head Wilson
Trouble Don’t Last
Keylock Man
Storyteller’s Daughter
Hoot
Surviving the Applewhites
The Dark is Rising
The Martian Chronicles
The Hobbit
The Westing Game

Also not accepted:
Books you read for reading skills or literature classes (or other classes), comic books, cartoon books, scriptures.
Please do not select books you have previously read.



The consequence for doing a book assessment on books “not allowed” will be a zero (no points) on the assignment.
Your teacher reserves the right to add or delete books on this list at her discretion.
 Have your book approved by your teacher and parents before you start reading.