Friday, February 3, 2012

Self-Starter:  All students who did not get full points on the quiz should complete the apostrophes practice: Apostrophes 3.   Those who did may read quietly.

Noticing Sentences and Apostrophes

2. Spelling Test on im- words.

Vocabulary/Spelling #9              Test on  February 3

Prefix to study:   im- which means not     

                                   For extra credit, what part of speech are all of these words?

1. impossible
2. improbable
3. imperfect
4. immobile 

3. New Spelling words: Receive the handout for un- and -ist words.

If you wish, you can see this post for an extra credit opportunity:  un- and -ist extra credit

Vocabulary/Spelling #10 and #19   -- Test on February 9 

Vocabulary/Spelling #10              

Suffix to study:   -ist which means one who (nouns)

1. artist
2. physicist
3. chemist

and

Vocabulary/Spelling #19           

 Prefix to study:   un-  which means   not   (adjectives)

1.      unable

2.      unfit

3.      unequal

4.      unearned

5.      undone

4. Read more of Words By Heart.
 
Words By Heart Student Notes 2012.docx
A1    top of page 23             Video to end of spelling bee about 8 minutes in. 
A2    top of page 36             Video to  end of spelling bee about 8 minutes in. 
A3    page 10 to page  25 ?   Video to  end of spelling bee about 8 minutes in. 
A4    page 7, right after  "burdened by something"  to page 20   Video to end of spelling bee about 8 minutes in.  

Your book assessment is on February 9.
Your essay is due by or on February 15.


5. Computer lab  (Lab 201, second half) to do research on the nonfiction background of your book:
Historical Fiction Essay Research.docx
Historical Fiction Books and Topics
 Sample for Historical Fiction Essay
Rubric for Historical Fiction Essay.docx

 
Students who have finished their research could work on their MyAccess narrative story or essay.

Historical Fiction

For a basic list of suggested book, go to 
http://cavemanenglish.pbworks.com/w/page/8952511/Historical%20Fiction


Important: 

As usual, the book you choose needs to be a book at  or near your reading level -- usually 100 below to 50 above lexile.   

If you're considering a book for which I have not listed a lexile,  you can look up many books at lexile.com. 

Also recommended: 
Moon Over Manifest
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Deadly by Julie Chibbaro sounds good.   
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg  (950L) is about the Civil War.  Homer's family is white, but his brother is sold to be a soldier, and Homer runs away to help him escape.   This would be a great companion book to Elijah of Buxton. 
1-14-12  I just finished reading The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, (950L) and really enjoyed it.  It's full of adventure and excitement.  Here are some of the questions I have about the real (nonfiction) background for the book:
Was there really a Colonel Chamberlain in charge of a regiment from Maine?
Did the Battle of Gettysburg happen as it's described in this book?
How many men did die in that battle?

Woods Runner 870L by Gary Paulson
Were the Hessian soldiers really that brutal? 

Multicultural: A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park -- based on a true story about life in the Sudan

Historical/Multicultural Fiction --  Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
   Alvarez really did grow up in the Dominican Republic during the time period portrayed in this novel. She has fictionalized the events, but kept them close enough to what really happened to show us what it would have been like to grow up in country run by a dictator -- from the perspective of a twelve year-old girl whose adult family members have either left the country or become freedom fighters.  

More historical fiction-- recommended by Jessica Day George on Good Reads:
Jessica George gave 4 stars to: The Ransom of Mercy Carter (Laurel Leaf Books) by Caroline B. Cooney
bookshelves: historical-fiction, young adult

"I am a sucker for true stories of white children raised by Native Americans. I used to fantasize about it as a kid: what would it be like to be a puritan, or a product of the Victorian era, and then find yourself kidnaped and raised by natives? This book hits on exactly where the root of my fascination lay: in every single one of these true stories, the girl never returns to her white family, even when she has a choice. Why was that? Was it the carefree lifestyle? Was their new family more loving, more indulgent? This last is what Cooney postulates for Mercy Carter. Raised in a stern, God-fearing home, the people who adopted her were known to treasure their children, who were given only the easiest chores and spent most of their days playing games and being petted. This is a great book, comparing the life of the white settlers to the natives, and detailing what became of Mercy along with the other children who were taken the night of the Deerfield, Massachusetts, massacre. Interestingly enough, some of the children were taken all the way to Canada, and given to French families who wanted to adopt a child! Highly recommened for those who like historical fiction!" -- Jessica Day George


1.  The Legend of Jimmy Spoon 790L -- Pioneer life,  white boy from Salt Lake City who goes to live with the Shoshoni Tribe
2. Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express 820L --
3.  Sacajawea 840L -- The story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition is told to Sacajawea's son by herself and William Clark
4.  Anpao: An American Indian Odyssy 880L -- A story of a young warrior's mystical search for his own destiny.
5. Tucket's Travels: Francis Tucket's Adventures in the West, 1847-1849 -- Mr. Tucket   830L --
6.  Charlotte's Rose  680L - Handcart pioneers
7.  Numbering All the  Bones  600L -- The Civil War is nearing its end and 13-year-old Eulinda  (a slave whose brother is fighting in the Union army) faces an uncertain world. civil war, prisoners of war, Clara Barton
8.  Sounder 900L -- African-American sharecroppers in the South
9.  Steal Away . . . to freedom  690L   -- A TEENAGE ORPHAN TRANSPLANTED FROM VERMONT TO VIRGINIA AND HER SLAVE DECIDE TO ESCAPE THEIR INDIVIDUAL CAPTIVITIES.
10.  Elijah of Buxton  1070L  -- The first child born in a community established for escaped slaves in Canada.
11.  The Bronze Bow 760L -- THE TORMENTED JOURNEY OF AN ISRAELI BOY'S ALL-CONSUMING HATRED FOR THE ROMANS TO HIS ACCEPTANCE AND ...
12.  The Breadwinner    630L  -- Story of a girl struggling to survive in war torn Afghanistan
13.  All Quiet on the Western Front  by  Remarque, Erich Maria   830L  World War I 

War Horse --

Grades 5-8  |  Ages 10-14 Reading Level: LEX: 1090L | GRL: Z | AR: 5.9 | DRA: 70 About
 

Book for Boys
See also http://us.penguingroup.com/static/packages/us/yreaders/books4boys/theme_history.php

Many students have enjoyed reading books from Scholastic Press's My Name is America series:

• The Journal of Jasper Jonathan Pierce:A Pilgrim boy, Plymouth, 1620 by Ann Rinaldi
• The Journal of William Thomas Emerson:A Revolutionary War Patriot Boston, Massachusetts, 1774 by Barry Denenberg
• The Journal of Augustus Pelletier:Lewis and clark Expedition, 1804 by Kathryn Lasky
• The Journal of Jedediah Barstow:An Emigrant on the Oregon Trail, Overland, 1845 by Ellen Levine
• The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds:The Donner Party Expedition, 1846 by Rodman Philbrick
• The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung:A Chinese Miner, California, 1852 by Laurence Yep
• The Journal of Sean Sullivan:A Transcontinental Railroad Worker, Nebraska and Points West, 1867 by William Durbin
• The Journal of Joshua Loper:A Black Cowboy, The Chisholm Trail, 1871 by Walter Dean Myers
• The Journal of Brian Doyle:A Greenhorn on an Alaskan Whaling Ship, The Florence, 1874 by Jim Murphy
• The Journal of Rufus Rowe:A Witness to the Battle of Fredricksburg, Bowling Green, VA 1862 by Sid Hite
• The Journal of James Edmond Pease:A Civil War Union Soldier, Virginia, 1863 by Jim Murphy
• The Journal of Jesse Smoke:A Cherokee Boy, The Trail of Tears, 1838 by Joseph Bruchac
• The Journal of Finn Reardon:A Newsie, New York City, 1899 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
• The Journal of Otto Peltonen:A Finnish Immigrant, Hibbing, Minnesota, 1905 by William Durbin
• The Journal of C.J. Jackson:A Dust Bowl Migrant, Oklahoma to California, 1935 by William Durbin
• The Journal of Ben Uchida:Citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp, California, 1942 by Barry Denenberg
• The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins:A World War II Soldier, Normandy, France, 1944 by Walter Dean Myers
• The Journal of Biddy Owens:The Negro Leagues, Birmingham, Alabama, 1948 by Walter Dean Myers
• The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty:United States Marine Corps, Khe Sanh, Vietnam, 1968 by Ellen Emerson White

The My Name is America series will be relaunched in March 2012.

• We Were Heroes: The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins, A World War II Soldier, Normandy, France, 1944 by Walter Dean Myers (March 2012)
• Into No Man's Land: The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty, United States Marine Corps, Khe Sanh, Vietnam, 1968 by Ellen Emerson White (June 2012)  [?]
• The Journal of James Edmond Pease, a Civil War Union Soldier, Virginia, 1863 by Jim Murphy (September 2012)

  Thank you to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_Is_America for the above list.

Important: 

As usual, the book you choose needs to be a book at  or near your reading level -- usually 100 below to 50 above lexile.   

If you're considering a book for which I have not listed a lexile,  you can look up many books at lexile.com.
 

January 14, 2011

Last day of second term.  Also last day of  first semester.

Important Notice:  Last  Friday January 7, 2011 was  the last day to hand in late and revised work or extra credit for Term 2. 

Bring treats today for the last 15 minutes of class.

1. Bell-Ringer: Complete parts 1 and 3 on the handout for learning about historical fiction:
Historical Fiction Day 1.doc 


2. Reading Minutes:
A1
A2
A3 
A4


3. Book Pass -- Fill out the handout for as many books as we get to.   You are sampling several books in the classroom.
Book Pass Log.doc 
If you were absent, select five books from the classroom historical fiction boxes.  Use the description of historical fiction on the  Historical Fiction Day 1.doc  to check whether each book is historical fiction.  Preview the front and back of the book.  If you are interested at all in the book, write the name of the book on the book pass log, open to the first page and begin reading.  Read for 3 to 5 minutes.  Respond to the book on the book pass log.  Then select another book and repeat the process until you have sampled five books.




4. Media Center to look for historical fiction books -- Fill out Part 4 on Historical Fiction Day 1.doc

This is the information for filling out Part 2 on your worksheet:

In the Media Center, you can go to Alexandria (the computer library catalogue), click on the tab titled "Browse,"  and type in "historical fiction."  Or you can click on the tab titled "Explore" and search by time periods, places, or events.

5. A bit of a party

The January book-of-the-month is historical fiction.
See

Recommended Historical Fiction Books 

Here is a website that links to lots of historical fiction books.  Notice that she includes books for all ages of children from picture books up through books that would be appropriate for your project.   http://bookgirl3.tripod.com/historicalfiction.html 

Not all of her links work, but this is still a valuable resource. 

November 23/24, 2009

November 23/24, 2009

Today: Spelling Test on -er, -or  and words.

Next time: il- which means not      This test will be given on December 2/3.
1. illegal
2. illiterate
3. illegible
4. illogical

Extra credit for knowing what these word parts mean:
1) "leg" as in legal             -- lēgālis  -- the law
2) "litera" as in literate       -- litterātus  -- learned, scholarly from "letter"
3) "leg" as in legible          --   leg(ere)  -- to read
4) "logo" as in logical         -- Gk logikós -- of speech or reason


Usage Note: For most of its long history in English, literate has meant only "familiar with literature," or more generally, "well-educated, learned." Only since the late 19th century has it also come to refer to the basic ability to read and write.

logic -- of Gk logikós of speech or reason. 


Bring your historical fiction book to read.

Historical Fiction Titles

Here are some titles for historical fiction: (L = Lexile Level)

Historical Fiction

Avi – The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle L740; Crispin

Bartiletti -- The Boy Who Dared L760(World War II -- a teenage boy stands up to the Nazis)

Boyne -- The Boy in the Striped Pajamas L1080 (World War II -- about the young son of a Nazi officer)

Bruchac – Sacajawea L840

Collier – My Brother Sam is Dead L770

Crowe – Mississippi Trial, 1955 (Utah author) Don't read his books for this, since you'll read them in eighth grade.

Cushman, Karen – Catherine Called Birdy L1170,

Midwife’s Apprentice L1240 (class book)

Edmunds and Lanz – The Matchlock Gun (80 pages)

Fox - The Slave Dancer L970

Greene – Summer of My German Soldier L800

Hesse – Out of the Dust or Witness-- if approved by teacher -- see me.

Lowry, Lois – Number the Stars L670, The Giver L760]

Paterson – Lyddie L860

Selden, Bernice – The Mill Girls: Lucy Larcom, Harriet Hanson Robinson, Sarah G. Bagley

Uchida– Journey to Topaz L970 (Reading Class Book)

Houston – Farewell to Manzanar L1040 (Reading Class Book)

Walters – War of the Eagles, Caged Eagles L650,690

Young Royals Series, My Name is America Series, etc.