Thursday, January 5, 2012

No late, make-up, or extra credit work will be accepted in this class after Friday, January 6. 

Self-Starter:  Under "Notes and QuickWrites" in your composition book, list all the emotions you can think of.  Select one and write at least a half-page about a time you felt that emotion.

1. Spelling Test on "fore-"

Vocabulary/Spelling #5              Test on January 5, 2012

Prefix to study:   fore- which means front (or before)

1.      forehead  (no extra credit)

2.       forecast     -- casten "contrive." Contrive = find out, imagine   So forecast means to "find out or imagine before"

3.      forethought  -- thought is from Old English: "cause to appear to oneself.”  So forethought means to "cause to appear to oneself before" 

4.      forefront  -- (no extra credit)  Note: Something at the forefront stands out, projects,  or comes first.  

If you are absent for today's test, get with me right away to take it before the end of the term.

____________________   

2. Receive words for the next test.
Next test: 

Vocabulary/Spelling #6              Test on  January 11, 2012

 Suffix to study:   -er, -or which means one who, that which (noun)

1.      farmer
2.      baker
3.      dancer
4.      teacher
5.      author
6.      doctor
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3.  We read from The Giver --  If you were absent, see the folders at the back of room for a copy, or ask me for the question packet.
The Giver
A1  page 125 to (Students are reading chapters 17, 18, and 19 on their own and answering questions in a packet.)
A2  page 130  to  (Students are reading chapters 17, 18, and 19 on their own and answering questions in a packet.)
A3  page 126 to (Students are reading chapters 17, 18, and 19 on their own and answering questions in a packet.)
A4  page135 to (Students are reading chapters 17, 18, and 19 on their own and answering questions in a packet.)

Reminders:

If you have not taken or finished the November/December Book-of-the-Month Assessment, you need to come in this week to finish it.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

No late, make-up, or extra credit work will be accepted in this class after Friday, January 6. 

Self-Starter:
a.  "Holiday"
      Write/list/ get down all you can think of about your Christmas/New Year's vacation.  Write continuously for about five minutes. Don't worry about writing complete sentences or about spelling or punctuation as you do this. 
b.  Clocks -- set appointments
c.  Pair Share
d.  Write, in complete sentences,  describing  Christmas the best you can for someone who has never experienced or even heard of it before.  This would be someone like the people who live in the community of the Giver -- people who do not have books or movies or passed-down memories, or even weather the way we know it. 


We read from The Giver --
The Giver
A1  page 108 to page 125, right after "'Love.' It was a word and concept new to him."
A2 page 118 to page 130
A3 page 118 to page 126, right before the page break and "Father? Mother?"
A4 page 121 to page135, right before the page break and "Back in their dwelling, that evening. . . "

Reminders:
The spelling test on "fore-" will be given on January 5.
The next test will be on the suffixes -er and -or  on January 11.

If you have not taken or finished the November/December Book-of-the-Month Assessment, you need to come in this week to finish it.

No late, make-up, or extra credit work will be accepted in this class after Friday, January 6.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Self-Starter:  Prepare for spelling test and, if time, read your book-of-the-month club book.

1. Spelling Test on "extra-" and the words that go with it.  
   
    Prefix to study:   extra- which means beyond or outside
   Words to learn for the spelling test:
   1.    extraterrestrial
   2.    extraordinary
   3.    extravagant
   4.    extrovert                                   
   You are responsible for learning the prefix and the spelling words.
   
   
   Extra Credit:  Learn the underlined parts:
   terra: earth, so extraterrestrial means beyond or outside earth
   ordinem: "order." extra ordinem = "out of order," especially the usual order, so extraordinary means beyond or outside the usual order
   extravagant: vagārī “to wander,” so extravagant means to wander beyond or outside
   vert: turn, so extrovert means to turn beyond or outside
   Just so you know, an extrovert is someone who is turned outside of themselves.
   An introvert is someone who is turned inward. 
   An extrovert is outgoing, and an introvert is shy. 
   

   _____________________________________________

   Our next spelling test:
   

   Vocabulary/Spelling #4              Test on December 9, 2011

   Suffix to study:   -ate which means cause, make, operate upon (This suffix makes verbs.)
   Words to learn for the spelling test:
   1.    separate
   2.    create (on state list)
   3.    segregate
   4.    dominate
   No retakes will be available, so study the words and word parts sets as they come. 

   Extra credit for spelling #4 -ate      Learn the underlined portions below:

   1. The se- in separate means "apart."     So separate means to cause to be apart.

   2. The crea- in create means "to make."  So create means cause or operate on to make.

   3.  The "greg" in segregate means "flock."   So segregate means cause to be apart from the flock.

   4.  The "domin" in dominate means "master or control."   So dominate means operate on as (or to) master or control.

   ___________________
2.  Finish PowerPoint about governments and taking notes.   Learn about types of Governments
   PowerPoint and worksheet   Types of Governments.ppt        FormsofGovernment.doc

 3.   Read chapters 7 and at least part of 8 from The Giver. 

4.   The Ceremony of Twelve. 

Reminders: 
Parent-Teacher Conference today
Book Fair today
Book-of-the-Month Assessment on December 9

You can use this worksheet to make up points when you misspell one of our seventh grade commonly confused words and lose points on an assignment (such as the paragraph post-test):  Commonly Confused Word Make-Up.doc

January 6, 2011

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

1. Bell-Ringer:  In your composition book, label this entry "For All or For One?"  Then write at least 1/2 page supporting one of the following statements: 
The good of the community is more important than the good of the individual.  
(or) 
The good of the individual is more important than the good of the community.


2.  Take Spelling Test on il- , its meaning, and the words that go with it

3.  Receive new spelling word part and words
Vocabulary/Spelling #8              Test on January 12

 Suffix to study:   -ful which means full of, characterized by (adjective)

1. careful
2. beautiful
3. useful
4. helpful
5. frightful

4. Reading Minutes:
A1  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
A2  Fablehaven 3 by Brandon Mull
A3  Elijah of Buxton  by Christopher Paul Curtis
A4  Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull
       New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
       Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud

5. SSR late presentations
A1 none
A2 one on Fablehaven 5
A3 none
A4 none



6. The Giver
A1 from  chapter 17, page 137, paragraph 6  to page 148, middle of page
A2 from chapter 17, page 134, paragraph 2  to page 146 to chapter 19
A3 from chapter18  to Chapter 20, page 152
A4 from chapter17, page 135,  to paragraph 4 to  page 146


 ______________________

Extra Credit opportunity:  (Offer expires  1-07-11)

Memorize one or more of these quotations:

Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift.  4  points

Albert Einstein

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.   5 points

Helen Keller

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.  -- 7 points

Audrey Hepburn 

quotes from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/beautiful_2.html

____________________________
  
More extra credit:  Tell my "lb" is the abbreviation for pound.

Brian P. Cleary

WORD NERDERY: Why is “lb” the abbreviation for pound? It’s short for the Latin word libra, which was the balance scales used for weighing. The basic Roman unit of weight was called the libra pondo; libra means "scales or balances," while pondo is from pendere, meaning "to weigh."

January 4, 2011

 Bell-Ringer:  Do you agree or disagree with this statement: It is important to have grandparents and/or other extended family besides your parents and brothers and sisters. Explain your answer. 

Reading Minutes:
A1 The Maze Runner by James Dasher
A2 The Maze Runner by James Dasher
A3 The Name of This Book is Secret -- Pseudonymous Bosh
A4 A Coming Evil (740L) by Vivian Vande Velde -- a mix of historical fiction and fantasy
      Smiles to Go by Jerry Spinelli

SSR late presentations

The Giver
A1 to chapter 17, page 137, paragraph 6
A2 to chapter 17, page 134, paragraph 2
A3 to chapter18
A4 to chapter17, page 135,  to paragraph 4.

The Giver -- Distopian Fiction 
Summary so far  -- to Chapter 15
      Jonas lives in a community where everything runs "perfectly."  When children become twelves, they receive their job assignment for the rest of their working life.  Jonas is apprehensive about his job assignment because he has no idea what it will be.  When it comes time for the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas is skipped.  He is not assigned -- he has been selected.  Jonas has become the new Receiver of Memory for his community.   He is told that he has qualities that make him fit for this duty.  One of these is the ability to "see beyond."
      His selection makes him different and makes it harder for him to spend time with or talk with his friends.  He is also unable to share his new experiences with his family.  Jonas has a mother and father and a younger sister named Lily.  Husbands and wives are assigned to each other and no family is allowed to have more than two children.  His father, who works as a Nurturer for New Children (babies), has brought home a New Child named Gabriel who needs extra care.  The alternative was for Gabriel to be "released," something that also happens to the very old and to community members who have broken the rules of the community three times.  Those who are released are no longer allowed to be members of the community.  Gabriel may still  be released if he does not learn to sleep through the night.
      Jonas knows he has the "seeing beyond" ability  because a couple of times he has seen a flash of something he can't explain.  In his training as Receiver, he finds out that what he is seeing is color, which has been eliminated from their community because many generations before, the community had decided to go to Sameness.  Jonas is trained by the Old Receiver who he now calls The Giver.  The job of the Receiver of Memory is to receive and hold memories of the world -- the history and experiences of the past -- so that he can provide the wisdom that comes from those memories. 
       A Receiver is needed because the rest of the people in the community do not have these memories.  They do not remember or learn about the past.  They know only their own individual pasts.  Books (except a dictionary, a book of the rules, and a listing of government and other job departments) are not available to the community.  Only the Receiver has access to other books. 
      Jonas begins to receive the memories from the Giver when the Giver places his hands on Jonas' back, and transfers a memory at a time to him, including memories of hills and snow and sunshine and color which were given up when the people went to sameness.  He also receives memories of pain and war and death.  When Jonas receives the memories, it is as if he is really experiencing them.  He is there in the memory, seeing and hearing and feeling.  Experiences of intense pain leave him hurting even after he comes out of the memory. Pleasant experiences also carry over, and he is beginning to see color in his everyday life. 
      Jonas begins to feel frustrated that he can't share the memories with others.  So many of them are beautiful.  He briefly attempts to transfer a memory to a friend, and then to his father and sister, but it doesn't work.  One night when the new child Gabriel is restless, Jonas puts his hand on Gabe's back and automatically transfers a peaceful memory to this child who, like Jonas and the Giver, has pale eyes -- very rare in their community. 
       The Giver tells Jonas that ten years earlier a New Receiver had been selected and had failed.  The memories she had received were released back into the community and "It was chaos. . . They really suffered for awhile. . . . . it certainly made them aware of how they needed a Receiver to contain all the pain.  And knowledge."
     


__________________________________

Don't forget that you have a spelling test on January 6.
Vocabulary/Spelling #7 Test on January 6
Prefix to study: il- which means not
1. illegal
2. illiterate
3. illegible
4. illogical

1. illegal -- leg = law So, illegal means not conforming to the law

2. illiterate -- literatus, literally mean. "furnished with letters." So, if you are illiterate, you are NOT furnished with letters.
3. illegible -- leg ( ere ) to read + -ibilis -ible = capable of. So, illegible means NOT capable of being read.
4. illogical -- log = word, speech, thought, reason So, illogical means NOT conforming to reason.
conform = to fit together
Learn the underlined definitions for extra credit

December 7, 2010

December 7, 2010

Come prepared with your Symbolic Story Representation for your Book-of-the-Month Club book. See the tab above for Book-of-the-Month.
Your SSR is due on the first day of presentations.  Be ready to present when your group is called to do so. 


Reading Minute:
A1
A2
A3
A4  Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Holes by Louis Sachar
Ghost in the Machine by Partrick Carman

Extra Credit: What is the difference between the words "stationary" and "stationery"?  Come tell me for extra credit.
Answer:

Brian P. Cleary

Stationary or stationery? Simple, Simon. Stationary means fixed in one place -- not moving. Think: stationary bikes are “anchored" in place, so use the letter “a.” Stationery is the paper and “envelopes” used for writing, so use “e.”

_______________

Giver Reading Packets:

Giver Chapt. 3-6 Questions.doc

Giver Chapters 7-9 Questions.doc

Giver Chapters 10 - 12

 A few presentation pics:

The best presentations used symbolic colors and shapes, rather showing everything literally. 

Symbolic Story Grading.doc

Nov -Dec Book sign-up.doc