Neatness Counts Contest

I lost the old post, so we're starting over today!

A1
12-11-09   -1 piece of litter on floor

A2
12-11-09  -5 items on the floor

12-15-09   -12 items needed to be picked up after the class left, and the composition books were somewhat messed up -2  = -14

12-21-09  You would have lost 5 or more points for leaving the composition books in a terrible mess if Nathan hadn't straightened them up for you.   He deserves your thanks.
-3 Words By Heart books and another book from the shelf left out on the floor.  (K.B., I believe at least two of these were your mess.)  


A4
12-11-09   -1 piece of litter , -1 composition books
12-15-09   - 2 pieces of litter


B1
12-11-09   

B2
12-11-09    Thanks for putting away your composition books and Words By Heart books neatly, but three students left messes.  -3


B4
12-11-09
12-16-09   -2

For Parents: Book Recommendations?

Here are some best YA lit recommendations found at NPR.  They might not all be appropriate for your child, but this list will give you an idea of some of the books that are out there.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121173632&sc=emaf

I can recommend going to this blog for book recommendations:
http://cleanreads.blogspot.com/

December 10/11, 2009

December 10/11, 2009

Turn in Book-of-the-Month Research Projects.
Here is the original assignment:

November/December Book Assessment

FAQ's about the Project

Have your book entirely read by the 16th/17th, 
and bring it to school that day.  


1. Spelling test on
-ist = one who

artist   (no extra credit)
physicist  (pertaining to nature)
chemist (from alchemy)


2. Receive the next spelling assignment: 
Prefix to study:   mis- which means incorrect, bad
1.    mistake
2.    misprint
3.    misplace
4.    misinform
5.    misuse

Extra credit:
Tell what the word parts for this word mean:
misanthropist:
    1)  miso = hate
    2)  anthrop = man, human being
    3)  -ist = one who

3. Apostrophes  -- (B2 needs to do the apostrophe exercise with Captain Underpants.)

4. Words By Heart  


B1  from page 5, end of paragraph 1 to  (page 15, top of page?)
B2  from end of chapter one to   ?  (page 15, top of page?)
B4  from page 7, 4th paragraph to  page 15, top of page.


A1 from page 7 4th paragraph to  (no reading today)


A2  from very top of page 17 after ". . . is true for her" to




A4 from end of chapter 1 to page 14 "You don't need to be told





Here's another example for a Works Cited Entry:
For the facts, you need to cite (like with easybib.com or citationmachine.net) the sources.

Here is a works cited entry from  easybib for a fact from one student's project. I just put in the URL she provided (after I'd selected Click Here to Select a Source, Web Site), clicked on AutoCite, then on Create Citation -- lower on the page.  Then I could copy that citation, or wait until I had them all and copy the whole works cited/bibliography from easy bib.
This is the works cited entry:

"Roman Social Class and Public Display." VROMA :: Home. Web. 09 Dec. 2009.    
.

December 8/9, 2009

December 8/9, 2009

Important reminder:  Your research project on the background  (the real/nonfiction facts) of your historical fiction book is due next time.

1. Spelling Test on
"im-" means not 
impossible    
    1 point  Extra credit: poss(e)  = to be able, to have power
improbable      
    1 point Extra credit: probā(re) = to test, examination
imperfect                    
    1 point Extra credit:  per = a prefix meaning “thorough,” “thoroughly,” “utterly,” “very”
    1 point Extra credit:  facere  = to do
    1 point Extra credit:  So, perfect means to finish or to bring to completion.

immobile      
    1 point Extra credit: mōbilis = movable

B4 will also be taking the test on the -ful words.


2. Receive the next set for the test next time:  (B4 will do two text time after next if they did not receive the words today for next time.)

-ist = one who

artist   (no extra credit)
physicist  (pertaining to nature)
chemist (from alchemy)

3. Apostrophes


4. About the project due next time.

  
5.  Words By Heart
In your composition book, keep your log about Words By Heart.


B1  to page 5, end of paragraph 1
B2 to end of chapter one.  B2 needs to do the apostrophe exercise with Captain Underpants.
B4 to page 7, 4th paragraph

A1 page 2 to last paragraph to page 7 4th paragraph.

A2  to  very top of page 17 after ". . . is true for her."

A4 end of chapter 1

Sample Facts and Works Cited for the Book Research Project

Real (Nonfiction) Facts Behind the Historical Fiction Novel  

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

prepared by Mrs. Dorsey  

Period A3

December 5, 2009

Facts:
1.  PBS explains that the Jim Crow Laws this way: "Jim Crow was not a person, yet affected the lives of millions of people. Named after a popular 19th-century minstrel song that stereotyped African Americans, "Jim Crow" came to personify the system of government-sanctioned racial oppression and segregation in the United States."

2. On the PBS webite about Jim Crow Laws, information about the Ku Klux Klan stated that six confederate war veterans in Tennesse organized the Ku Klux Klan in the winter of 1865-1966.  It started out as a secret men's club, and later became a terrorist organization mainly aiming their terrorist acts at African-Americans and anyone who was trying to help the African-Americans.

3.  Another fact that I found on the PBS website states that the fourteenth amendment (passed by Congress in June of 1866 and ratified by the states in 1868) granted citizenship to African-Americans, and was designed to protect the civil rights of former slaves.

4.  Also from PBS, the thirteenth amendentment had abolished slavery, and the fifteenth amendment would guarantee voting rights to black men.

5. The glossary of Biography for Beginners tells us that in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court in (Brown vs. Board of Education) declared it unconstitutional  to segregate blacks from whites in public schools.

6. I found one of the Jim Crow laws that was mentioned in my novel quoted at American Radio Works: "North Carolina: School textbooks shall not be interchangeable between the white and colored schools, but shall continue to be used by the race first using them.

7. , 8., 9. Here are some more (unbelievable to me) Jim Crow laws as quoted on American Radio Works: 

"Louisiana: All circuses, shows, and tent exhibitions, to which the attendance of more than one race is invited shall provide not less than two ticket offices and not less than two entrances."
"Texas: Negroes are to be served through a separate branch or branches of the county free library, which shall be administered by a custodian of the negro race under the supervision of the county librarian."
"Mississippi: Any person guilty of printing, publishing or circulating matter urging or presenting arguments in favor of social equality or of intermarriage between whites and negroes, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor."

10. According to the American Academy of Achievement's biography of Rosa Parks,  it was on December 1, 1955 that she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man,  eventually leading to the Supreme Court decision to strike down laws that segregated public bus transportation.

11. An institute at Stanford University reports that on November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court decided the case of Browder v. Gayle, which was the case that struck down laws segregating public transportation.

12. The World Book Encyclopedia verifies that Medgar Evers was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement who was shot down (murdered) outside his home on June 12, 1963.    (In my historical novel, his wife and children see it happen.)

13. According to an article on the NPR website, Medgar Ever's killer was not brought to justice for 31 years.

14. I also found out on the NPR website that at the time of Ever's murder, Mississippi was the state that led the nation in the lynching of black Americans.  Today it is the state with highest number of black elected officials.

15. Articles published with in the last ten years and reported on the internet, including a report on CBS News, one on a Florida television station, and one  from an African American news source, complained of U.S. companies that had segregated (based on race or ethnicity) bathrooms in  2000, 2005, and 2007.

Works Cited

"BlackNews.com - Tyson Foods Sued For Maintaining Segregated Work Areas." BlackNews.com - Black News | African American News | Black America. Web. 07 Dec. 2009. .

Evers, Medgar. Garrow, David J. Web. 6 Dec. 2009. .

First Coast News | WTLV NBC12 | WJXX ABC25 | Jacksonville, FL | St. Augustine, FL | Brunswick, GA |. Web. 07 Dec. 2009. .

Harris, Laurie L. BIOGRAPHY FOR BEGINNERS--AFRICAN-AMERICAN LEADERS. Vol. 1. 2007. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 6 Dec. 2009.

"King Institute Encyclopedia." King Institute Home. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .

"The Legacy of Medgar Evers : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .

"Remembering Jim Crow : Presented by American RadioWorks." American RadioWorks from American Public Media. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .

"The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow |." PBS. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .

"Rosa Parks Biography -- Academy of Achievement." Academy of Achievement Main Menu. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .

"Segregated Bathrooms At Halliburton - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Web. 06 Dec. 2009.

Note: The facts would also be accompanied by illustrations, and I'd tell where I found my illustrations.
See also

FAQ's about the Project

Links about civil rights: 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1294360 Medgar Evars

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/education.html Jim Crow

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/remembering/laws.html   Jim Crow

Letters to Authors -- October Book of the Month

The deadline has been extended through December 3rd.  That is your last day to revise and edit.

myaccess.com
user name: firstnamestudentnumber
password: 999lastname

When you first get to the page with the horizontal bar graph showing your overall progress, look at the right to see if you have any messages.

When you are revising and editing, use the My Tutor and My Editor.  Also, click on comments on the upper box to see the teacher comments.  Click on the blue or other colored words to see the comments.

Make sure you've right aligned your name and the school address.
Don't forget the date over the greeting.

Make sure you include the book title in your letter.
Italicize book titles.

Check organization.  Do you have a beginning, middle, and end (conclusion)?

December 4/7 2009

December 4/7, 2009
Pick up your composition books.
1. Prepare for spelling test.
Take spelling test on  the suffix  "-ful'  (Except for one class that I think didn't get the study guide yet for the "-ful" words.
careful
beautiful
useful
helpful
frightful

2. Receive a new word part and new words:
"im-" means not 
impossible              
    1 point  Extra credit: poss(e)  = to be able, to have power
improbable             
    1 point Extra credit: probā(re) = to test, examination
imperfect                    
    1 point Extra credit:  per = a prefix meaning “thorough,” “thoroughly,” “utterly,” “very”
    1 point Extra credit:  facere  = to do
    1 point Extra credit:  So, perfect means to finish or to bring to completion.

immobile                
    1 point Extra credit: mōbilis = movable

3.  More About the Book (Historical Fiction background) Research Project.   -- view and discuss sample PowerPoint.


4. Titles 


5. Words By Heart
In your composition book, keep a log about Words By Heart.


B1
B2
B4

A1 page 2 to last paragraph
A2 finished chapter 1
A4 to page 4, "She looked out the window at the calm dusk and tried to believe she would win."




For answers to questions about your November-December book project, see

FAQ's about the Project