Tuesday/Wednesday, March 8/9, 2016

Announcements and Reminders:                                                                   Have fun on Monday, March 7.  Your teachers will be at school, and you will not! Tuesday, March 8 is request day for Cavetime. Wednesday will be  regular Cavetime. There will be no Cavetime in Mrs. Dorsey's classroom on Thursday and Friday, March 10 and 11. If you still need to take the District Test, you could do it after school on Tuesday or Wednesday. Friday is the last day to hand in extra credit, late work, and revisions --except for the informational essay about a person from How They Croaked.  You may revise and edit the informational essay  by Wednesday, March 16.  See your Skyward grades for the informational essay, the messages attached to your essay, the comments embedded in your essay, and see the tab for Writing/Grammar here on this blog.) Remember to email me when you have FINISHED revising and editing your work. If you need to complete spelling make-up, the pink slips are in the handout file box. Another Example of the Informational Essay About a Famous Person

Targets for Today: I can use commas correctly when I write. I can recognize and address a counterclaim/counterargument. I can revise my own writing.

  

Today’s  Agenda: 1. Comma packet, page 5! 2. Counterargument  with Mrs. Mace ==================================== Pick Your Enemy, and Prove Them Wrong! Step One: Divide the page in two columns. When I tell you, write the two names on your paper, one at the top of each column.   Step Two: Below each character’s name, write the opinion they would have about the question. Step Three: Below that, write two pieces of evidence (reasons) that each character would use to back up their opinion. Step Four: I will call two people to come up to the front and represent the characters. They will go back and forth sharing their opinions and reasons, one at a time. Step Five: Pick a reason from the “enemy” and write it below the two reasons. Then prove it wrong! ================================== Which is better: face paint or masks? Batman The Joker Masks are better Face paint is better 1- Some people could have allergic reactions to face paint. 1- It is hard to see and hear when you’re wearing a mask. 2- A mask hides your real face and protects your identity better. 2- Face paint lets you show your facial expressions. Some people think you can’t hear in a mask, but good masks are designed to prevent that. Though some people are allergic to paint, there are many hypo-allergenic paints they could use. Is the rebellion against the government a good thing? Katniss                                                             President Snow Opinion Two reasons why each would think that Counterclaim - Prove the other person WRONG! Santa                                                       The Grinch Should children receive presents on Christmas? ================================================= 3. A few other points for your essays. 4. Computer Lab 202 to work on revisions on your Argument essay --     Check your Counterargument!! If you have more time, you could work on your informational essay. Remember to email me when you have FINISHED revising and editing your work. Some other stuff you need to know:  If you are done with your argument essay, work on your informational essay. Informational:  Do not forget your Works Cited list! For both informational and argument writing, make sure you check your paragraphs for PEE. Make sure your body paragraphs -- P Make your POINT. E Back it up with EVIDENCE. E EXPLAIN/ELABORATE/ELUCIDATE Remember to email me when you have FINISHED revising and editing your work. Plagiarism Don't be a  Just don't do it! Remember to email me when you have FINISHED revising and editing your work.

  

If You Were Absent: See above. If you are finishing or revising your essays: For the handouts, examples, etc., see the tab above for Writing/Grammar 2015-2015.

Why FAIL is not a bad word. . .

Monday

Why do the people who create memes
use so many capital letters
and leave off punctuation?

Thursday/Friday, March 3/4, 2016

Announcements and Reminders: B7 needs the drawing -- missed on Friday.             Pass off your clauses and phrase sentence if you haven't!                Email me if you have revised an essay and are ready for me to check it again. When you are revising/editing, pay attention to the messages from me.  You will see that you have received messages when you log into your home page.  Also see any comments from me or from the program that are embedded in your essay.                   (DC) If you were not here for the District Argument Writing Test,  (IC) you need to arrange with me a time after school this week to take it.       If you were here and received a zero on your District Writing Test, see me! Term 3 ends March 18. All late work, revisions, and extra credit should be turned in by March 11. There is no school on Monday, March 7, and Ms. Dorsey will have a sub on March 10, 11. You may still hand in work on those days, but I will not be here for Cavetime or after school.

Targets for Today: I can use sources to write an informational essay.   I can skim and scan for information. I can use commas correctly.   I can create a variety of complete sentences.

Today’s  Agenda: 1. Pick up your comma packet and complete page 4.  For each compound sentence and for sentences with two verbs, underline the subject(s) and circle the verb(s).  (These are the sentences for Rule #11.) Examples:  (I can't circle here, so I will bold the verbs.)             I washed my mom’s car, and I mowed the lawn.             I washed my mom’s car and mowed the lawn. We will correct this as a class.  (A comma quiz is coming!)   When you finish, pick up a copy of How They Croaked, and read another chapter or so, or read another book if you have finished reading How They Croaked. 100 Ways to Say "Said" A sidelight about Informational Writing:   In the Write Source 2000 books, turn to page 233, and, with your elbow partner, read the Sample Research Paper.  Read, too, the notes in the margin.  (See photos below of space stations.) Notice the way it is organized.   Notice that it has an introduction that ends in a thesis statement. Notice that it ends in a conclusion that wraps up the essay. Notice that it uses in-text citations (parenthetical).  Notice the Works Cited list at the end.  These are all things you need in your informational essay about one of the people from How They Croaked.   You do not want to have any zeros on your grade for this essay.  Watch for messages for you on UtahCompose!   They may point out what you still need to do.  Also use the comments embedded in the essay.   You can also check Skyward for missing parts of your essays, as I get the papers graded.  Do not wait for me to grade yours.  Go ahead and finish it now. 2. Skimming and Scanning --  Why are we doing this?  Receive the packet about "Your Brain on Movies."  Here is what scanning and skimming are -- https://www.aacc.edu/tutoring/file/skimming.pdf 1. Preview:  Title, headings, illustrations 2. Scan  Find the answers to these questions by looking for specific words.      1) The magic in our brains is particularly potent (strong) when we do what?        2)  What do psychologists call the kind of mental state when our attention is completely absorbed in one activity?        3)  According to a professor and writer named Holland, how do we know things are real?         4)  When the part of our brain that knows that what we are seeing is make-believe goes on a temporary vacation, what is that called?       5)   Why does watching movies on smart phones limit their magic?  3. Skim to get the bigger picture from the article.  What central ideas come out in this article?   4. You could also do a close reading to analyze the article more in depth. NOTICE THE IN-TEXT CITATIONS IN THIS ARTICLE -- USING OUTSIDE SOURCES -- the quotes from Professor Holland.  Watch these clips, applying as best you can what you learned from the article we read:   Start this one at 1:05  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhjDnrw34QA Then watch  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyzE9thQIPo For you to try on your own:  To practice scanning, try this game:  http://21cif.com/rkitp/challenge/goldrush/california_index.swf Did you notice how the music heightens the emotion? Your experience watching will be more "magical" if you  3. Play Grammar Punk Parts of Speech Chart

If You Were Absent:  See above.  Complete through page 4 in the comma packet:  COMMA RULES.docx  See the instructions above for page 4.  When you come back, find the article and questions in the handouts folder. Scan to answer the questions.  Then skim through the article, and on the back of the question paper, write two central ideas for the article.   What are the two major messages found in this article?   Circle your answers to the questions on the article, write out your answers on the question sheet, write the central ideas on the back, staple question sheet to article, and hand them in to the top wire basket for your class. When you return, also read through the sample essay in the Write Source book.  See above. If you are finishing or revising your essays: For the handouts, examples, etc., see the tab above for Writing/Grammar 2015-2015.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/nasa-s-scott-kelly-grew-2-inches-body-after-year-n530456
ISS = International Space Station

ISS = International Space Station

Pronounce MIR:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEKSlPbZt7I

MIR Space Station

Other Resources
Scanning
  http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson155/Skim_Activity2.pdf

http://www.palmbeachschools.org/ec/reading/documents/scanningmini-lessonwithsampledocuments.pdf

https://www.aacc.edu/tutoring/file/skimming.pdf

http://readingstrategies.wikidot.com/skimming

Job Hunt:  http://readingstrategies.wdfiles.com/local--files/skimming/skim1.pdf
x Jack Anderson, keys

Close Reading

A close reading is a careful and purposeful reading. Well actually, it’s rereading. It’s a careful and purposeful rereading of a text. It’s an encounter with the text where students really focus on what the author had to say, what the author’s purpose was, what the words mean, and what the structure of the text tells us.

                            (http://www.mhecommoncoretoolbox.com/close-reading-and-the-ccss-part-1.html)

Students notice features and language used by the author. Students are required to think thoroughly and methodically about the details in a text.

Students determine how a text is organized, and understand the effect of the author’s word choice in a certain passage. Close reading goes “deeper than the text”. It mines what is under the surface of the words. Students eventually evaluate or critique what is written.

When students are taught to read a text closely they become more skilled at locating evidence within a sentence or a paragraph or a page of a text or story. Then orally or in writing, they can justify answers to text-dependent questions based on evidence.

Things Close Readers Do: –   “Get the gist of what a text is about”  –   “Use the text to answer questions”               CITE passages from the text(s). –   “Reread the text” and “Gather evidence (quotes) from the text”                CITE passages from the text(s).

Close Reading Questions

First Reading: Determine what the text says.

• What is the text about?
• What is the theme of the story?
• What was _____ (character) like, and what did he/she do in the story?

Second Reading: Figure out how the text works

• What does _____ (a word from the text) mean in this context?
• Who is telling this part of the story?
• What is the author’s purpose for this section?
• What choices did the author make as he or she wrote this?

Third Reading: Analyze and compare the textWhat information do these illustrations add to the text? Or, how does this picture differ from what the author wrote?

• Compare _____ (an aspect of the text, such as character or main idea) with the same aspect in another text by the same author. (Readers can also examine texts on the same topic or from the same genre.)
• What reasons does the author give to support _____ (one of the ideas)?
• What evidence can I gather from this text? 

Notes for the teacher:
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/close-reading-middle-school.html

Another Example of the Informational Essay About a Famous Person

Thank you to Arianna L.

Galileo Glalilei was clearly the most intelligent person in the room. Galileo is an Italian astronomer who opened the world's eyes to a variety of things we hadn't even thought about. He was born in Pisa, on Febuary 15, 1564. He was the first son of Vincenzio Galilei a famous musician. He matriculated as a student of medicine in the University of Pisa. Whenever he was at home he would study about mathematics and physical science (Physics). This amazed Ostilio Ricci, a family friend professor at the academy of design. From there Galileo's journey began.

 Because of Galileo's interest in mathematics and science it was the end to his medical studies. He produced two treatises which made his name well-known. The first one was called "The Little Balance" and explained the hydrostatic principles of balance. The second described the center of gravity on various solids. "In 1606, Glalileo presented the Venetian senate a telescope of his own design. The success was tremendous. He obtained a life long contact at the Universty of Padua," Gale biograghical in context states.

 Later, the invention for his telescope brought to us this new understanding of our Solar System and about the planets in it. Also the telescope gave us a better count about the number of other galaxies and Solar Systems near by us. "Galileo was the first to spot Jupitor's four moons. He also invented the military compass that ensured cannon balls hit their targets." says Georgia Bragg, author of How They Croaked. 

 In the end of Galileo's life he was in much pain. Because the water wasn't always safe to drink, Galileo preferred wine. Which was no really the best idea considering the lead added to his wine was poisonous. Because of the lead he always had headaches, anemia, rotten teeth, and gout. Which is not exactly the most wonderful thing that can happen to you. At the end of his life Galileo was just miserable. His skin was raw and blisters where completely covering his body. "Galileo died a painful death on January eighth 1642 at seventy seven years old, which is double the life the average human at that time" states Wikipedia. In the end Galileo really did open the world's eyes to various things we hadn't thought of before.

Works Cited:
   "Galileo Galilei." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Research in Context. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. 
  "Galileo Galilei." Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015. Research in context. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
     Bragg, Georgia, and Kevin O'Malley. How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous. New York: Walker, 2011. Print.