11/3/11

·   grammar – subject complement mini-quiz (see me to make up ASAP)

·   read “Sex on TV 4” speech and answer questions in complete sentences (see me for copy of this)

Hey -- I loved the Rachel's Challenge presentation.  I'll also admit that I cried...  What did you think?

November 2nd

·   Grammar – turn your workbook and yellow organizer in to have pages 37-38 checked

·   Grammar – 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th:  complete ½ of each side of the attached handout (for practice) and complete grammar workbook pages 40 (#s 1-10) and page 41 (#s 1-5) (I attached copies of the slides I used to teach subject complements if that helps; also feel free to see me between classes)

  -- 2^nd, 4^th:  complete all of pages 40-41 (see attached slides for extra help)

·   Turn in “I Have a Dream” packet (from last Friday) and group work handout (from Tuesday)

·   Begin reading “Sex on TV 4” (get copy when you return) – pages 1-4

Oct. 25th - Reading Informational Nonfiction

Hi everyone!  I'm not here today (Carter's getting a filling-- yuck!), so I'm posting in advance. 

* read 15 min., fill out log, and write reader's response
* turn in intro and brainstorming (attach with staple -- brainstorming on back)
* take Informational Nonfiction quiz (reading passage with questions...)  good luck!

See you Wednesday!

October 24th -- I'm back......

Hi guys!  It's been forever and a day since I've last posted, but I'm trying to get back in the swing.  :)

Today's assignment:  recheck books and read (oh, happy day!) for 15 min. 
* fill out log (oopsie -- made a mistake!  Put both today's and tomorrow's reading on 10-25 space)
* turn in "In Cold Blood" articles
* read sample memoir (see me for a copy) and sample intros (see me)
* write your own intro! 

So -- what did you think of the "In Cold Blood" articles?  Let's chat!
Glad to be back!

October 6th

Today we did do grammar, so make sure I get to see your book to check pages 28-29 (Honors classes 28-30).  You'll also want to complete pages 31-32 (Honors 31-33A) before next grammar time. 

We continued watching Tuesdays with Morrie, and we'll finish tomorrow.  Do you like it?  I think it's a sweet story!

October 5th -- Tuesdays with Morrie

Sorry, guys!  Carter was sick, so today we just watched the movie version of Tuesdays with Morrie.   I know you're disappointed we didn't get to grammar, but maybe tomorrow! :)

October 4th -- Carter's Birthday & Tuesday with Morrie

Happy 4th birthday to Carter! 

Today after reading workshop, we completed Reader Response #6.  Be sure to turn this in!

We also read another literary nonfiction piece, an excerpt from Tuesdays with Morrie, and answered several multiple choice questions.  This was a timed reading experience, but if you were absent, please just get it done and turn it in ASAP.  Thanks!

October 3rd -- A Christmas Memory

After reading workshop today, we finished up the literary nonfiction piece, "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote in our Reader Plus workbooks.  Please have all reading checks and pause and reflects completed, and have pages 119-135 torn out and stapled, read to turn in for a daily grade.  (Page 135 will gain you five bonus points.)

Also, visit the composition notebook page for entry #12.

September 29th -- Brian Piccolo's story

Today we watched Brian Piccolo die on the movie, and then read the last chapter of his biography.  It was heartbreaking to read Joy's last words and his last words... 

•Have you known anyone with similar experiences with cancer?

•How did you feel when Brian passed?

•Which person did you emphasize with most, Brian, or Joy?

* What did you think about the movie?  Did you enjoy it?  Did it make you sad?

September 27th -- Brian's Song

To celebrate kicking off our nonfiction unit, and to reward you for your unflagging on-demand efforts, we are beginning a movie called Brian's Song.  This nonfiction story is set in the Civil Rights Movement and follows an unusual friendship forged between a white football player and a black football player for the Bears.  Brian Piccollo, the main character, becomes ill with cancer. 

September 23rd -- Polishing an On-Demand Piece

Composition notebook entry #10 (see page) -- turn these in!
Johnny Knoxville -- rewrite piece, polishing, and looking for the following:  audience awareness, form (letter), transitions, and a great conclusion.  This will be graded on Monday. 

Have a good weekend!

September 22nd -- Johnny Knoxville and MTV

Catching up from when blog was down, so here's the agenda:

Grammar -- mini-quiz (see me to make up)
Point/Counterpoint arguement -- turn in
Johnny Knoxville on-demand -- write body paragraphs

September 21 -- Transitions and Point/Counterpoint

Hi guys...  blogger has been down, so I'm posting this quite late.  Here's the agenda from today:

Grammar -- turn book in for 19-21 to be checked & complete pages 28-30
Transitions -- read Titanic piece and highlight transitions; read Mad Lib piece and add transitions
Point/Counterpoint -- write 2 body paragraphs over dress code vs. uniforms, and then write 1 counterpoint arguement

Thanks for you patience!

September 20th -- Focus on Thesis

Today we continued our study on the introduction with a focus on thesis sentences.  A thesis sentence is the spot where you share your opinion (without saying "I think" or "Yes, because" or "No, because") and a brief overview of your reasons why you feel this way.  Here's are some examples: 

For:

Area fast food restaurants should be called upon to take turns providing student lunches so that more students will eat lunch, the school will increase its profit margin for lunches, and students will feel like the school truly cares about their happiness.

Against:

Because of the increase in teen obesity, the money lost by the school district, and the health code violations incurred by our area fast food restaurants, our school should not allow fast food restaurants to take over school lunches.

We are working on another on-demand prompt in baby steps, so today we wrote just the introduction to a prompt entitled "Johnny Knoxville and MTV."  See  me if you need a copy.

Just the composition notebook page for entry #9 (books will be due on Friday), and don't forget to read at home, fill out reading log, and complete reader response #5 (due next Tuesday). 

September 19th -- Magazine Hooks

What makes you want to read a magazine article?  What draws your attention?  Today (after reading workshop) we did a mini-lesson on Introduction to Introductions (handout on back of Audience Awareness chart) on the five most common hooks:  quote, statistic, description, story, and question.  We then took our mad skills to the library and looked for hooks in magazines.  This information was logged on a handout entitled "Magazine Madness."  See me if you need a copy. 

september 16 -- It's Finally Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight's football game -- 6:30
Dance right after the game  -- cost $5

See the composition notebook page for today's assignment.  We're on #8, so I'll collect these next Friday.  Are you completely caught up? 

Magazine audience awareness activity -- we looked up articles in popular magazines, looking specifically for audience awareness.  We found it in the beginning most often, but it can also be found throughout the article and in the conclusion. 

Your own on-demand writing -- next we retrieved your on-demand writing from Wednesday and highlighted your audience awareness examples.  Did you have enough to qualify for a 4? 

After looking for audience awarness, we took the scoring guide and self-scored, line by line.  You get a 3 number score, for content, structure, and convention.  Turn these back in after scorning, please.  If you are behind from an absence, try to write and score this by Monday.

Sample on-demand -- after scoring your own writing pieces, we looked at released annotated examples for the same prompt you wrote from on Wednesday.  See me for a packet, please.

Good luck, football players!  Have a great, fabulous, restful weekend, everyone!!!

September 15th -- Costume Day

"Heigh ho, heigh ho
It's off to work we go
Heigh ho, heigh ho heigh ho!"  

It's been a really fun day, dressing up to show our school spirit (although I will say that the beard thing is a bit much... I couldn't stand it in real life!)  What has been your favorite day to dress? 

Today in class, we read the paper for a bit (remember to take them home after 5th class if you want them) and worked more with on-demand.  If you were absent today, please pick up your While You Were Out form -- it has a copy of the slides and handouts we used today. 

BRING A MAGAZINE TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

September 14th -- Color War!!!!!!!!!!!!

Walking into the halls today was really neat -- so many of you dressed out today it was a virtual sea of orange! 

Today, we practiced our first on-demand prompt.  See me if you missed to get this made up ASAP.  We'll use your responses tomorrow and in the coming week as we learn more and more about on-demand. 

NOTE:  Please bring a magazine (or two) tomorrow if you have those at home and don't mind sharing.  Thanks!

September 13th -- Rock Star Day

Today was rock star day, and the freshman class really rocked it out!  What great, creative people we have down here!  Look for pictures on the Homecoming Week page.

Today we read, so if you missed, read 15 min. at home, fill out your reading log, and do reader response #4.  I'm collecting those responses for a grade in a couple of weeks, so make sure you're caught up!

We also completed a highlighting activity with Kentucky's on-demand rubric.  It wasn't a heap of fun, but it was really informative, and hopefully you can use some of the info as you write tomorrow. 

See the composition notebook page for today's assignment.  I'm collecting these after 10, so make sure you are up to date there as well!..

September 12th -- Sharing Time!

We began today with a short trip to the library to recheck, check out new books, take AR tests, check the blog, etc.  If you missed today, make sure to do this tomorrow morning before school.   Make sure to read at home and fill out your reading log for 8-12-11. 

Today was the day to share story endings -- how creative were you?  We shared in small groups, then chose one ending from each group to share with the whole class.  It was really interesting to see how different and creative each of you are! 

Tomorrow we begin working with on-demand writings.  Bring some highlighters or colored pencils! 

September 9th -- Friday, Friday, so good to me...

Fridays are so good!  Since you worked so hard yesterday on the test, we aren't starting anything really big today, just going back to re-teach prepositional phrases, since so many of us missed them on the Grammar Quick-Quiz last week over subjects and predicates. 

Composition notebook entry #6-- see page for assignment
Grammar -- turn in your book to have pages 25-27 checked and complete pages 19-21 (see me if you didn't get a copy of the most common prepositions)

Have a great weekend, and God bless!

HOMECOMING WEEK!!!!

Next week is homecoming week, so be prepared to dress out and go crazy with school spirit!

Monday:  "Crazy Day" -- crazy hair, socks, duct tape, etc.
Tuesday:  "Rock of Ages" -- dress as any rock star from the 40's to current day
Wednesday:  "Color Wars" -- freshmen dress in orange
Thursday:  "Costume Day"
Friday:  "Mighty Laker Day" -- wear red, white, and blue Laker t-shirts (I will do free face painting in the a.m. -- I am limited, but I do a mean anchor!)

Hall Decorations -- due by Wednesday morning
Door Decorations -- 1st class, due by Wednesday morning
Club "Twin Sheet" competition -- due by pep rally on Friday

Bonfire -- Thursday night @ 7:30
Volleyball game -- Thursday night -- FREE to students
Picnic and Powder Puff game -- Friday
Laker Rockin' Pep Rally -- Friday, 6th class

September 8th -- What Do You Know????

Today you had the opportunity (okay, that's stretching it -- it was a test grade, after all) to show me what you know about short stories.  We read a new story, "Sonata for Harp and Bicycle," which was a mystery story of sorts, full of suspense and romance.  I hope you enjoyed it -- I remember reading this story a long time ago and thinking it was pretty neat.  You answered 18 multiple choice questions dealing with terminology found in the story, and then completed a story map detailing events from the short story.  Story maps are really effective in allowing me to determine if you can find key details of the plot map as you read, and if you are capable of formulating a theme after reading. 

It was a long day for you, I know, and I appreciate all your efforts.  If you were absent today, see me to make this up ASAP.  Friday's very near! :)

Red Thread Movement

The Y Club is selling red thread bracelets for $3 each beginning tomorrow.  You can get them from Mrs. Davidson or myself, and each $3 bracelet helps resue 3 girls a day from sex trafficing in Nepal.  It's a great cause, and they're cute, to boot!

September 7th -- Creating, Typing, Imagining

Without hesitation, he walked to the door on the right and opened it.  AND THEN WHAT??? 

Did the princess send her lover to his doom?  Did she watch with tears rolling down her eyes as he embraced the hated lady?  Did something crazy happen? 

Today's assignment was to write a one or two page story ending to "The Lady, or the Tiger?" and most of you took it to heart, coming up with fantastic, creative, and fabulous ideas.  Remember that it isn't due until Monday, so make sure it looks great!  We aren't going back to the lab, so if you didn't finish, you'll need to work before school or save it on a flashdrive and take home to finish.  Happy writing!

FYI -- test tomorrow over short story terms!

September 6 Preparing for the End of Unit 1

My most favorite classroom activity -- reading -- began our week.  If you missed, make sure to read at home, and have your parent sign your log! 

Think about the end of "The Lady, or the Tiger?"  -- how do you want to end your story?  See me for requirements; we're headed to the lab tomorrow.  Actually, you'll need to meet me in the lab (next to room 140).

Test Thursday -- study your terms!  More details about the test to come in tomorrow's blog.  Welcome back from your long, rainy weekend! 

Long Weekend -- Glory, Hallelujah!

I adore long weekends -- we have no special plans to go out of town or on the lake, but we're spending time with family tomorrow (Sunday), and we just got in from the dragstrip tonight.  We also spent a very hot morning watching Carter play soccer.  Thank you, First Baptist, for the snow cones!! What special plans do you have for this Labor Day weekend?

Class Pics

Such a beautiful September day -- a great day to take class photos! 

September 2nd -- Dictionary Day!

Dictionaries are such dreaded, hated books today because we have the benefit of the Internet and online dictionaries that are just so much faster!  Until on-demand testing catches up with technology, though, we need those dictionary skills, so today, we polished the dust off and used them not once, but twice! 

Our composition notebook entry #5 required us to "adjectize" ourselves -- see the Composition Notebook page for more information.

We also looked up the vocabulary words for "The Lady, or the Tiger?" and began reading the story.  Be prepared for a writing project! 

September 1st -- Fishin' or Women?

Today we read a great new story, "The Bass, the River, and Shelia Mant" in our textbooks (page 306).  We also took a quick grammar quiz over subjects and predicates (if you missed, see me to make this up ASAP) and completed a composition notebook entry (see Composition Notebook page on the blog to get this entry).  But the story made me think...  would I give up something I love (like the narrator in the story) for someone else?  Would I pretend to be someone/something I'm not to impress someone else? 

Okay, folks-- lay it all out there -- if you had to choose between fishing and your guy or girl, what would you choose? 

What did you think about the story today?  Did you enjoy reading to yourself, or did it drive you crazy?  :) 

Share your thoughts!

August 30th -- "Most Dangerous Game" ends

After reading workshop (time to read, log what was read, and completion of reader response #3), we discussed last night's reading, the end of "The Most Dangerous Game," and responses ranged from "What the heck happened?" to "Did he just do what I think he did?" 

We also finished up all short story notes and prepared to read "The Scarlet Ibis."  Homework tonight is to read to page 205 and be ready to discuss tomorrow.  FYI -- it's told in flashback.  :)

August 29th -- STAR Reading Test

Today we took the STAR reading test -- if you were absent, see me to make this up ASAP so I can run everyone's reports.  If you score at a 9th grade reading level or above, I'll give you a 100% bonus grade; for those of you that score below, keep working, and the next time we take it, you'll make it! 

Also, make sure to finish "The Most Dangerous Game" tonight and have it ready to turn in (all Pause and Reflects/Reading Checks completed, torn out, and stapled).  See you tomorrow!

Class of 2015 Picture

This afternoon, after a long day of PLAN testing, we gathered to listen to Mr. Gossage deliver an encouraging word for the freshman class, and then headed to the football field for a group picture and handprint painting.  :)  It was H-O-T, but the photo results were fab-u-lous!  Go Class of 2015!!!!!!

August 26th -- A Blog is Born

It hasn't been easy, nor is it particularly what I want in terms of design, but I'm posting my first blog EVER!  I'm excited by this new venue of discussion, this new way of communicating with students, and I pray that I will be successful at keeping it updated with information that you deem suitable.  I also pray that students will actually look at it!