Week of June 4 - June 15

Reading Goal - Week 1 -- Pg.92

                           Week 2 -- finish book!

AGENDA
1.) Warm-Up:  Reading Check Worksheet 1 and Reading Check Worksheet 2
2.) Discuss up to the end of the second marking period
3.) Agenda Books

HOMEWORK
1.) Painting (see directions below) and bring coloring supplies to class
2.) Read all of the third marking period in Speak by Thursday, 06/04/15
3.)  BINDER & TRI-FOLD POSTER BOARD DUE IN HOMEROOM TOMORROW  - in preparation for our first day of work Wednesday for the Student Led Conferences

PAINTING ASSIGNMENT
1.) Choose an artist that you are interested in (some may include Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Claude Monet, Jackson Pollack, Vincent van Gogh, Andy Warhol, Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc.)
2.) Look up some of their famous pieces and choose the one that stands out the most to you
3.) PRINT THAT IMAGE OUT! (either at home or in school DURING HOMEROOM)

Week of May 14-18

Monday

1.) Free write journal
2.) Graded, timed warm-up (you may use your notes)
3.) Research check-in - PSA OR flier due today, fill out your note card with important details from your body paragraph #1

HW - polish up your PSA or Flier, fill out your notecard



Tuesday 

2.) Read both Pecos Bill and the Mustang and Paul Bunyan in your textbooks (or in the electronic textbook in the ELA links section of the blog)

3.) Tall Tale Hyperbole Hunt

4.) Agenda Books

HOMEWORK

1.) Finish the Tall Tale Hyperbole Hunt

2.) Notecard - Body Paragraph #2

Wednesday 
AGENDA
1.) Go over Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyon multiple choice questions
2.) Collect Tall Tale homework from Monday
3.) 15-20 minutes of group practice
4.) Present your Tall Tale
5.) Journal Assignment
6.) Agenda Books

JOURNAL
Now it's your turn to write a tall tale!  In your journal, please write a 1 page tall tale on a made up (by you) or fake (cartoon, video game character, etc.) character.  Your entry can either take on a story format (like Pecos Bill) or a poem format (like Paul Bunyon) and it also MUST include 7-10 hyperboles.  If you could underline your hyperboles, that would be GREAT!  It also needs some sort of visual to go along with it.  This should be done on a separate page.

HOMEWORK
1.) Finish up your journal entry

Week of April 30 - May 4

Monday -
1)Navience with Mrs. Malous the first 20 minutes of class,
2) work on Body Paragraph #3

HW - Research Paper - Intro/Body Paragraphs 1-3 DUE TOMORROW


Objective - to explore different cultures of the world through a variety of "Stories of the People"

Tuesday  
1) Research Check - In: Intro/Body Para 1-3
2) Closing paragraph mini-lesson
3) Foklore Prezi 
4) This weeks folklore activity - You were given a handout to read and to take notes from as well as a directions handout with an outline to follow for taking your notes.  When we are not working on research this week we will direct our attention to the folklore activity, which should be completed by the end of class on Friday.

HW - Closing paragraph step #1, #2, or #3 needs to be completed for class tomorrow...which step from your outline did you choose??

Wednesday

Week of April 23 - April 27

Welcome Back!

Afer two weeks of nonacademics, it's time to jump back into our writing process.  Below is our schedule for the week.

Monday - Narrative/Seed Story
Let's revisit and finish our seed story.  Thoughts to keep in mind - Does it have a lesson/message at its conclusion? Have you proofread for spelling, grammar, and punctuation? Are the M.I.T.'s (most importantn things) present - character, setting, important details, dialogue. 

Narrative stories are due in class on Wednesday.

HW - finish your seed story and choose an excerpt to share in class tomorrow.  This will be our public speaking activity for the week.

Tuesday - MCAS English Session I
Share out! - All students will share their chosen exceprt from their seed story.

HW - finish your seed story and have a copy printed out to hand in to me tomorrow.

Wednesday - Friday
All research, every day!

We will be taking the necessary steps towards writing our Body Paragraphs 2 & 3. 

RESEARCH DEADLINE - Official rough draft of your research paper will be due Thursday, May 3. 

Week of March 26- 30

AGENDA
Objective:  Students will listen to directions on how to fill in their outlines for the body section of their papers and then they will use their notes to complete this task.  After that, students will work in small groups on the "folding in quotes" technique before trying it on their own.

Monday

Literature Circle Assessment - Movie Trailer!
1) Plot diagram hand-out - read the given notes and fill out your template
2) Begin brainstorming with your group about what is important to have in your movie trailer
3) Movie Trailers will be watched in class on Monday, April 2


Tuesday
1.) Finish up practice presentations - noun generated stories
2) Research mini-lesson - Body Paragraphs and Folding In Quotes

BODY PARAGRAPH OUTLINE REMINDERS
1.) Use your notes and add specific information from them to the appropriate subtopic
2.) These should consist of mostly of bullets (Remember, you want skeletal information!  Save the detail and the juicy stuff for when you write your paper!)
3.) Everyone must have TWO (2) direct quote per subtopic (please copy this down with the correct citation.  Questions about citations?!?  Use this website!

FOLDED IN QUOTE EXAMPLE:
The picture below is a sample folded in quote.  The words written in purple are from a past group of students. The words written in red are the notes that we took and talked about in class on how to use this graphic organizer.

Wednesday + Thursday

WORK SESSION

First half of class - Body paragraph I work

Second half of class - Lit Circle meet up to discuss your movie trailer project :-) 

Friday - NO SCHOOL - Good Friday 

Week of March 19 - 23

Objective: To continue moving forward in the research paper process.  To make progress according to Lit Circle schedules

Monday - *Research DUE.  A mini-lesson reminder on how to write a good HOOK(opening sentence) as we dive into organizing our Intro paragraph for the research paper.  The links to a Research Paper Outline as well as the Hook cheat sheet should be saved in a "forever" folder as you will be able to use them FOREVER!! 
*The rest of class is for your lit circle reading schedule.

HW - Write your hook, it will be checked first thing in class tomorrow.

Tuesday - HOOK check-in.  Continue with your lit circle schedule

HW - Random Noun Generator Story - Public Speaking #2 - Create a mini-story either about the two words you were given in class OR using the two words you were given in class.  30-45 seconds. Stories will be presented at the beginning of class Thursday

Wednesday - 

Thursday -

Friday -

Week of March 12 - 16

Let's take this week one day at a time!  There will be a big focus on research this week, if we have an interrupted week again due to snow please continue your research at home.

Objective:  To move forward in learning the necessary steps when researching a topic.

Let's talk about taking notes...

NOTES FROM CLASS:
Note Taking 101
1.) You must keep track of where you got your information.  Some techniques include:
~ using a different piece of paper (written or typed) for each source (labeled at the top)
~ separating info. on your paper (written or typed) with a heading (where you got the info.)
~ use different colors to write your information (a different color for each source)

2.) If you copy something word for word, you must put it in quotes

3.) Notes should be short, sweet and to the point

*Reminder* - easybib....easybib....easybib!!!!

Week of February 26 - March 2

Welcome back from February Break! This week we start our Literature Circle curriculum...essentially set up like a Book Club but with a bit more structure ;-)  Huge shout out to my co-teacher Ms. Cirrone for taking the curriculum and giving it a face-lift.  She has some great ideas we are implementing this year!

*Side Note* - This Thursday night from 6-7:30 is our second Open House of the year.  Parents and Students are invited to visit each classroom for an update on what is going on right now.  Looking forward to seeing those who can make it!

Monday

Objective:  To make progress according to individual Lit Circle schedules

1. Discussion about literature circles - what are they, what do we do.

2. Watch videos - video trailers for each book

3. Google form (found on Google Classroom) - book choice

4. Form groups- build your reading calendar

5. Preview blog site - Each book group will be given a blog to craft and track discussions and posts. This is new this year and I'm excited to try it out!

HW - your assigned group reading

Tuesday

1. Warm- Up: 10-15 min Memory story free write

2. Research topic - What are you thinking may be your topic?

3. Thursday night chat - who’s coming?

4. Lit Circle - One person from your group to be the editor of the blog.

HW - your assigned group reading, design/decorate your narrative folder

Wednesday 

Lit Circle - First blog post and discussion with your group

HW - finish designing/decorating your narrative folder, print out your memory story (your lesson at the end should be included!)

Thursday

Objective:  To move forward in learning the necessary steps when researching a topic.

Let's talk about taking notes...

NOTES FROM CLASS:
Note Taking 101
1.) You must keep track of where you got your information.  Some techniques include:
~ using a different piece of paper (written or typed) for each source (labeled at the top)
~ separating info. on your paper (written or typed) with a heading (where you got the info.)
~ use different colors to write your information (a different color for each source)

2.) If you copy something word for word, you must put it in quotes

3.) Notes should be short, sweet and to the point

*Reminder* - easybib....easybib....easybib!!!!

Friday

Week of Feb 5 - Feb 9, 2018

Writing Workshop Week!

1.) This is the week where you will be asked to choose a memory from your "Mind Map" and begin to construct your memory into story form. We will be working on these narratives by focusing on good lead-in sentence's, choosing a mini moment to "explode" and constructing and ending with a message.  Our stories will improve through one-on-one conferences with me as well as through share-out opportunities in class.  

2.)  Please have to the end of ActII Sciii of "The Diary of Anne Frank" read for class on Friday!

Week of January 28 - February 2

Bell Ringer Every Day

Monday

1) Silent reading - "The Diary of Anne Frank", end of ActI Sciii (p.371)
2) Seed Story - I will model the making of a seed story, have the story you worked on over the weekend out and ready.  You will be paired up with a peer to read over each others seed stories and to consider the following.
    *What's good?, What did you enjoy?, What's missing? (Beginning/Middle/End, sensory writing, dialogue?)

HW - Word Work Due Wednesday

Tuesday

1) "The Diary of Anne Frank"  Act I, scene iii Reading Check
2) Continue reading Sc.iv and Sc.v

HW - Here are the directions for your two night journal assignment.  DUE THURSDAY
          Word Work Due tomorrow.

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday 

Week of January 21 - 25 2018

**Bell Ringer Sheet Everyday**

Monday - Personal Narrative Intro
As we bide our time as we creep up on the research paper adventure (not for another few weeks), we have the opportunity to build a personal narrative in class.  This will be a retelling of a memory and will include dialogue, sensory writing and personal voice with the hope of publishing everyone's stories at the completion of the writing workshop.

Mind Map of Memories Created


Tuesday - 2-hour snow delay

1) Begin the play "The Diary of Anne Frank"  Act I,  Act II- roles will be assigned and will change every Act so if you are interested in a role you will have the opportunity to read it!
2) Indirect Characterization chart given - need for class tomorrow

HW - WORD WORD DUE tomorrow


Wednesday

1) Finish reading "The Diary of Anne Frank" Act I Scene ii. 

2) Complete Indirect  Characterization Chart for the characters you have been introduced to - when quoting to cite where it came from and who said it!   Ex: (pg.358, Anne)

Absent??  Pick this up when you are back in class!

HW - finish your characterization chart


Thursday

1) Character Chart Check
2) "The Diary of Anne Frank" Act I Scene iii

HW - NONE


Friday - Personal Narrative cont.

1) Seed Lesson
2) Mentor Text Story Time - "Looking Back, A Book of Memories" by: Lois Lowry
    A few stories from a fellow narrative writer will be shared.  We will discuss what makes the stories engaging in order to attempt to write a "seed story" from a visual given.
3) WWII Pictures shared - choose one and write a story about what you see.  Be careful to not just describe the picture, you are to tell the story (with a beginning, middle and end) of the picture.
Story Length - One Page max., single spaced

HW - Finish your seed story for Monday.

Week of January 15 - January 19, 2018

Monday - NO SCHOOL MLK Jr. Day

Tuesday

Objective:  To introduce the Holocaust in order to dive deeper into the world of Anne Frank.

Weekly Bell Ringer  - To touch upon strategies you've learned in years past as we prepare for our Research Assignment in a few weeks, you will receive a "Bell Ringer" handout every Monday.  This handout will be what you work on the first 5 minutes of class  everyday :-) 

1.) Journal:  Copy the quote down and respond to it.  What do you think MLK Jr. meant by it?  Does it still ring true today?  How?  Explain with examples.

"Darkness cannot drive out the dark, only light can do that.  Hatred cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."  ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

2.) Quick discuss

3.) Check in...what do you already know about the Holocaust?

4.) A Brief Introduction

5.) 6,000,000 assignment (see below)

6.) Agenda Books

HOMEWORK

1.) Finish 6,000,000 activity.

2.) Read over the Terms/Human Rights handouts


6,000,000 ACTIVITY
Six million Jewish people were murdered in the Holocaust.  6,000,000.  Just how many is that?  Choose a place that you love - Fenway park, TMS, the state of CA, etc. - and find out just how many people those places hold/what the population of those places are.  How many of those places would there need to be in order to equal the amount of Jewish people that perished during the Holocaust?  

You need to illustrate your finding on a piece of paper and include a few sentences explaining your illustration.

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Week of January 8 - January 12

TWO SNOW DAYS LAST WEEK....TIME TO GET BACK INTO THE RHYTHM OF WRITING!

AGENDA (MONDAY -WEDNESDAY):

Work on mini-research paper (rubrics given on TUESDAY)
     ** Prewriting and graphic organizers should begin on MONDAY, 1/8/18
     ** Rubrics handed on out TUESDAY, 1/9/18
     ** First Rough draft of essays (Intro and Body Paragraph) due in class on TUESDAY, 1/9/18
     

HOMEWORK:

1.) Move forward on your Introduction and Body paragraph....will be used tomorrow for a Peer Edit Activity

Hook and Clincher Help? 01/09/14

Need some help crafting a hook/grabber for your essay?  Here are some resources that you may find beneficial!

How to Write a Hook

How to Write a Good Hook

How to Write an Essay Intro

What about clincher assistance?  Anyone in the need for that?  Try some of these strategies on for size!

Grabbers and Clinchers

This site is really good because it shows how to connect your clincher to your grabber.  You have to scroll down to find the clinchers, but they're on there!

THURSDAY

1) Mini-Lesson = Closing paragraph

3 STEPS NEEDED IN A CLOSING PARAGRAPH 

*Restate the main idea (the points of your research that you made in your intro paragraph thesis statement need to be said again)

*Summarize the three points 

*Final interesting sentence (Never Ever Say "The End" Handout)

***Need More Help With Your Conclusion??!!***

**One or more of the following strategies may help you write an effective conclusion.**

• Play the “So What” Game. If you’re stuck and feel like your conclusion isn’t saying anything new or interesting, ask a friend to read it with you. Whenever you make a statement from your conclusion, ask the friend to say, “So what?” or “Why should anybody care?” Then ponder that question and answer it. 
  You can also use this strategy on your own, asking yourself “So What?” as you develop your ideas or your draft.
• Return to the theme or themes in the introduction. This strategy brings the reader full circle. For example, if you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as proof that your essay is helpful in creating a new understanding. You may also refer to the introductory paragraph by using keywords or parallel concepts and images that you also used in the introduction.
• Synthesize, don’t summarize: Include a brief summary of the paper’s main points, but don’t simply repeat things that were in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used fit together. Pull it all together.
• Include a provocative insight or quotation from the research or reading you did for your paper.
• Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further study. This can redirect your reader’s thought process and help her to apply your info and ideas to her own life or to see the broader implications.
• Point to broader implications. For example, if your paper examines the Greensboro sit-ins or another event in the Civil Rights Movement, you could point out its impact on the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. A paper about the style of writer Virginia Woolf could point to her influence on other writers or on later feminists.

DO NOT

• Beginning with an unnecessary, overused phrase such as “in conclusion,” “in summary,” or “in closing.” Although these phrases can work in speeches, they come across as wooden and trite in writing.
• Stating the thesis for the very first time in the conclusion.
• Introducing a new idea or subtopic in your conclusion.
• Ending with a rephrased thesis statement without any substantive changes.
• Making sentimental, emotional appeals that are out of character with the rest of an analytical paper.

HW - finish the rough draft of your closing paragraph.  It will be peer edited at the start of class tomorrow. 
Your essay will be submitted in class tomorrow.

Friday 

1) Peer edit of closing paragraphs

2) Submit essay's via Google Classroom

3) Transition to our Holocaust Curriculum Unit - Check in...what do you already know about the Holocaust? KWL (Know, Want to know, Learned)

Week of January 2 - January 5 2018

WELCOME BACK, LANGUAGE ALL-STARS!

I hope you all had an awesome vacation full of plenty of laughs, rest and fun!  I also hope that you had some time to do some reflection and reset your head for school.  It's nice to have a break to allow us to refresh and hit the reset button, but now it's time to get to work.  We only have two weeks until progress reports go home.  Good news?  We have only six weeks of school until February vacation!  So, it's time get your heads in the game, my friends!  We have no time for dilly-dallying!

AGENDA

Objective:  To jump headfirst into our first writing lab activity - a mini research project.  You will spend today and the next few days collecting research from multiple sites on the endangered species of your choosing.  You will also be keeping an easybib.com list of your sources.

Monday

1.) New Year, New Seats!

2.) Quick chat and check in

3.) Collection of The Outsiders textbooks

4.) Writing Lab Project #1

5.) Rev your engines and let's get started with our research - Chrome Books ALL WEEK!

6.) Agenda Books

HOMEWORK

Spend 15 minutes tonight to continue your research....have a parent sign off on your work!!

(Tuesday - Friday):

Work on mini-research paper (rubrics given on Thursday)
     ** Prewriting and graphic organizers should begin on Thurs., 01/04/18
     ** Rubrics handed on out Thursday, 01/01/15
     ** Rough drafts of essays Friday, 01/05/18

Wednesday Research FOCUS - Why is your animal endangered & what are we doing to help it?

HOMEWORK FOR THE WEEK:

1.) Work on your research project (writing should begin on Thursday)