Thursday, January 30, 2014

To test or not to test...

Many students have emailed me asking whether Friday's Verb Test is still "on." Firstly, THANK YOU to those of you who have been using your Snowmageddon time for school work! I hope you had a healthy balance of fun time as well. I know we have many incredible stories to share. My plan is this: if we DO have school on Friday, Blocks 1 and 4 will have the Verb Test as planned, as they have had the review and are ready. Blocks 3 and 7 will have the review on Friday, and will have the test on Monday. On Monday, Blocks 1 and 4 will complete the Prayer Flag activity I had planned for Wed./Thurs. I don't honestly know whether Blocks 3 and 7 will have the same opportunity. We will need to move forward in grammar and with Peak.

As for the vocabulary homework which was due on Friday, it is still due. The Unit 10 test will not move. It is scheduled for next week. If we DON'T have school on Friday, ALL blocks will have the Verb Test on Monday. Use the Study Guide to help you review, as well as the multitude of resources available on the web. Stay warm, everybody!

Friday, January 24, 2014

Week of 1/27

This week Peak continues his climb, and we complete the verb unit. Many of you have asked whether there will be a project associated with Peak. The answer is "Sort-of." On Day 3 of this week, you will be creating Prayer Flags while we discuss the novel. Please note the poll on the side of the blog. Vote for whether you want the Peak test to be in class or take-home. If the test is in class, there will be no other projects with this unit. If the test is take-home, you will have a creative piece that allows for you to create another project in addition to the test questions.
-------Please be honest and vote only once.

IN CLASS
Day 1: Verb unit review, begin work on Unit 10 vocabulary and root words.
Day 2: Verb unit review, diagramming sentences
Day 3: Discussion about Peak, literary elements (foreshadowing, tone, theme, conflict),
Creating prayer flags
Day 4: Verb Unit Test

HOMEWORK
On Day 1, due Day 2: Begin learning unit 10 vocab/roots
On Day 2, Due Day 3: Upload the information you found about your Mystery Topic (what you chose to learn about)onto your Weebly site that you created in Jewish Studies. Create a new page for this information. You will be adding photos of your box (which will be taken for you)another day.
Due Day 4: 12 sentences using words/roots from Unit 10.
On Day 3, Due Day 4: Review/study the verb unit to prepare for the unit test.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Week of 1/20

Never underestimate your power as a human being. Treat every living creature with the same amount of respect you feel you deserve. These are the lessons of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Have the courage to speak up for injustice - this is the way of Torah. The bombing of The Temple in the early 1960s was not random. The head rabbi at the time, Rabbi Rothschild, openly supported the Civil Rights Movement. Thus, the Temple was targeted by the KKK. Did the congregation run in fear? Close the synagogue? No. They walked with their African American brothers and sisters. As you take this day off from school, remember what we are observing: the birth of a leader who changed the course of American history.

This week will be "A" schedules, with a regular Friday. We continue our unit on verbs, covering subject-verb agreement, looking at Peak with an eye on literary elements, and concluding with the Peak vocabulary test.
NOTE: THE SPELLING BEE will be held in the gym during study hall time on Tuesday. (8:05)

IN CLASS
Day 1 (Tuesday): Easy Grammar pp. 71-78, review of subject complements/linking verbs
Day 2 (Wednesday): Easy Grammar pp. 82-85, understanding 'tagging' of buildings, and climbing
Day 3 (Thursday): Literary Elements - be sure to bring your Literary Elements chart with you
Day 4 (Friday): Peak vocabulary test

HOMEWORK
Day 1: Due Day 2 - E.G. pp. 79-81, Due Day 3 - 12 sentences using Peak vocabulary words
Day 2: Due Day 3 - E.G. pp. 86-87, 12 sentences using Peak vocabulary words
Day 3: Due Monday, 1/27, write to your pen pal, including a recipe for your favorite dish. PROOFREAD your letter, please!
Study for Peak vocab test on Day 4.

Below is an image of Rabbi Rothschild and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the South’s first racially integrated banquet in 1965. Courtesy MARBL, Emory Magazine, Autumn, 2008.


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

More help with predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives

Hey everybody, take a look at another winner from Schoolhouse Rock. Mr. Morton
See how many sentences you can find with "WAS" as the verb. Example: Mr. Morton was sad. Since we know WAS is a linking verb, SAD is the predicate adjective! When Mr. Morton "DOES" - listen for the Direct Object that follows, since those verbs are ACTION VERBS.

This one identifies the subject complement (both pred. nominatives and pred. adjectives are subject complements) but doesn't identify whether they are nominatives or adjectives. See if you can identify which is which. Vid #2

Don't worry if this is still confusing. As we continue to practice this will make sense.
REMEMBER: ACTION VERBS ----> Direct Objects
LINKING VERBS ------> Predicate nominative or predicate adjective

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Week of 1/13

We wrap up our unit on the mystery genre and move forward to reading Peak, by Roland Smith. Unit 9 test occurs this week, as well as a lesson on linking verbs and a special lesson on Friday when we have the confluence (Look it up!) of Tu B'Shevat and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday observance. The mystery boxes will be displayed in the media center. Please be patient regarding grading. This type of project takes a significant amount of time for me to evaluate.

UNIT 9 pre-test tutorial on TUESDAY MORNING.

Please note that we will be taking the next week's vocabulary from the novel, rather than from the Sadlier-Oxford book. There will be no root words for this unit.

IN CLASS:
Day 1: Complete your mystery box. When completed, you will be provided with three choices of sites related to real-world investigations that you may explore. I will also distribute Peak.
Day 2: Vocabulary and Roots test Unit 9. When you have completed the test, you may begin working on the day's homework.
Day 3: E.G. pp. 60-70 (includes linking verbs and direct objects)
Day 4: Mountains and personification.

HOMEWORK:
Day 1 (Due day 2): Study for vocabulary test.
Day 2 (Due Day 3): Edmodo post
Day 3 (Due Day 4): Complete E.G. pages if not completed in class, create note cards for Peak vocabulary
Day 4 (Due Tuesday): Complete poem if not completed in class.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Welcome to 2014!

I hope you were able to complete reading your mystery novel and graphic organizer. Over the break, I read five books including Matched. I also completed quite a bit of grading. You will find your grades already posted to NetClassroom. I waited to post your Written Midterm portion so I could explain here that many of you will be rewriting your essays. I will be conferencing with each of you individually this week to return your papers and midterms. At that time, those of you who need to rewrite will get feedback on what needs to be edited for an improved score.

I look forward to seeing you all, weather permitting!

Week of 1/6

IN CLASS
Day 1: You will receive a rubric and instructions for a project, "What's in the Box?" related to your mystery novel. Part of this assignment will include individual research on a topic of your choosing. Work for this project will occur mainly in class, but you are welcome to work on it at home should you wish to do so.

Day 2: Writing conferences while students continue to work on the mystery project
Day 3: Writing conferences while students continue to work on the mystery project
Day 4: Completion of the mystery project. If completed, exploration of forensic science web sites.

HOMEWORK
Day 1: Begin study of Unit 9 vocabulary and root words TWELVE SENTENCES due on your Day 3.
Easy Grammar pages 54-57.

Day 2: Continue study of Unit 9.
Twelve sentences due Day 3.
Edmodo journal entry due Day 4.

Day 3: Twelve sentences due.
Day 4: Edmodo journal entry due.

NOTE: Test on Unit 9 will occur on your Day 2, the week of 1/13.