Friday, January 29, 2016

Though the Tunnel

STUDENTS - too many of you did not turn in pre-writing with your essay. I am adding this as a part of the grade for this assignment. Print your prewriting and turn it in by Friday, or I will deduct 10 points from your score. I DO have prewriting from the following students:
Danny, Sydney, Maya, Daniel R., Evan, Noah, Sam D., Josh F., Kady, Margo, Ezra, Amit, Ellie, Alon, Matthew S., Matthew M., Matthew R., Alexa W.


We began our integrated unit with the P.E. obstacle course, experiencing a variety of physical challenges. We continue this unit all week, exploring the themes and ideas in this coming-of-age short story. I will get your Peak tests and Persuasive Essays back to you as quickly as I can. Please know that I want to take time evaluating your work so you receive the most effective feedback.

Monday: Complete the tunnel activity and the reflection sheet. Begin discussion of the elements of literature as applied to a short story.
Day 2: Symbolism, plot structure
Day 3: Types of tunnels, descriptive writing
Day 4: Complete descriptive writing activity, overcoming fears and challenges


Homework: Begin learning Unit 7 in the Sadlier-Oxford vocabulary book and roots list. The test on this unit will be Feb. 17/18.

I recently saw this fabulous sketch-note video. It explains in more detail how some of our words got so wacky.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Week of 1/25 - End of our Peak Unit

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Tech Fair on Sunday! We had many winners in a variety of categories. This week we conclude our study of Peak with a take-home assessment. The persuasive essay is due on Friday on GOOGLE CLASSROOM. Make sure, if you have written your essay on any other account, that you copy it into a document after you have signed in to your Google Classroom account. Please DO NOT share a document with me via email. Use Google Classroom. Thank you for carefully following this instruction.

Monday (Day 1): Brief review of constructing a bibliography, Peak test will be handed out, suggestions for proofreading strategies.

Day 2: Work on your essay or on your Peak test.

Day 3: Work on your essay or on your Peak test. Test is due by 3:30.

Day 4: We begin a new unit with a short story. We will complete an activity related to the short story.
The essay is due today. You will NOT have class time today to complete it.

HOMEWORK:

This week's homework is solely to complete the essay and Peak test. The Peak test is open note, open book, but NOT open-people. You must complete the assessment on your own, but may use any personal resources you have received in class. If you simply "Google" answers, you will learn have learned nothing, which will hurt you in the long run, I assure you.

Friday, January 15, 2016

Tolerance and Equality - Week of 1/19

Enjoy your day as we observe the birth of a great leader in our nation's history. Remember that when we went to the Woodruff Arts Center, Reverend Durley said that Rev. M.L. King, Jr. never asked to lead. He was placed in that position by his colleagues. He accepted the responsibility of leadership and set an example for millions of people. His wife, the late Coretta Scott King, was a leader as well for the women of that era and later. The conflict surrounding the fight for Civil Rights can be traced to the desire for power.

NOTE: If you were absent on Friday, 1/15, and did not make prior arrangements with me, plan on taking your vocabulary test over the weekend on Socrative (7901110) or Tuesday/Wednesday before school. You will need to arrive at 7:15. You will not be able to take this test in Study Hall.

Our schedule will not change despite being off Monday.

Tuesday (Blocks 3, 4, 5): Instruction on using direct quotes vs. paraphrasing in your essay. Reminder about using parenthetical citation. You will have 30 minutes to work on your essay.
I will provide instructions for the homework, which is to write a formed poem that ties together Peak, MLK, Jr., and the concept of power. This poem will be due on Friday.

Wednesday (Block 7 see above) (Block 3): Review of how to write the introductory and concluding paragraphs. Work on your essay.

Thursday (Blocks 4, 5, 7) : See Wednesday

Friday: Instruction on the elements of a plot, creating a plot chart. If time permits, work on essay.
Poem is due today (TYPED PLEASE!)




Sunday, January 10, 2016

Week of 1/11 - World Congress

This week we experience our World Congress simulation. This may take up day 1 and day 2, but I do not yet know whether we will need day 3. My current plan is to work on the verb unit in Grammar on day 3. Friday is the test on the Peak vocabulary words. Remember, no root words this week. Working on researching your facts for the essay and studying your vocabulary are your only homework this week.

You should have completed Peak by Tuesday. Sentences with the words from this unit are due on your day 2.

IN CLASS:
Day 1: World Congress simulation. I will return Peak vocabulary homework.
Day 2: World Congress simulation. Sentences using Peak vocabulary words are due. MLA FORMAT!
Day 3: We will either be finishing up the simulation or working on Easy Grammar in the verb unit.
Day 4: Peak vocabulary test

HOMEWORK:

Due Day 2: Sentences using the vocabulary from Peak. Your sentence must contain enough context clues that I can tell you understand its meaning. Simply using the part of speech in the correct manner is not enough.

EXAMPLE: UNACCEPTABLE - The fish was elusive.
ACCEPTABLE - The fish was elusive, swimming between the underwater grass so that I could not catch it with a net.

Complete reading Peak.

Day 3: Study your vocabulary. Review the facts you have found so far in your research for your essay. You are aiming for two to three different facts (record where you found them!) for EACH supporting argument. You should have 6-8 facts in all. If you have time, continue researching.

The image below is from Everest Base Camp after last year's earthquake. Rescuers are moving the injured climbers to safety.
Source: @Shaw Media, Global News

An example of why climbing is so dangerous:

Photo: Team Singapore/Facebook

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Welcome back!

I am looking forward to seeing you all and hearing about your adventures over the break! We will be diving right back into literature, writing, and Podcasting. Check the pacing chart for Peak to determine how much you should be reading each day.

Day 1: Both midterm assessments will be returned. We will discuss the cumulative portion and the opportunity for a rewrite for an additional grade on the written portion of the midterms. During class and study hall this week I will be meeting with each of you to answer any questions and offer guidance regarding your midterm results.

Day 2: Introduction to conflict (literary elements), Podcasting for your Weebly portfolio

Day 3: Introduction to the next written assignment - Persuasive Essay, source validation,
            Podcasting

Day 4: "B" schedule - Kabbalat Shabbat at Lower School, Independent working time for Podcasting, essay research

HOMEWORK:

You will receive a list of vocabulary words from Peak. By Friday, CHOOSE 20 words from this list of 40, turn in the definition(s) and parts of speech for each word. You will be using the words you have selected in sentences next week.

Continue reading Peak.

Work on a rewrite of your written midterm if you are interested in an additional written expression grade.