For your information: here are some dates that will be important to keep in mind after Winter Break…
Unit 2 Test – Jan. 7th and 8th
Practice SOL Writing Test – January 12th at BFMS and Gereau (given in homeroom class, this is similar to the real SOL Writing Test students will take in the spring).
Spelling Bee – January 13th and 14th
We are beginning our Persuasive Writing project. Students will write a 5-paragraph essay on an issue. Essays will be completed in class; however, some homework may be required if class time is not used efficiently.
Monday, 11/30 (Franklins) and Tuesday, 12/1 (Eagles) – We will analyze editorial writing, learn about persuasive techniques, and edit for complete sentences. Homework: “Identifying Persuasive Techniques” packet. QUIZ on persuasive techniques next Thursday/Friday.
Wednesday, 12/2 (Franklins) - We will begin working on the Persuasive Writing project. Homework: 1st Period – vocabulary quiz remediation if needed.
Thursday, 12/3 (Eagles) – Choir Concert. LIBRARY DAY. We will begin working on the Persuasive Writing project. Homework: Vocabulary Quiz remediation if needed.
Friday, 12/4 (Franklins) – Morning Meeting Schedule. LIBRARY DAY. In class, we will begin writing our persuasive essays. Homework: 2nd and 3rd period students – Vocabulary Quiz remediation if needed
Monday, 12/7 (Eagles) - We will begin writing persuasive essays.
Tuesday, 12/8 (Franklins) and Wednesday, 12/9 (Eagles) - Edit persuasive essays.
Thursday, 12/10 (Franklins) – Band Concert. QUIZ on Persuasive Techniques, edit persuasive essays.
Friday, 12/11 (Eagles) – QUIZ on Persuasive Techniques. Revise essays.
Monday, 12/14 (Franklins) – Revise essays.
**LOST YOUR NOTES ON PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES? GET A NEW COPY HERE: http://www.schoolrack.com/hburdette/files/
Today was the first Class Meeting for the Olweus Bullying Prevention program we are implementing at BFMS and the Gereau Center this year. A big thanks to Ms. Mason for agreeing to be my teaching partner for these meetings, during which we will both act as facilitators.
During Class Meeting, we have Ground Rules to help students become more comfortable participating in discussion. My Eagle Homeroom came up with the following Ground Rules for Class Meetings:
- Raise your hand when you want to speak
- Don’t laugh at other people
- Don’t use names in stories
- Stories shared in class meeting don’t leave the classroom
- No negative responses
We may change and add to this list over the course of the year if we realize that more ground rules are needed. This morning we had a great discussion. I’m proud of my students for being such great participants! I’m looking forward to seeing how much stronger our classroom community will grow.
This week and next week in class, students are reading a Reader’s Theater play based on the movie “The Blind Side.” This is the first time I’ve done readers’ theater with students and let me say… I had such a great time teaching today!
The play we’re reading is from Scholastic’s magazine Scope, to which the English department subscribes. Because it’s from this magazine, I know that it is high interest (it’s from an upcoming movie students are interested in) and at an accessible reading level for my students. Because the script is designed for classroom use, there are a lot of “parts” for students to choose from, offering both major and minor roles in the story.
Students don’t have to worry about memorizing lines in Readers’ Theater, or getting up in front of the class, yet the experience is a lot more interesting than traditional “round robin” reading. The emphasis for readers is on oral reading fluency and expression as they read their characters’ lines, and students may have the opportunity to use new vocabulary words in context. The connection to a character, I believe, also enhances comprehension of the text. After reading, we completed an activity on cause and effect as a class and students completed an individual activity on making inferences.
Readers’ Theater can be used in many different ways in the classroom. In the future, we may have rehearsed readers’ theater presentations in small groups, or I may ask students to adapt a piece of literature into a readers’ theater script. I am excited about the possibilities this approach to teaching literature offers!
I am focusing much more on vocabulary study this year than I have in the past. Students receive vocabulary lists in class, go over what the words mean, practice and review, then take a quiz on the meanings of the words. By quiz day, students should be able to match the words to their definitions and use them in context. Our word study is based on latin prefixes, root words, and suffixes, as well as useful words we encounter in the texts we read. My hope is that by focusing on latin roots, students will be able to break apart unfamiliar words and decode their meanings.
Every so often, I switch things up and we have a spelling quiz. This is partially because there are some words that eighth graders love to use in their writing, yet cannot be bothered to use the dictionary to spell. Last year, I had to tell some of my students that they had failed their Writing SOL test by ONE POINT, and it broke my heart to see their faces. By becoming experts at spelling words commonly used in writing, my students this year will be less likely to lose points due to careless spelling errors.
The stronger our vocabulary, the stronger we will be as both readers and as writers. Our oral reading is more fluent and our comprehension better when we know what the words mean. Our writing is more expressive when we have a sophisticated vocabulary and flows more freely when we know how to spell the words we use most often. This is why I’ve made time for vocabulary and spelling in the English 8 curriculum this year.
Ms. B
The following words include key vocabulary from the play “The Blind Side” and from Unit II. You will have a quiz on the meanings of these words on Monday, November 23 (Eagles) and Tuesday, November 24 (Franklins)
Friday, November 13th (Franklins) – 2nd period students will take Vocabulary Quiz #3. We will draw on background knowledge, external text structures, and critical reading strategies to comprehend a feature story.
Homework – 1st and 3rd – Study for Quiz #3! 2nd – finish “So Many Students…” questions
Monday, November 16th (Eagles) – Olweus Bullying Prevention Program Kickoff Assembly featuring Miss Virginia. Students discussed the “So Many Students…” article. 2nd and 3rd period students wrote letters to 5th graders at Dudley Elementary who are in the D.A.R.E. program. We did prereading activities for “The Blind Side.”
Homework – Study for Performance Assessment (11/20) and Vocabulary Quiz #4 (11/14)
Tuesday, November 17th (Franklins) - 1st and 3rd period students will complete vocabulary quiz #3. Students will receive their Problem-Solution essays back graded. We will do prereading activities for a Readers’ Theater version of “The Blind Side” and review for the Performance Assessment test.
Homework – Study for Performance Assessment (11/19) and Vocabulary Quiz #4 (11/23), Get progress report signed if you currently have a C or lower in English.
Wednesday, November 18th (Eagles) – We will read “The Blind Side” and review for the Unit 2 Performance Assessment.
Homework – Study for Performance Assessment, Get progress report signed if you have a C or lower in English.
Thursday, November 19th and Friday, November 20th – Unit 2 Performance Assessment; LIBRARY DAY!
Monday, November 23rd (Franklins) - Vocabulary Quiz #4; Read “The Blind Side”
Tuesday, November 24th (Eagles) - Vocabulary Quiz #4; We will finish “The Blind Side” and begin a related persuasive writing assignment.
Monday, November 9th (Eagles) - Students will identify adverbs and use them in context; complete individual remediation for the Unit 1 Test. Homework: Study for Vocabulary Quiz #3!
Tuesday, November 10th (Franklins) - Students will complete individual remediation for the Unit 1 test. 1st and 3rd period students will receive Vocabulary List #3.
Homework:
1st and 3rd – Complete definitions for Vocabulary List #3, due Thursday.
2nd – Study for Quiz #3!
Wednesday, November 11th (Eagles) – Vocabulary Quiz #3. We will draw on background knowledge, external text structures, and critical reading strategies to comprehend a feature story.
Homework: Finish the comprehension questions for the article “So Many Students, So Little Space”
List #3 features words using the prefixes “Ped-” and “Manu-“
For homework tonight, please define these words on your own paper, either in your own words or with a dictionary (print or online). You will have a quiz on these words (meanings and use in context) on Nov. 11th (Eagles), 12th (Franklins 2nd) or 16th (Franklins 1st and 3rd)!
While using the Destiny catalog to search for library books today, we noticed a cool feature– the Top Ten. This link provides a list of the most checked-out books in the BFMS-W library.
The current Top Ten are:
It’s also time for a book basket change here in Room 112… so long, “Spooky Reads,” hello “We Are Family!”
Realistic Fiction: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson, Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt, Crash by Jerry Spinelli, Protecting Marie by Kevin Henkes
Historical Fiction: Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan, A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon
Mystery: The Bad Beginning and The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
Nonfiction: Help! A Girl’s Guide to Divorce and Stepfamilies by Nany Holyoke (American Girl)
