What+We+Did+In+Class+Today

Wednesday, March 2
Next week Monday, we will begin a research project where students will research a human rights activist from the past or today. To prepare students, we read an article today. I modeled how to determine what information is important in an article AND how to record information in bullet form, rather than copying all of the info word-for-word.

Tuesday, March 1
Students took the Explore test today, so our schedule was off during the afternoon. Rather than regular classes, the team watched a documentary about a school in Mississippi who traditionally held segregated proms ('black/white). 7th hour, students worked in groups to discuss some of the themes from the video and participated in a Discussion Carousel.

Monday, February 28
Today we tried to finish reading Glory Road. Most classes finished, but we will be discussing tomorrow.

Thursday, February 17
Glory Road

Wednesday, February 16
Character analysis: Don Haskins - Students worked in groups of 4 to analyze different aspects of the character by using text clues and then presented to the class.

Tuesday, February 15
Today, we read Glory Road as a class all hour with discussion focusing around character motivation.

Monday, February 14
Mini Lesson: Adjectives and the rules for using them in your writing. Writing Invitation - No Homework

Monday, January 31
Writing Invitation: Childhood Dreams. Today, we watched a quick youtube clip showing Randy Pausch's condensed version of his Last Lecture. After the video/discussion, we wrote about our dreams in our writer's notebook.

Wednesday, January 26
Today, we finished up the movie and had a class discussion comparing the book with the movie. ** Purple movie reflection sheets were due today. **

Tuesday, January 25
Continue movie

Monday, January 24
Today we started The Outsiders movie. The kids will be comparing the way that they visualized events/characters from the book with the way they are portrayed in the movie. The author of The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton helped direct this movie!

Exam Schedule
Wednesday: 1st and 3rd hour exams Thursday: 4th and 5th hour exams Friday: 6th and 7th hour exams

Friday, January 14th
Workshop for Multi-Genre Project. Today, we focused on writing the introduction page for our project and most of the students finished at least a rough draft of that page. ** Please have a rough draft of this project finished before Monday so you can receive feedback from me before it's actually due! Remember, this project is part of your exam and is due the day that you have your Language Arts exam. **

Thursday, January 13th
Introduction to Multi-genre project. This is due on your exam day.

Wednesday, January 12th
Silent discussion using the wiki. Respond to the questions posed about the Outsiders, and comment on others responses.

Tuesday, January 11th
Workshop Day for Superhero Cards. ** Due this friday. **

Monday, January 10th
Assigned End of the Unit project: Super Hero Card. This will be due on Friday of this week, but students will have tomorrow in class to work on it.

Friday, January 7th
In class - read chapter 9. ** HW: Finish novel. Come to class on Monday prepared with 3 "Hot Seat" questions! **

Thursday, January 6th
Pass the Passage activity. For the remainder of class, we analyzed the Robert Frost poem from the novel. We also listened to Stevie Wonder's song, Stay Gold and discussed things that could be considered "gold".

Wednesday, January 5th
As a class, we generated a list of themes from the novel and recorded them in our Writer's Notebook. Read Aloud - Chpter 8

Tuesday, January 4th,
Mini Lesson: Author's Craft - Students chose a passage that they found significant in the chapter. Small group sharing and discussion. Read Chapter 7

Monday, January 3rd,
Chapter 6 - pass the ball discussion activity

Tuesday, December 14th
Language Arts: Today, we listened to the first half of chapter 4 and completed a silent discussion about the events that occurred. T** here is NO wikispace homework this week, lucky children :) Over the holiday break, you will need to complete 3 Writer's Notebook entries and these will be due Monday, January 3rd. **

Monday, December 13th

 * SNOW DAY!!!! WHOOO HOOOO **

Friday, December 10th, 2010
Language Arts: Workshop Day! Complete your diary entry R.A.F.T. Due Monday

Thursday, December 9th, 2010
Language Arts: Today, we finished Chapter 3 and analyzed the character of Cherry Valance together. ** Assignment: Write a diary entry from the perspective of Cherry. This is due Monday, but we will have class time to work on it tomorrow. **

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
Language Arts: Partner read Chapter 3. Track different examples of stereotypes from the novel in our Writer's Notebook

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
Language Arts: More with character mapping

Monday, December 6th, 2010
Language Arts: Today we read Chapter 2 together and participated in an activity that helped us understand the relationships between all of the characters a little better.

Friday, December 3rd, 2010
Language Arts: Finish Chapter 1 and discuss the characters that have been introduced. Create a Character Analysis foldable which we will use to record and keep track of character information.

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010
Language Arts: Begin Chapter 1 of The Outsiders. Class discussion

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010
Language Arts: Michael Fowlin Assembly

Tuesday, November 30th, 2010
Language Arts: WWF - review all things covered this far (fragments, run-ons, apostrophes, homophones). We learned a new strategy for reading Informational Text, and practiced the strategy while reading an article about S.E. Hinton, the author of The Outsiders. This Thursday, we will begin reading her first novel! ** No Homework, but remember that your wiki question is due on Friday and your Writer's Notebook entries are due on Monday. **

Monday, November 29th, 2010
Language Arts: Today, we participated in an activity that simulated "social status". We then watched a slide show that presented different images showing people who represented different stereotypes. Class discussion about personal experiences with discrimination and stereotypes. No homework

Tuesday, November 23rd, 1010
Language Arts: Read Aloud, "If the World Were a Village" - No homework

Monday, November 22nd, 2010
Language Arts: Theme was the focus of our class again today! We read a few of Aesop's famous fables and discussed the theme present in each. We also read another short story and discussed the themes present. Afterward, students were able to show their expert advice giving skills and were authors of their very own advice column. Writing as if they were the main character of the short story we read aloud in class, they responded to questions seeking advice. ** This is due tomorrow. **

Friday, November 19th, 2010
Language Arts: Today we listened to another chapter from True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Afterward, we recorded information about the character Zacharia in our Readers Notebook. Reading Workshop for the rest of the hour.

Thursday, November 18th, 2010
Language Arts: Today we continued our discussion about theme. We finished class by practicing identifying and writing about themes within familiar texts. ** No homework, but don't forget about the discussion question and your writer's notebook entries. **

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010
Language Arts: Today we began talking about theme: what it is and how to articulate it. We practiced determining theme with movies, songs, and pictures. Tomorrow we'll move on to books and their themes. ** Homework: be prepared to discuss the theme(s) in your independent reading novels. **

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
Language Arts: Today we got in groups and designed a character. Based on five personality traits, our groups built a character; they chose gender, age, career, hobbies, etc. for their characters. The life we created for our characters matched up with the personality traits we were given. ** No homework, but don't forget the wiki and your writer's notebook entries. **

Monday, November 15th, 2010
Language Arts: Today we completed worksheets that ranked fathers (based on their descriptions and relationships with their children and their priorities) or that ranked roommates (based on characteristics, likes, and dislikes). After we ranked, we discussed our choices and reasoning in small groups and then as a whole class. ** No homework, but don't forget about the wiki and your writer's notebook entries. **

Thursday and Friday, November 11th and 12th, 2010
Language Arts: We didn't have L.A. on Thursday because of the half day. There's no school on Friday! Hooray! We hope to see you all at conferences. ** Have a great weekend. **

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
Language Arts: Today we completed a worksheet called Inference Cues that helped us practice turning actions, thoughts, interactions, etc. into personalities/characters. After we completed the worksheets, we discussed our inferences. ** If you finished the worksheet in class then you have no homework! If you didn't finish make sure to have it with you on Monday. Don't forget to have your wiki done by Friday afternoon and to keep working on your writer's notebook entries for Monday! **

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010
Language Arts: WWF: Apostrophes - When should we use them and how. We then discussed character traits and talked about what types of people might have specific traits. Afterward, we read The Giving Tree and created a T-Chart that listed specific character traits for both the tree and the boy. ** No homework, but remember that there is a wiki question that must be answered before the end of the day on Friday AND three writer's notebook entries that must be completed before Monday! **

Monday, November 8th, 2010
Language Arts: More work with character analysis. In class activity: MAC vs PC - If they were walking/talking creatures and you could have lunch with one....who would you choose and why? Class discussion.

Friday, November 5th, 2010
Language Arts: WWF quiz (covering fragments, run-ons and conjunctions). Reader's Workshop.

Thursday, November 4th, 2010
Language Arts: Character Analysis Activity

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
Language Arts: WWF - Conjunctions Mini-lesson. We talked about different ways to fix our run-on sentences in our own writing, and we practiced fixing run on sentences on the board. More with Characterization.

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
Language Arts: Today, we practiced finding where paragraphs should start and end again. We also talked about characterization, while focusing on the main character of our read aloud.

Monday, November 1st, 2010
Language Arts: Mini-lesson - paragraphing. Students completed a "write-around" and then checked/ edited for paragraphs.

Friday, October 29th, 2010

 * Language Arts:** Today we took our quiz on grammar and mechanics. After the quiz, we read for the rest of the hour. Monday we'll be talking about paragraphs. ** Final draft of the Choice Writing (piece to publish) is due typed on Tuesday. **

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

 * Language Arts:** Today we began class by reviewing for our quiz on Friday (sentences, sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and homophones). After our review, we partnered up and workshopped the pieces of writing we're going to publish. We read and discussed with our partners while Ms. Shedd came around and conferenced with the pairs. We don't have any homework, but we should ** study for the quiz tomorrow! **

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

 * Language Arts:** Today we learned about the homophones there/their/they're, your/you're, and to/too/two. We took notes on these in our Mechanics Toolboxes. Later, we got into groups of four and shared our ideas for our piece to publish while Ms. Shedd came around and conferenced with the groups. ** Mechanics quiz on Friday! **

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

 * Language Arts:** Today we learned about run-on sentences. Additionally, we picked a story or piece of writing from our Writers' Notebooks to revise, edit, and publish. These pieces will be shown at conferences and will be put in our portfolios. We began preliminarily revising our pieces and will continue to revise until Friday. We will be having individual conferences with students on Wednesday and Thursday in addition to revising. ** Grown-up Rule story due at B.O.C. tomorrow. Bring piece to publish, Writer's Notebook, and Mechanics Toolbox to class. **
 * Inspire:** Today we read silently for 20-minutes, then we began our weekly Current Events assignment. For Current Events, students will normally read three articles of their choosing in a current/recent issue of the //Grand Rapids Press// or other area newspaper. After reading, students answer two questions about each article.

Monday, October 25th, 2010

 * Language Arts:** Today we did writers' workshop for the first time. Students worked in pairs and helped each other revise their Grown-up Rule stories. At the end of class, we went over formatting guidelines for the final draft of the story; students took formatting notes. Proper formatting factors into the final grade for the Grown-up Rule story. ** Grown-up Rule story due Wednesday at B.O.C. Have piece to revise and publish ready to begin revising tomorrow. **
 * Inspire:** S.S.R.

**Friday, October 22nd, 2010**

 * Language Arts:** Today we read chapter 1 of //True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle//. Students sketched the //Seahawk// as described by Charlotte, then they answered a question based on the selection. The rest of the hour was spent on S.S.R. ** Three Writer's Notebook entries and exploded moment due on Monday at B.O.C. **

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

 * Language Arts:** Today we watched a short video and read an excerpt from //Marley and Me// that illustrated an "explode the moment" moment. Students spent the last half of class picking the big moment in their Grown-up Rule stories and "exploding" that moment. ** No homework unless you didn't finish exploding your moment, which I'll be checking on Monday. **

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
Language Arts: Students revised their rough drafts today using a guide - they looked to make sure that their story answered the who, what, why, where, when questions. We also identified the moment in our stories that are the most dramatic. Tomorrow we will focus on that moment and add more detail and description.

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Language Arts: Worked on our Grown-up story first draft - ** complete rough draft due tmw. **

Monday, October 18th, 2010
Language Arts: Today, we talked all about the rules that our parents teach us from a young age (don't chew with your mouth open, drink your milk, look both ways before crossing the street) and the reasons they teach these rules to us. After our discussion, we read __The Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups__ and discussed the author's voice and ideas. We brainstormed a list of grown-up rules that most of us had heard before and are beginning to develop stories for these rules that follow the format from the book. Tomorrow we will begin drafting. ** No Homework **

Friday, October 15, 2010
Language Arts: Today, we started our first read aloud novel, __True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle__, by Avi. We read for about 10 minutes and then discussed different tricks that the author used to 'hook' readers right from the very start. In this novel, the author uses "flashback" and tells us what's to come before the story even begins. Students then considered ways that they could use this literary device in their own writer's notebooks pieces. For the remainder of the hour, student read from their independent reading novel. ** Reminder that three writer's notebook entries are due on Monday at the B.O.C. **

Thursday, October 14, 2010
Language Arts: Mechanics Toolbox: Complete sentences vs. fragments - Is it? Or Isn't it?, We also worked in our Writer's Notebooks and are preparing for our final writing assessment of the marking period. **No homework, but our polished, published writer's notebook piece is due November 1st**. More information to come.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Language Arts: With their partners from yesterday, students created a character sketch of their main character to really try to develop a personality. In class assignment: create a comic strip that shows the plot from the jumbled story. No homework.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Language Arts: Jumbled Story Telling activity - kids worked with a partner to develop a character and plot with certain restrictions.

Monday, October 11, 2010

 * Language Arts:** We began with pre-revising activities and a short video about revising. Then we spent the rest of the hour revising and working on making one moment in our narratives really stand out with lots of sensory details.
 * Inspire:** S.S.R.
 * MEAP Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: get plenty of rest! **

Friday, October 8th, 2010
Language Arts: Today, we created our Readers Notebooks which we will need to bring to class everyday. We completed our first Reader's Workshop, where Miss Shedd and I focused on making sure all students are now set with a novel that they want to read. Visualization was our focus and after reading for apprx. 20 minutes, we created a quick sketch of a scene that stood out for us from our novels. ** Rough draft of Narrative Essay due on Monday at B.O.C. **

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

 * Language Arts:** WWF - Complete Sentences, Begin drafting ideas for Narrative Essay in writer's notebooks. ** Rough draft of Narrative Essay due on Monday at B.O.C. ** We will begin working with revision on Monday.

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

 * Language Arts**: WWF - Poetry writing with sensory detail, IMC for wikispaces training.

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

 * Language Arts:** Create a Writer's Mechanics Notebook - this is where we will keep all of our grammar mini-lessons, Intro to Narrative Essay writing.

Monday, October 4, 2010

 * Language Arts:** What can poetry do?, "You Can't Write a Poem about McDonald's" and sensory language, Elementary Memories, story writing.

Friday, October 1, 2010

 * Language Arts:** Discussed the parts of an essay, worked on cause and effect essays in class. ** Cause and effect essay due Monday at B.O.C. **
 * Inspire:** No inspire today. Inspire was replaced with 7th hour so we could have a pep assembly 7th hour!

Thursday, September 30, 2010

 * Language Arts:** Briefly discussed cause and effect essays, gave homework, completed student reading inventories (S.R.I.s) in the library. ** Introduction paragraph with thesis, ideas for three body paragraphs due at B.O.C. **
 * Inspire: ** S.S.R., team challenge.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

 * Language Arts:** Cause and effect essay writing/idea generation.
 * Inspire:** Academic support.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

 * Language Arts:** The Assassin, "The Metamorphosis": cause and effect essay writing.
 * Inspire:** S.S.R., team challenge.

Monday, September 27, 2010
Finish map if not completed in class.
 * Language Arts:** Poet's Perspective, Map of My Neighborhood.
 * Inspire:** S.S.R.

Monday, September 20, 2010
Three things for Friday: Register for Wikispaces, join class wiki, answer discussion question.
 * Language Arts:** Wikispaces tutorial, began "Great Writing" posters.

Friday, September 17, 2010
Bring a book to class on Monday!!
 * Language Arts:** Freewrite, SSR, "debrief."
 * Inspire:** Schoolwide writing prompt.

Monday, September 13, 2010

 * Language Arts:** Students wrote a Reader's Autobiography in their notebooks explaining their experiences with/feelings about reading. SSR.