Monday, September 29, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 warmed up by writing about any bullying they had seen on Campus. They also watched and responded to this video about cyber bullying, titled "Anonymous."

Students also took more Symbolic Notes. Students must remember that whatever their classmates are able to write on the board, they should also have these written down in their own Journals. Students will be able to use these notes on their Friday Quizzes (not Tests).

This is Exercise 12 from page 61 in the small textbook. Students were required to underline the adverb one and the preposition twice. If the answer was "an adverb" they had to write "no object" to help them remember that adverbs do not require objects.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 took time in the morning to review their vocabulary words from this week. This study time for the vocab test varied in time length on how quiet the students were during the given study time.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Periods 3/4 and 5/6 watched a video that discussed the weird parts of English, like perfect rhymes and other strange facts. Watch that youtube video here!
Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8  took more Symbolic Notes from "Holes."

The class' response to: "What did you learn from watching that video?"

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 continued with our Symbolic Notes and students focused in on vocabulary words they are unfamiliar with.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 worked on taking more complete Symbolic Notes--which lead to a boys vs. girls competition. A representative from the boys took notes on the left side of the board. A representative from the girls took notes on the right side of the board.

We also watched a video which outlined how to find a theme.  Watch the youtube video here!

The boys side of the board.

The girls' side.

 The five steps to help you find a theme in a literary work:

Monday, September 22, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 read "Holes" and took Symbolic Notes.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 learned about prepositional phrases and how to write a summary today. Students should know that a paragraph means at least 5 complete sentences--not three! Students should be using correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Students were to complete Exercise 10 and 11 on pages 59-60 in their small text books (not the literary books they have at home).

Monday, September 15, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 learned that "Holes" is not just one story--it is three stories folded into one book.
These three stories are about Stanley Yelnats IV (our protagonist), Elya Yelnats (our protagonists' great-great-grandfather), and Kissin' Kate Barlow. These stories are all interconnected.

Symbolic Notes for the day included some fun vocabulary words!

When students were done taking Symbolic Notes, they were given time to work on their Camp Green Lake Map in their Journal.

Friday, September 12, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 read more of "Holes" (Ch. 7 and on) and took more Symbolic Notes. Students were asked to really focus on the details concerning new characters, and to notice that there is more than one story within "Holes."

Students took their Friday Quiz and were able to use their own Journals. 

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8warmed up with learning what a "Palindrome" is and saw a few examples. This related to "Holes" by Louis Sachar because the main character's name is a palindrome: Stanley Yelnats.

Students also took Symbolic Notes while reading "Holes" in class. 

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

 Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 learned how to take "Symbolic Notes," which helps them to close-read the story "Holes" by Louis Sachar.

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 watched an educational video that describes the "Hero's Journey." This video shows us how every hero in just about every story must go through what is called a "hero's journey," which takes them through 12 basic steps, which forms a kind of "clock" or "cycle."

Watch the video here!

Monday, September 8, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 learned how observing character traits can help them make predictions about what may happen later in the story.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 all worked on determining the resolution (or theme) of "Rikki Tikki Tavi."

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 also had a "RTT," vocab, and grammar quiz. Students were allowed to use their Journals on the quiz.

Once students were done with their quiz, they began working on their RTT Covers project.

 Period 7/8 had homework due today.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 wrote a character perspective piece which required the students to re-tell the story of "Rikki Tikki Tavi" through the perspective of another character within the story.
Students wrote their Perspectives Piece in their Journal, then were able to share with the class.

Here is the basic prompt:

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Journalism/Yearbook class discussed what makes good journalism and what makes "bad" or untrustworthy journalism.

Language Arts: Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 completed their Rikki Tikki Perspectives Chart.

 A few periods were noisy enough to earn homework!!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

All language arts classes worked in their Plot Groups and began producing their Plot Group Posters!

Friday, August 29, 2014

Periods 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 each had 5 Plot Groups (Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution).
We discussed each of these groups as Plot Elements and talked about the events in "Rikki Tikki Tavi." Each group began the group task of creating a poster that listed the events within their Plot Element, a picture of one of those events, and a presentation speech.