Thank you for all the wonderful Christmas Presents!!

I just wanted to say "Thank you" to every student and family for the gifts and well wishes.  I love each and every present and am touched by your thoughtfulness.

Get your money in for EOG booklets!!!

Please purchase your EOG book this week.  I will be using them in class.  The cost is $17.00 and worth every penny!!

6A and 6B-Interview Project to begin NOW and work on over Christmas Break...

Interview someone who is an immigrant. Here are some ideas of people to interview:

• community member
• family member
• neighbors and acquaintances
• classmate
• store owner
• person who lives in a nursing home
• member of a community center
• member of a place of worship
• parents' co-worker

The better prepared you are, the better the interview will be. Get ready by following these steps:
Make sure you're prepared.

• Set a date, time, and place for the interview.
• Find out some information about your interviewee and the country he or she comes from.
• Allow plenty of time for the interview.
• Bring a recorder if you can.
• Even if you're recording, bring pen and paper. Be prepared to take notes.
• Be prompt and respectful.

Get background on your interviewee.

• Find out about the country the person came from: its language, customs, and location.

This information will help you understand your interviewee. Ask the person to bring along pictures they may have.
Write a list of questions.
Write a list of open-ended questions. Keep in mind the reporter's basics: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Here are some questions you might ask. Be sure to add your own. Refer back to this section during your interview.

• What's your name?
• Where were you born?
• What country did you emigrate from?
• What year did you come to the United States?
• Why did you come to the U.S.?
• Did any members of your family come to the U.S. before you? Who, when, and why did they come here?
• What was your trip to the U.S. like?
• What was your first impression of the U.S.?
• Did you bring anything special with you? Why did you bring that item?
• (For adult immigrant) What did you do for a living before you came here? What do you do in the U.S.?
• (For child immigrant) How does school in the U.S. compare with your old school?
• What did you do for fun in the country where you used to live?

You've done your research. You've written your questions. Now it's time conduct the interview.

6th grade TERMS TO KNOW

1.     emigrate
2.     immigrate
3.     immigrant
4.     ethnic group
5.     tenement
6.     ghetto
7.     steerage
8.     Ellis Island
9.     Angel Island
10.   push/pull factors
11.   nativists
12.   refugee

Also, we will study the inscription on The Statue of Liberty.

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

7th grade terms to know for the week-test will be on definitions only.

1.   Allies
2.   Anti-semitism
3.   Aryan
4.   Axis

5.   Concentration camps
6.   Fuhrer
7.   Genocide
8.   Gestapo and SS
9.   Ghetto

10.  Holocaust
11.  Nazi
12.  Nuremberg Laws
13.  Propaganda
14.  Star of David
15.  Swastika

This might help with next book report project

Online Newspaper Templates

www.cleo.net.uk/index.php?category_id=317Cached - Similar

You +1'd this publicly. Undo

Online Interactive Newspaper Templates. MTN has excellent online newspaper templates. These allow for ... in MS Word format: Tabloid front page template ...

Build a Newspaper

www.buildanewspaper.com/

 

Example of a Sonnet- 14 line poem with iambic pentameter (10 syllables)

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Week of November 28-December 2

Poetry Terms Quiz on Thursday
These are words from your packet.
1.Narrative Poem
2.Ode
3.Onomatopoeia
4.Point of View
5.Protagonist
6.Quatrain
7. Rhyme
8. Setting
9. Simile
10. Sonnet
11. Stanza
12. Style
13. Symbol
14. Theme
15. Tone


Also know the parts of a plot line.

Contest

A haiku is a special kind of poem that uses just a few words to tell a
story and make a thought-provoking connection between two ideas.

Here's how to enter:
1. Write an original haiku in an unrhyming, 5-7-5 style that answers
   the question: What adventures does your future hold?
2. Submit your haiku here, at www.scholastic.com/dellhaiku.
   Deadline: 11/18/11.
3. Check back in December 2011 to see if you're a winner!

Submit Your Haiku Click here for the official rules.
No purchase necessary.

Middle School Language Arts

Well, Poe was interesting but it is time to move on.  Students will be writing poetry from now until Thanksgiving break.  Vocabulary tests will be on Poetry terms.  There will be 15 words this week and the remaining 15 on Thursday (Dec.1st).  Each student has a packet and is responsible for those words for the next 3 weeks.

Seventh grade is finishing character analysis papers on Fortunato or Montresor.  Essays will be completed before this Friday.  The supply list from the beginning of the year asked for everyone to have a flashdrive.  We will need those this week as we are typing in the computer lab each day.

We will have a spelling test this week!!

We are still working on phonics but it is time for a test.  Please check your student's notebook for their words.  We will concentrate on -ify VS -efy.

6th grade will be doing a writing assignment where they will "modernize" Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado".

7th grade will be writing a character analysis on Fortunato or Montresor (also from "The Cask of Amontillado).

We have no school on Friday-so I guess we have lots to accomplish in 4 days!!!

Sorry...

I have not been myself lately. I've been dealing with some small medical issues which want to become larger medical issues. I'm lethargic and unable to keep up to my usual pace. However, the show must go on...So, this week we will continue with blend sounds in phonics. The students will finish their folk art and onomatopoeia poems.

Reports cards go home on Friday. Awards also on Friday.

7th grade will finish Crispin this week.

October means Poe and Poetry

During the remainder of October, students will read and write poetry, learn about the "Father of the Short Story" Edgar Allan Poe, and continue phonics.

Folk Art

We will finish our Folklore unit with some Folk Art native to Pennsylvania (my home state).

New style of Vocabulary for 6A, 6B, and 7A...

Beginning Monday, each of my classes will take a Screening Assessment.  Don't worry, they can't study for it and it doesn't count for a grade.  I will give each student 25 words to spell.  Then, I will analyze the answer sheet (with a special key) to place students in one of four groups.  Once they are placed in a group, I will create vocabulary lists for each particular need.  For example, one group might be having problems with knowing when to drop the "e" with adding -ed or -ing endings.  Another group may be confused with long vowel patterns and so on.  Throughout the week, students will work within their groups. There will be no vocabulary tests but there will be intensive lessons.  Please monitor your child's agenda for information and progress.

The goal is to increase comprehension and fluency.

Fluency:

reading quickly, accurately,

and with expression

Rate + Accuracy= Fluency
which leads to comprehension

“Fluency provides a bridge

between word recognition and

comprehension.”

—National Institute for Literacy (NIFL),2001, p.22

Fluent readers are able to focus

their attention on understanding

text.

Because non-fluent readers

focus much of their attention on

figuring out words, they have

less attention to devote to

comprehension.

 

6B Vocabulary for week of October 3

1.  mythos
2.  logos
3.  traditio
4.  centaur
5.  satyr
6.  trident
7.  zephyr
8.  omnipotent
9.  omniscient
10.  banquet
11.  epic
12.  insatiable
13.  eureka
14.  kudos
15.  chaos

6A Vocabulary for week of October 3

1.  centaur
2.  satyr
3.  trident
4.  zephyr
5.  epic
6.  insatiable
7.  shroud
8.  omniscient
9.  omnipotent
10.  mythos

Pandora's Box Play -6th grade

Don't forget to go through those old Halloween decorations and costumes to see if there is anything we might be able to use for our play.  Please, ask permission first.

Greek gods and goddesses -- 6th grade

Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus is Greece's

highest mountain range. Its highest peak, Mytikas, rises to

9,577 feet. It is located on the borders of Thessaly and Macedonia. Mount Olympus, in

Greek Mythology, was the home of the gods, specifically the Twelve Olympians.

The Twelve Olympians

The Twelve Olympians, also called the Dodekatheon, were the principal gods in Greek

Mythology. They were said to reside atop Mount Olympus. The Twelve Olympians are

Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Aphrodite,

Hermes, and Dionysus. Hades was not one of the Twelve because he did not have a

seat on the Mount as he spent almost all his time in the underworld. Hestia was

originally one of the Twelve, but when Dionysus was offered a seat, the total number of

Olympians became thirteen. Because thirteen was believed to be an unlucky number,

Hestia chose to step down leaving the number of Olympians at twelve.

Zeus is the king of the Olympian gods and is the god of thunder and sky.

Hera is both wife and sister to Zeus and is goddess of the hearth, home, and women.

Poseidon is a brother of Zeus and the god of the sea.

Athena is Zeus's daughter and is the goddess of wisdom and heroism.

Ares is Zeus's son and is the god of war and bloodlust.

Demeter is one of the earliest Olympian gods and is the goddess of the harvest and fertility.

Apollo is the son of Zeus and is the god of archery, the sun, healing, and many other qualities.

Artemis is Zeus's daughter and is the goddess of childbirth, the hunt, and virginity.

Hephaestus is Hera's son, and he is god of technology, fire, and volcanoes.

Aphrodite was born of the sea and is older than Zeus. She is the goddess of love and beauty.

Hermes is often thought to be the son of Zeus and is the messenger of the gods.

Dionysus is the son of Zeus and is the god of wine.

Crispin Vocabulary for week of October 3, 2011

	Crispin Vocabulary

Chapter 1

midst- in the middle of.

shroud- something that covers; protects.

taunted- to jeer or mock.

pauper- a person who lives on charity.

steward- one who acts as a supervisor.

transgression- the act of breaking a law.

poaching- to trespass on private property for hunting or fishing.

forfeit- something that one loses or gives up.

Chapter 2

ceased- stop; discontinue.

welt- a lump raised on the skin as by a blow.

parchment- the skin of an animal prepared as a surface on which to write.

kin- one’s family; relatives

Chapter 3

mortality- death

plight- dangerous situation

mercenary- a person who will do anything for money

Chapter 4

thatch- a roof of straw

bailiff- the agent of the lord of a manor who collects rents and administers the local law

pinnacle- the highest point

meander- an aimless wandering

fallow- land left uncultivated or unplanted

Finishing the Medieval Period-7th grade

We will begin Crispin on Monday. Each student will have a copy to bring home. Please be careful with these books and return them in the same shape you received them (new). The novel will serve as nightly homework. I will make daily assignments which parents will be able to find in their student's agenda. We will also be working on grammar and writing skills every day.

7th grade Middle Ages Projects

What amazing students I have...the Middle Ages never looked so good!  Students' stained glass, castle models and heraldry banners are on display for all to see.  We will continue on Monday with some powerpoint presentations.  If you have not handed in a project yet-Monday is your last chance-ANON!!

6B-Percy Jackson and A Wrinkle in Time

The first round of quizzes were less than inspiring.  We need to "bounce back."  Students must keep up with assigned chapters.  The next quiz is on Monday, September 26, 2011.  Quizzes will be through chapter 9 for both books.

6th grade Vocabulary for week of September 26, 2011

acme
acropolis
agora
phobia
plethora
academy
ambrosia
narcissist
hubris
odyssey
labyrinth 
constellation

7th grade Vocabulary

We are going to concentrate on writing this week.  The following vocabulary words directly relate to essay writing.

genre
audience
narrative
persuasive
collaborative
descriptive
expository
argumentative
adjectives
voice

Parents...

Please check your student's agenda every day.  We need to work as a team to have success.  Also, make sure you ask for that Take Home folder every Friday.  I have too many students not showing parents/guardians their graded work.  You should have something  to look at and initial every week.  You should never have a surprise at progress report or report card time.

Thank You

7th grade 9/19-9/23

Vocabulary List:
implore
brandish
joust
mail
apprentice
calligraphy
dungeon
trencher
Anon
knave

We will finish The Door in the Wall this week.   Students should be working on projects.

Folklore Continues...

Week of Sept. 19-23 6th grade
I have recently read some amazing Pourquoi Tales! I now know everything from Why Elephants have Long Trunks to How Pigs got Curly Tails.

Now, we are exaggeratin' like nobody's business with a tale or two from some frontier folk and good ole country boys and gals in our Tall Tales. The students are working in groups to hone in on their skills of story tellin'. They must develop characters, assign that character appearances and abilities, develop settings, problem, solution/accomplishments, and resolutions. We should complete this task by Tuesday.

Then we will take some time to read a few folk tales from other countries. Our first will be "The Disobedient Child"- a Guatemalan tale.

The Vocabulary for this week:
fanciful
colossal
omen
imagery
exaggeration
personification
hyperbole
culture
tradition
point of view

6th grade vocabulary for the week

protagonist
antagonist
climax
setting
character
characteristic
audience
conflict--external and internal
chronological order
dialogue

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli

7th grade will begin The Door in the Wall on Tuesday. 

Menus are due on Wednesday.

Students need to decide which project they want to do. 

Pourquoi???????

Pourquoi is french for "why''.  It is also a fictional narrative that explains why something is the way it is, for example why a snake has no legs, or why a tiger has stripes.  Sixth grade is trying their hand at writing their own pourquoi tales this week. 

The Middle Ages for Kids

http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/

Website for students who enjoy stories and storytelling

http://myths.e2bn.org/

Vocabulary test most Thursdays

Please check with your student on Mondays.  They should have their vocabulary words for the week.  Tests are on Thursdays.

This Week...

We have had a great few days.  I am very impressed with my students and am looking forward to a great year.

So far, we have learned a little about Walt Whitman.  We used his poem "There was a Child went Forth" as a springboard for conversation about our own lives.  The students completed a worksheet designed to assist in categorizing important influences in each of their lives.  Then, they created their own poem about one of those topics.  I am reading rough drafts right now and must admit I have some talented poets.

There was a Child went Forth

THERE was a child went forth every day;
And the first object he look’d upon, that object he became;
And that object became part of him for the day, or a certain part of the day, or for many years, or stretching cycles of years.
The early lilacs became part of this child,
And grass, and white and red morning-glories, and white and red clover, and the song of the phoebe-bird,	5
And the Third-month lambs, and the sow’s pink-faint litter, and the mare’s foal, and the cow’s calf,
And the noisy brood of the barn-yard, or by the mire of the pond-side,
And the fish suspending themselves so curiously below there—and the beautiful curious liquid,
And the water-plants with their graceful flat heads—all became part of him.
The field-sprouts of Fourth-month and Fifth-month became part of him;	10
Winter-grain sprouts, and those of the light-yellow corn, and the esculent roots of the garden,
And the apple-trees cover’d with blossoms, and the fruit afterward, and wood-berries, and the commonest weeds by the road;
And the school-mistress that pass’d on her way to the school,
And the friendly boys that pass’d—and the quarrelsome boys,	15
And the tidy and fresh-cheek’d girls—
And all the changes of city and country, wherever he went.
His own parents,
He that had father’d him, and she that had conceiv’d him in her womb, and birth’d him,
They gave this child more of themselves than that;	20
They gave him afterward every day—they became part of him.
The mother at home, quietly placing the dishes on the supper-table;
The mother with mild words—clean her cap and gown, a wholesome odor falling off her person and clothes as she walks by;
The father, strong, self-sufficient, manly, mean, anger’d, unjust;
The blow, the quick loud word, the tight bargain, the crafty lure,	25
The family usages, the language, the company, the furniture—the yearning and swelling heart,
Affection that will not be gainsay’d—the sense of what is real—the thought if, after all, it should prove unreal,
The doubts of day-time and the doubts of night-time—the curious whether and how,
Whether that which appears so is so, or is it all flashes and specks?
Men and women crowding fast in the streets—if they are not flashes and specks, what are they?	30
The streets themselves, and the façades of houses, and goods in the windows,
Vehicles, teams, the heavy-plank’d wharves—the huge crossing at the ferries,
The village on the highland, seen from afar at sunset—the river between,
Shadows, aureola and mist, the light falling on roofs and gables of white or brown, three miles off,
The schooner near by, sleepily dropping down the tide—the little boat slack-tow’d astern,	35
The hurrying tumbling waves, quick-broken crests, slapping,
The strata of color’d clouds, the long bar of maroon-tint, away solitary by itself—the spread of purity it lies motionless in,
The horizon’s edge, the flying sea-crow, the fragrance of salt marsh and shore mud;
These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day.

Sum, Sum, Summa time

Almost there...

Yes, we only have 6 more days of school but my classes are still working. 

Sixth grade...I haven't had you in class forever!!! However, I should have you on Tuesday.  Please have god/goddess report ready to go. 

Seventh grade: 7B be ready to present "Lesson Plans".
7A: we will be working on Safety Booklet

EVERYONE...bring 3 ring binders!!! We need to take papers from there to place in MAPP binders.

EOG Review

Tutoring is on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:45-3:15.

Vocabulary, from now until the end of the year, will contain EOG terms.  We will still have tests every week.

During review and remediation, students will not need to keep a reading log.

Tutoring

Tutoring is available on Wednesdays from 2:45-3:15.

No Vocabulary for 7th grade this week!

7th grade will not have a vocabulary test this week.  However, we will resume reading log now that CHAINS is completed.
Make sure your student is researching their Greek god/goddess.
Book reports and projects are due Monday!!!!

6th graders - this week in Black History

Students will be doing some self-reflection this week as we study the Harlem Renaissance. This will include reading Zora Neale Hurston and painting.

7th grade Vocabulary Words for the week of Feb. 28, 2011

sabotage
inconceivable
impertinent
unseemly
groggery
blunders
inferno
contemplated
chandler
consumed
illustrious
forage
disembarked
heralds
ample

CHAINS by Laurie Halse Anderson

We are half way through the book and it is soooooo good.  For the first time all year, students are begging me to keep reading!!!

Last week we made symbolic pictures from our favorite images in the novel.

This Friday, we will have a Vocabulary Test on the following words:
Emanations
Pestilent
Beseech
Huzzah
Intemperate
Stead
Din
Indisposed
Melancholy
Ague
Noxious
Purging
Summoning
Elixir
Replenish

February-Black History Month

I am sitting in the library right this minute.  Mrs. Souter is helping me figure out how I messed up my blog.  While I'm here, I'll update.

6th grade will begin studying Black History month on Monday.  Mrs. Berner and I will be team teaching and I really think the students will love the lessons we have planned.

7th grade has started the novel, Chains.  Vocabulary words will come from the novel.

Journalism January

We are learning all about newspapers and propaganda this month.  This week's vocabulary list contains newspaper terms.  As always, test is on Thursday.

Wednesday (weather permitting) we will have a guest speaker.  The 7th graders will welcome Colin Cambell (a local reporter) to our classroom for a question/answer session.

6B will travel to Sysco on Thursday to taste some European dishes.