"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them." Mark Twain



Friday, February 21, 2014

Weekend Homework

8th Grade - Finish working on your essay through EssaySmart.  Remember, it is persuasive prompt #6 and the login information is on the links page of this blog.  Always copy your essay to a document before submitting because you can't go back and make changes.  If, for some reason, the program does  not let you submit the essay, copy it to save it, then email me.  I will provide you with a new way to log in.  See how high of a score you can get.  Remember - practice makes perfect!  When you receive the high score you are aiming for, save the essay (with the score) in a pdf file, then email it to me.  I will print them, so you don't have to.  If you make a 6 on EssaySmart, I will give you extra credit!

2A, 5B, and 6B - Complete the theme handout that you received in class.  Remember to write in complete sentences for both questions and all stories.  Also, remember that a theme is a life lesson - something that applies to everyone's life, not just the world of the story.

3A and 4A - You are to finish the assignment for "The Dog of Pompeii."  You were to develop a theme statement based on the topic written about in your webs.  Then, write a response that answers the questions, "What is the primary theme of the story?  What evidence in the text proves your idea?"  Make sure you use evidence from the text to support your answers (use your webs to help you find the evidence again).  Your responses should be 3/4 to a page long.

Friday, February 14, 2014

3A and 4A - Don't forget to finish the handout on "The Good Deed."  If you have lost the handout, the front was to write down the internal and external conflicts and identify what types of conflicts they are.  The back of the handout was to answer the following questions in paragraphs, using evidence from the text:
1. What is the climax of the story, and how do you know?
2. How does the conflict in the story contribute to the climax?
3. What is the resolution of the story and how do you know?
4.  How does the conflict in the story lead to the resolution?
5.  how does Heather's internal conflict help shape her character?

2A - Your quiz on main idea, cause/effect, and conflict is next class (Wednesday).  Come prepared!  After the quiz, you will continue to work on the handout for "The Good Deed."  This is not your homework right now, but rather your classwork for Wednesday!

5B and 6B - Don't forget about the quiz on Tuesday.  Also, don't forget to bring back the paper for "The Good Deed" so that you can finish it after the quiz.  This is not your homework for this weekend, but your classwork for Tuesday.

8th Grade:  Your homework (due Tuesday) is to complete the "Grammar and Writing" practices on page 357 - "Avoid Misplaced Modifiers" and page 483 - "Use the Active Voice."  Please come to class each day ready to work and learn.  The FCAT Writes is a week from Tuesday - class time should not be treated as play time.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Updates on past assignments...

I am sorry for not posting lately!  As I have said in the past to the students, the blog should serve as a secondary means to get assignments.  I go over each assignment extensively in class and it is always written on the agenda (and often on the Interactive white board).  I do this because I know there may be times, such as in the last couple of weeks, when I get behind in posting items to the blog.  That being said, I know some students use the blog to find out about makeup work, or to clarify assignment directions.  Since it is my fault that the assignments were not posted, I will accept the assignments listed below for another week.  After that, I will not accept these assignments.  Please check the Grade Portal to see if your child is missing any of the items listed.  If there is something that he/she needs (such as a handout) it is the responsibility of the student to ask me for it when there is a chance in class (or stop by my room immediately after school gets out).

6th Grade:

Please note that I will be giving a quiz on Main Idea, cause and effect, and conflict on Friday, 2/14 and Tuesday, 2/18.  Period 2A will take the quiz on Wednesday, 2/19 since we are a day behind.

Main idea packet (handout) - you were to annotate the articles on main idea and answer the questions.  When you answer the questions, make note as to why you got the answer you chose.  The front article (which we completed in class) is "The Responsibilities of Pet Ownership."

Nonsense poem to show context clues - like "Jabberwocky," you were to create a poem and replace normal words with nonsense words to demonstrate how the context clues help us understand the meanings of words we don't know.  The poem should be about 3/4 of a page.

Cause and Effect article (handout) - you were to annotate the article, "Making Ice Cream," for main idea and cause and effect.  The, you were to answer the questions at the end and explain how you got your answers.

Cause and Effect with "Ceres and Proserpina" - after reading "The Story of Ceres and Proserpina" in the Literature book, you had two assignment options.  The first option was to write a one page response showing the cause and effect relationships in the story that ultimately led to the seasons.  The paper should be formatted like a paper (paragraphs, indent, etc.) and should include quotes from the text to support your ideas.  The second option was to illustrate a scene from the story and then illustrate either two events that led to that scene (causes) OR two events that led away from that scene (effects).  Under each illustration, you should write a sentence explaining what is going on in the picture.  Stick figures and messy drawings (if it is clear they were hastily drawn right before class, for example) will not be accepted.

Conflict article (handout) - 2A will receive this today - using the story, "Do You Believe in Zombies," annotate the article for conflicts and answer the questions at the end, writing down how you received that answer.

8th Grade:
The following are the grammar assignments that were given out on 1/31, 2/3, 2/5, and 2/7.  There was no homework on 2/11.

Page 45 – “Grammar and Writing: Avoid Sentence Fragments” – you only need to write your answers
Page 61 – “Grammar and Writing: Avoid Run-on Sentences” – You only need to write your answers.
Page 75 – “Grammar and Writing”
Page 99 – “Grammar and Writing” 
Page 131 – “Grammar and Writing: Use correct pronoun case."  Write the sentences and choose the correct word in parenthesis.
Page 181 – “Grammar and Writing: Use correct verb tense."  Write the paragraph and choose the correct word in parenthesis. 
Page 221 – “Grammar and Writing: Compare correctly"
Page 237 – “Grammar and Writing: Combine sentences"