WELCOME to MS. HOLT'S SEVENTH GRADE LANGUAGE ARTS CLASS! Please check back often for upcoming assignments and events: -The library closes on May 18, 2009, marking the end of AR testing. We will now be reading excerpts from SOPHIE'S WORLD and doing study guide questions IN CLASS in addition to studying selected works of English and American Literature. -We need copies of SOPHIE'S WORLD. Please purchase a used copy online ($2.75 - $5.00) for yourself or to donate to the classroom, so that we can all benefit from this engaging text. Remember: we have 85 Seventh Grade GATE Language Arts students this year, and yes, we do ALL need take-home copies of the book, if we are to finish it in its entirety before the end of the year. -On May 15, 40 California Middle School Students attended U.C. Davis' "SAYS: Amplifying Student Health, Leadership, and Literacy" Conference. Four of our middle school poets performed that evening onstage at the Veteran'Memorial Theatre...in front of an enthusiastic 375-person audience! Cal Poetry Jam Alum and current C.K. McClatchy HISP student Ker Moua took fourth overall in the regional finals. Congratulations, Ker! We're proud of you! -Sacramento Area Youth Speaks (SAYS), the U.C. Davis CRESS Center, the SCUSD, and the Mutual Assistance Network hosted their first slam at Cal on Friday, April 17th, from 7:00 - 10:00 pm. Students participated in a poetry workshop with members of Sacramento's National Slam Team, then performed in front of an audience of 275 people with a live DJ and MC Intense! Check their website at http://www.sacareayouthspeaks.org to see a video clip from the show! -On Tuesday, March 17 and Wednesday, March 18, ALA-Award-winning author Coert Voorhees visited our classroom, signed books, and discussed his novel, THE BROTHERS TORRES, which was an ALA "Top Ten Book for Young Adults of 2009." Thanks, Coert, for helping us really get into our comparison/contrast essays about the common themes in Shakespeare's JULIUS CAESAR and your novel (Literary Response and Analysis Standard 3.4: comparing recurrent themes across time). -The cast and director of Sac City Theatre's production of JULIUS CAESAR visited our class, as well! We enjoyed learning more about the play, and also had a great time at the matinee/field trip on Saturday, March 22nd!