We are starting the adolescent novel, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, and
hopefully finish it by the end of the term.
Homework: Students will take the rough draft of the essay about the main
character Charlie in "Flowers for Algernon" and revise it (rewrite parts,
take out other parts) and write a final draft in ink or typed. This is due
for "A" Day December 2 and "B" Day December 3.
1. Students will choose a novel in their reading level range and get the
book approved by Mrs. James. Book must be approved by December 6 and 7
for "B" and "A" Day for 15 pts. Use your Star Diagnostic Report to
help you decide what books are on your reading level.
2 These book reports are worth 100 pts. each month. Student will make an
appointment with Mrs. James for an oral book report or take an AR test in
the library on the computer. If you book is not an "AR" book you will need
to do an oral book report WITH THE BOOK to Mrs. James. This will be due
December 16 and 17.
(3)This month we will also be doing an oral presentation in
front of the class. You may sign up for your oral presentation. We will be
doing 6 presentations a class period as early as December 8 and 9. You are
to choose a main character in the book and explain the following: (1) What
is the character's name and how does the writer describe the character?
(2) What does the character say about himself/herself? (3) What do other
characters say about your character? (4) Choose an incident or happening
in the book that helps us get to know or understand the character you have
chosen by something they do. Retell the incident in your own words and
explain how that helps us get to know the character better. This should
take about 1-2 minutes to report. Please do not retell a part of the story
that will ruin the book for someone else who wants to read it. Please do
not tell us the end of a book. You still must take an AR test or oral book
report with Mrs. James. This is worth 50 pts. besides the book report so
make sure you read a book this month!!!!
4. Students will complete 2 hours of community service for the term and
write a paper, consisting of at least 4 paragraphs in ink or typed. The
first paragraph will introduce the need the student hopes to help with. The
second paragraph will describe why the student chose this project. The
third paragraph will describe in detail what the student did for service.
The fourth paragraph will describe how the student felt about giving the
service. If the student does "direct" service they will add a paragraph
about how the person they helped responded to their service. If the student
has access to video equipment and knows how to edit he/she may choose to do
a video presentation. They may also choose to do a Power Point
presentation. This will be completed near the last week of the term January
"B" Day and Jan "A" Day. This will be worth 100 points.
Please DO NOT HELP family members for this service project. That is
something we should do anyway just because we are part of a family. Also
doing projects for a church should be for Community Service rather than for
religious purposes. The intent of this project is to become aware of service
that needs to be done in the community. Good luck.
4. Please bring a notebook with paper,a planner,a novel to read if you
complete work, and 2 pencils and a pen to class each day.
5. The first term we will be reviewing grammar with Daily Language
Activities, learning how to write on the My Access Program, reviewing the 6
Traits Writing Process focusing on "Ideas" and "Organization." We will be
reading informational text and summarizing the main ideas, and also learning
narrative plot structure in short stories.
6. The second term we will be analyzing characterization in short
stories. We will read the adolescent novel, The
Outsiders and learn about text-to-self connections and write personal
reflections on being an "outsider." We will review capitalization
rules,common prefixes, common suffixes, and commas in a series.
7. Students will receive 30 points every month for DEAR time (Drop
Everything And Read) if they bring a book to class, fill out their reading
log and read quietly without disturbing other students.
