Oct. 26 "A" day Monday We did what B day did last Friday plus we had 30
more minutes to finish our cartoon book for Three Skeleton Key. It will be
due next class period along with our service projects.
Oct. 23 "B" Day Friday We did our Daily Language, watched a 15 minute clip
of Raiders of the Lost Ark. We tried to identify the elements of literature
in this mini-movie at the beginning of the movie: exposition, conflict,
rising action, climax and resolution. Everyone explained what they could do
for the service project due Oct. 28.
Oct. 22 "A" Day (Read B day for Oct. 21)
October 21 Wednesday "B" Day We did book reports either AR computer
quizzes or an oral book report with questions from Mrs. James. We finished
our story about something we feared and tried to overcome and did revisions
and final draft on My Access.com. Some people had time to work on their
cartoon book of Three Skeleton Key.
Oct.19 "B" Day Discussed the elements of literature and how it applied to
the story "Three Skelton Key." The elements of literature are: exposition
(setting, introduce characters, hint of conflict) conflict--the problems,
Rising action--everything between the conflict and the climax of the story,
climax--the most exciting part where the conflict is going to be solved one
way or another, and the resolution--what happens at the very end after the
climax has shown how the conflict is solved. We then took 30 minutes and
started our cartoon drawings of the "Three Skeleton Key" with a cover,
exposition, conflict, rising action, and resolution page with drawings from
the story and labeled with the element. For example, for the rising action
you might choose the windown caving in and the rats coming through and
chasing the 3 men up the stairs and through the trap door before the men
closed it and killed the twenty rats that made it through the opening with
them. You would draw it and label the half sheet paper as the rising
action. There will 60 points possible for the little booklet with six
drawings and colored. Next we took three sentences and practiced revisions
on them for our paper on how we conquered something we feared.
Oct. 20 Same material as Oct. 19 "b" day. Book reports next time and next
week the service projects are due with reflection paper.
Oct. 14 "A" Day Read story, "Three Skeleton Key" until page 11. Talked
about the literary term "exposition" which introduces the characters, the
setting and a hint of the conflict. We worked half the period in the
computer lab on our rough draft about a story of something we have feared
and tried to conquer. I gave an example of me taking a diving class and how
I tried to conquer my fear of diving in the water. The students were to
make a web or cluster of stories from their own lives, choose one, and begin
writing the story.
Oct. 15 "B" Day We will finish the story, "Three Skeleton Key" and discuss
the elements of literature: exposition, conflict, rising action, climax and
resolution. We will make a cartoon book of the story with the elements
labeled. We will only have time for the title page and exposition. We will
spend the rest of class time finishing our rough draft and starting the
revisions.
Oct. 16 "A"Day Same as Oct. 15 but we will have less time and might not
get as far.
1. Students will choose a novel in their reading level range and get the
book approved by Mrs. James. Book must be approved by Sept.30 for "B" Day
and Sept.29 for "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
October 22 "A" day and October 21 for "B" day.
3. 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 October
27 "B" Day and Oct.28 "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.
