Hello everyone...hopefully you are enjoying your break and the book.
Some things I want you to ask yourself while reading:
1. Why would a parent protect their child if they have done something wrong? Ask your parents if they would protect you if you did something wrong. What do they think? How would you feel about it?
2. What happens with Paul and his soccer dream?
3. Who does Paul befriend that changes the way he looks at things?
4. How do Paul's new friends help him to stand up for himself?
5. What does immigration have to do with this story?
6. Do you think that people should lie about where they live just so they can get a better education or play sports?
7. What happens to the homes in Paul's neighborhood?
8. What would you do to be popular and have power in school? Would you do what Arthur did? Why? Why not?
9.Would you turn in your friend if you know they did something wrong?
10. What makes an act wrong? How bad does something have to be for you to say something? Do you think that by not saying something you are encouraging the person to continue to do wrong or bad things because they figure that you will not say anything?
11. What finally makes Paul remember what happened to him?
12. How does each person in the Fisher family react when Paul remembers?
13. At the end, what surprises you, if anything?
14. How do the parents react to fining out what Erik and Arthur did? Does their reactions surprise you?
If you have questions, please post them and I will answer them when I check back. You can also respond to any of the questions posted and see what your other classmates say as well. Have a happy read! -Ms. P
Monday, April 6, 2009
ALCAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS
Hello everyone...hopefully you are enjoying your break and getting your reading done too!
Some things I want you to consider while reading:
1. Do Moose's parents put too much responsibility on him when it comes to Natalie?
2. How much does peer pressure affect you at school? Would you choose the wrong crowd if it meant popularity?
3. How would you deal with Piper?
4. Do you think that Piper abuses her position of being the warden's daughter? How so?
5. Why does Natalie going to the Marinoff school bother Moose so much?
6. If you had a child that had autism, what would you do? How would you handle everyday situations?
7. Do you think the opinion of people has changed towards people with mental disabilities? What about physical disabilities?
8. Do you think if you had the chance to get your laundry done by a "big-time" or "famous" criminal, you would do it?
9. Do you think that Moose should stand up to Piper and his parents? How would you do that?
10. Did the book end the way you thought it would? Explain.
If you want you can answer these questions and see what your classmates say. I will check back and answer any questions that you may have about the book. Have a happy read!
-Ms. P
Some things I want you to consider while reading:
1. Do Moose's parents put too much responsibility on him when it comes to Natalie?
2. How much does peer pressure affect you at school? Would you choose the wrong crowd if it meant popularity?
3. How would you deal with Piper?
4. Do you think that Piper abuses her position of being the warden's daughter? How so?
5. Why does Natalie going to the Marinoff school bother Moose so much?
6. If you had a child that had autism, what would you do? How would you handle everyday situations?
7. Do you think the opinion of people has changed towards people with mental disabilities? What about physical disabilities?
8. Do you think if you had the chance to get your laundry done by a "big-time" or "famous" criminal, you would do it?
9. Do you think that Moose should stand up to Piper and his parents? How would you do that?
10. Did the book end the way you thought it would? Explain.
If you want you can answer these questions and see what your classmates say. I will check back and answer any questions that you may have about the book. Have a happy read!
-Ms. P
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Update for 12/8-12/19
Hello Everyone!
Ok, sit back and get comfy, because this is a long announcement! Well speeches are finished for this week. They went very well over the last two and a half weeks. 8th grade completed impromptu speeches. These speeches are prepared within 5 minutes and usually given about a silly topic, like bubblegum or pink elephants. This type of speech teaches students to pay attention to the guts of a speech as there is no time for lots of details and explanations. I enjoy these speeches because everyone gets to have a good laugh and there is the least amount of stress with this speech. 7th grade finished up their informative speeches today. Informative speeches are meant to inform the listener about a topic. It is not done on a controversial topic and it must be fact based, which means no opinions. This is one of the hardest things to do for kids. Keeping an opinion out of a topic is very hard. I also want to thank the kids (and parents) for the yummy treats that came in with the speeches. My stomach has been overly informed! I have to say that the food that came in with these speeches was some of the most diverse—but oh so yummy!
The end of speech means the beginning of new novels! We are not going to finish these novels before Christmas, so there is no rush. The kids will be reading about a chapter a night. I have also stopped newspaper vocabulary until further notice. Having the kids read is so important, and I really want them to focus on that. I also know that they have a lot of homework in other classes. I gave it much thought and decided that the students do get vocabulary in ELA, and rather than adding to the homework load, I would stop it. I may have the students do it here and there, but I felt that other things were more important. You can always have your kids read the newspaper at night with you and discuss anything that they may not understand. Simply reading gives you the tools needed to figure out what words mean-this is called the use of context clues. I still hope that everyone encourages the reading of the newspaper or even a news magazine so that our children are up to date on current events in their world and to help them with their reading and comprehension skills. Some of your children may have also come home talking about Inspiration. On their last books, I used the computer program called Inspiration. It is a graphic organizing program. We were able to create a graphic organizer and also an outline for the books we finished 2 weeks ago. It was a great study aid as well. You can get a free 30 download of this program at www.inspiration.com. The program is meant for grades 6-12. If you have younger kids, KIDSPIRATION is for them. It is the same type of program but meant for younger children. It is specifically designed for grades k-5. It has templates for activities on math, science, social studies, and ELA. Please find out if the program helped your child, and if it did, please check out the site. Scholastic offers the program for $50 if you choose to purchase it.
I am also sending home 7 book orders today! I have some held over from November. I can only put 5 online at scholastic.com, so please take a look at these. I am asking for the orders by Friday, as I need to get the books before Christmas break. So if you wish to order the books for Christmas, Friday is the day to get them in! TAB has some great novels, including TWLIGHT, and BONE. There are two specialty catalogs included with these catalogs. They include great books for little ones and adults too. If you are ordering from more than one catalog and sending in a check, you can send in just ONE check. The check can be made out to Scholastic in the total amount of your orders. I will get the books before break so if you want to order for Christmas you can do that. You may also send in book orders in a sealed envelope if you wish to order for your child but don’t want them to know. Once I get the books in, I will bag them and leave them at the front office for you.
7th grade begins The Book of Three by Llyod Alexander. This is a fantasy novel. It is the first book in a series of 5. Disney did make a movie from these books, but I cautioned the kids about watching the movie rather than reading, as the movie is taking three books into account and it has the traditional Disney spin to it. We will be watching it as a class after we are done with the book. The students will also be working on a travel brochure when we return in January. This will be a project based on the book, so look for the info on that soon. I will probably put the directions for the travel brochure on the blog, but this will not be done until after break. Please find the homework below.
*Students should be taking notes as they read*
12/11 – Read chapter 1
12/12 – Read chapters 2 and 3
12/15 – Read chapter 4
12/16 – Read chapter 5
12/17 – Read chapter 6
12/18 – Read chapter 7
12/19 - Read chapters 8-10
8th grade has begun Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson. This is a great story and follow-up to Red Kayak. The book touches on Native American culture, which gives us the idea of the circle and how everything is connected. A 15 year old boy, Cole Matthews, is given the opportunity to participate in a program called Circle Justice rather than going to jail for assaulting a peer. He chooses to go because he thinks that it will be a cake walk, but finds that living on a remote Alaskan Island for a year is not easy. He lets his anger take over and doesn’t heed the warning of, “what you do to nature, nature will return to you.” He must face everything in his life in order to heal. It is a very powerful book, and really makes kids question what is appropriate when it comes to anger. Cole must find himself by the end of the story. As a project that will coinside with this novel, the students will be creating a totem pole using clay. (just as a heads up, they will need clay, preferably model magic, in January) They should already be reading this story. We will only get through the first part of the book by break. I am not assigning the reading over break, as there is so much to do and it is hard to keep up during the holiday season. We will continue with the second part after break.
Below please find the homework.
*Students should be taking notes as they read*
12/9 – Read chapter 2
12/10 – Read chapter 3
12/11 – Read chapter 4
12/12 – read chapter 5, 6, and 7
12/15 – Read chapter 8
12/16 – Read chapter 9
12/17 – Read chapter 10
12/18 – Read chapter 11
12/19 – Read chapter 12 and 13
************************************************************************
ok…I think that is it for class. I just want to say thank you and kudos to those members of our 7/8 community service organization THE LEAGUE. We struggled a little with our clothing drive and food drive because of timing, but in only 3 days, we pulled together 96 pounds of food and 884 pieces of clothing. That put us in 28th place in NY and 48th place in the country! Yeah us!!
Well, if I don’t see you, please have a safe and happy Christmas break and New Year’s. Take time to enjoy your family, even the ones you have issues with, since you never know when they may be gone. Share kindness when you can. Help those who need it, and help those who don’t need it! I keep telling the kids about a family that lives a few duplexes over from me. They have four kids, one in 7th grade, one is in kindergarten, one is 3 and one is only a few months old. My daughter plays with their 5 year old daughter. They don’t have bed frames, and the little five year old didn’t even have a mattress until recently. They don’t have furniture or lots of things. Last week was her birthday. We didn’t know it was her birthday and felt bad as both she and my daughter were attending another birthday party that day. This girl had a gift for the birthday girl, but not herself. Well my little girl was so sad. She knows that her friend doesn’t have much of anything, and I have talked to her about how it isn’t the material things that make a home, how it is the love and kindness you show each other and then magically you don’t need those things because what you have is already enough. Now keep in mind my daughter is five. So, of course, Gillian likens this to the movie HOOK. She said, “all you need is to believe, like when Peter Pan finally believed he was Pan and had the food fight even though there was no food, but then magically the food became real because he believed.” Ah, yes, innocence, but you know what? She is right. All we have to do is believe. Believe because God gave us that ability and made us to do for others. Gillian wanted to do something nice for her. We went out and got a couple outfits for this little girl and a Hannah Montana doll. She knows that I don’t have a lot of money, and some times we struggle too, but we have each other. She offered her piggy bank of pennies to pay for these things. Its those moments that puts a tear in a parent eye. It is a simple act of kindness. I keep trying to impress this upon the kids. Do for others, even if it seems like it is trivial. A shoveled driveway, a batch of brownies, a home made card for the neighbor, or even a night free of cooking for your parents, though for some of our kids, I am not sure about that! All of these things make a difference and show how much we care for each other. We seem to have gotten away from that. Gillian and I walked away from that little girls apartment and back into ours with smiles on our faces because we knew we did something so little, but made a little girl feel special. That is all it takes.
Please take care of each other!
-Ms. P
Ok, sit back and get comfy, because this is a long announcement! Well speeches are finished for this week. They went very well over the last two and a half weeks. 8th grade completed impromptu speeches. These speeches are prepared within 5 minutes and usually given about a silly topic, like bubblegum or pink elephants. This type of speech teaches students to pay attention to the guts of a speech as there is no time for lots of details and explanations. I enjoy these speeches because everyone gets to have a good laugh and there is the least amount of stress with this speech. 7th grade finished up their informative speeches today. Informative speeches are meant to inform the listener about a topic. It is not done on a controversial topic and it must be fact based, which means no opinions. This is one of the hardest things to do for kids. Keeping an opinion out of a topic is very hard. I also want to thank the kids (and parents) for the yummy treats that came in with the speeches. My stomach has been overly informed! I have to say that the food that came in with these speeches was some of the most diverse—but oh so yummy!
The end of speech means the beginning of new novels! We are not going to finish these novels before Christmas, so there is no rush. The kids will be reading about a chapter a night. I have also stopped newspaper vocabulary until further notice. Having the kids read is so important, and I really want them to focus on that. I also know that they have a lot of homework in other classes. I gave it much thought and decided that the students do get vocabulary in ELA, and rather than adding to the homework load, I would stop it. I may have the students do it here and there, but I felt that other things were more important. You can always have your kids read the newspaper at night with you and discuss anything that they may not understand. Simply reading gives you the tools needed to figure out what words mean-this is called the use of context clues. I still hope that everyone encourages the reading of the newspaper or even a news magazine so that our children are up to date on current events in their world and to help them with their reading and comprehension skills. Some of your children may have also come home talking about Inspiration. On their last books, I used the computer program called Inspiration. It is a graphic organizing program. We were able to create a graphic organizer and also an outline for the books we finished 2 weeks ago. It was a great study aid as well. You can get a free 30 download of this program at www.inspiration.com. The program is meant for grades 6-12. If you have younger kids, KIDSPIRATION is for them. It is the same type of program but meant for younger children. It is specifically designed for grades k-5. It has templates for activities on math, science, social studies, and ELA. Please find out if the program helped your child, and if it did, please check out the site. Scholastic offers the program for $50 if you choose to purchase it.
I am also sending home 7 book orders today! I have some held over from November. I can only put 5 online at scholastic.com, so please take a look at these. I am asking for the orders by Friday, as I need to get the books before Christmas break. So if you wish to order the books for Christmas, Friday is the day to get them in! TAB has some great novels, including TWLIGHT, and BONE. There are two specialty catalogs included with these catalogs. They include great books for little ones and adults too. If you are ordering from more than one catalog and sending in a check, you can send in just ONE check. The check can be made out to Scholastic in the total amount of your orders. I will get the books before break so if you want to order for Christmas you can do that. You may also send in book orders in a sealed envelope if you wish to order for your child but don’t want them to know. Once I get the books in, I will bag them and leave them at the front office for you.
7th grade begins The Book of Three by Llyod Alexander. This is a fantasy novel. It is the first book in a series of 5. Disney did make a movie from these books, but I cautioned the kids about watching the movie rather than reading, as the movie is taking three books into account and it has the traditional Disney spin to it. We will be watching it as a class after we are done with the book. The students will also be working on a travel brochure when we return in January. This will be a project based on the book, so look for the info on that soon. I will probably put the directions for the travel brochure on the blog, but this will not be done until after break. Please find the homework below.
*Students should be taking notes as they read*
12/11 – Read chapter 1
12/12 – Read chapters 2 and 3
12/15 – Read chapter 4
12/16 – Read chapter 5
12/17 – Read chapter 6
12/18 – Read chapter 7
12/19 - Read chapters 8-10
8th grade has begun Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson. This is a great story and follow-up to Red Kayak. The book touches on Native American culture, which gives us the idea of the circle and how everything is connected. A 15 year old boy, Cole Matthews, is given the opportunity to participate in a program called Circle Justice rather than going to jail for assaulting a peer. He chooses to go because he thinks that it will be a cake walk, but finds that living on a remote Alaskan Island for a year is not easy. He lets his anger take over and doesn’t heed the warning of, “what you do to nature, nature will return to you.” He must face everything in his life in order to heal. It is a very powerful book, and really makes kids question what is appropriate when it comes to anger. Cole must find himself by the end of the story. As a project that will coinside with this novel, the students will be creating a totem pole using clay. (just as a heads up, they will need clay, preferably model magic, in January) They should already be reading this story. We will only get through the first part of the book by break. I am not assigning the reading over break, as there is so much to do and it is hard to keep up during the holiday season. We will continue with the second part after break.
Below please find the homework.
*Students should be taking notes as they read*
12/9 – Read chapter 2
12/10 – Read chapter 3
12/11 – Read chapter 4
12/12 – read chapter 5, 6, and 7
12/15 – Read chapter 8
12/16 – Read chapter 9
12/17 – Read chapter 10
12/18 – Read chapter 11
12/19 – Read chapter 12 and 13
************************************************************************
ok…I think that is it for class. I just want to say thank you and kudos to those members of our 7/8 community service organization THE LEAGUE. We struggled a little with our clothing drive and food drive because of timing, but in only 3 days, we pulled together 96 pounds of food and 884 pieces of clothing. That put us in 28th place in NY and 48th place in the country! Yeah us!!
Well, if I don’t see you, please have a safe and happy Christmas break and New Year’s. Take time to enjoy your family, even the ones you have issues with, since you never know when they may be gone. Share kindness when you can. Help those who need it, and help those who don’t need it! I keep telling the kids about a family that lives a few duplexes over from me. They have four kids, one in 7th grade, one is in kindergarten, one is 3 and one is only a few months old. My daughter plays with their 5 year old daughter. They don’t have bed frames, and the little five year old didn’t even have a mattress until recently. They don’t have furniture or lots of things. Last week was her birthday. We didn’t know it was her birthday and felt bad as both she and my daughter were attending another birthday party that day. This girl had a gift for the birthday girl, but not herself. Well my little girl was so sad. She knows that her friend doesn’t have much of anything, and I have talked to her about how it isn’t the material things that make a home, how it is the love and kindness you show each other and then magically you don’t need those things because what you have is already enough. Now keep in mind my daughter is five. So, of course, Gillian likens this to the movie HOOK. She said, “all you need is to believe, like when Peter Pan finally believed he was Pan and had the food fight even though there was no food, but then magically the food became real because he believed.” Ah, yes, innocence, but you know what? She is right. All we have to do is believe. Believe because God gave us that ability and made us to do for others. Gillian wanted to do something nice for her. We went out and got a couple outfits for this little girl and a Hannah Montana doll. She knows that I don’t have a lot of money, and some times we struggle too, but we have each other. She offered her piggy bank of pennies to pay for these things. Its those moments that puts a tear in a parent eye. It is a simple act of kindness. I keep trying to impress this upon the kids. Do for others, even if it seems like it is trivial. A shoveled driveway, a batch of brownies, a home made card for the neighbor, or even a night free of cooking for your parents, though for some of our kids, I am not sure about that! All of these things make a difference and show how much we care for each other. We seem to have gotten away from that. Gillian and I walked away from that little girls apartment and back into ours with smiles on our faces because we knew we did something so little, but made a little girl feel special. That is all it takes.
Please take care of each other!
-Ms. P
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Faithful Elephants Homework Grade 8
Okay here are the questions that you need to answer for tonights homework...
I will never forget....
(Write about an event that happened to you-good or bad. Why will you never forget this event? How has it effected you? Has it changed the way you view things? Why/why not? )
I will never forget....
(Write about an event that happened to you-good or bad. Why will you never forget this event? How has it effected you? Has it changed the way you view things? Why/why not? )
Teacherease Update
Well I never thought I would say this...but BOY!!! I am so happy teacherease is back!!! I will continue to put the updates on the blog and directions for projects as well, but now you will have updates coming to you through email too. Grades closed today for progress reports, but grades will continue to be updated. I have handed out the October book orders. I am asking for these to be returned by Tuesday, October 14th. These orders are also online. You can order books online and pay with your credit card. When you order online there is also the opportunity for discount books not advertised in the flyer. If you do order books, they still come to school and I will hand them out. There are some important books this month. Grade 7 will need FEVER 1793 this year and this book is available in the TRC flyer. Grade 8 is because there are three books they need available. In TRC there is RED KAYAK (which is our next book) and TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR. In TAB there is NIGHT. Ordering from Scholastic is easy and you dont have to worry about going to the book store and trying to find the book. There is also a great program in the CLICK flyer for both 7th and 8th grade. It is called INSPIRATION. Inspiration is a graphic organizing program that helps students to organize their information and also allows students to use visuals to help them study. YOu can check it out online first at www.inspiration.com. I really love this program. There are templates online for almost every subject. The program is $50 but it is money well spent if your child learns through visuals and organizers. Please take a look at these great flyers and see if there is anything you would like.
Grade 7: Well we are coming into the home strech of our first book. THE CAY is going well and students will have their first quiz this week. We also started to act out some scenes. Ask the kids about the tent and raft! The next book we will read is THE MIDWIFES APPRENTICE by Karen Cushman. We will start this in a few weeks. Mrs. Comer is coming in on Wednedays and will be co-teaching an enrichment unit on the newspaper. It is a great chance for kids to become more aware of world, national, and local happenings and to get a better understanding of the makeup of a newspaper. We will also- hopefully- be creating our own newspaper during our studies.
Homework:
10/6 - Read chapters 4 +5 and complete vocabulary for chapters 4-5
10/7 - Read chapters 6-9 and complete vocabulary for chapters 6-8 (this is due Thursday) quiz on Thursday
10/8 - ( homework is assigned by Mrs. Comer today)
10/9 - Newspaper vocab., Read chapters 10-13 and complete vocab. Complete setting cinquain/drawing. YOu will need watercolor paints for Tuesday. (This is all due on Tuesday)
10/14 - Read chapters 17-19 Study for test on Friday
10/15 - study for test Friday
10/16 - study for test tomorrow
Grade 8: THE GADGET seems to be a winner! The kids seem to like it and we are almost done. We read the book FAITHFUL ELEPHANTS today and got to watch a documentary on the atomic bomb and the distruction it caused in Japan. We have talked about the bombings and what their opinions are on using the atomic bomb. They have very insightful thoughts. We are going to be starting Speech next week, working on ADs and Propganda. The students will be creating a license plate encouraging education. We are also going to begin our next book in a couple of weeks. It is RED KAYAK. I loved this book and it took me all of five hours to read. It is non-stop mystery and action! I am excited to have added it to the list this year.
Homework:
10/6 - Read chapters 11-13
10/7 - Read chapters 14-16, complete elephants
10/8 - Read chapters 17-19
10/9 - 10/10 - study for test on Wednesday
10/17 - create rough draft of license plate
Okay...so that is it for the moment. If I think of anything else I will let you know. If you have any questions for me, please let me know. -Ms. P
Grade 7: Well we are coming into the home strech of our first book. THE CAY is going well and students will have their first quiz this week. We also started to act out some scenes. Ask the kids about the tent and raft! The next book we will read is THE MIDWIFES APPRENTICE by Karen Cushman. We will start this in a few weeks. Mrs. Comer is coming in on Wednedays and will be co-teaching an enrichment unit on the newspaper. It is a great chance for kids to become more aware of world, national, and local happenings and to get a better understanding of the makeup of a newspaper. We will also- hopefully- be creating our own newspaper during our studies.
Homework:
10/6 - Read chapters 4 +5 and complete vocabulary for chapters 4-5
10/7 - Read chapters 6-9 and complete vocabulary for chapters 6-8 (this is due Thursday) quiz on Thursday
10/8 - ( homework is assigned by Mrs. Comer today)
10/9 - Newspaper vocab., Read chapters 10-13 and complete vocab. Complete setting cinquain/drawing. YOu will need watercolor paints for Tuesday. (This is all due on Tuesday)
10/14 - Read chapters 17-19 Study for test on Friday
10/15 - study for test Friday
10/16 - study for test tomorrow
Grade 8: THE GADGET seems to be a winner! The kids seem to like it and we are almost done. We read the book FAITHFUL ELEPHANTS today and got to watch a documentary on the atomic bomb and the distruction it caused in Japan. We have talked about the bombings and what their opinions are on using the atomic bomb. They have very insightful thoughts. We are going to be starting Speech next week, working on ADs and Propganda. The students will be creating a license plate encouraging education. We are also going to begin our next book in a couple of weeks. It is RED KAYAK. I loved this book and it took me all of five hours to read. It is non-stop mystery and action! I am excited to have added it to the list this year.
Homework:
10/6 - Read chapters 11-13
10/7 - Read chapters 14-16, complete elephants
10/8 - Read chapters 17-19
10/9 - 10/10 - study for test on Wednesday
10/17 - create rough draft of license plate
Okay...so that is it for the moment. If I think of anything else I will let you know. If you have any questions for me, please let me know. -Ms. P
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Reading Lists for the Year
Hello Everyone!
Here are the reading lists for in class. Please note that those books with a star are books that I have a class set for, while the other books you will need to get your own copy. It is actually better for students to have their own copy because then they can write directly in the book and take notes. They can also highlight right in the book, whereas with a borrowed book the student cannot do these things. Please let me know if you have any questions. I do have some copies of the other books in class, but I will give these out on a first come first serve basis. There is NO homework tonight or tomorrow night for either grade. I want to read in class and gauge how the kids are doing reading orally and how their general comprehension is. I will put up the homework for the following two weeks on Monday.
Grade 7 has just started reading THE CAY by Theodore Taylor and we have started talking about the main theme of racism. I read the students a poem today called The Cold Within. Please ask your student about this and what it means to them. I also told them to do some people watching and to see what they notice. We will have many discussions on this. I am also going to be asking the students to bring in water color paints in about two weeks. These can be the ones from the dollar store, but I will let you know ahead of time. Below are the books the 7th graders will need this year in class. Book report books are in addition to these, but I will give you a separate syllabus for that.
· * The Cay by Theodore Taylor (October)
· The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman (November)
· The Book of Three by Llyod Alexander (December)
· Ajeemah and His Son by James Berry (January)
· A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (February)
· Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (March)
· * When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt (April)
· Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (May)The students will also read another novel during a reader’s workshop.
Grade 8 has started THE GADGET by Paul Zindel. We have talked about the atomic bomb and some of the people involved in its creation. In the coming weeks we will watch a documentary on the destruction the atomic bomb caused. We will use this in a debate. Chat with your students openly about your feelings on war and the use of bombs. It doesn't matter what your opinion is, just that you share it with your kids and support your thoughts so that they can understand why and how you think. This helps them to develop their own thinking skills. Below are the books the 8th graders will be reading this year in class. Book report books are in addition to this list, and I will give you a separate syllabus for those reports.
* The Gadget by Paul Zindel (October)
Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings (November)
* Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Michaelson (December)
NightJohn by Gary Paulsen (January)
Tangerine by Edward Bloor (February)
Night by Elie Weisel (March) **Non-fiction** (Discussions with parents will be encouraged on a daily basis due to the nature of the historical event – The Holocaust)
Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi (April)
Novel of choice will be read in a reader’s workshop
We will also be reading a play at the end of the year (if there is time) – Twelve Angry Men to complement our mock trial unit in speech.
OK...I hope this helps everyone. Let me know if you have any questions! Have a great weekend!
-Ms. P
Here are the reading lists for in class. Please note that those books with a star are books that I have a class set for, while the other books you will need to get your own copy. It is actually better for students to have their own copy because then they can write directly in the book and take notes. They can also highlight right in the book, whereas with a borrowed book the student cannot do these things. Please let me know if you have any questions. I do have some copies of the other books in class, but I will give these out on a first come first serve basis. There is NO homework tonight or tomorrow night for either grade. I want to read in class and gauge how the kids are doing reading orally and how their general comprehension is. I will put up the homework for the following two weeks on Monday.
Grade 7 has just started reading THE CAY by Theodore Taylor and we have started talking about the main theme of racism. I read the students a poem today called The Cold Within. Please ask your student about this and what it means to them. I also told them to do some people watching and to see what they notice. We will have many discussions on this. I am also going to be asking the students to bring in water color paints in about two weeks. These can be the ones from the dollar store, but I will let you know ahead of time. Below are the books the 7th graders will need this year in class. Book report books are in addition to these, but I will give you a separate syllabus for that.
· * The Cay by Theodore Taylor (October)
· The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman (November)
· The Book of Three by Llyod Alexander (December)
· Ajeemah and His Son by James Berry (January)
· A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (February)
· Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (March)
· * When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt (April)
· Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (May)The students will also read another novel during a reader’s workshop.
Grade 8 has started THE GADGET by Paul Zindel. We have talked about the atomic bomb and some of the people involved in its creation. In the coming weeks we will watch a documentary on the destruction the atomic bomb caused. We will use this in a debate. Chat with your students openly about your feelings on war and the use of bombs. It doesn't matter what your opinion is, just that you share it with your kids and support your thoughts so that they can understand why and how you think. This helps them to develop their own thinking skills. Below are the books the 8th graders will be reading this year in class. Book report books are in addition to this list, and I will give you a separate syllabus for those reports.
* The Gadget by Paul Zindel (October)
Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings (November)
* Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Michaelson (December)
NightJohn by Gary Paulsen (January)
Tangerine by Edward Bloor (February)
Night by Elie Weisel (March) **Non-fiction** (Discussions with parents will be encouraged on a daily basis due to the nature of the historical event – The Holocaust)
Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi (April)
Novel of choice will be read in a reader’s workshop
We will also be reading a play at the end of the year (if there is time) – Twelve Angry Men to complement our mock trial unit in speech.
OK...I hope this helps everyone. Let me know if you have any questions! Have a great weekend!
-Ms. P
Friday, September 12, 2008
Homework Directions for Candy Corn
Hello Everyone!
As promised, here is the information some of you may have forgotten to copy down for your homework to be completed.
For your candy corn:
The top orange piece, also the largest, must include the title and author of your book. It must also include a summary of your book.
The middle yellow piece must include the main characters and setting of the book. Remember that this must be in complete sentences!
The bottom white piece, also the smallest, must include your opinion of the book and your name. The opinion must be in a complete sentence and supported!
Also, remember that you are to tape the back. You don't glue it on to another paper. Just tape the pieces together in the back. Neatness counts! So some of you may choose to type out the information and cut and paste. This is fine! Just do your best work. You do get graded for this assignment and the grade counts for reading. Your oral report counts for speech.
Well enjoy your weekend and remember to practice, practice, practice!!!!
-Ms. P
As promised, here is the information some of you may have forgotten to copy down for your homework to be completed.
For your candy corn:
The top orange piece, also the largest, must include the title and author of your book. It must also include a summary of your book.
The middle yellow piece must include the main characters and setting of the book. Remember that this must be in complete sentences!
The bottom white piece, also the smallest, must include your opinion of the book and your name. The opinion must be in a complete sentence and supported!
Also, remember that you are to tape the back. You don't glue it on to another paper. Just tape the pieces together in the back. Neatness counts! So some of you may choose to type out the information and cut and paste. This is fine! Just do your best work. You do get graded for this assignment and the grade counts for reading. Your oral report counts for speech.
Well enjoy your weekend and remember to practice, practice, practice!!!!
-Ms. P
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Book Orders
Hello Parents and my darling students!!!!
Just a reminder that book orders are due this Friday. I have put them online you as well. The username is MSPREADS and the password is the same. I know it looks crazy but it does mean ms. p reads!!!! If you haven't ordered yet and would like to, please check the site out. It is www.scholastic.com/parentordering
A parent asked about typing and graphic programs at info night...the CLICK order has both of those programs. Please take a look!
Enjoy
-Ms. P
Just a reminder that book orders are due this Friday. I have put them online you as well. The username is MSPREADS and the password is the same. I know it looks crazy but it does mean ms. p reads!!!! If you haven't ordered yet and would like to, please check the site out. It is www.scholastic.com/parentordering
A parent asked about typing and graphic programs at info night...the CLICK order has both of those programs. Please take a look!
Enjoy
-Ms. P
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Update for Sept 9th- 19th
Hello All!!!
Well I have already had to reset my password twice because I couldn't remember what I had initially used, but now I think I am set to go! So this is our first update on our blog!!! Yea!! For those parents and students that are new to my updates, I will post a new update every two weeks or so. The updates allow me to put homework up so you always have access to it. It also gives your parents a chance to see what is going on in class. I will separate information by grade, so make sure that you are looking in the right spot. We are also going to have work on the blog. I will create a new post and it will have a question based on the reading that the students are doing in class. It helps them to meet state requirements of using electronic texts, and it gives me a chance to grade it. But it is also new and fun. Just a note that book orders went home on Friday. I typically have at least three book orders a month. They include Arrow, Tab, Teen Readers Club, and Click. Arrow is for grades 4-6, but sometimes they have great titles for kids to just enjoy. TAB and Teen Readers Club are designed for grades 7 and up. Please go through this with your child and read the information. Some titles are meant for high schoolers. I encourage students to challenge themselves with reading, but only if you approve of their reading choice. I also go through the book orders with the kids in class and recommend books that I have read or that kids have read in the past and loved. Click is a software order. In this order you will find educational titles for the computer and gaming systems. I always encourage the kids to make sure that they have a simple printing program to create covers for reports and such. So take a look! I will ask for the money by Friday of this week. You only need to write one check to scholastic. I will also be putting all future orders online, which I know works out well for many parents.
Grade 7:
9/9 - Complete graphic organizer (front and back) Some students weren't able to get all of the information to complete this. They simply need to complete the graphic organizers with the current information that they have and they will finish the rest tomorrow.
9/10 - Complete Main Idea worksheet (front and back)
9/11 - none
9/12 - Finish classwork, prepare for summer reading presentations on Monday
9/15 - Prepare and practice your speech if you have not presented yet
9/16 - none
9/17 - Study for your Letters From Rifka Test on Friday
9/18 - Newspaper vocab and study for the test
9/19 - none
We will start reading The Cay by Theodore Taylor the week of the 22nd. We have a class set, tho some students like to have their own copy. This I will leave up to you.
GRADE 8:
9/9 - complete both sides of the graphic organizer
9/10 - Main Idea worksheet (both sides)
9/11 - none
9/12 - Finish Classwork and prepare your summer reading oral presentation for Monday.
9/15 - practice your presentation if you did not go today
9/16 - Study for your Joey Pigza Test tomorrow.
9/17 - none
9/18 - Newspaper Vocabulary
9/19 - no homework. We are going to start THE GADGET by Paul Zindel on Monday. You may purchase your own book, or you may use one of our class set.
Well, I hope this helps everyone. Please be patient as we all learn the tricks of working a blog. It is new for almost everyone! If I can help you further, please let me know.
-Ms. P
Well I have already had to reset my password twice because I couldn't remember what I had initially used, but now I think I am set to go! So this is our first update on our blog!!! Yea!! For those parents and students that are new to my updates, I will post a new update every two weeks or so. The updates allow me to put homework up so you always have access to it. It also gives your parents a chance to see what is going on in class. I will separate information by grade, so make sure that you are looking in the right spot. We are also going to have work on the blog. I will create a new post and it will have a question based on the reading that the students are doing in class. It helps them to meet state requirements of using electronic texts, and it gives me a chance to grade it. But it is also new and fun. Just a note that book orders went home on Friday. I typically have at least three book orders a month. They include Arrow, Tab, Teen Readers Club, and Click. Arrow is for grades 4-6, but sometimes they have great titles for kids to just enjoy. TAB and Teen Readers Club are designed for grades 7 and up. Please go through this with your child and read the information. Some titles are meant for high schoolers. I encourage students to challenge themselves with reading, but only if you approve of their reading choice. I also go through the book orders with the kids in class and recommend books that I have read or that kids have read in the past and loved. Click is a software order. In this order you will find educational titles for the computer and gaming systems. I always encourage the kids to make sure that they have a simple printing program to create covers for reports and such. So take a look! I will ask for the money by Friday of this week. You only need to write one check to scholastic. I will also be putting all future orders online, which I know works out well for many parents.
Grade 7:
9/9 - Complete graphic organizer (front and back) Some students weren't able to get all of the information to complete this. They simply need to complete the graphic organizers with the current information that they have and they will finish the rest tomorrow.
9/10 - Complete Main Idea worksheet (front and back)
9/11 - none
9/12 - Finish classwork, prepare for summer reading presentations on Monday
9/15 - Prepare and practice your speech if you have not presented yet
9/16 - none
9/17 - Study for your Letters From Rifka Test on Friday
9/18 - Newspaper vocab and study for the test
9/19 - none
We will start reading The Cay by Theodore Taylor the week of the 22nd. We have a class set, tho some students like to have their own copy. This I will leave up to you.
GRADE 8:
9/9 - complete both sides of the graphic organizer
9/10 - Main Idea worksheet (both sides)
9/11 - none
9/12 - Finish Classwork and prepare your summer reading oral presentation for Monday.
9/15 - practice your presentation if you did not go today
9/16 - Study for your Joey Pigza Test tomorrow.
9/17 - none
9/18 - Newspaper Vocabulary
9/19 - no homework. We are going to start THE GADGET by Paul Zindel on Monday. You may purchase your own book, or you may use one of our class set.
Well, I hope this helps everyone. Please be patient as we all learn the tricks of working a blog. It is new for almost everyone! If I can help you further, please let me know.
-Ms. P
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