Mrs. McGriff's Reading Blog

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May 21, 2013
by Mrs. McGriff
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Exciting Summer Reading Possibility

Thanks to the wonderful Gae Polisner and some other awesome teachers and writers on Twittter, I can announce an exciting possibility for your summer reading.  The details are still being worked out, and there is a possibility that the stars just won’t align, but if it does happen, you are in for the chance of a lifetime!

What is this opportunity?  You can help a professional writer by giving thoughtful feedback on an unpublished work in progress.  Yes, you read that write.  You will get to read and respond to an unpublished piece of writing.  Who knows?  If the book ends up being published, you might even be recognized in the acknowledgements page.

If you are interested in this opportunity, you do need to take your responsibilities seriously.  You will be reading an unpolished, unpublished work.  It will not read like the published books you are used to.  You will be an active participant in the revision process.  Will you suggestions be followed?  Maybe, maybe not, but they will be considered.  Remember that most writers are not happy with their early drafts, so you will need to be gentle with your honesty.

These are the expectations for anyone who is interested in reading and giving feedback on unpublished manuscripts:

  • You cannot copy or share the manuscript in anyway.
  • You cannot blab about what is in the manuscript.  Can you keep a secret?
  • You will answer a series of general feedback questions that will be the same for all participating authors.  Your answers should reflect your thoughtful reading of the manuscript.
  • You will answer specific questions provided by the participating author.  Again, your answers should reflect your thoughtful reading of the manuscript.
  • You will agree to any other conditions set by the participating author.
  • You will be eternally grateful to the participating author for this amazing opportunity!

Again, I can’t promise at this time that this opportunity will work out, but if you are interested, fill out the form below.  I’ll be in touch over the summer if it does.

May 21, 2013
by Mrs. McGriff
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Do you want to keep blogging?

UPDATE:  I found and fixed the problem so that you can remove users from your blog.  The steps below work now for everyone!

I hope you have enjoyed blogging this year.  I have enjoyed reading your posts.  Now that our year together is coming to an end, I need to clean out the blogs from this year’s classes to make room for new blogs next year.

If you don’t want to continue blogging, that’s okay.  You don’t have to do anything. Once June rolls around, I will delete your blog for you.

If you do want to continue blogging, a few things you need to do to take control of your blog.

Remove Users:

Right now there are three users listed on your blog.  You need to remove Mrs. McGriff and Mrs. Marsh.  Leave yourself as a user!  Follow these easy steps:

  1. Click USERS, then All Users on the left hand side of your dashbard.
  2. Under the name of each person you want to remove, click REMOVE.
  3. Confirm that you do indeed want to remove this user.

Change your email address:

I do not want to keep getting notified every time you receive a comment on your blog.  You will want to know when you get comments.  There are two places to change your email address.  Change both of them with these easy steps.

  1. While you have the USERS menu open, click on Your Profile.
  2. Scroll down until you see Contact Information.
  3. Delete my email address and type in your own email address.  PROOFREAD!
  4. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click UPDATE.
  5. Click on SETTINGS, then General on the left hand side of your dashboard.
  6. Type in your email address in the box next to Email.
  7. Scroll down to the bottom and click on SAVE CHANGES.
  8. Click on the link in the email you receive to confirm the change.  Do this for each email change.
Congratulations!  You are now in control of your blog.  Use it wisely to explore and express what you are passionate about, but remember you are creating a digital footprint of yourself that will last forever.  Make yourself look good.  I’ll drop by and read and maybe even comment as long as you write interesting posts!

April 29, 2013
by Mrs. McGriff
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Week at a Glance: April 29 – May 2

Monday

DPG Week 27  (Daily Grammar Practice):  parts of speech.  Today we are going to set a weekly reading goal that will be a homework grade.  To determine your goal, you are going to figure out your reading rate for the book you are currently reading.  Read for 10 minutes and count how many pages you read in that amount of time.  Read at a comfortable rate for good comprehension.  Then multiply the number of pages you read by 6 to determine the number of pages you could read in one hour.  Next, double that number to determine the number of pages you could read in 2 hours.  You should read at least 2 hours outside of class each week.  You will record the page you are on each day in class.  At the end of the week you will total the number of pages you’ve read.  If you change books, you will need to figure a new rate of reading and adjust your goal accordingly.  Go over Exercise 1 for Parallel structure.
Homework: Read.  Start reading toward your weekly goal.

Tuesday

DPG  (Daily Grammar Practice):  sentence parts.   Poetry Scavenger Hunt.  Using your literature book, find an example of each kind of poem on the Poetry Scavenger Hunt.

Homework: Read. How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Wednesday

ISTEP Testing.
Homework: Read.  How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Thursday

ISTEP Testing.
Homework: Read.   How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Friday

Read first fifteen minutes of class.  DPG  — Diagramming. Celebrate the end of ISTEP.
Homework: Read.  Have you met your weekly goal?

April 26, 2013
by Mrs. McGriff
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My Favorite Classes’ Reading Records

As our year is drawing to a close, I am amazed at how much we have read this year.  When you add it up all together, the numbers are quite impressive.

Since several students have joined my classes in the last month our so, our current count stands as follows:

136 students have read 3,786 books.  That’s an average of 27.8 books per student!

Here’s the breakdown by class.

  • 2nd period:  31 students have read 1,275 books, for an average of 41.1 books per student.
  • 3rd period: 22 students have read 800 books, for an average of 36.4 books per student.
  • 5th period:  27 students have read 464 books, for an average of 17.2 books per student.
  • 6th period: 29 students have read 744 books, for an average of 25.7 books per student.
  • 7th period: 27 students have read 503 books for an average of 19.3 books per student.

April 8, 2013
by Mrs. McGriff
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5th, 6th, 7th Week at a Glance: April 8 – 12

Monday

DPG Week 24  (Daily Grammar Practice):  parts of speech.  Today we are going to set a weekly reading goal that will be a homework grade.  To determine your goal, you are going to figure out your reading rate for the book you are currently reading.  Read for 10 minutes and count how many pages you read in that amount of time.  Read at a comfortable rate for good comprehension.  Then multiply the number of pages you read by 6 to determine the number of pages you could read in one hour.  Next, double that number to determine the number of pages you could read in 2 hours.  You should read at least 2 hours outside of class each week.  You will record the page you are on each day in class.  At the end of the week you will total the number of pages you’ve read.  If you change books, you will need to figure a new rate of reading and adjust your goal accordingly.  Would you want to live in the 1920′s?  Watch this video and decide.  Preview the article “The Race Against Death” and complete the Before Reading questions on the “Read, Think, Explain” handout.
Homework: Read.  Start reading toward your weekly goal.

Tuesday

DPG  (Daily Grammar Practice):  sentence parts.   Read “The Race Against Death” with a partner.  Point out parts that you each find interesting.  Complete question 5 under “During Reading” on the “Read, Think, Explain” handout.

Homework: Read. How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Wednesday

Read first fifteen minutes of class. DPG  – Clauses, Sentence Type and Purpose. Finish the “After Reading” section of the “Read, Think, Explain” handout.
Homework: Read.  How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Thursday

DPG   –  Capitalization and Punctuation. Library Day.  Review genres.  How many books in each genre have you read?  What are your favorites?  least favorites?  Which genres do you still need to read?
Homework: Read.   How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Friday

Read first fifteen minutes of class.  DPG  — Diagramming. Preview quiz questions for “The Race Against Death.”  Label each question as Right There, Think and Search, or Author and Me.  Answer each question.
Homework: Read.  Have you met your weekly goal?

April 5, 2013
by Mrs. McGriff
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More Authors My Students Love

My afternoon classes approached our author research project a little differently.  They chose the book first.  Groups read the same book and discussed it.  Quite a few students read more books by the same author once they finished the first one.  (Yes, my evil plan for reading to take over the world is working.)  Since we were crushed for time, groups divided the research in order to conquer the research paper.

I’ve grouped them by author.  Some students copied the entire group research paper (using Google Docs to collaborate was quite interesting) while others copied just their paragraph. Either way, you can discover new tidbits about some favorite writers.

Ann E. Burg has a very private life that made it difficult to find enough information to research.

Caroline B Cooney creates suspense and mystery.

Carl Hiaasen uses humor to defend the environment.

Peg Kehret spins adventure and mystery together.

Gordon Korman finds the funny side of multiple points of view.

Patricia McCormick writes heartfelt, heart-wrenching novels.

Patricia McKissack explores the past, present and future in her books.

Ben Mikaelsen writes adventure from a life of adventure, including a pet bear.

Gary Paulsen lives and writes adventure in the past, present, and future.

Shelley Pearsall writes with humor.

Gary Soto brings his Hispanic heritage into his writing.

Stephanie S. Tolan writes with humor and inspiration.

Cheryl Whitesell draws you into the secret past of ninjas.

Paul Zindel creates creepy suspense.

April 1, 2013
by Mrs. McGriff
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5th, 6th, 7th Week at a Glance: April 1 – 5

Monday

DPG Week 23  (Daily Grammar Practice):  parts of speech.  Today we are going to set a weekly reading goal that will be a homework grade.  To determine your goal, you are going to figure out your reading rate for the book you are currently reading.  Read for 10 minutes and count how many pages you read in that amount of time.  Read at a comfortable rate for good comprehension.  Then multiply the number of pages you read by 6 to determine the number of pages you could read in one hour.  Next, double that number to determine the number of pages you could read in 2 hours.  You should read at least 2 hours outside of class each week.  You will record the page you are on each day in class.  At the end of the week you will total the number of pages you’ve read.  If you change books, you will need to figure a new rate of reading and adjust your goal accordingly.  Share spring break reading and vote for Elite Eight in Book Character March Madness.  Review Character, setting, conflict for Nightmare (5th period) or Pictures of Hollis Woods (6th & 7th periods).
Homework: Read.  Start reading toward your weekly goal.

Tuesday

DPG  (Daily Grammar Practice):  sentence parts.   Introduce QAR:  What is the relationship between the type of question and where you find the answer?   How can knowing the types of questions help you find the right answer?   Discuss types of questions with Nightmare or Pictures of Hollis Woods.  Preview questions for “Hunted for Fun, Left to Die.”  Label each type of question.  What type shows up the most often?

Homework: Read. How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Wednesday

Read first fifteen minutes of class. DPG  – Clauses, Sentence Type and Purpose. Preview “Hunted for Fun, Left to Die” by reading the subheadings and captions.  What do you think you will learn about dolphins?  Read the article.
Homework: Read.  How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Thursday

DPG   –  Capitalization and Punctuation. Library Day. Book Fair & Library Day.  This spring book fair is BOGO–buy one get one free.  It’s a great time to stock up on books for summer reading or anytime reading.
Homework: Read.   How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Friday

Read first fifteen minutes of class.  DPG  — Diagramming. Use your knowledge of QAR to answer the questions for “Hunted for Fun, Left to Die.”
Homework: Read.  Have you met your weekly goal?

March 18, 2013
by Mrs. McGriff
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5th, 6th, 7th Week at a Glance: March 18 – 22

Monday

DPG Week 22  (Daily Grammar Practice):  parts of speech.  Today we are going to set a weekly reading goal that will be a homework grade.  To determine your goal, you are going to figure out your reading rate for the book you are currently reading.  Read for 10 minutes and count how many pages you read in that amount of time.  Read at a comfortable rate for good comprehension.  Then multiply the number of pages you read by 6 to determine the number of pages you could read in one hour.  Next, double that number to determine the number of pages you could read in 2 hours.  You should read at least 2 hours outside of class each week.  You will record the page you are on each day in class.  At the end of the week you will total the number of pages you’ve read.  If you change books, you will need to figure a new rate of reading and adjust your goal accordingly.  Correct and post your research paper to your blog.  You may choose to post the entire group paper or just your paragraph.
Homework: Read.  Start reading toward your weekly goal.

Tuesday

DPG Week 21  (Daily Grammar Practice):  sentence parts.   Write a blog post that reflects on what you have accomplished this grading period.  Answer these questions in a paragraph about writing and a paragraph about reading.  Writing:  What pieces have you written this year?  What have you learned about the research process?  What did you learn about the author your researched?  Reading:  How many books have you read this year?  Choose five of the recent books you have read to think about text difficulty.  Rank the five books from easiest to hardest and explain your ranking.  What makes the harder books hard?  What progress are you making in regards to moving up in text difficulty in the books you read?  Now that we have been tracking your reading rate, what have you learned about the speed at which you read?
Homework: Read. How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Wednesday

Read first fifteen minutes of class. DPG  – Clauses, Sentence Type and Purpose.    Finish your blog reflection from yesterday.  Begin commenting on the reflections and research papers for your blog buddies.  Copy each of your comments to a Google Docs page to turn in for a grade.
Homework: Read.  How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Thursday

DPG   –  Capitalization and Punctuation. Library Day. ACUITY.
Homework: Read.   How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Friday

Read first fifteen minutes of class.  DPG  — Diagramming. Enter ACUITY answers in website.  Finish commenting on your blog buddies research papers and reflections.
Homework: Read.  Have you met your weekly goal?

March 11, 2013
by Mrs. McGriff
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Week at a Glance: March 11 – 15

Monday

2nd and 3rd periods will take the last language arts session of ISTEP+ this morning.

DPG Week 21  (Daily Grammar Practice):  parts of speech.  Today we are going to set a weekly reading goal that will be a homework grade.  To determine your goal, you are going to figure out your reading rate for the book you are currently reading.  Read for 10 minutes and count how many pages you read in that amount of time.  Read at a comfortable rate for good comprehension.  Then multiply the number of pages you read by 6 to determine the number of pages you could read in one hour.  Next, double that number to determine the number of pages you could read in 2 hours.  You should read at least 2 hours outside of class each week.  You will record the page you are on each day in class.  At the end of the week you will total the number of pages you’ve read.  If you change books, you will need to figure a new rate of reading and adjust your goal accordingly.     Afternoon classes will continue reading aloud Nightmare or Pictures from Hollis Woods.
Homework: Read.  Start reading toward your weekly goal.

Tuesday

5th, 6th, and 7th periods will take the last language arts session of ISTEP+ this morning.

DPG Week 21  (Daily Grammar Practice):  parts of speech.  Today we are going to set a weekly reading goal that will be a homework grade.  To determine your goal, you are going to figure out your reading rate for the book you are currently reading.  Read for 10 minutes and count how many pages you read in that amount of time.  Read at a comfortable rate for good comprehension.  Then multiply the number of pages you read by 6 to determine the number of pages you could read in one hour.  Next, double that number to determine the number of pages you could read in 2 hours.  You should read at least 2 hours outside of class each week.  You will record the page you are on each day in class.  At the end of the week you will total the number of pages you’ve read.  If you change books, you will need to figure a new rate of reading and adjust your goal accordingly.  Morning classes will record favorite first lines from books they have read this year.
Homework: Read. How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Wednesday

Read first fifteen minutes of class. DPG  – Sentence Parts & Clauses, Sentence Type and Purpose.  Practice constructed response questions.  Correct and publish your research paper.
Homework: Read.  How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Thursday

DPG   –  Capitalization and Punctuation. Library Day.  Let’s talk about what makes a text difficult.  Sort the pile of books on your table from easiest to hardest.  What did you look at to decide?  Look at the books you have read this year.  How would you rank them from easiest to hardest?  Have you been choosing harder books as the year goes on?
Homework: Read.   How are you doing toward your weekly goal?

Friday

Read first fifteen minutes of class.  DPG  — Diagramming. Morning classes:  Write a blog post reflecting on the difficulty of the books you have chosen to read this year.  Afternoon classes:  There will be a festival to celebrate the end of ISTEP and the hard work you did on it.  You may choose to attend the dance, watch a movie, or go to the computer labs.
Homework: Read.  Have you met your weekly goal?