Archive of ‘7th Period’ category

Week at a Glance: May 19 -23

Monday

Objectives:

  • Compare and evaluate two products.

Using an article from Consumer Reports, evaluate and compare two products.  Create a chart or Venn diagram that shows your results.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15-30 minutes.

Tuesday

Objectives:

  • Compare and evaluate two products.

Using an article from Consumer Reports, evaluate and compare two products.  Create a chart or Venn diagram that shows your results.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15-30 minutes.

Wednesday

Objectives:

  • Identify ways you can take part in the Summer Reading Program at the Jennings County Public Library.
  • Choose a book to read over the summer.

The Youth Services Librarian from the Jennings County Public Library will present information about the summer reading program.  After their presentation, you can choose a book to take home.  If you would like to bring in books, to swap, you may bring in books to trade for more books.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15 -30 minutes.

Thursday

Objectives:

  • Clean out Language Arts binders.

Reading homework is due today.  We will clean out your binders today.  If your materials are in good shape and you do not wish to keep them, you may donate them to next year’s students who may need the supplies.  You should return all of my classroom library books today.

Friday

Objectives:

  • Celebrate the end of a successful 7th grade!.

There will be an awards convo in the morning.  Then you may choose from a choice of activities in the afternoon for the Spring Carnival.
Homework:  Enjoy your summer vacation!  Remember to read and write.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

We have almost arrived at the end of the school year.  It’s a perfect time to look back on what you have accomplished and to look ahead at what you still can do.  Write a blog post in two paragraphs that celebrates what you have done and that plans for the future.

In the first paragraph, celebrate all you have accomplished this year.  How have you grown as a reader and/or writer?  How many books have you read?  What new topics, authors, genres, or series have you discovered that you love?  Where do you find good books to read?  What book would you recommend that everyone should read?  What have you written this year that you are proud of?

In the second paragraph, plan for the future?  What are five books that you would like to read?  Since I have to pack up my classroom for the summer, where will you find books to read?  How will you connect with other readers?  Check out sites like Goodreads or give reviews on Amazon.  Drop by my blog to let me know what you are reading this summer.  I’ll be posting reviews of the books I read.  If you read them, too, let me know what you think.

If you want to continue blogging on your own, you will need to set up your own blog.  You will need parent permission and an email address.  First, choose your blogging platform.  Edublogs allows students to create their own blogs.  You can also choose from Blogger (convenient if you have a gmail account).  Go to the website of your choice and sign up.  For an Edublogs blog, click the Sign Up button in the top right corner.  Fill in all the required information.  Remember that your username and domain name must be unique!  That means you cannot use your username from our class blog.

Week at a Glance: May 5 – 9

Monday

Objectives:

  • Analyze the parts of a book review.

Daily Grammar Practice Week  18 (Monday – parts of speech).  Write a brief review of a candy bar.  Before you write, brainstorm sensory details that show your opinion of the candy bar.  Your word choice should let your reader know if you like the candy bar or not without stating that whether or not you liked it.  Read the sample book reviews and list the characteristics that you notice.  What types of information is included?  How do they begin and end?
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15-30 minutes.

Tuesday

Objectives:

  • Use a planning sheet to organize ideas for writing.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 18 (Tuesday – sentence parts).   Choose a book that you’ve read this year and enjoyed.  List the important information to include in your review:  characters, setting, conflict, genre, reading experience, and, of course, title and author.  Is it part of a series?
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15-30 minutes.

Wednesday

Objectives:

  • Write a strong lead to hook your reader.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 18 (Wednesday – clauses, sentence type and purpose). Using the book reviews you have or examples from the list of review leads, write an opening sentence for your review.  In fact, experiment by writing two or three different leads.  Which one works best for you?  Take that lead and begin drafting the rest of your review.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15 -30 minutes.

Thursday

Objectives:

  • Write a rough draft of your book review.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 18 (Thursday – Correct capitalization and punctuation). Continue writing the rough draft of your book review.

Friday

Objectives:

  • Set reading goals for the week.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 18 (Friday – Sentence diagramming).    Fill out the reading goal slip with the title and author of your book and write down what page you begin on.  Read for 10 minutes and write down what page you end on.  Subtract the beginning page from the ending page to find out how many pages you read in 10 minutes.  Multiply that number by 6 to discover how many pages you should be able to read in 1 hour.  Double that answer to find out how many pages you should be able to read in 2 hours.  That is your reading goal for the week.  If you finish or switch to a book that has a very different reading rate, you will need to redo your goal and let me know the new one. After you finish your reading, tell your partner what you read today.  If you can’t remember anything you read, you are reading too fast.
Homework:  Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice.

Week at a Glance: April 28 – May 2

Monday

Objectives:

  • Read and perform “The Red-Headed League.”

Daily Grammar Practice Week   (Monday – parts of speech).  Each group of students will read one scene from “The Red-Headed League.”  Practice reading for fluency and expression.  Then you will perform your scene for the rest of the class.

Tuesday

Objectives:

  • Review ISTEP questions.

Daily Grammar Practice Week  (Tuesday – sentence parts).   Work with a partner to determine the best answer for each question about “The Red-Headed League.”  Be sure to write down the page where you find the answer and be able to explain why your choice is the best answer.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15-30 minutes.

Wednesday

Objectives:

  • ISTEP test.

Daily Grammar Practice Week  (Wednesday – clauses, sentence type and purpose). ISTEP Language Arts test.  We will meet in the library for testing.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15 -30 minutes.

Thursday

Objectives:

  • ISTEP test.

Daily Grammar Practice Week  (Thursday – Correct capitalization and punctuation).  ISTEP Language Arts test.  We will meet in the library for testing.

Friday

Objectives:

  • Set reading goals for the week.

Daily Grammar Practice Week  (Friday – Sentence diagramming).    Fill out the reading goal slip with the title and author of your book and write down what page you begin on.  Read for 10 minutes and write down what page you end on.  Subtract the beginning page from the ending page to find out how many pages you read in 10 minutes.  Multiply that number by 6 to discover how many pages you should be able to read in 1 hour.  Double that answer to find out how many pages you should be able to read in 2 hours.  That is your reading goal for the week.  If you finish or switch to a book that has a very different reading rate, you will need to redo your goal and let me know the new one. After you finish your reading, tell your partner what you read today.  If you can’t remember anything you read, you are reading too fast.
Homework:  Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice.

Week at a Glance: April 21 – 25

Monday

Objectives:

  • Explore nonfiction text features.

Daily Grammar Practice Week  17 (Monday – parts of speech).  We are going to the library today.  While we are in the library, explore one of the nonfiction books on the table.  Using your paper as a guide, write the purpose for each text feature and find an example of it in your book.  Once you have finished, find a new book to read and enjoy the time to get lost in a good book.

Tuesday

Objectives:

  • Review elements of a drama.
  • Read “Pandora’s Box.”

Daily Grammar Practice Week 17 (Tuesday – sentence parts).   Review elements of a drama:  characters, stage directions, dialogue.  We’ll choose parts and read “Pandora’s Box” aloud together.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15-30 minutes.

Wednesday

Objectives:

  • Read and discuss “Pandora’s Box” and “Are You Curious?”

Daily Grammar Practice Week 17 (Wednesday – clauses, sentence type and purpose). We will finish reading and discussing “Pandora’s Box” and “Are You Curious.”  We will play a game to review the quiz questions that go along with the story.   You will choose what you think is the correct answer and try to convince your classmates that you are correct.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15 -30 minutes.

Thursday

Objectives:

  • Conduct written conversations about literature.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 17 (Thursday – Correct capitalization and punctuation).  We’ll brainstorm big questions from the books we read aloud.  Choose one question and write at the top of your paper.  Write your response to the question until I call time.  Then pass your paper to the left.  Read what the person before you wrote.  Add your response.  Write until I call time.  We will repeat this process until you have had a chance to read and respond to everyone in your group.

Friday

Objectives:

  • Set reading goals for the week.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 15 (Friday – Sentence diagramming).    Fill out the reading goal slip with the title and author of your book and write down what page you begin on.  Read for 10 minutes and write down what page you end on.  Subtract the beginning page from the ending page to find out how many pages you read in 10 minutes.  Multiply that number by 6 to discover how many pages you should be able to read in 1 hour.  Double that answer to find out how many pages you should be able to read in 2 hours.  That is your reading goal for the week.  If you finish or switch to a book that has a very different reading rate, you will need to redo your goal and let me know the new one. After you finish your reading, tell your partner what you read today.  If you can’t remember anything you read, you are reading too fast.  We will have a quiz over this week’s DGP sentence.  If you want to review what we did each day, you can click here to watch the lessons.
Homework:  Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice.

Week at a Glance: April 14 – 18

Monday

Objectives:

  • Read “Welcome to the Future” on pages 21-24 of Scope magazine.

Daily Grammar Practice Week  16 (Monday – parts of speech).  Read “Welcome to the Future on pages 21-24 of Scope magazine.  As you read, take discussion notes.  Write down ideas that you want to talk about from the article.  What surprised or amazed you?  What confused you?  What questions do you have?  Which vocabulary words are confusion or interesting?  What does the article remind you of from the news, other books, other television shows or movies?
Homework:  Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice.

Tuesday

Objectives:

  • Discuss “Welcome to the Future.”

Daily Grammar Practice Week 16 (Tuesday – sentence parts).   Use your discussion notes to talk in a small group about the article.  Share your ideas, answer each others’ questions.  By the end of your discussion, everyone in your group should have a deeper understanding of the article.  Then you will take a quiz over the article.  For each question, cross out one or two answer choices that are obviously wrong.  Choose the best answer from the choices that remain.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15-30 minutes.

Wednesday

Objectives:

  • Review elements of literature.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 16 (Wednesday – clauses, sentence type and purpose). Read “Electric Summer” in Scope magazine.  We will review the literary elements of character, point of view, setting, tone and mood, and plot.  Complete “Back to Basics,” giving examples from the story.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15 -30 minutes.

Thursday

Objectives:

  • Review literary elements.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 16 (Thursday – Correct capitalization and punctuation).  Complete the “Electric Summer” and the review of literary elements.

Friday

Objectives:

  • Set reading goals for the week.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 15 (Friday – Sentence diagramming).    Fill out the reading goal slip with the title and author of your book and write down what page you begin on.  Read for 10 minutes and write down what page you end on.  Subtract the beginning page from the ending page to find out how many pages you read in 10 minutes.  Multiply that number by 6 to discover how many pages you should be able to read in 1 hour.  Double that answer to find out how many pages you should be able to read in 2 hours.  That is your reading goal for the week.  If you finish or switch to a book that has a very different reading rate, you will need to redo your goal and let me know the new one. After you finish your reading, tell your partner what you read today.  If you can’t remember anything you read, you are reading too fast.
Homework:  Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice.

Week at a Glance: April 7 – 11

Monday

Objectives:

  • Finish vocabulary presentations.

Daily Grammar Practice Week  15 (Monday – parts of speech).  Before we head to the library today, we will discuss this question:  How do busy people find time to read?   Brainstorm a list of times and places you had to wait during the past week.  Plan to have a book with you so that you can read a few minutes anytime you have to wait.
Homework:  Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice.

Tuesday

Objectives:

  • Review grammar and editing.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 15 (Tuesday – sentence parts).   We are going to look at an example of the grammar and editing section of a past ISTEP.  Working with a partner, look at each question and identify what grammar or editing skill is being tested.  HINT:  look at what changes in each of the answer choices.  Then decide on the correct answer choice.  Be prepared to explain why.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15-30 minutes.

Wednesday

Objectives:

  • Analyze symbol and theme in poetry.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 15 (Wednesday – clauses, sentence type and purpose). Read “Two Haiku,” “Fireflies,” and “Fireflies in the Garden.”  For each poem, write down sensory details and what they make you think of when you “see” them.  A symbol is a person, place, object, or activity that stands for something beyond itself.  In the poem “Fireflies in the Garden.”  look at the description of the firefly to analyze what fireflies symbolize.  Then answer, “What theme about life might the author be trying to express?”
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15 -30 minutes.

Thursday

Objectives:

  • Connect nonfiction text to poetry.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 15 (Thursday – Correct capitalization and punctuation).  Read “Stars with Wings.”  Use the different text features of nonfiction to record facts you learn about fireflies.  Which of the poems that we’ve read is the most factual?

Friday

Objectives:

  • Set reading goals for the week.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 15 (Friday – Sentence diagramming).    Fill out the reading goal slip with the title and author of your book and write down what page you begin on.  Read for 10 minutes and write down what page you end on.  Subtract the beginning page from the ending page to find out how many pages you read in 10 minutes.  Multiply that number by 6 to discover how many pages you should be able to read in 1 hour.  Double that answer to find out how many pages you should be able to read in 2 hours.  That is your reading goal for the week.  If you finish or switch to a book that has a very different reading rate, you will need to redo your goal and let me know the new one. After you finish your reading, tell your partner what you read today.  If you can’t remember anything you read, you are reading too fast.
Homework:  Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice.

Writing About Reading

1st, 3rd, and 4th Periods:  Moonbird by Phillip Hoose

Each chapter begins with a quote that connects with the information in the book.  Include the quote in your post.  Here are the quotes from the first four chapters:

  1. “To watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years…is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.”  –Rachel Carson
  2. “Human ingenuity may make various inventions, but it will never devise any inventions more beautiful, nor more simple, nor more to the purpose than Nature does; because in her inventions nothing is wanting and nothing is superfluous.”  –Leonardo da Vinci
  3. “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”  –John Muir
  4. “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” –Shakespeare

Choose one of these quotes to write about.  What does the quote mean?  How does the message of the quote connect with what we are learning about B95 and the rufa red knots?  Give examples and facts from the book to support your ideas.

2nd and 6th Periods:  Notes from the Dog by Gary Paulsen

So far Dylan, the dog, has brought three notes to Finn.  Include the quote of the note in your post.  These are the first three  notes:

  1. You’re not as ugly as you think.”
  2. You’re wrong about you and girls.
  3. The truth always reveals itself, and usually in mysterious ways.”
  4. “Family is who you find.”

Choose one of these quotes to write about.  How does the quote connect to Finn’s life in the story?  What lesson can Finn learn from the message?  Give examples from the story to support your ideas.

7th Period:  Endangered by Eliot Schrefer

Sophie chooses to stay in the Congo in order to protect Otto, the baby bonobo she rescued.   Include the quote in your post.   There are several quotes from the book that explore her choice:

  • “I’d learn to shut all of it out , because you couldn’t travel more than a few miles in Kinshasa without seeing a person dying on the side of the road, and I figured dying humans were more important than dying animals.  But it had always been my mom’s philosophy that the way we treat animals goes hand in hand with the way we treat people, and so she’d dedicated her life to stopping men like this one, bushmeat traders hoping for a sale” (Schrefer 2).
  • My mom’s eyes flashed.  “He’s very bad, Sophie.  You made a big mistake by giving him money.  I can see you’re starting to understand the gravity of what I’m saying, so I won’t bring it up again.  But you have to be wise about these things.  You have to learn when to ignore suffering so that you’re strong enough to fight it when the time is right” (Schrefer 16).

Choose one of these quotes.  How does it relate to the events of the story?  How do Sophie’s choices and actions show the truth (or falsehood) of the quote?  Support your ideas with examples from the story.

No matter which book you write about, your post should be at least 150 words!

Week at a Glance: March 17 – 21

Monday

Objectives:

  • Finish vocabulary presentations.

Daily Grammar Practice Week  13 (Monday – parts of speech).  Second period will be taking the social studies portion of ISTEP today.  After the test is finished, I will read from Notes from the Dog by Gary Paulsen to 2nd and 6th periods.  I will read from Moonbird by Phillip Hoose to 1st, 3rd, 4th periods.  I will read from Endangeredby Eliot Shafer to 7th period.  Students who did not get to present their skit for their vocabulary word will do so today.  .
Homework:  Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice.

Tuesday

Objectives:

  • Avoid dangling participles and misplaced modifiers.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 13 (Tuesday – sentence parts).   What is a dangling participle or misplace modifier?  Watch this video to find out:  Grammar Pop Dangling Participles.  Then we will correct twenty sentences that may or may not have dangling participles or other misplaced modifiers.  You can find the quiz at Chomp Chomp.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15-30 minutes.

Wednesday

Objectives:

  • Create illustrations of dangling participles.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 14 (Wednesday – clauses, sentence type and purpose). Dangling participles can lead to some pretty silly sentences.  Choose one of the dangling participles from the sentence I give you.  Draw a picture  that shows the silly meaning of the sentence.  Your picture should include the original sentence, a picture that illustrates the unintended meaning, and the corrected sentence.
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15 -30 minutes.

Thursday

Objectives:

  • Write about your reading.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 14 (Thursday – Correct capitalization and punctuation).  Think about the books you have read and books you want to read.  Write at least a 150 word blog post giving at least two books in each of the following categories:  1) Books to read – these are books you haven’t read yet, but that you want to read.  2) Books to reread – These are books that you read and loved enough to want to read again.  3)  Books not to read – These are books that you don’t want to waste your time reading, even if everyone else loves them.  Explain why your chose the two books in each category, and include pictures of the books.  Make sure you edit and proofread before publishing.  Check out this post for further directions.

Friday

Objectives:

  • Set reading goals for the week.

Daily Grammar Practice Week 14 (Friday – Sentence diagramming).    Fill out the reading goal slip with the title and author of your book and write down what page you begin on.  Read for 10 minutes and write down what page you end on.  Subtract the beginning page from the ending page to find out how many pages you read in 10 minutes.  Multiply that number by 6 to discover how many pages you should be able to read in 1 hour.  Double that answer to find out how many pages you should be able to read in 2 hours.  That is your reading goal for the week.  If you finish or switch to a book that has a very different reading rate, you will need to redo your goal and let me know the new one. After you finish your reading, tell your partner what you read today.  If you can’t remember anything you read, you are reading too fast.
Homework:  Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice.

Which book?

I found this idea from Deb Day, who shares the assignment with her freshman students.  I think it is a good way to reflect on where you’ve been as a reader and where you would like to go.

It begins with a quote from Oscar Wilde, a writer and poet:  “Books, I fancy, may be divided into three classes:  1.  Books to read.  2.  Books to reread.  3.  Books not to read at all.

It reminds me of a similar quote from Sir Frances Bacon:  “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”  Sir Bacon didn’t add that some books should not be eaten at all, but I do think there are some better left for others.

Now it’s your turn.  Which books would you put in each category?  Make a list of the books you would include in each category.  Explain your choices.

Your blog post should meet these requirements:

  • Be at least 150 words
  • Include at least two books in each category.
  • Explain why each book should be in the category you chose.
  • Proofread for spelling, capitalization, and punctuation before publishing.
  • **OPTIONAL:  Include picture of the each book if you  like.

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