Ms. Fitz’s Class Website

Term 2 begins Monday.  This means everyone starts fresh.  If you’ve had trouble keeping up with assignments and reading, this is an opportunity to begin again.  Make a commitment to do a little work every day 20-30 minutes of etymons, reading, or writing.

On Monday we began the state writing test.  You will have three days to choose a topic, develop a writing plan, write an essay and proof it for errors before submitting it for evaluation.  You will receive credit for your efforts.

This Thursday we will begin sharing the powerpoint presentations you developed during your last week of Keyboarding.  Please have a digital version of your presentation on disk or thumbdrive with you on the day of your presentation.

Final copies of your funny story (Humorous Narrative) are due Thursday at the beginning of class. These papers should typed, double spaced, proofed and formatted as an English paper.

Last of all, Etymon packets for weeks 9 & 10 were handed out on Monday.  The packets and the test are due NEXT Friday April 25th.  Get a jump on your work by completing the work for week 9  by this Friday.  And don’t forget to make yourself some flashcards!

Agenda for 04/07/08

1.  Work on Etymons for week 8.  Packet is due this Thursday.  Work packet is also due on Thursday.  We had 15 minutes to work in class today.  Continue working on your own outside of class.

2.  Metaphor worksheet.  We started this in class.  Students should finish at home and be ready to share on Tuesday.

3. Finish reading House on Mango Street and complete the study guide.  There will be a test on Wednesday.  Those who have the study guide completed may use it with test.

4.  We listened to another funny story about childhood from Bill Cosby.  Students had a chance to talk about funny moments from their own lives in small groups.  Tomorrow students will read two examples of humorous narrative, examine the way they are structured and chart their own story idea.

Choose one of the following to write in the PRACTICE WRITING section of your journal:

OPTION A: What makes you different from your friends, your family or your community?

OPTION B:  Describe your neighborhood in the style that Sandra Cisneros uses to describe Mango Street.  What does your house look like? The neighborhood?  Who are some of the “characters” who live on your street?

How nice to learn that so many of you are checking in on a regular basis. Here is a reminder about today’s activities and some tips to help you prepare for the end of the term.  Today’s agenda first. . .

1.  Our first quiz on Mango Street went fairly well.  Nearly everyone scored a C or higher.  Good!  That means you are reading and/or paying attention in class.  If you have read up through page 79 then you are excused from reading this weekend.  [I am going to ask you to match the names of characters with their identities next week so you might want to skim through the book and link as many as you can.]

Our journal entry today was in response to the reading.  Choose either option and place it in the PRACTICE WRITING section of your journal. [See Journal Entries gr. 9]

2.  Everyone received a list of literary devices.  We identified and wrote down examples of each.  KEEP THIS LIST!  You will want it for the activity on Monday and for assignments beyond Term 1.  If you didn’t bother to write down examples, I suggest you do so.

3.  Metaphor Activity–Period 2 had a chance to start this assignment.  We will work on this again on Monday. 

4.  Humorous Narrative writing assignment–This was officially assigned today.  Everyone has a story to tell that makes them laugh.  Sometimes events that happened to us,or with our friends, may not be funny at the time but when seen through the lens of time, they can be hilarious.  Start thinking about an event you could share with the class to meet this assignment.  Talk to friends and family.  Bring your idea to class on Monday and be ready to share with others.  We’ll be reading and listening to humorous tales and discussing what makes a funny story.  REMEMBER!  This is a story you will share with your class mates so keep it school appropriate.

Those of you who have not finished writing the final copy of your book award essay should finish it during Common Time.  Please come in before class between 8:00am and 8:50am.

Do you have trouble folding paper to make Bingo sheets?  Too lazy to figure it out on your own?  Too shy to ask your teacher to show you how–one more time? 

Now you can download your own bingo sheet off the links site.  Just click on Etymons Bingo sheet and one will automatically pop up.  AND you can type your etymons onto the sheet before you print out your copy!

Now you can have the best looking Bingo sheet in the class!!  Make one before Friday April 4th with etymons from weeks 5, 6, and 7 and get ready to play!

Welcome back from Spring Break!  The week has flown by.  We spent the first three days completing an in class expository essay explaining why the book you read for outside reading deserves an award.  These essays should have been completed today.  If you did not, you will need to come in during common time before school to finish them. 

We also started weeks 7 and 8 of our Etymons list.  The work packet and the test will be due next Thursday, April 11th.

On Friday April 4th we will be playing Etymon Bingo with etymons selected from weeks 5, 6, and 7.  Your sheets made up ahead of time so we can play longer in class.

 Last but not least, we started reading Sandra Cisneros’ great little novel, The House on Mango Street.  Please stay up with the reading and the study questions.  It makes the discussion much more fun.  Today’s reading assignment is from page 39 to page 79.

“Greg Jumped Up” genre stories were read today.  Congratulations to Connor Bendt, Sylvie Stephens, Cheyenne Ford, Jason Jaime, Hanna Lee and Colton Surcamp in Period 2, and Grace Wicklund, Cayla Bollinger, Ashley Jantze, Isaac Larson, Ty Johnson and Daniel Herr for winning best story in each of their chosen genres. (If you did not turn in your story today, you can still earn partial credit by getting it in before Spring Break.

Speaking of stories–the final copy of your imaginative short story is due tomorrow.  DON”T FORGET!  I’m looking forward to reading many of them during the break.

The Etymon Review test is also tomorrow.  I’m feeling confident that many of you will do pretty well after our last round of Bingo.

Please finish up your reading book and complete the outside reading book worksheet over the break.  Those who do will receive a special dispensation on the essay assigned for Tuesday, April 1st.

Yesterday we started reviewing the etymon lists from weeks 1-6 by playing Bingo.  We will continue to play each day until Friday’s big test.  Be sure you have your bingo sheets ready to go each day so we don’t have to waste time making them.  Remember, this is a required class activity you receive credit for participating each day in the exercise, AND you may win extra credit for winning!

Today we will read the genre compositions each student was required to write based on our class activity yesterday.  Students were divided into groups of three or four and assiged a specific genre to work with.  Each group was asked to come up with 40 words, phrases and images that might appear in a work of literature within that genre.  Next, individual students were given a copy of a short, SHORT story “Greg Jumped Up” based on an elementary basal reader.  It was your task to use you imagination to create a short story in that genre based on the incident that occurs in “Greg Jumped Up.”  Each group will read their stories to one another and vote on the best one in their group.  These will be read out loud to the class so we can all enjoy them.

We will also do some work on the proper punctuation and format of dialogue today.  This exercise will help you format dialogue in the final copy of your short story–which, by the way is still due on Friday!  I’m looking forward to reading them.

Today we discussed the ways in which good writers use dialogue to develop characters and plot.

Students read a passage from “The Most Dangerous Game” and identified examples of characterization through 1) author’s direct narration, 2) physical appearance, 3) the actions of the characters, 4) speech by and about characters, and 5) the thoughts of characters. We discussed the examples selected and what each revealed about Rainsford (the protagonist) and/or  Zaroff (the antagonist).

Next students were assigned the task of developing a scene between two characters of their own.  Two scenarios were offered or students could develop one of their own choosing. All five types of characterization must be used.

Rough drafts of short stories are due at the end of this week.  For Period 2 this means Thursday 3/13.  For Period 1, this means Friday 3/14

Today started off with a mini lecture on patterns in fiction.  Be sure the lecture notes are written in the Class Notes section of your composition book.

Next we completed an activity designed to help students come up with a good plot.  Students had 30 minutes to work on this assignment.

Maps and character profiles were returned.  Students should take materials to their keyboarding classes and begin to write a first draft of their short story.  Rough drafts are due Thursday for Period 2, and Friday for Period 1.

The last 10 minutes of class was a review of the Etymons for weeks 5 and 6.  Test and packets due at the end of the week.