Grammar Summative

Today students took the grammar final. Overall, the scores were pretty good. Grades will be posted when everybody has taken the test. Afterward, students read chapter seven on their own. Students need to keep up with the connections as we checks will be random.

Homework:
Read AR
Finish connections

Chapter 6 and Mokauea

Today students read chapter six in The Outsiders while others went to Mokauea Island. On the island, students had the jobs of picking mangrove pods, checking water quality of the ocean, collecting marine debris, and ridding the reef of invasive ogo. Those that went need to read chapter six on their own. Also, we have our grammar summative so make sure to study.

Homework:
Read Ch. 6
Study for grammar summative

Short Cores

With a school mandated test this morning and a preview of our Mokauea field trip tomorrow, cores were shortened to about 20 minutes. In that 20 minutes, we worked on another inferencing practice. Click here to see it. Students needed to distinguish between an inference and a detail in a passage from The Outsiders.

Homework:
Read chapter 5 (those students in Tittle and Caalim's core one need to read ch. 6)
Do connections
Study for grammar summative on Friday (try a practice here)

Inference Practice and Chapter 5

Today we did a worksheet to help students with inferences and details. Inferences are guesses about something read, with details to support them. Click here to see the worksheet. Afterward, we continued reading The Outsiders by starting chapter five. We didn't make it through, so students have about 10 pages to finish.

Homework:
Finish Ch. 5 (do connections)
Study for Friday's grammar summative
Quiz retakes tomorrow before school and during recess

Library Orientation

Today we did the second phase of library orientation as students learned about research on the Internet and the resources available to them in the library. Also, grammar quizzes were passed back and if students would like to redo them, see me before school or during recess.

Homework:
Read AR

Peer Edit

Today the students worked together to edit papers on the computers. Their focus was on transitions and paragraphs. Some students still haven't finished their papers so they worked on it during the time. Edline has been updated to reflect the paper being turned in so you can see who hasn't turned it in.

Homework:
Read AR

Paper Due Tonight

The second draft of the students' paper is due tonight by 11:59 PM. Some students my have problems with their email, so I instructed them to print it out if they need to. If they are having trouble attaching it, they can always go to skydrive.com amd use their hotmail id and password to get in.
Today in class we read chapter four in The Outsiders and students need to remember to do the connections. The connector sheet was checked today and many students had not finished it.

Homework:
Read AR
Email paper by 11:59 PM

Chapter 3

Today the students read chapter three on their own and finished their connections. If the students do not do the connector sheet after they read he chapters, they will fall behind and be struggling to look for connections later on. Click here to see the connector sheet. Also, students should be finishing up the body of their paper and sending it in through email by 11:59 PM tomorrow. To see an example of my draft, click here. I have also updated the calendar to reflect what is going on in class. Click here to see it.

Homework:
Read Ch. 3
Do connections
Type body of paper and email by 11:59 PM tomorrow

The Outsiders Ch. 2

Today we continued reading The Outsiders. Students once again need to make two connections with events in chapter two. We also checked tree maps and reminded students to write the body of their paper using the information in their maps. When they finish typing the body of the paper, they should have four total paragraphs and they can email it whenever they are done.

Homework:
Finish ch. 2 (about a page and a half left)
Type body of paper (continue after your introduction; don't erase red teacher comments)
      Paper to be emailed by 11:59 PM Thursday night.

The Outsiders and Connections

Today we started reading the book The Outsiders and I also passed out a connection to text sheet students must do as they read the book. Click here to see it. Students need to make two connections per chapter. The connections can be text-to-self, text-to-text (another book they have read), or text-to-world.

Homework:
Read AR
Finish connections for Ch. 1
Tree map due tomorrow
Type body of paper (Due Thursday)

Quiz and Tree Map

Students took their quiz on grammar today as we wind up the unit. We'll see how everybody did and see how much more practice the students need before the summative. After they were done with the quiz, they worked on a tree map for the body of their paper. Click here to see my example. I also passed out an example of my paper the tree map refers to. The top example has sentence transitions and the bottom example has basic transitions. Click here to see it. Introductions were returned via email, so make sure to go on and see the comments. Do not erase the comments!

Homework:
Read AR
Work on tree map (due Tuesday)
Type body of paper (due Thursday)

Two for One

Sorry didn't post yesterday, but I'll include the information in this post. Yesterday, we went over subject/verb agreement. Click here to see the presentation. The first worksheet focused on review as students needed to underline the subject and verb and decide if the subject was singular or plural. Click here to see it. Students only needed to do the first side. Next we went on to nouns that sound like many but are only one and on the backside there were sentences with different word order than students are accustom to. Click here to see that sheet. Finally we went over what we find as the rule many students get wrong when writing papers: compound subjects agreeing with the verb. Click here to see that sheet. Most students finished in class so the only homework they had was to read AR.

Today we added on the final grammar lesson with punctuation: proper use of commas and how to use semicolons. Click here to see the presentation and click here for the notes. You may notice at the end of both there is a section on dashes. We will not be covering it because of time, but if you would like to learn about dashes, just continue on in the presentation. If you would like to practice, click here for a worksheet.

Homework:
Read AR
Review verb tenses and subject/verb agreement (click here for review)

Verbs

We started our grammar unit today with a focus on verbs. The students broke into small groups to look through the Write Source books to review past, present, and future verbs along with learning the perfect verb tenses. They filled in a notes sheet, click here to see it, and did a couple of worksheets to practice. Click here for the simple verbs worksheet and click here for the perfect verbs worksheet. Also, for those who are absent or want to review, click here for a presentation on verbs. This will help fill out the verbs note sheet.

Homework:
Read AR
Finish perfect verb tense sheet

Introductions

Today, students worked on their introductions in the computer lab and if they finished, they emailed it to turn the paper in. Though I wasn't there, Ms. Brown said most students finished. Those that didn't finish need to turn it in by midnight on Saturday.

Homework:
Read AR
Finish introduction

Introductions

Today I went over introductions so students can write the first paragraph of their 5-paragraph essay. Click here to see the presentation. I also passed out notes for introductions. Click here to see it. We then went into the computer lab where students typed their thesis statement and plan. They then sent it to themselves to make sure they can open their work at home.

Homework:
Read AR
Open up paper at home

Hotmail Accounts

Today the students opened their hotmail accounts with instructions to only use them for school. If parents would like to keep tabs on what is being sent, the student user name is firstname_lastmame@hotmail.com and the password is the student AR password with 2012 at the end. Example Jason_Tittle@hotmail.com/password: 3GTJ2002012 or something like it. If there is a problem that arises, please don't hesitate to call. If they are using it for something other than school, we can go in and delete it if you wish. To bypass the parental permission, we set all student birthdays to 1992. Over the next few weeks, students will be writing an essay and turning it in through the account.

Homework:
Read AR

More Computer Practice

We continued in the computer lab today with formatting papers. The students practiced typing a couple of paragraphs from a draft of my paper that doesn't have a complete introduction, only the thesis statement and plan. Click here to see it. We will go over introductions on Wednesday or Thursday. Students needed to format the paper properly by double spacing, having no spacing between paragraphs, and making sure it is in Times New Roman font. They did have a reference sheet they could use posted in edline.

Homework:
Read AR
Get email permission signed

Computer Practice

Today we went into the computer lab to work on formatting our papers.  We are asking that all students turn in their papers and essays electronically to prepare them for high school language arts classes. Click here to see the letter home. We also went over possible programs for those who do not have Microsoft Word. I suggested using Open Office. It is a free program that can save files as Word documents. Click here to go to the download site.
Finally, we practiced using the Word formatting tools like fonts, spacing, and spell check. Click here to see the formatting we went over. 

Homework:
Read AR
Open Word document (to see if you have Word)
Get e-mail permission signed

Thesis Statements

Picture taking took up about 20 minutes of class today, but we went over making a thesis statement for the five paragraph essay on someone/something that has made you who you are today. Much like a topic sentence in a paragraph, the thesis statement, along with the plan, previews the entire essay. The students used their circle maps from last yesterday to complete today's worksheet. Click here to see it.

Homework:
Get AR packet signed
Finish thesis statement and plan

The Ultimate Gift and Brainstorming

Our first assignment of the term is to write a five paragraph essay on someone or something that has shaped us into the person we are today. We read a chapter from the book The Ultimate Gift to show the students that people aren't the only choice for this essay. It can be events or experiences as well. Then the student made a circle map to braistorm ideas for the essay. Click here to see my example.

Homework:
Get AR packet signed
Finish brainstorm circle map(s)

STAR Testing

Today we went to the library for our STAR reading test. Packets will be sent home tomorrow with students and students will get their point goals tomorrow as well. Tonight is our meet and greet night for Green Track- hope to see everybody there.

Homework:
Get paperwork signed