Wednesday, September 30

Today we discussed the history of the Globe Theater and the background of William Shakespeare. Tomorrow, we will be adding words to their lit. term packet and start reading Act One, Scene 1 of R&J.

Tonight the students do not have homework so that they can focus on their projects. All projects are due Friday! No Exceptions!

Still need TKAMB books from:
Dynashia
Gabby
Caitlin

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Today we began discussing the idea of love as we prepare to read Romeo and Juliet. Tonight, the students are creating a piece of artwork by using illustrating their ballads. The students are in competition with one another to create the best and most creative visual of their ballad. The winning student's artwork will be published in the yearbook.

All TKAMB novels are due back tomorrow so that we can send them to another school.

All TKAMB projects are due Friday. I am available for help daily, so the students should be crystal clear on their project instructions. Also, they have been given a rubric to see how I will grade their project. It also serves the purpose of a checklist, when completing the project.

Monday, September 28th

Tonight, all students need to finish writing their historical ballad. In addition, each student needs to be working on their projects. All projects are due Friday. Remember, if you finish early we can take a look at your project to see what areas need improvement.


**Students must also turn in their TKAMB novels by this Wednesday.

LC2- finish semi-colon worksheet.

Friday, September 25

Today we corrected the mistakes made on both the Benchmark and the TKAMB unit test. Some students did not finish the TKAMB corrections in class and need to finish them over the weekend. All students should be working on their projects. They are due Friday!

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, September 24

The student's completed their unit test today on our "Coming of Age" unit. They do not have any homework tonight other than working on their project.


**Sorry for the type-o in the mass e-mail to parents yesterday. I used their instead of they're. Anyways, we have all the wrappers we need. Thank you for the many donations!

September 23, 2009

FINALLY!! We finished the novel!! All students finished the novel and need to study the following items tonight for their unit test tomorrow:

1. Plot Line of TKAMB
2. Themes within TKAMB
3. Background of Harper Lee (the author)
4. Lit Terms (We began our second set today in class with the addition of symbol. The test will have words from the first list and symbol)


Please ask your student to tell y0u about the book, the author, and themes of the novel as a review. Then use their flashcards and help them review for the literary term portion of the test.

Reminder: Please sign your students project sheet, so that you are aware of the project they chose. The project is due next Friday!

NEED

ECHS Community...
We are in need of coin rollers, esp. pennies, if you have any or could swing by a bank to get any (their free) please do so. I have went, but they only give a few each trip. Plus, I am at work during bank hours, so please help us out if you can!! Thank you!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Sorry for not posting yesterday, I got carried away after work and it slipped my mind. We are almost finished with our reading. Yesterday, the students were assigned a project that is due Oct. 2 (next Friday). The students had 6 options to choose from. They were to discuss the projects with their parents and decide which one they wanted to complete and have their parent sign their project form. This is to ensure that you are aware of what is going on in class and also to note that their are projects that do not cost any money. Some students did not get the forms signed and need to do so tonight.

The students will have their unit test this week, right after we finish reading the novel. It is a theme/comprehension based test. They need to review the plotline and their literary terms. Lit terms will be on the test!!

Friday, September 18

The students took their comma quiz and turned in their TKAMB questions. We finished acting out the skit and took a 10 question quiz on the plot line of the scene. They do not have homework! Enjoy the weekend!!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Today we started acting out the trial scene of To Kill a Mockingbird. The student's had a lot of fun acting out the characters. Once we finish the scene, we will have a quiz on the material.

Tomorrow, the students have a comma quiz. The homework tonight is optional, depending if they feel they need more work. If your child does complete the extra practice found at the following website, please send a note in letting me know they chose to do the extra work. There are four worksheets with the answers for the students to practice.

1. http://www.worksheetplace.com/mf/Comma-Worksheet-1.pdf
2. http://www.worksheetplace.com/mf/Comma-Worksheet-2.pdf
3. http://www.worksheetplace.com/mf/Comma-Worksheet-3.pdf
4. http://www.worksheetplace.com/mf/Comma-Worksheet-4.pdf


Also, tomorrow the students question packet is due, this is chapters 12-16, which we finished on Wednesday.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Today we continued working on comma usage. We discussed the benchmark that they will be taking tomorrow and we discussed some test taking strategies. The students are prepared for tomorrow's benchmark and should get a good nights sleep and breakfast. After the benchmark, the students will read, individually, chapter 16 in To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAMB) and complete the chapter questions. The question packet (ch. 12-16) are due Friday morning.

Tonight's HW: Finish reading chapter 15 and questions.

I will not be posting tomorrow, I will be at a conference. The students homework tomorrow will be to study for their comma quiz on Friday and complete the question packet for TKAMB.

Monday, September 14

In the grammar portion of class, we are reviewing punctuation and comma rules. Student's will have a quiz on end marks and commas this Friday. Each day this week we will do a review activity that will help target the rules each student is having difficulty with. Ask your student to tell you what a comma is and where they are used. This will help them review the rules

We read chapter 14 of To Kill a Mockingbird today and they began their questions, they will need to finish them for homework tonight. Friday, the students will turn in their question packet (chapters 12-16) for a homework grade.

The following students still need to turn in their progress reports: Shaqura, Dazell, Emily,Elizabeth, Chris C., Yesenia, Jake, Michelle, Eden, Angie, Kristi, Brock, Bethany, Sam, and Jena. Please sign progress reports and turn them back in ASAP!

Have a good evening!

IN NEED OF:

Good Morning! I am in need of old photographs. Black and White, Sepia toned photographs of people, places, etc. I have a really fun activity I would like to do with the kids, so I need photographs. I will not be able to return them, so if by chance you have some old photos (the older the better) and they are not meaningful to you, could you please donate them to our class? Thanks!

Friday, September 11, 2009.

Today we worked on reviewing commas. I believe everyone finished thier homework in class except LC2. They need to complete their grammar pages. 265-268.

Starting Monday, we will be reading To Kill a Mockingbird heavily in class so that we may start acting out the trial on Thursday.

**Reminder: Please sign and return your child's progress report!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

I hope you all get to come tonight to the open house. I will be giving out report cards tonight. If you do not make it then I will be sending them home on Friday.

There is no homework tonight!

If you have Sean's video and you can upload it to my blog, let me know! The world needs to see what a great cheerleader he is =)

Wednesday, September 9th

Announcement: I am not sending home progress reports today because the students took an important quiz today in class that I wanted to have averaged in before I sent home the grade. We have open house tomorrow night from 5:30-7, I will give out progress reports to those who come and then I will send them home with those who do not come to open house on Friday.

The students took their lit quiz today and their homework is to read chapter 13 and complete corresponding questions.

Tuesday, September 8th

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend! I know I did! Tomorrow is a big day for the students in English class. They have a large quiz that requires them to give the definitions of all 20 of their vocabulary words and give examples of their use. We have been working on these words daily to increase their knowledge and recognition of their meaning. It is imperative that the students study for this quiz due to the fact the next four quizzes build upon these words. I showed the students the quiz today in class, so they know exactly what to expect. There will be NO remediation for this assignment, as they have had plenty of time and resources to prepare.

Each student has created a set of flashcards with each word, please help your child in calling out the terms and have them define them to you.

Thank you!

Thursday, September 3

We will be going on a field trip tomorrow so the information in this post will be for tonight and the weekend.

First, if you choose not to bring your bookbag to school tomorrow, please make sure you have your final paper stapled to your two prior drafts. If you forget, you will lose 10 pts. and 10 pts. each day it is late (not including the weekend).

Second, please finish reading chapters 11-12. Complete chapter questions for 11. Once you have completed 4-11, please staple the packet with the questions to be turned in on Tuesday. Please start your second packet with chapter 12 questions.

Don't forget to be studying for your literary term quiz on Wednesday. Remember it is all short answer, so ask someone to quiz you using your flashcards! Have a great long weekend.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Good Afternoon,
Today in class we added three comma rules into our notes and worked with sentences using each rule. Also, we completed our first set of literary terms in their packet. Finally, we took a true/false quiz on chapters 6-10 in To Kill a Mockingbird.

For homework, all classes need to make sure they have completed the following:

19 flashcards attached to ring (they should only have about 3 more to make for hw)
Grammar pages: 262,263,264
Completed Questions- Chapters 4-10 ( entire packet due 4-11 due Tuesday)
Final draft of essay, stapled to the two prior drafts (due this Friday)

If you have any questions, please e-mail me!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Today in English class we began our unit on comma usage. Also, we added more literary terms to our packet.

Upcoming Due Dates:

Friday: Final Draft of Essay's due
Monday: To Kill a Mockingbird questions due ( chapters 4-11)
Wednesday: Literary Term Quiz: Please help your student study these words. We have made flashcards for each word. Flashcards are a great study tool!