October 30 - November 3

English Lit/ English Comp

This week we will continue to work through the short story, "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed."  We will continue to focus on vocabulary, comparisons using adjectives and adverbs, figurative language, and comparing/contrasting the text and the radio play.

Please note that our next test is on Friday.  Each student has a study guide.  The questions that appear on the study guide also appear on the test.  As always, the test is open-book since the students need to find textual evidence to support their answers.  Students should start filling out their study guides ASAP.  Additionally, I recommend completing the additional practice available on my homework blog.

"Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" Study Guide
"Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" Additional Practice Answer Key
"Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" Adjectives and Adverbs Additional Practice
"Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" Figurative Language Additional Practice
"Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" Vocabulary Additional Practice

Students are completing Venn diagrams in class comparing/contrasting the short story and the radio play.  The information in the Venn diagrams WILL be on the test.

Students will also be working on short story elements this week, and they will be writing a fictional narrative.

Students did a great job with the 4-corner debate last week.  Their opening statements were fantastic!  I have uploaded a few for your viewing pleasure.

Jack Maziekas is the winner of our 2 sentence story contest!  His classmates cast their votes last week.  His "scary" story:
I thought I was eating a chocolate chip cookie.  It turned out to be oatmeal raisin.

October 23 - October 27

English Lit/ English Comp

This week students will be moving into unit 2.  We are starting with the launch text, "Leaving Main Street."  Students were given a statement: We should stop exploring space because the money spent on space missions could be put to better use here on Earth.  Students were to strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree.  Students were grouped based on their choice and tasked with reading "Leaving Main Street."  Groups were to gather evidence from the text to support their position.  Students will present their arguments tomorrow in a debate format.

After completing the launch text, students will move into "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed."  Students will read the story and listen to the radio play.  We will be comparing and contrasting the two.  Students will also focus on vocabulary, figurative language, and comparisons using adverbs and adjectives.  Below you will find the study guide and the additional practice. As of now, I am going to tentatively schedule the test for November 1st.  That is subject to change.

Comparisons Using Adverbs and Adjectives Additional Practice

Figurative Language Additional Practice

Vocabulary Additional Practice

Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed Additional Practice Answer Key

Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed Study Guide 

Students will also complete vocabulary squares this week.

Rough drafts of the narratives that students have been working on in English Comp are due on Wednesday.  

The rest of our tablets are scheduled to arrive this afternoon!  As always, thank you for your support!

Make it a great week!

Mrs. Fowler

October 16 - October 20

English Composition/ English Literature

Due to the in-service day last Monday, the two-hour delay on Wednesday, and the condensed schedule on Friday, I am going to move the "An Invisible Thread" selection test to October 20th.
"An Invisible Thread" Study Guide
"An Invisible Thread" Additional Practice Answer Key
Adjectives Additional Practice
Narrative Point of View Additional Practice
Vocabulary Additional Practice
*Please note that students can also practice grammar using www.noredink.com.  I can also assign Study Island practice upon request.

This week we will continue to focus on close reading the text/providing textual evidence, narrative point of view, and adjectives.  Students will also finish writing a nonfiction narrative in which one generation learns from another.

Requirements for "An Invisible Thread" 4-Square Organizer:

Extension questions: answering questions using textual evidence.  1A:

"An Invisible Thread" Extension Questions - Answer to 1B

To practice varied sentence structure/establishing a content and point of view, students wrote two-sentence scary stories on Friday.  We will be voting on the best story this week.

Last week, students participated in a dialogue swap.  Below you will find some photos:

Make it a great week!

Mrs. Fowler

October 10 - October 13

English Literature/ English Composition

Reminder: "A Simple Act" selection test is on Tuesday, October 10th

This week we will be reading "An Invisible Thread" from unit 1 in our textbook.  We will be focusing on narrative point of view, adjectives, and vocabulary.

Some additional topics that will be covered in our composition class are correctly integrating dialogue into a narrative and beginning a nonfiction narrative with dialogue in order to establish a context and point of view.
Beginning a Narrative with Dialogue

Students will take the "An Invisible Thread" selection test on October 18th.  I highly recommend completing the additional practice to prepare for the test, but it is not required.
"An Invisible Thread" Additional Practice- Vocabulary
"An Invisible Thread" Study Guide
"An Invisible Thread" Adjectives Additional Practice
"An Invisible Thread" Narrative Point of View Additional Practice
Additional Practice Answer Key
"An Invisible Thread" Test Practice

Students will take a dialogue quiz on Thursday.  We are going to be using the website www.noredink.com to practice our grammar skills.  I will introduce the grammar skill, and students will complete their independent practice on the site.  This site provides differentiated instruction, adjusting questions based on each student's needs.  When learners get stuck, interactive tutorials pop up to help students correct their mistakes and keep going.  Students can utilize the site to practice and prepare for quizzes/tests.  There are even short quizzes for students to test their mastery of each grammar skill.

Make it a great week!
Mrs. Fowler

October 2 - October 6

English Literature / English Composition

This week students will be working on "A Simple Act" on pg. 32 in the Literature book.  The story is relatively short.  The skills that we will focus on are: vocabulary, textual analysis, subjective/objective point of view, first-person point of view, third-person limited point of view, third-person omniscient point of view, apostrophes, and adverbs.

Students should make a 4-square organizer after their first read.

There will be a quiz (5 questions) on apostrophes on Friday.

The test on "A Simple Act" will be on Tuesday, October 10th.  Students may begin working on the study guide immediately. A Simple Act Study Guide

As our students have started to realize, the Pearson selection tests can be quite difficult.  Encourage your student to study a little bit each day and complete the additional practice.
"A Simple Act" Vocabulary Practice
"A Simple Act" Point of View Practice
"A Simple Act" Adverb Practice
Answer Key

Students are finished with the "Two Kinds" selection test/retest.  Grades are in the computer.  On average, students saw a 20 point percentile gain.  Some students even saw a 30 point gain!  Below you will find some pictures of students participating in WIN (What I Need) time last week.

Have a great week!
Mrs. Fowler