SOLSC ~ 2011 ~ 8/31
Have you ever had one of those bad mornings that seemed to start the night before? That was me today. Though it wasn’t necessarily a bad night, running Seneca into the pediatrician (her turn for battle strep) wasn’t exactly what I had planned. Yet, we made it – and it was actually kinda nice to […]
OLW ~ Eighth Grade
As we enter a brand new year, I asked my eighth graders to consider what their word would be. It’s fun to see the variety they’ve captured – some serious and moving, others downright funny (pancakes?).
Realistic Fiction ~ The Pigman
One month into school and we’re already 6 chapters into our first novel! This quarter we are studying the aspects of realistic fiction. The first week of school we reviewed the qualities of the genre as students prepared to select their own independent novel. As a way to reinforce the genre, we are studying The […]
WritePrize – Writing Contest
I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of working with the Lake Michigan Writing Project (LMWP) for nearly 6 years now, so I’m thrilled to share the news of the second annual WritePrize writing contest they are sponsoring. This being a local competition and with ArtPrize being practically in our backyard, I certainly hope students will […]
“A Day’s Wait” by Ernest Hemingway
Today we read this short story and again had about ten minutes to write about one of the invitations below. This is the third short story we’ve read and written from, and based on what I’ve seen from the first ones I’m sure these pieces are going to be just as fabulous. Writing Invitations Write […]
“Thank You, M’am” by Langston Hughes
Today we read this short story looking at the characterization that Hughes uses. Upon reading this text, students discussed the story, what they expected to happen and what actually happened. For their writing assignment, students can choose one of the following writing invitations. Write about a time when something happened in your life where you […]
Business Letters
Our eighth grade classes have been learning about business letters and formal communication. Here is a recent revision of the sample we created in class. We have drafted and peer-edited letters requesting donations to be raffled away at our bowling night during our Mackinac Island field trip. Drafts of our letters were turned in today […]
A-Wordling We Go
Some of my students from last year might remember my infatuation with creating word clouds using Wordle. There are so many educational possibilities for this type of organization and classification. Last week in class, I asked my 8th grade students to write down individual lists of things they were looking forward to this year, and […]
Keeping up with the Cornwells
Check this out, I’m getting the hang of blogging! You would think that as a recent college graduate my technology skills would be stellar, however I must admit that this is my first blogging experience. I can tell that one of my many challenges this year will be keeping up with the very tech savvy Mrs. […]
Back to School Night
While we have been at school for the past couple of weeks preparing the room, the lessons, and ourselves for the start of another year, it wasn’t really real until yesterday. Hearing the clink of locker doors, the buzz of nervous excited students and the gentle reminders of parents, made it very clear this was […]
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