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 for Mrs. Cornwell to review. We will receive them back tomorrow to make changes. Final drafts will be typed in the lab on Wednesday and, provided they are free of errors, sent to their intended recipients by the end of the week.
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 things they were nervous about.
I’m so excited to learn and share with these new students! Be sure to check back often to share in our adventures!
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. Cornwell! With that being said, what an amazing opportunity I have been given to learn a thing or two (or a hundred) from an amazing teacher and respected colleague. When it comes to technology, it I believe that it is my job as a teacher to learn everything I can, and be familiar with the latest and greatest our world has to offer. An increasing amount of students consider themselves digital learners and as a teacher it is of the utmost importance to me to appeal to all of my students’ unique learning styles. Kids today use, understand, and love technology and what better way to reach them in school than to incorporate something they enjoy?!
I consider myself pretty comfortable with technology. I am young enough to have grown up with computers in school and in the home, however I still feel I have a lot to learn and my skills could definitely use some tweaking. It is my personal goal this year to learn as much as I can about technology through the multitude of resources I have available to me. In addition, I hope to incorporate these skills into my teaching as much as possible. Students–I’m expecting you to hold me accountable for this
Thank you Mrs. Cornwell, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd hour for inviting my 4th and 6th hour to join you on your blog. This is a wonderful opportunity for our classes to connect, and I look forward to updating frequently.
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 truly happening….and I couldn’t be more thrilled! I’m always amazed at how much the students change over the summer, and seeing a few of you last night was further proof that so much can happen in a few short months! I can’t wait to meet each of you!
With sports practices in full swing, and the long weekend on the horizon, many families were unable to attend our back-to-school night. Rest assured that the paperwork will be sent home with your student next Tuesday. For students in my class, here’s the presentation I gave last night. While you’ll be missing my witty remarks that make a few jokes (such as my affinity for baking necessitating my need to enjoy running!), I think the gist of the message stands alone. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me! This was meant to be an overview – a very general overview – of what each course looks like, and a full syllabus is available as well.
To view the presentation, keep clicking the “play” button and you’ll scroll through each part.
*Email subscribers, please click to our blog to see the presentation!
Have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend! See you Tuesday!
The first unit I’m covering in the 8th grade English course is a collection of entries written based on the letters in the words “Middle School.” This unit is a modified version of one I found on a terrific website where students wrote one entry for each letter of the entire alphabet. Taking the timeframe into account, this shortened project still offered the same benefits in a more approachable manner.
As a class, students first participated in an activity that highlighted their similarities and differences with their classmates and helped them think of descriptive words. We then brainstormed possible topics students could use to write about for their various letters. Students then began writing an entry for each letter that shared something about them during their middle school career.
Purpose
Students will write an autobiography using the letters of the word “Middle School.”
Students will describe significatn life events and interests.
Students will assess their entries using a checklist.
Formatting
1″ margins on all sides
Title in 24pt font, bold, centered
Body in 16pt font, left aligned
Due Date
Friday, December 19th (unless student has a planned absence, then it is due before they leave)
This project is worth a total of 75 points.
60 points for the completion and quality of each entry.
10 points for making use of class work time and computer lab time.
5 points for spelling, grammar, mechanics and presentation of project as a whole.
Other
Students will have had a total of 6 days in the computer lab to work on this writing project. We have worked on revising skills such as using action verbs, vivid words, and varying how they begin their sentences. We will likely revisit these skills several times throughout the school year so students continue to see theconnection within their own writing.
Students in my 8th grade English class have begun working on a collection of poetry. We will be completing 8 different kinds of poems for students to compile and illustrate in a hardbound published book.
So far students have done a fair job of working at this genre. Some have really taken to it and are blossoming as poets – trying different strategies or tools of the writing trade. Others are still confused by poetry and are somewhat reluctant to really embrace the poetic form.
To date we have completed a Silent Loud Eternal poem, a Three Word poem, and an I Am poem. Today we started an Object Poem. We still have Epsitle Poems, Free Verse Poems, Limericks, and Poems for Two Voices to complete.
I have encouraged students to try more than one of each type of poem so they can choose their best to include in their book. Also, I am grading them on their poems and the overall neatness of their final project, not on their artistic ability. Therefore, if they would like to seek help on their illustrations that is completely acceptable.
Students will have computer lab time in class to type their papers next week. As always, if your son/daugther feels that they would benefit from additional time, they are free to take advantage of our open lab Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after school if a home computer is unavailable.
The entire project is due no later than Friday, December 21st. I anticipate the final week before break being spent on the illustrations and hope to have things wrapped up on Thursday (12/20) since that last day before break is filled with other fun activities.
Finally, the books are being published through StudenTales and paperwork will be sent home shortly with details on how to order an additional copy of your child’s book. Be sure to ask for it!
I hope this will work…we recorded our discussion today in First Hour and since several of my 8th graders are going to be on a field trip this afternoon, I thought I would post the discussion so they could hear it…
Try this link to listen to our reenactment of the rumble scene from The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.
I still remembering reading The Outsiders back when I was in eighth grade. It was one of my all-time favorite books, though I do still think the names are kind of corny (Ponyboy, Sodapop – what gives?). The thing that really struck me about it was the way that it seemed so real, so true. Even if there weren’t Socs (pronounced soashes and short for “Socials”) and greasers, there were “jocks,” or “preps” or “geeks,” and the list goes on.
That’s what makes the book timeless in my opinion. I think that readers at any age level (especially upper middle school) can really connect with the idea of groups, differences and similarities. I also think that’s what makes the transformation of the characters in the group such a powerful tool for learning.
Whereas the 7th graders have read 10 chapters in their book, Chernowitz, the chapters in The Outsders are much longer. We’re 10-pages into Chapter Two. So far our class discussions have been very lively and some students have participated in class for the first time as a result of this text. My goal is to have students finish Chapters 2-5 next week in class. We will be taking Tuesday and Friday to go to the computer lab to try a different tool for discussion and/or processing the information in the story.
This week we tried our hand at wikis (pronounced “wickies”), and it was, how shall I say this eloquently….a big flop! We battled technically difficulty after technical difficulty. But the kids were troopers and didn’t give up. If things aren’t in better working order next week, we might just stick with the low-tech tools like pencils and paper, which are just as valuable.
I would like to have students take their first vocabulary quiz next week and I’m thinking of either Wednesday or Thursday. I will provide a study guide and the exact day on Monday.
There are also some fabulous websites that students can access (Google search “Outsiders”) to help make sense of the characters in the book. I will say, however, that some are spoilers and give away big action or events in the book. I really stress that students shouldn’t read ahead only because they’ll get confused when it comes to comprehension activities that we do in class. If you’re students is surfing some of these sites and comes across a big event in the book – please remind him/her not to spoil it for the rest of the class. Thanks!
I’ll leave you with this, an exercise students did as a pre-reading activity last week. Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong somewhere? If so, what was the context, the situation? How did you respond and why do you think you felt that way? Students were very insightful with this activity and realized that everyone feels like an “outsider” at some point. So I wonder…doesn’t that make us all part of the same group in some way then?
My first hour class has the pleasure of watching the high school broadcasting program on Friday mornings. It amazes me how intently they watch, how carefully they listen and how completely transfixed they are for this 10 minutes.
Today there seemed to be a “good ol’ country” theme to the show and Jones Soda kept popping up on various shots. In one scene, the anchors were wearing crazy afro wigs and talking with thick southern drawls. Would it work if I wore a wig too? I think not.
Maybe it has something to do with the unknown world of high school. Seeing their friends from last year doing fun and cool things that they can’t wait to do themselves. Whatever it is, I appreciate the opportunity to see them completely in tune and focused. I’m thinking about using this tool to teach visual literacy and/or the importance of viewing skills.
What about you? What are some of the things that captured your attention in middle school? What types of programming “hook” you now?
Week 5 already….Wow! This week, both 7th and 8th graders have been digging deep into their memory banks for those priceless jewels. You know, those totally unplanned, yet completely memorable family activities, or some your “finest” parenting moments. Actually, most students are recalling things like accidents, emergencies, and a few first crushes.
Many of you have completed your portion of this assignment as well by creating your list of 10 memories of your precious child. I’ve only been able to give these a passing glance at this point (still knee-deep in 7th grade comics and 8th grade descriptive paragraphs – oh yeah, and whatever it is that my adorable child keep hacking up at 3am!!) but they are turning out fabulous!
We will revisit these “neighborhood maps” later in the school year when students begin to work on their memoir. You may have heard them talk about writing personal narratives in previous years, and a memoir is much the same. One slight difference is that we try to guide students toward the events in their past that have evoked some kind of change in their lives. Often these pieces are very meaningful to the students and reflect a great deal of time and energy.
Okay. Here’s the nitty gritty part of this post. Next week, starting Monday, October 8th, students will be taking their ELA MEAP test in their ELA classes. This will continue all through next week and the ELA portion of the test will wrap up on Monday the 15th. We spent the first couple weeks of this school year talking about the various portions of the test and different strategies they could employ to make it more manageable.
Lastly, students have received their weekly reading logs which I will collect on Monday, October 8th. Students are asked to complete 60 minutes of reading time and obtain verification of said reading in the form of intials or a signature on their reading log. We will not be doing a log next week in lieu of the MEAP.
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