Ms. Healy

Week of November 16th, 2009

Monday:  Your rough draft persuasive paper is due.  It should be typed in 12 point, Times New Roman font.  We will self-edit and begin to peer review.

Tuesday:  Final edits on persuasive paper.  Final draft due Wednesday!

Wednesday:  Persuasive paper due.  In class, you will turn your persuasive paper into a persuasive speech by transferring your main ideas to note cards.  Practice at home tonight!  Persuasive presentations on Thursday and Friday in front of your classmates.  We will go outside and use our new amphitheater if the weather is nice.  This will be a major project grade.

Thursday:  Persuasive speeches.

Friday:  Second AR Test deadline!  We will go to the library for the first twenty minutes of class and then continue our persuasive speeches.  AR test grades will be updated over the holidays.  One test taken and passed will receive a grade of 50%.  Two tests taken and passed will receive a grade of 100%.  Remember, you must take and pass THREE AR tests by the end of the 9 weeks to receive a score of 100% in the "AR Tests Taken" category.

HAPPY TURKEY WEEK!  Enjoy your holiday and get lots of rest.  Most of all, have fun and read a good book!

Week of November 9th, 2009

Book Fair this week!  Bring your money and visit the Book Fair before school and during the Holiday Shop on Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm.

Tuesday:  Persuasive writing begins!  You will receive a persuasive planning sheet that you will outline your paper on.  DO NOT LOSE THIS!  You will have to start all over again from scratch if you do!  Download another copy here if you need one:  Download PERSUASIVE PLANNING SHEET

Wednesday:  We will do Week 10 DGP for warm-up and continue our persuasive paper.  Bring your persuasive planning sheet everyday.

Thursday:  We will practice more comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs for warm-up with an exercise from the Writing and Grammar book.  This will be a homework grade done in class. We will continue our persuasive planning writing.

Friday:  You will have a DGP Practice Quiz for warm-up.  This WILL NOT be a quiz grade, but a classwork grade.  You will have a DGP quiz after Thanksgiving.  We will finish our paper in class on Friday and plan for peer editing on Monday.

Week of November 2, 2009

Monday:  Today we discussed Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs and took Two Column notes on a power point.  You made download the power point here:  Download Comparative Adjectives and Adverbs PP. 

HOMEWORK:  Both sides of Comparative and Superlative Worksheet

Tuesday:  Happy Election Day.  Enjoy your day off!

Wednesday - Friday:  We will be in the library or lab doing research for our persuasive papers.  Remember that you must take notes on BOTH the pro and the con side so you can use counter arguments in your paper.  If you would like to look over the topic choices again, you may do so here: Download Persuasive Writing topics

Grading System for Journals

Because there are SO many students who turn their journals in late, I am outlining how the journals will be graded.  Journals are collected every third week and the grading will be as follows:

One journal missing:  Your grade begins at 80%

Two journals missing:  Your grade begins at 60%

Journal turned in one -two days after original due date: Your grade begins at a 95%

Journal turned in three - seven  days after original due date: Your grade begins at 90%

Journal turned in seven days after original due date: Your grade begins at 85%

Two journals with the same prompt in a 9 week grading period: Your grade begins at 90%

Journals written in pencil:  Your grade begins at 95%

Journals with incorrect heading:  Your grade begins at 95%

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Homework:  Read page 198 in your Reader's Journey book and answer questions (except #5) on page 199. 

Purple Class ONLY:  Do pages 198 and 199 (see above) AND complete page 176 in Reader's Journey.

If you have not returned your Reading/Lang Arts syllabus tomorrow, signed by a parent, you will go to Silent Lunch.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON ACCELERATED READER AND READING SYLLABUS

ACCELERATED READER

For the 2nd 9 weeks you are responsible for the following AR tests:

1 Novel

I Non-Fiction book of any kind

1 AR book of your choice

READING/LANGUAGE ARTS

You will now have two grades from me; one for Language Arts and one for Reading.  Please download the syllabus attachment and have your parents sign to indicate that they understand the new grading system.  You must sign also!  Download ReadingAddendumSyllabus2009.10

YOU MUST HAVE YOUR SYLLABUS RETURNED BY WEDNESDAY OR RECEIVE A NEGATIVE ON YOUR PAW CARD.

Week of October 26th, 2009

Monday:  The Great Debates continue!  If it is a beautiful day, we will go outside and debate on our new amphitheater.  Warm up will be DGP Week 9, Monday through Wednesday.

Tuesday:  We will finish our debates - outside if the weather permits.  We will finish DGP Week 9 for warm up.

Wednesday:  QUIZ on persuasive techniques.  Study your "What is the Best Way to Persuade my Audience?" worksheet with logical, emotional and ethical appeals.  We will begin a few days of grammar practice with a review of pronouns and antecedents.

Thursday:  We will write Thank you notes to Home Depot for our warm up activity in appreciation for our beautiful new amphitheater.  We will continue our grammar study with a review of simple, compound and complex sentences.  BRING YOUR READER'S JOURNEY TEXTBOOK!

Friday:  Halloween Treats!  We will read from our class set of literature books and study two editorials that take opposing sides on the issue of salaries for pro athletes. Have a great weekend, be careful on Halloween, and don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour on Saturday night and enjoy that extra hour of sleep!

 

 

Week of October 19th, 2009

Monday:  We are continuing our work on debates.  Your team should be ready to present by Friday. You should have information for your Opening Statement, Pro/Con Arguments, Counter Argument and Closing Statement.  Your team should be prepared to speak for a total of 7 minutes.

Tuesday: Today is The National Day of Writing!  Think about the many ways that you communicate or receive information through words each day.  Our scavenger hunt through school revealed hundreds of ways that we communicate important messages, from posters to banners, to signs to magnets to bulletin boards.  Write on!

Wednesday: Today is Early Release Day.  We will spend 15 minutes in the library at the beginning of class to check out books or take AR tests.  The rest of the day will be spent working on our debates. You will be assigned a presentation day.

Thursday:  Today will be the FINAL day to work on debates in class.  All of your research should be complete and you should be working on presentation with your partner.   Practice makes perfect! Today is also Home Depot Day.  Wear orange to support this Partner in Education who will be building an outside stage/theater for HTMS all day Thursday.

Friday: The Great Debates begin!  Your 2nd Journal Response of the 9 weeks is due today.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

You have TWO assignments due tomorrow.  Bring a SIGNED Reading Log AND your first journal response of the 9 weeks.  Remember that you should put it inside your colored class folder.  Make sure your name is on the outside of your folder.

Some reminders about your journal entry:  you MUST use blue or black in or type (double spaced), and you must fill the ENTIRE page.  You may only use a journal prompt once each 9 weeks.  Use your current AR book.

If you need to do more research on your debate topic, you are responsible for doing it at home tonight.  You must be ready to outline your debate tomorrow and have all of your information in front of you.

Week of October 12, 2009

We will continue our study of persuasive techniques this week. 

1)  For Tuesday:  If you have not already done so, underline the logical, emotional and ethical appeals in "All Together Now" on page 254 of your Reader's Journey.  Be prepared to explain your choices.

2)  For Friday:  Reading Log Due

3)  For Friday:  First journal response of the 9 weeks is due.  You may use a prompt only once during a 9 week period.  Turn your assignment in inside your colored class folder.  I WILL NOT accept your journal response if it is not turned in inside the folder. 

BRING YOUR READER"S JOURNEY BOOK EACH DAY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!