Week of Dec. 17, 2012

On Tuesday and Wednesday students will take a persuasive writing test.  On Friday all students will meet in the computer lab to take a STAR reading test to measure their reading levels. 

Happy Winter Break! 

Week of Dec. 10, 2012

We are in the middle of our persuasive writing (aka argumentative writing) unit.  You will be participating in a class essay and then on Wednesday you will write an essay with a partner.

Due Dates:
Claim Writing Practice- Thur.

Dec. 3, 2012

Persuasive (Argumentative) writing will be our focus for the next 2 weeks along with learning some new roots, prefixes and suffixes. 

Due Dates:

Root Vocab #3- Wed. (10 sentences)
Run-On Repair- Thur
Parallel Structure Edit Prac.- Fri

Quiz on Friday- Parallel Structure, Quote Embedding, Correcting Run-On Sentences

Week of Nov 26, 2012

On Tuesday we will have our "Senate Hearings" which will conclude our unit on writing a legislative bill.  Three bills from each period and teacher were voted to continue on to the "Senate Hearings."  Students will present their bills to their peers in the Little Theater on Tuesday.

Due Dates
Affect/Effect (Scope) HW- Due Wed.
Parallel Structure Practice- Fri
Book Report- Mon., 12.3 *bring your book on Friday to work on in class.

Week of Nov. 12, 2012

We will continue working on our Legislative Bills this week.  You will also read an article from you Scope magazine and complete an assignment (quiz on article will be on Fri- open book).

 Due Dates:
Reading Memo #2.4- Fri

"The Orphan Train"- Read, Think, Explain & Vocab- Fri

Email your Leg. Bill and Keynote/PowerPoint to njdowning50@yahoo.com by Sun, 11/18

 In-class presentations will be on Monday,  11/19.  Don't forget to bring to class your keynote/ppt presentation on a flash drive+ have a hard copy of your presentation.

Week of Nov. 5, 2012

I can't believe it is already November!
All 8th graders will be participating in the Legislative Bill Assignment for the next two weeks.  Students will work in groups and create their own legislative bill that will benefit our school.  Each group member is responsible for a certain part of the bill and it is imperative that all cooperate and work together to complete their bill.  Students will vote on the best bills and the winning bills will be presented in the Little Theater (dates to be announced later).  This assignment gives students the opportunity to experience the process of creating legislation, better their technology skills and perfect their public speaking skills.

Due Dates:

Compound Sentence Practice- Tue
Legislative Bill Vocab- Wed.
Reading Memo #2.3- Fri.

Week of Oct 29, 2012

It's all about Edgar Allen Poe this week.  We will read and discuss "The Tell- Tale Heart" and then analyze the plot.
 Is the narrator of the story insane?  We will debate this question in class plus others. 
Also, Root/ Prefix/ Suffix Vocab #2 will be passed out and due on Friday.

Due Dates:

Reading Memo #2.2- Fri
Root/Prefix/Suffix Vocab #2- Fri.

Week of Oct. 22, 2012

This week we will learn about some other types of consumer documents- applications and contracts.   We will also learn about author's purpose and different types of text structures.

Due Dates:
Application/ License Pkt- Wed.
Reading Memo #2.1- Fri

Week of Oct. 15, 2012

This week we will be reading, analyzing and writing different types of consumer documents- technical directions, applications, etc.  Also don't forget that your signed reading contract is due on Friday.  Make sure your book is at an acceptable reading level (not too hard and not too easy) and Fiction.

Due Dates:

Functional Reading Log- Tue
Technical Instructions; "The Mechanics of Movement..."- Due Tue
Pipe Cleaner Creation Directions (final draft)- Thur
Signed Reading Log with book- Fri
Article Annotation Paragraph-  Fri

Week of Oct. 8, 2012

Book Talks are taking place this week- Tuesday and Thursday.
We will begin our unit on consumer documents on Friday.  Our first consumer documents to analyze will be contracts and applications.
I will be handing out the next reading contract soon, so you should be looking for a book to read.

Due Dates:

Book Talk Plan- Tue
Signed Reading Contract #2- Fri, 10/19
"A Child Slave in California" Read Write Think Handout- Mon

Week of Oct. 1, 2012

I hope you are all enjoying your week off!  Just a reminder that the Book Talk Assignment is homework this week....sorry!

If you want extra credit, come prepared (with note cards) to practice your book talk on Monday.  Otherwise you will use Monday's class time to work on your note cards. 

Also, be thinking about your next "reading contract" book.  Next contract will be handed out the week we get back and due on Oct 19.

Week of Sept. 24, 2012

We will be continuing with our narrative writing.  Rough drafts are due on Tue.  Make sure you have at least 5 paragraphs (advanced students should have more than 5).  On Tuesday we will do peer reviews and begin revising out narratives in class.  It's always good to try to make our writing better.  On Wednesday we will finish revising and then peer edit which finally leaves us to publish on Thursday.  You will be able to type your narrative in the computer lab during class on Thursday.
You should be close to finishing your "reading contract" book, so you are in good shape to work on the Book Talk assignment which will be handed out on Friday.  Book talks will take place Wed and Thur, Oct 10-11. 

**Work on revising your narrative for homework on Tuesday.  You will have about 20 minutes to revise in class on Wednesday before peer editing.

Due Dates:

Prepositional Phrases Practice-  due Tue
Rough Draft- Tue

Rough, Revised and Final Draft- due Fri 
Reading Memo #4- due Fri

Week of Sept. 17, 2012

Narrative writing will begin this week.  On Monday we will look at the narrative rubric and read a student sample.  We will plan our essay on Tuesday and begin writing on Wednesday.  All writing is meant to be done in class!  Just come each day ready to write!
 Don't forget to read your "RC" book; you should be well into it.

Assignments:
Narrative Plan- Wed.
Reading Memo #3- Fri.

Week of Sept. 10, 2012

We will finish reading "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" on Monday and take a test (on vocab words and the story) on Tues.  The rest of the week will be focused on writing a personal narrative.  Our first step is to figure out what to write about!  We will work on the pre-writing process and also do some show-don't tell writing to get us warmed up for writing our narratives. 

Due Dates:
"Caged Bird" packet- Tue
Reading Memo #2- Fri
Bring your "RC" book on Tue.
Your life map is due on Fri, and you will have 15 min to finish it in class.  If you think you will need more time, consider it HW.

Prepositional Phrases HW (10 sentences)- Mon.

Week of Sept 4, 2012

This week we will read another memoir- "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou.   All reading will be done in class.  We will discuss Angelou's  use of figurative language and sensory details in the memoir, study vocab and root words found in the memoir and work in groups to analyze some passages.
Students, you should be reading your "reading contract' book and don't forget reading memo #1 is due on Friday.  If you need help, come see me after school!

Assignments:

Reading Memo #1- due Fri.  (example/practice memo was done in class on Tue.)
Vocab Packet- due- Mon.

Week of 8/27/12

This week we will read a memoir by Gary Soto- "One Last Time."  Our focus will be identifying figurative language and sensory details in the memoir (and eventually writing our own), discussing the author's attitude about his memoir and the vocabulary strategy of using context clues to determine a word's meaning and reviewing homophones and contractions.

Don't forget to have your book chosen for the first reading contract which is due on Friday. 

Assignments:
Signed Reading Contract- Due Fri.
Vocab Sentences- Due Tue.
Simile/ Metaphor Practice- Due Thur.

Week of 8/21/2012

This week we will spend more time getting to know each other.  You will write a letter in the voice of your 7th grade LA teacher telling me all about you.  The assignment will be given to you in class on Wednesday, and will be due on Thursday.  You will also have a chance to show who you are through poetry.  On Thursday you will write a formula poem, "If I were in charge of the world."

Also, if you do not have your supplies for class (see green sheet for specifics), please work on getting them.

Want extra credit?  Post a comment about yourself; a short paragraph will do.

Assignments:

Teacher Letter- Thur.
"If I were in charge of the world" poem- Fri.
Signed Reading Contract- Fri, 8/31

Welcome to 8th grade LA!

Hello 8th Graders!
Welcome to Language Arts class.  I am excited to get to know all of you and to help you improve in reading and writing.  This week and next will be all about getting to know what kind of a writer and reader you are. 

Assignments for this week:
10 T/F  statements about you- due Friday