This Week: December 1-5

Monday, December 1:
“Determining Mood” Activity using “After Twenty Years”
Homework: Short Story Sheet for “After Twenty Years”

Tuesday, December 2:
Punctuation Lesson: Commas
We will do a graded in-class activity involving correct comma usage and creative writing.
Homework: none!

Wednesday, December 3:
Review for Short Story Test (on Friday)
Short Story Bingo!!!
Homework: No graded homework, but students should start studying for the Short Story Test that will be on Friday. This will include the four stories we have read in our Literature Book:
“Thank You M’am”
“Loser”
“War of the Wall”
“After Twenty Years”
The test will also include the elements of plot (plot diagram notes and short story sheets).
I handed out Short Story Packets to students today. They can use the work they have done to study!!!

This Week: November 17-21

Monday, November 17:

Answer questions for “War of the Wall” and complete Short Story Sheet for “War of the Wall”
Put together study packets for the first three short stories we have read.

Homework: Study Plot Diagram notes for Plot Diagram Quiz on Wednesday

Tuesday, November 18:

Subject Verb Agreement Practice
Review and Correct Subj. Verb Agreement Classwork
Homework: pg. 550 Mixed Review
Plot Diagram Quiz tomorrow!!!

Wednesday, November 19:

Take Plot Diagram Quiz
Read “After Twenty Years” by O. Henry and answer questions
Homework: Short Story Sheet

Thursday, November 20:

Subject Verb Agreement- Review for Quiz
Homework: Subject Verb Agreement Quiz tomorrow- study!!!

Friday, November 21:

Subject Verb Agreement Quiz
“After Twenty Years” – Activity

Thanksgiving Break! No School Next Week!

This Week: November 10-14

Monday, November 10, 2007:
In class: read “Loser” by Aimee Bender
pp. 324-329 (Lit. book)
Answer questions (in complete sentences) on pg. 330 (1-6)
Homework: None

Tuesday, November 11, 2007—No School! Veterans’ Day

Wednesday, November 12, 2007:
In class- review plot diagram notes and discuss the short stories read on Friday and Monday.
Begin working on Short Story worksheets for “Thank You M’am” and “Loser”
Homework: Short Story sheets due on Friday

Thursday, November 13, 2007:
Grammar- Subject Verb Agreement Continued
Indefinite Pronouns, Compound Subjects, and Delayed Subjects
Classwork:
1. pp. 541 (1-10) ex. 7
2. Choose one of the short stories we read in class. Write a one-paragraph summary (7 sent.minimum) of the short story. Underline the subject and circle the verb in each sentence. Check to make sure your subjects and verbs agree.
3. Subj./Verb Agreement worksheet
Homework: Finish worksheet if not finished in class. Short Story sheets due tomorrow!!

Friday, November 14, 2007:
Read “War of the Wall” by Toni Cade Bambara- pp. 188-195 (Lit. book)
Answer questions 2-7 pg. on 196

Homework: Short Story Sheet for “War of the Wall”

This Week: October 27 - Ocober 31

Monday, October 27:
Discuss the end of The Outsiders
Laying the Foundations - sentence strategy writing assignment

Homework: Finish The Outsiders writing assignment

Parents, we will be watching The Outsiders, the movie, on Thursday and Friday. The students have done a wonderful job with reading the novel, and they have really enjoyed it! Please sign the permission slip which was sent home today if your child has your permission to watch the movie.

Tuesday, October 28:
The Outsiders- 3 levels of reading theme project (in class)

Homework: study for VOCABULARY QUIZ TOMORROW! (words 20-35)

Wednseday, October 29:
Vocabulary Quiz
Finish Project

Thursday, October 30, and Friday, October 31:
Watch the film version of The Outsiders!

This Week: October 13 - October 17

Monday, October 13: no school!

Tuesday, October 14:
Review for 9-weeks final exam in class
Homework: Study fore 9-weeks final exam tomorrow!

Wednesday, October 15: 9-weeks final exam!!!

Thursday, October 16:
receive exam grades
Read The Outsiders Ch. 7
Homework: finish Ch. 7

Friday, October 17:
Read Ch. 8
End of First 9-weeks

This Week: October 6-10

Monday, October 6:
Read in The Outsiders
symbolism in the novel- group activity
Pre-AP –discuss poem interpretations
Homework: finish Ch. 5

Tuesday, October 7:
Vocabulary for The Outsiders
Make and illustrate flash cards for all 19 vocabulary words
Homework: Use words 1-10 in a sentence

Wednesday, October 8:
Circle Reading!
Homework: Read Ch. 6 by Tuesday

Thursday, October 9:
Vocabulary- write sentences for 11-19
Vocabulary Charades!
Hand out study guide for final exam

Friday, October 10:
Review for Exam - Activity in Class
Homework: Students have their study guides. They can begin studying for our final exam.
Final Exam is Wednesday, the 15th!!!

This Week: September 29 - October 3

Monday, September 29:
Quiz/ reading check: The Outsiders Ch. 1 and 2
Read Ch. 3
Homework: Finish reading Ch. 3

Tuesday, September 30:
Review Verbs Lessons 10.1, 10.2, 10.3
Action Verbs, Direct Objects, and Indirect Objects
Lesson 10.4 Linking Verbs and Predicate Words
Homework: pg. 404 (11-20); pg 406 ex. 7 (1-20)

Wednesday, October 1:
Read The Outsiders: Ch. 4

Thursday, October 2:
Review for Grammar Quiz (Lessons 10.1-10.4)
Action Verbs, Direct Objects, Indirect Objects, Linking Verbs, and Predicate Words
Homework: Review for Quiz- pg. 420 ex. 2 (1-10) pg. 421 all

Friday, October 3:
Grammar Quiz! (Lessons 10.1,10.2, 10.3, 10.4)
The Outsiders Vocabulary

This Week: September 22-26

Monday, September 22:
Read The Outsiders Ch. 2
Sticky notes- making connections to the text
Homework: None!

Tuesday, September 23:
Verbs (Ch. 10: Lessons 1, 2, 3)
Homework: pg. 400 ex.2 (1-10); pg 402 ex.3 (1-10) pg. 404 ex.5 (1-10)

Wednesday, September 24:
The Outsiders: Complete Circle Thinking Map
Finish Ch. 2
Homework: Complete worksheet with character charts on Ponyboy, Soda, and Darry; complete charts comparing Greasers and Socs

Thursday, September 25
Verbs: 10.4 and 10.5
Classwork: Pg. 406 (1-20); pg. 408 (1-20)
Homework: None…Happy Homecoming!

Friday, September 26:
Discuss comparison charts;
Read The Outsiders: Chapters 3 and 4
Homework: None

This Week: September 15-19

Monday, September 15:
In-Class Persuasive Essay
Homework: None

Tuesday, September 16:
Re-read Martin Luther King speech as a class; turn in annotation for classwork grade
Nouns 9.5, 9.6
Homework: pg. 388 ex.10 (16-20); pg. 390 ex. 11 (1-10)

Wednesday, September 17:
Quiz on Persuasive writing notes
Begin reading The Outsiders!
Homework: None

Thursday, September 18:
Review for Quiz
Homework: pg. 396 (11-25) and study for quiz

Friday, September 19:
Nouns Grammar Quiz
Read The Outsiders
Homework: None

Monday, September 8
Complete Group Poster project on literature from Unit One.
Check for understanding of genres of literature, fiction/nonfiction, author’s purpose, sequence of events, unstated intent- “Why Read?”

No Homework

Tuesday, September 9
Begin Grammar Ch. 9- Nouns
9.1 Identifying Nouns, common and proper, abstract and concrete
9.2 Compound Nouns, making nouns plural

Homework: pg. 380 (Ex. 1: 1-10) and (Ex. 2: 1-5); pg. 382 Ex 4 (11-20)—write sentences for 16-20

Wednesday, September 10
Persuasive Writing- activity and notes
Preparation for in-class essay

Homework: Brainstorm/ Pre-writing for in-class essay on Why Read? Create an outline to bring to class Monday when we write out in-class persuasive essay.

Thursday, September 11
Nouns: 9.3 Possessive Nouns
9.4- Distinguishing Plurals, Possessives, and Contractions

Homework: pg. 384 Ex. 6 (11-20); pg. 386 Ex. 8 (11-20)

CCMS vs. Hewitt... Go Cougars!

Friday, September 12
Complete Persuasive Writing activity:
Identifying rhetoric in Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech!
Review example persuasive essay outline.

Homework- no homework if you did Wednesday's homework already-- If not, prepare your outline to bring to class on Monday!

This Week: September 2-5

Monday: Labor Day—No School!

Tuesday:
Introduction to Persuasive Writing
pp. 258-261
Read about Dr. Benjamin Carson and his persuasive writing and speaking techniques.
Brainstorm about why persuasive writing is used.

Homework: Getting started: “Persuasive Writing Worksheet” (front and back) —students follow steps provided on worksheet to plan and write a persuasive paragraph on an issue of their own choosing.

Wednesday:
Finish group discussion questions on “Teaching Nepalis to Read, Plant, and Vote.”
Read and discuss “Suzy and Leah” (finally!)
Discussion Questions
Persuasive writing group activity

Homework: None

Thursday:
Persuasive writing continued:
Optional- students read aloud persuasive paragraphs written for homework on Tuesday
Persuasion in advertising—group activity

Homework: none!

Friday:
Gather evidence for in-class Persuasive Essay on Monday… “Why Read?”
Groups will each be assigned one of the selections of literature we have read. Each group will create a poster displaying the title, genre of literature, author's purpose, and sequence of events for that selection. Groups will also include how the story answers our big question..."Why Read?"

Homework: (Optional to help prepare for in-class essay) Read one selection from Unit 1 of our literature books that we have not read in-class. Make notes on what this selection says to the question “Why Read?” (Unit 1 is pp. 5-120)

This Week: August 25-29

Monday, August 25
Finish Reading “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto (pg 26)
Fill out “Making Connections” chart on the board as a class
Homework: Complete pre-reading worksheet on “Teaching Nepalis to Read, Plant, and Vote” (which is on pg. 58). Students do not have to read the entire story for homework-- only the first paragraph (the “lead”).

Tuesday, August 26
Subjects, Predicates, and Sentences
Correct Thursday’s homework as a class
8.5, 8.6
Compound Subjects and Predicates
Simple and Compound Sentences
Homework: pg. 366 (6-10); pg 368 (11-20); pg 372 (1-10) (Read the directions carefully.)

Wednesday, August 27
Read: "Teaching Nepalis to Read, Plant, and Vote" and “Suzy and Leah”
Complete QAR
Homework: None

Thursday, August 28
Review for Ch.8 Grammar Quiz: Subjects, Predicates, and Sentences
Complete Study Guide in class
Homework: Grammar Study Exercises (pg 374: 1-10 and 1-5) / Use study guide to study for Quiz

Friday, August 29
Grammar Quiz: Subjects, Predicates, and Sentences (Ch. 8 in Writer's Choice)
Read: “Summer Reading” and “First Book”
Homework: None

Announcements

1. Meet the Teacher is the Monday night (the 25th) at 5:30 for parents of seventh graders. I would love to meet all of you if you can make it!
2. Our first Grammar Quiz is Friday, August 29th. This will include the information from Chapter 8 in our Writer's Choice books. Students should have their corrected homework to study with. We will review on Thursday.

Have a great weekend!

This Week: August 18-22

As we begin our first full week of school, I would like to say that I have been greatly impressed and pleased with all of my new students. For me, the first three days have been a pleasure, and I am looking forward to the remainder of our year!
Parents, you may be interested to know that we began covering our Writer’s Notebooks on Friday. We used magazines, pictures, and anything students wanted to bring from home to cover our notebooks with a personalized collage. My students are very creative! Most of them went above and beyond, searching the magazines for words and pictures, even individual letters to spell out what they wanted on their notebooks. I think this activity got everyone thinking, and I was very impressed with the attention to detail that each student gave as the notebooks were so carefully crafted. This way, each student has a Writer’s Notebook that is uniquely his or her own. We will finish this activity on Friday so that we can begin using our notebooks next week. Also, I bought laminate paper to cover these with (which we will do on Friday) to keep them intact as they are used.
Tentative schedule for this week:

Monday, August 18
Literature:
Introduce and discuss “Why Read”
Read “The Day it Rained Cockroaches” by Paul Zindel
Write our own ten biographical points, using Zindel’s as a model
Look for themes in the story
Discuss purposes for reading
Discuss Author’s purposes
Homework: None

Tuesday, August 19
Grammar:
Subjects, Predicates, and Sentences (8.1-8.3)
Sentence Strips group activity
Notes and Discussion
Homework: pg. 358 (6-10); pg. 360 (11-20); pg 362 ex.5 (16-20); ex.6 (1-10)

Wednesday, August 20
Literature:
Read the short story “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto
RS1: set purposes for reading; determine author’s intent, context clues, draw conclusions RS7: sequence of events, interpret author’s intent
Homework: None

Thursday, August 21
Grammar:
Subjects, Predicates, and Sentences 8.4, 8.5
Sentence Strips group activity
Homework: pg. 364 (1-10); pg. 366 (11-20)

Friday, August 22
Finish and cover Writer’s Notebooks!

Welcome!

I am thrilled to welcome my new seventh graders back to CCMS and to Mrs. Skelton's English/Language Arts class! This is our class blog, which I hope that you will find helpful for keeping up with what we are doing in class throughout this year. I am very excited about the year ahead. I just know that my students are going to be brilliant, and we are going to learn, grow, and have an amazing year together. On this blog I will post weekly updates about class, as well as homework, test and project reminders, and other class highlights. Also, you will find some helpful links, such as a link to the Glencoe Website, where you will find our textbooks online, activities to help you study, etc.

Following is a general schedule for the first three days of school:


Wednesday, August 13
Introductions to the class:
1. Students complete index equality cards
2. Introduction of Mrs. Skelton and general overview of the class
3. Introduction to class rules and procedures
4. View our class blog
5. Activity in groups

Homework: Parents need to sign three things: 1. letter 2. Skills Agenda 3. Mrs. Skelton's Class Code of Conduct and Procedures

Also, beginning Thursday, and on Friday, we will be decorating our Writer's Notebooks. I am providing the notebooks. Students will cut out pictures and words from magazines to decorate their notebooks. Bring anything from home (pictures, stickers, quotes, magazines) to use on Thursday and Friday to decorate your notebook. You want to personalize your Writer's Notebook and make it something you want to to write in!


Thursday, August 14
Information sheets
Group Activity- Introduction of students
Assignment of Class Jobs
Review of Rules and Procedures/ Questions
Begin Writer's Notebooks

Homework: Bring anything you want to use to decorate your Writer's Notebook

Friday, August 15
Brainstorm for our Big Question, "Why Read?"
Work on Writer's Notebooks
Assign Textbooks

No Homework!