Welcome Hale Eighth Graders and Parents!

Please visit our blog to find out about what we covered in class, homework assignments and our curriculum goals for Language Arts -- Reading and Writing.

Reminders for the Class of 2015 will also be posted.


Saturday, May 30, 2015

Thursday & Friday May 28, 29, 2015

Students corrected Simple Solutions Lessons 79 & 80.  TEST #20 is Tuesday, June 2nd (last grammar test this year!)

Thirteen Reasons Why:  Cassette 4B and 5A -- went over discussion questions; analyzed key situations and worked on theme

Literature portfolio folders were collected for Writing grade.

Homework:
Read 5B and guided reading questions
Study for Simple Solutions.


Friday -- 8th Grade Luncheon -- (great time had by all!)
Monday -- WalkAThon/Picnic (all slips & money were due by today Friday 29th)
   We'll have 45 minute classes on Monday before and after the picnic.
Tuesday -- Simple Solutions Test #20

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Students took their REACH End of the Year Performance Assessment in Language Arts.
We discussed 13 Reasons Why, Cassette 4A and began listening to 4B.
Students handed in their Reading Guide #2.

HOMEWORK:
Literature Portfolio folders due tomorrow.  Work should be in order.  Cover sheet should be highlighted.  #21-25 should be five of your best pieces of work from the entire year.  List them and include them.

13 Reasons Why -- Read Cassette 4B and complete the discussion questions.


8th Grade News:
Don't forget the permission slip for Friday's luncheon/dance.
Walk-A-Thon money ($10.00 minimum pledge from 8th graders) and permission slips due Friday.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Tuesday May 26, 2015

Students created a journal entry where they drafted a new poem about a significant male in their lives.  Format was provided on a handout.

All papers were passed back & missing assignment sheets were passed around for any corrections.

Yale and Princeton corrected Simple Solutions 78.
Harvard 79

All went over discussion questions for 13 Reasons Why Cassette 3B.  We listened together & discussed Cassette 4A.

Today was the deadline for all makeup work/late work.

HOMEWORK:
Y & P -- Simple Solutions #79
H -- Simple Solutions #80

Published poems about a significant male in your life (i.e dad, grandpa, uncle, godfather, etc.)

Work on assembling, illustrating, recopying items for your Literature Portfolio due on Thursday.

Finish reading 13 Reasons Why #4A; complete discussion questions (will be collected Weds).



8th Grade News:
Permission slips were handed out today for Friday's luncheon.  Due back by Thursday.




Saturday, May 23, 2015

Friday, May 22, 2015

Students compiled Literature portolios.  (see list on previous blog page).

Poet Studies were collected.
Simple Solutions Corrections from Harvard & Princeton were collected.

Teams took a quiz on Part II of 13 Reasons Why.

Harvard watched "Swing Kids" and created a journal entry.

HOMEWORK:
make sure your journal is up-to-date with all entries completed.
Simple Solutions 78 & 79
13 Reasons Why:  read Cassette B

ALL MISSING READING WORK/ANY TEST/QUIZZES ETC that have to be made up are due TUESDAY.

The last Friday  after school period was held from 3:00 to 5:00 for students needing assistance.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Extra Effort -- Writing due June 1st

Pick 20 roots/prefixes/suffixes due Monday June 1st, 2015
Create a review game or power point that includes the meaning, way they are used, and three or four words that are examples of their use.

PROJECT: Literature Collection of....

The Literature Collection of
_________________________________________________
1. Biopoem
2. I am from….
3. My name….
4. “If I was in Charge of the World….” 
            Handout
            My original
5. “What is Success?”  Ralph Waldo Emerson
6. “The Choice”  Dorothy Parker
7. Haiku
8. Cinquain and Limerick
9. My original rhyme poem modeled after “The Germ” by Ogden Nash
10. Topic poem
11. Acrostic Poem
12.  Tribute to a significant male in my life
13. Form poetry
14. Desiderata by Max Erhmann
15. Origin Myth
16.  “Fortunately, Unfortunately”
17.  Diamante
18.  Poems I found appealing: __________________________________________________
                                                ___________________________________________________
19.  My best writing assignment
___________________________________________________
20.  The poem I memorized:
___________________________________________________
21.  A Poet’s Study
___________________________________________________

22-26. OTHER (my choices)

Poet Study

          Poet Study
Research an author.
1. Fast Facts: Find 5 to 10 fast facts about the poet (be sure one is birth date/death?)
2. Picture: Include if possible.
3. Genre: Determine which type of poetry and other genres he/she is noted for (some authors produced more than one – remember Shirley Jackson who produced stories about kids and family life as well as horror!)
4. Literary Works: List 2 to 5 poems/books/stories written by the author & the year published.  Be sure to site them by using quotes (poems or short stories) or underlining (novels).
5. Personal commentary (What poem did you read from this poet? Did you like it?  Would you like to read more of his/her work?  Why do you think that person was so good at the writing they did?  Was there something in the person’s background which led them to become an author?)
6. Sources: Be sure to sight your sources properly.  Some poets have their own websites or there are groups who have been created to honor that author’s memory and works.



(Hand in a one-page report with your information).

Thursday May 21, 2015

Princeton took their Reading MAP test today.

Yale watched "Swing Kids" and recorded acts of defiance and acts of control in their journal.
We corrected Simple Solutions #77.
Discussion questions for 13 Reasons (#1) were collected.
Simple Solutions Test corrections collected.

HOMEWORK:
Simple Solutions #78
Poet Study
Read 3A and complete questions of our novel, 13 Reasons.



All make-up work due Tuesday.
Literature Portfolios should be completed by Wednesday.


Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Wednesday May 20th, 2015

HARVARD:
Journal entry:
Harvard -- Spring MAP  (two columns, what I knew, what I didn't); calculate progress from Spring 2014 to Spring 2015
We corrected SS #77.  Test 19 returned and we went over corrections -- sheets due tomorrow.
We handed in our discussion questions for 13 Reasons Why
We listened to the beginning of Cassette 3A and received our new discussion question sheet.
We received our poems and folders to begin assembling work for our literature portfolio.
PRINCETON:
We completed two vocab review exercises and one examining paradoxes, foreshadowing and flashback.
We worked on our NWEA MAP vocabulary packet.
We talked about Cassette 2B (Tyler Downs) and handed in our discussion questions.
YALE:
Listened to Cassette 2B; worked on discussion questions
Received our Simple Solutions Test back; went over corrections; correction sheet due tomorrow

All sections received the table of contents for the Literature portfolio due Tuesday 5/26.
Acrostic, topic, and diamante poems collected.

HOMEWORK:
Poet Study (just like an author study); you pick the poet; due Friday 5/22
Simple Solutions #78 & #79
Continue developing and illustrating poems
Read Cassette 3A and complete study guide questions.
Binder signature

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Tuesday, May 19th, 2015

Today Harvard and Yale took the Reading MAP test.
Princeton watched "Swing Kids" and evaluated acts of defiance and acts of control during Hitler's rise to power in Germany.
Test corrections on SS #19 due.
Complete Lesson 77.

Read Cassette 2B  "Tyler Downs" and complete questions.

Poems should be published and handed in.
Poetry portfolios due next Monday.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Monday May 18th, 2015

Journal entry:
    "Fortunately....unfortunately...."   We began construction of another creative poem.
Five couplets minimum and a final line.

We took the poetry interpretation assessment on "Speech to the Young" and "Mother to Son."

We continued working on our NWEA MAP vocabulary.

Princeton began listening to Cassette 2B and took a team quiz.

HOMEWORK:
NWEA MAP table
review root words, prefixes and suffixes

Due Wednesday
Figurative language worksheet (Thirteen Reasons Why quotes)
Poems published:  topic poem and diamante
Read Cassette 2B and questions
Simple Solutions #77

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Extra Effort Opportunities for READING & WRITING due 5/22

READING:
        Pick a poet; complete an author study.
        Find three poems written by this author.
        Write a one paragraph reflection on his/her poems.

Think about our current novel, Thirteen Reasons Why.  Create a power point about the importance of believing in yourself.  Include at least 3 quotes from famous folks -- be sure to use quotes and list their names.

Questions?
    Can I do both?  YES   Do I have to?  NO
    When are they due?  Friday, May 22nd.
    How many slides do I have to use in my powerpoint?  Four to Seven (font should be at least 18 -22 so it can be read on the Smart board)
       


WRITING:
       Create a study tool (Power point, game, etc)  for
                     1.  The 8 parts of speech
                        OR
                     2.  Verbals:  participles, gerunds, infinitives
                        OR
                     3.  Kinds of Sentences (compound, complex, simple, compound-complex)


       Think about the Holocaust unit and Parallel Journeys which we just finished.  (Create a political cartoon that would present another side -- against Hitler's propaganda)

(Questions?
      Can I do all three?  YES   Do I have to?  NO)

       When are they due?   FRIDAY, MAY 22nd


Friday, May 15, 2015

Friday May 15, 2015

Today we took the two Poetry Unit assessments:
   1.  on our poets, poems and content
   2. on poetry elements

We discussed our novel, cassette 1B and began 2A together.
We defined some of our MAP terms.

four poems were handed in today.

HOMEWORK:
Read Cassette Chapter 2A and complete discussion questions.
NWEA MAP packet -- continue defining terms
Work on poems:  Topic poem, acrostic poem, diamante poem

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Wednesday May 13th 2015

Today we worked on a Study Guide for our Poetry unit assessment on Friday.

We took our Simple Solutions Test #19 on lessons 73-76.

Thirteen Reasons Why: we discussed Cassette 1A and began listening to 1B
Princeton & Harvard took a team quiz on Cassette 1A.

Yale's poetry groups finished presentations

HOMEWORK:
  Publish your poems:
These should be in by tomorrow:
     If I were in Charge of the World
     Rhyme and Rhythm poem based on "The Germ"
     Form Poem
     Limerick
     Haiku
     Poem about you Biopoem
     Cinquain -- about a food

Study for Poetry test on Friday.

Work on MAP review sheet (we're working from the back forward -- do the next section 200-210)

Finish Cassette 1B and questions.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Tuesday May 12, 2015

Today we completed a Study Guide for the Simple Solutions Test (Lessons 73-76).
We continued Poetry Group presentations.  Harvard and Princeton presentations are complete.

We took notes on types of poetry:  Ode, Epic, Narrative, etc.

We continued our Novel, Thirteen Reasons Why & went over the first 7 questions.

HOMEWORK:
Study for the Simple Solutions English Test on Lessons 73-76; use your Study Guide.
Read up to page 35 in your novel and answer through question #17.
"Publish" your poetry by Thursday -- type or write in ink on computer paper the following original creations:  Haiku, Cinquain, Biopoem, Form poem, Limerick.

Continue MAP READING review activities online.
Especially try the "Sosa" website;  Mrs. Urbinati has the link on her website for both Reading and Math.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Monday May 11th, 2015

Today we read, discussed and copied "The Choice" by Dorothy Parker (p. 600 in your Green literature book).
We corrected Simple Solutions #75 and 76.  (Test on Wednesday).
Poetry groups reported, classmates took notes on the poetic principle, the poet, and the poem.
We continued our journal entry where we listed the poem, poet & summary.

Students handed in Parallel Journeys and received their new novel, Thirteen Reasons Why.
We began listening to the introduction.

Homework:
complete questions 1-7 on your Reading Guide for Thirteen Reasons Why;  only read to page 8.
Work on two poems:
      Biopoem and Form (see your instruction sheet for help).
Be sure the comprehension questions on your poems are handed in.

HOMEROOM 215:
bring a roll of paper towels and or kleenex!! Please.
Remember tomorrow is Cubs/Sox Dress Down Day for $1.00!

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Friday May 8, 2015

Journal entry:
    Nuremburg Laws --  We read the laws passed in Nazi Germany in 1935;  Which one was the most surprising and why?  What arguments would you use to fight against these laws?

Journal entry:
    Cinquain and Haiku (we took notes on how to write them) -- drafts due Monday

Journal entry:
    Chart -- three columns  (name of poem,  name of poet, short of summary of what the poem was about) -- this a continuing entry as we present poems in our groups


We took notes on the element of SPEAKER/VOICE,  TYPES of POETRY (ballad, epic, cinquain, haiku, free verse)

Corrected Simple Solutions #75

HOMEWORK:
SS #76
Write your cinquain (on a food item with two syllables, i.e. "french fries")
Write your haiku

Complete an online review exercise each day for READING MAP testing (use prepdog, sosa site or compass learning -- record on your chart)


Any late  assignments on your section's novel and on Parallel Journeys due by Monday.
A 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. session was held after school on Friday.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Thursday May 7th, 2015

Journal entry:
Poems -- create a Limerick (fun) and an Acrostic (choose a word, at least 7 letters, something about graduation)
Took our Sadlier Lesson 4 test (Yale & Princeton)
Corrected Simple Solutions 73 & 74.
Poetry groups reported.

Homework:
work on two poems
SS 75
practice activities for MAP
begin work on Sadlier Lesson 5 (bubbles or charts)

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Wednesday, May 6th, 2015

Journal entry today:  "The Sunflower"  a Synopsis
Students read a reflection on an event during the Holocaust;  they summarized the "big ideas" in three sentences and reflected on the message (theme).

We read the Postscript of Parallel Journeys.  Took our test on lessons 18-22.

Harvard took their Sadlier Lesson 4 test and handed in their packets.

Yale handed in their Think and Note on 22 and Epilogue.  We watched part of the film"  Heil Hitler, Confessions of a Hitler Youth"  -- it can be found on youtube and was created by one of the narrators in our book.

Princeton and Harvard began their poetry team presentations.

HOMEWORK:
Simple Solutions #74
Poetry Group presentations
Binder signature


Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Today we read three poems from survivors.   We created a Journey entry in our purple journal as we examined the form of the poems and the meaning.  We modeled several ways of presenting poems for our Poetry Groups.

Princeton & Harvard:  read the Epilogue together and watched part of the movie "Confessions of a Hitler Youth."  This can be found on Youtube if students want to finish watching the 1/2 hour video.

Yale: created a short write on Chapters 20 & 21;  tonight they will read Chapter 22 and the Epilogue and complete a Think & Note


ALL: Poetry groups met for final planning for presentations beginning Wednesday.


HOMEWORK:

Study for test on Parallel Journeys #18-22
Simple Solutions #73
Yale: read 22 & Epilogue, Think & Note
Princeton/Harvard:  study for Sadlier quiz (4)

continue review exercises on Compass Learning, Prepdogs, etc.


Monday, May 4, 2015

Monday May 4, 2015 -- Poetry Power point Guidelines too

"May the 4th" be with you!  (Which type of Figurative Language?)

Princeton & Harvard:
   completed a discussion and short write about Helen and Alfon's lives after the war.  This covered Chapters 20 & 21.  Short Writes and Think and Notes were handed in.

Students recorded a definition, example, and synonyms for "propaganda."
They silently reflected on a piece of Nazi propaganda used during WWII.  These examples were scattered throughout our classroom, students assigned to a piece, and a reflection was given to be filled out & returned.

Chrome books were used to work on the Group Poetry project.  Final jobs had to be assigned.  Presentations begin on Wednesday.

All papers were passed back including the Simple Solutions test.  We went over the test noting corrections.

Poems were handed in:  If I were in Charge of the World & the "noun" poem with rhyme and rhythm (modeled after "The Germ).

Homework:
All:
Poetry Groups -- finish reading your poems and answering questions on looseleaf.  Complete the job you have for your team on the powerpoint.
Simple Solutions Test corrections are due tomorrow.  See blog for a worksheet if you didn't take one in class.
Yale:  Read Parallel Journeys chapters 20 & 21; complete a think and note.
Princeton & Harvard: Read chapter 22
Sadlier Lesson 4 quiz (study)

RETAKES on Simple Solutions: Tuesday 7:20 a.m.


POETRY POWERPOINTS:
     Introductory slide with Team Color, names of members & the word: Poetry
     Slide:  Poetic concept -- defined, explained, an example
     Slides:  One slide on each poem assigned to your group (should include name of poem in italics, author, identifying poetic traits (i.e. free verse,  rhythm,  notice "repetition" with the words.....)
summary of what the poem was about or message from author

Powerpoint cannot be over 10 slides.


Saturday, May 2, 2015

Friday May 1, 2015

Journal entry #4
  Continuing to interpret Shakespeare......
"To thine own self be true..."
Legacy....

Short Write on Chapters 18 & 19.

Discussed Helen's journey home and Alfon's arrest.

Poetry groups met to set up power points.

Proofread poems; published (if you did not finish, type at home, print & have it in your google docs if you can't print at home)

HOMEWORK:
Read 20 & 21; Think & Note
Sadlier Lesson 4 -- we'll take quiz on Tuesday (change from previous post)

MAP review exercises!  15-30 minutes per night -- see your websites
prepdog.org, compasslearning, sosa site


GRADES all uploaded.
Please check all -- especially binder signatures (those who gave me late signatures -- remember our internet went down during Yale -- check if your binder signature was uploaded; if not, show me Monday)