Tuesday, January 26, 2016

8th Grade Only - Paraphrasing and Quotation Homework Assignment - Due Friday 2/5


Paraphrasing Activity #2 (Homework) – Citing Quotations
“Would You Eat This?” By Kristin Lewis – Scholastic Scope


Directions: Read the argument essay on pages 22-24 of the February issue of Scope.  Next, paraphrase what you have learned about BOTH sides of the argument presented in the essay. You don’t need to convince anyone of your opinion.  Write an OBJECTIVE summary of the essay that presents both sides of the issue.  Include two direct quotes in your paraphrase, one quote from each side of the argument.  Use your notes from your comp book to properly cite each quote.  Length = no longer than ¾ page handwritten or typed (don’t go shorter than ½ page). 

Week 3, Quarter 3 - 7th & 8th Grade English

Homework & Class Activities for 7th & 8th Grade English
Mrs. Rice
Week 3, Quarter 3

Monday 1/25 – 8th Grade (4*)
·         SWT 1/25
·         Review “Paraphrase Telephone” activity from yesterday
·         Groups of 4 – FAQ’s about Plagiarism

Homework:  Read Dec/Jan Scope article, p. 11-15.  Complete paraphrase activity.
 Due Wed 1/27 (2* only) and Thurs 1/28 (3*, 4*)

Monday 1/25 – 7th Grade (6*, 7*, 1*)
·         Re-Scheduled Ice Skating Field Trip!

Homework:  Read Dec/Jan Scope article, p. 11-17.  Complete “Main Idea” page (both sides).  Due Thurs 1/28 (6*) and Fri 1/29 (7*, 1*)


Tuesday 1/26 – 7th Grade  (6*)
·         Team Cheer Meeting

Homework:  Read Dec/Jan Scope article, p. 11-17.  Complete “Main Idea” page (both sides).  Due Thurs 1/28 (6*) and Fri 1/29 (7*, 1*)


Tuesday 1/27 – 8th Grade (2*, 3*, 4* crunch)
·         2* = Counselor Presentation (Suicide Prevention Program)
·         Crunch after presentation = SWT 1/27; Root of the Week; Multi-Media Presentation; Finish and Staple in FAQ’s on Plagiarism

Homework:  Read Dec/Jan Scope article, p. 11-15.  Complete paraphrase activity.
 Due Tomorrow (2* only) and Thurs 1/28 (3*, 4*)


Wednesday 1/27 – 7th Grade (6*, 7*, 1* crunch)
·         SWT – Black Tap Milkshakes!
·         Root of the Week – capit
·         Multi-Media Review Presentation
·         Compare/Contrast Essay – paragraphs 2-4

 Homework:  Read Dec/Jan Scope article, p. 11-17.  Complete “Main Idea” page (both sides).  Due tomorrow 1/28 (6*) and Fri 1/29 (7*, 1*)

Wednesday 1/27 – 8th Grade (2*, 3*) and Thursday 1/28 (4*)
·         SWT – What’s the Backstory?
·         Review Paraphrase #1 Homework (identify plagiarism in other’s and identify citations in your own)
·         Review FAQ’s about Plagiarism (stapled into comp book)
·         “How to Cite While You Write” notes – glued into comp book
·         Begin Synthesis and Internal Citation partner activity

Homework:  Read February Scope article, p. 22-24.  Complete Paraphrasing with Direct Quotations Activity (#2).  Due Friday 2/5

Thursday 1/28 – 7th Grade (6*) and Friday 1/29 (7*, 1*)
·         SWT – “Lost & Found”
·         Return Book Projects and Review Revision Opportunity
·         Hand out and review Feb Scope and new homework assignment
·         Finish Compare/Contrast Essay and labeling activity
·         Start Notes on Theme (if time allows)

Homework:  Read February Scope fiction story p. 25-29.  Complete “Critical Thinking” and “Value” packet.  Due Thursday 2/4 (6*, 7*) and Friday 2/5 (1* only)


·      Friday 1/29 – 8th Grade (2*)
·         Decades of the 20th Century – IDU Kick Off! (IDU = Interdisciplinary Unit)

  Homework:  Read February Scope article, p. 22-24.  Complete Paraphrasing with Direct Quotations Activity (#2).  Due Friday 2/5


Thursday, January 21, 2016

Team Prototype (7th Grade) Re-Scheduled Ice Skating Field Trip Info.

Ice Skating Information – (Rescheduled Trip!)

Monday, January 25th, students on Team Prototype will spend their core classes ice skating at the outdoor rink at the Reno Aces stadium for their team holiday celebration!  Busses will leave Billinghurst at 10:00 AM and will arrive back to school by 1:30 PM.  Bus cost and skate rentals will be covered with team funds.  Students can bring a lunch and/or money for the snack bar. Students are asked to dress appropriately.  Consider layers, thick socks, gloves, hat, sunglasses, a coat, and sunscreen. Students who arrive at school dressed inappropriately for outdoor weather (shorts, t-shirt with no coat, sandals) will be asked to call home to change or may have to stay at school.  Students may bring their own skates. We STRONGLY encourage students to leave all I-Pods, phones, and electronic games at home or locked in school lockers as they are often lost or left behind on field trips.  ** Students need to bring core binders to school in case the ice rink closes due to weather or we experience another snow-delay/snow-day.

8th Grade Paraphrasing Homework Activity

Paraphrasing Activity (Homework)
“Playing with Pain” by Michelle Crouch – Scholastic Scope

Assignment due Wed 1/27 (2* only) and Thurs 1/28 (3*, 4*)

Directions:  Read the article on pages 11-15 of the Dec/Jan issue of Scope.  Next, paraphrase what you have learned from the article in no more than ¾ page (don’t go shorter than ½ page).  You can handwrite or type your paraphrase.  Paraphrase ONLY.  Do not include any direct quotations (we will do that next time).  Your paraphrase should cover the main ideas from each section from beginning to end. This is an OBJECTIVE summary, which means NO opinion.  Do not write in first person, “I”. 

**Hint!  We learned that a paraphrase must be properly cited.  Lead into your paraphrase with the following…  The article “Playing With Pain” by Michelle Crouch in Scholastic Scope magazine is about…

When you finish your paraphrase, include the page numbers (11-15) BEFORE your final period. 

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Week 2, Quarter 3 - 7th & 8th Grade English

Homework & Class Activities for 7th & 8th Grade English
Mrs. Rice
Week 2, Quarter 3

Monday 1/18
·         Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday observed (No School)

Tuesday 1/19 – 7th Grade  (6*, 7*, 1*)
·         Multi-Media Review Presentation
·         Book Project “Speed Dating” Activity

Homework:  none

Tuesday 1/19 – 8th Grade (2*, 3*, 4* 20 min classes)
·         Root of the Week – Scope


Homework:  Math Map Testing tomorrow in 3*/4*.  Come prepared (sleep well, eat breakfast, don’t be absent).  



Wednesday 1/20 – 7th Grade (6*, 7*)
·         Math MAP testing during both class periods (6*, 7*).  You will be testing with your 6th period teacher.

Wednesday 1/20 – 8th Grade (3*, 4*)
·         Math MAP testing during both class periods (3*, 4*).  You will be testing with your 3rd period teacher.

Thursday 1/21 – 7th Grade (1*)
·         Team Cheer Meeting
·         Rescheduled Ice Skating Field Trip Info Goes Out to Students to Take Home

Homework:  Give Mom and/or Dad your Ice Skating Field Trip Info.  Trip is on Monday 1/25.  Students will be off campus 6*, lunch, 7* and 1*.  Please dress in warm layers and pack a lunch and/or bring $ for snack bar.

Thursday 1/21 – 8th Grade (2*, 3*, 4*)
·         Hand out and review homework
·         Multi-Media Presentation
·         Paraphrasing Telephone Activity

Homework:  Read Dec/Jan Scope article, p. 11-15.  Complete paraphrase activity.

 Due Wed 1/27 (2* only) and Thurs 1/28 (3*, 4*)

Friday 1/22 – 7th Grade (6, 7*, 1*)
·         Root of the Week – “scope”
·         Hand out and Review Homework
·         Continue Compare/Contrast essay

Homework:  Read Dec/Jan Scope article, p. 11-17.  Complete “Main Idea” page (both sides).  Due Thurs 1/28 (6*) and Fri 1/29 (7*, 1*)

Monday = Ice Skating! (Team Prototype) Come prepared with lunch and/or snack bar money, dress in layers, and bring core binder to school.

Friday 1/22 – 8th Grade (2*, 3*)
·         SWT 1/22
·         Review “Paraphrase Telephone” activity from yesterday
·         Groups of 4 – FAQ’s about Plagiarism

Homework:  Read Dec/Jan Scope article, p. 11-15.  Complete paraphrase activity.

 Due Wed 1/27 (2* only) and Thurs 1/28 (3*, 4*)

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

7th Grade Independent Book Project Directions

Independent Book Project – 7th Grade
Character Suitcase
Due Tuesday 1/19 (100 points)

** Students have taken notes on their own copy of these directions. Be sure to check out your own notes and hints!


Project Summary:  Create, decorate, and pack a suitcase for a main character in your book.  Decide on a destination your character would like to visit based on an actual event in the book.  The items in the suitcase need to represent the traits of a main character’s personality.

Project Objective:  character analysis

Project Requirements:
  1. Create Suitcase (use a shoebox, small box, etc.)
    • Cover a box with construction paper if needed
    • Decorate the outside of the box with at least 3 pictures, symbols, bumper stickers, etc, that represent experiences the character had in the story
    • Create a luggage tag with the character’s name and destination
    • Include your first and last name, class period, title of book, and author somewhere on the outside of the box.  Underline the book title and properly capitalize the proper nouns (names, titles).

  1. Pack the Suitcase
    • Include 10 items that represent your character’s personality.  These items may be tangible (like a book) or symbols (like a heart or a cross).   You may create the items yourself, print symbols or pictures, and/or use things from around the house.


  1. Type an Explanation
    • At the top of the page type your name, period, title of book (underlined), and author.
    • In the first paragraph, introduce your character and explain why he/she is going on the trip.  (Example:  In chapter ten, the main character Johnny goes to Bermuda on business, so I am sending him back to Bermuda! After fighting the dark side and saving the universe, he deserves a week on the beach.)
    • Explain why your character is bringing each item.  What does each item say about your character? (Example:  Johnny will be packing courage because when he fights the evil villain at the end of chapter 7, it takes a lot of courage and bravery. Courage is represented by the toy lion in his suitcase).  Do this for all ten items. You can use bullets or numbers.
    • Length = 1 pg. or longer, double spaced, 12 pt. font size, default font style

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Week 1, Quarter 3 - 7th & 8th Grade English

Homework & Class Activities for 7th & 8th Grade English
Mrs. Rice
Week 1, Quarter 3

7th Grade – Monday 1/11 (1*)
·         Team Meeting

8th Grade – Monday 1/11 (2*, 3*, 4*)
·         Resolution Balloon
·         Collect Extra Credit Reader’s Journals from Winter Break & hand out media binder
·         Root of the Week – super
·         Review Independent Book Project Directions, “Theme in a Bottle”
·         Theme review mini lesson and Idea Generator

Homework:  “Theme in a Bottle” Project due on Friday 1/15. Complete front and back side of “Idea Generator” – due tomorrow (2*, 3*) and Wed (4* only)

7th Grade – Tuesday 1/12 (6*, 7*, 1*)
·         Resolution Star
·         Collect Extra Credit Reader’s Journals from Winter Break & hand out media binder
·         Root of the Week – Super
·         Review Independent Book Project Directions, “Character Suitcase” with samples
·         Character analysis review mini lesson

Homework:  Character Suitcase project due next Tues 1/19Tonight = Find a box for your “suitcase”.


8th Grade – Tuesday 1/12 (2*, 3*) and Wed 1/13 (4*)
·         Check off “Idea Generator” for completion credit
·         New Seating Charts and New Seat Partners
·         Plagiarism identification activity and Notes on Research without Plagiarism


Homework:  Use your Idea Generator to create the outside of your bottle and to start your letter. Project due on Friday

7th Grade – Wednesday 1/13 (6*, 7*, 1*)
·         New Seating Charts and New Seat Partners
·         Character Trait List Activity (for use with book project)
·         Start Compare/Contrast Essay (done in class only)

Homework:  Tonight = decorate outside of “suitcase” and find items to match 10 traits.  Project due on Tues 1/19

8th Grade – Thursday 1/14 (2*, 3*, 4*)
·         SWT 1/14 – Animal Costumes
·         Finish Notes on Research and Plagiarism
·         Paraphrasing Activity

Homework: Theme in a Bottle Project due tomorrow.  Be sure your 3-4 themes are woven throughout your summaries.  (What did you, as the character, go through in the plot and what did that experience teach you about yourself and/or about life in general?)

7th Grade – Thursday 1/14 (6*, 7*) and Friday 1/15 (1*)
·         SWT 1/14 & 1/15 – Animal Costumes
·         Begin compare/contrast essay (done in class only)

Homework:  Character Suitcase Project due next Tuesday 1/19.  Finish packing your “suitcase”, then type your analysis.  Follow all instructions on your directions sheet (also see directions on this blog).

8th Grade – Friday 1/15 (2*, 3*, 4*)
·         Theme in a Bottle due!  “Speed Dating” for Book Ideas class activity


Homework:  none

Monday, January 11, 2016

8th Grade Book Project Idea Generator - Due Tues 1/12 (2*, 3*) and Wed 1/13 (4*)

“Theme in a Bottle”
Idea Generator / Text Evidence

Examples of Major Literary Themes: love, honor, family, hope, disappointment, war, happiness, misunderstanding, courage, kindness, sacrifice, greed, injustice, ambition, revenge, poverty, change, growing up, loss/death, justice, time, success, hard work, good vs. evil, overcoming obstacles, determination, friendship, making peace,

Check out this website! F ”List of 101 Common Book Themes”


4 Places to Uncover the Theme of a Story:
1.     Feelings of the main character.
2.    Thoughts and conversations, and repeated thoughts.
3.    Ask yourself, what does the main character learn?
4.    Characters actions and events in the plot.  What does an action say?


1)   Who will you write your letter to? Will it be “To Anyone Who Finds This” or to someone specific in your book?  Why? (Use the word: Because!)






2)  From whose perspective will you write your letter? Why that character?






3)  On the back of this sheet, describe 3 or 4 major and/or minor themes (lessons) you have uncovered in your book. Write the page or chapter numbers and a brief summary to support each theme.  what symbols could you use to represent each theme?

·        Theme:                       Pages/chapters:            Symbol:

Summary:








·        Theme:                      pages/chapters:              symbol:

Summary:







·        Theme:                      pages/chapters:              symbol:

Summary:








·         Theme:                     pages/chapters:              symbol:

 Summary:






8th Grade Book Project Directions and Example - "Theme In a Bottle" - due Friday 1/15

Independent Book Project
“Theme in a Bottle”
Due:  Friday, January 15th


Project Summary:  A character in your novel wants to express and share what he/she has learned from his/her experiences to help others understand important life lessons.  The character has decided to send a message in a bottle. 

Objectives:  symbolism; major and minor literary themes; character perspective, voice, tone

Requirements:
1.      Decorate a completely rinsed and dried clear bottle with 3 or more symbols that relate to the main character’s life lessons (plastic soda bottles work best).  Example:  In Watsons Go To Birmingham, Byron learns a life lesson about what life is “really like” in the South during the Civil Rights Movement.  On the outside of a bottle, I would draw or glue on a cross to represent the Baptist church that was bombed and a heart to represent the love and strength of the Watson family.

2.      On the outside of the bottle also include the title (underlined), author, your first and last name, and class period neatly decorated or typed.

3.      Type a letter from a main character’s point of view (use first person, I).  The letter should express your feelings about the life lessons you have learned throughout the novel.  What big lessons have you (as the character) learned?  Summarize those lessons and teach others by describing the thematic topics and how they apply to you as the character.  See example of a letter on back side.


4.      Letter requirements:  typed, single or double spaced, 12 point font size, no cursive or curly font styles, 1 page minimum. Rubber-band the letter so that it is smaller than the bottle’s opening and type your first and last name, class period, and title/author  in the upper right corner.


Example
Notice the structure of the way the themes (highlighted) are woven into the summary.  Avoid "block" organization where the summary comes in one paragraph and the themes come in another.


Mrs. Rice, 2*
Number the Stars by Lois Lowery

May 1945
To Whomever Finds This Bottle:
            My name is Annemarie Johansen, and I am a twelve-year-old girl who lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Today the war ended, and the Nazis have been defeated.  All over Denmark people are celebrating and bells are ringing.  Finally, we are free!
            In the last two years, I have learned so much.  Encountering the Nazi soldiers and their dogs taught me that real courage means facing your fears and moving through them to do what your heart tells you is right and just.  Because the Danish people followed their hearts, we saved thousands of lives by hiding and transporting our Jewish friends to safety.
            I’ve also learned how devastating and hideous war is.  My heart ripped apart when a Nazi military car ran over my sister Lise.  My friends as well as my family suffered grievously.  My best friend, Ellen Rosen, and her parents had to leave their home and country just because they were Jewish.  The Nazis were killing the Jews by the thousands, so we had to protect our friends by helping them escape.  Then Lise’s fiancĂ© Peter, who saved hundreds of Jews’ lives, was captured and executed in the public square at Ryvangen.  I wept for days and woke up screaming from nightmares in which I relived Peter’s and Lise’s tragic deaths.  I pray for an end to man’s inhumanity to man.
            But even in the face of the evil and horror that surrounded us, love and goodness prevailed because we acted with justice, compassion, courage, and conviction.  Each of us listened to that still, small voice within us that guides us toward the light, and today the light conquered the darkness.
            If you find this letter, read it to your friends and family.  Pass it from house to house.  Let people hear my message and create a world where peace, justice, and human kindness prevail.
Love,
Annemarie Johansen