Tuesday, December 29, 2009

December

During the month of December, we read, discussed and explored the historical fiction "The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963": This story explored many aspects of a family's journey in the year 1963, at time of great racial segregation. One of these aspects is a church bombing at an African-American church: The students viewed a documentary of the girls who were killed in the sixteenth street bombing, as well as various information on the Civil Rights Era The four girls who were killed in the sixteenth street church bombing: Students were asked to interview an adult as to their recollection of events of that time. Novelties:
  1. In the novel, "The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963," describe your favorite character. Explain why he/she is your favorite? Do you think he/she was treated fairly by the author?
  2. In your own words, explain, What are the limitations of Kenny being the narrator and the novel being told from a first-person perspective. Is the story's account biased in any way?
  3. What is your impression of Rufus?
  4. If you were Kenny would you have made friends with Rufus?
  5. Would you have apologized to Rufus if you were Kenny?
  6. Have you been bullied before? How did you handle it?
  7. List 5 things you would do to make them feel confortable?

Write an essay entitled "My First Road Trip". In your answer be sure to include:

  • How old you were
  • Where you went
  • Preparations made for the trip
  • A desciption of the journey
  • Your arrival
  • Your return trip

Notable contents:

  • Major and Minor characters
  • Irony, Mood, and Tone
  • Point-of -view (First, Second, Third Person)
  • Illusion
  • Symbols

Word of the Day:

Compose original sentences of the wotds, displaying your understanding of each word:

  • Transition
  • Tsunami
  • Retribution
  • Extort
  • Analyzing
  • Demonstration
  • Independent
  • Application
  • Honor
  • Determination
  • Decorum
  • Implication

Additional Assignments:

Character Sketch

  • Write a detailed description of all the major characters in "The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963"

Monday, November 23, 2009

November

Oral Presentation
Research the Civil Rights Era.
1. What was the Civil Rights Era?
2. Who were the people involved?
3. What roles did they play?
4. What was going on in the world at that time?
5. Have things changed much since then? How?
Rubric
Word Of The Day
1. Experience
2. Memory
3. Patience
4. Forgiveness
5. Conscience
6. Confront
7. Prejudice
8. Endurance
9. Repercussion
Homework
I. II.
In your assigned groups, discuss and complete a list of the types of conflicts that a person your age might encounter.Disuss what would be hard about each situation and generate a list of possible solutions. Assignment will be presented in the class.
III. Using the Words of the Day, develop original sentences, demonstrating your understanding of these terms. IV. Post-Thanksgiving Assignment:

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Plot- Student Examples

Students were required to compose PLOTS to original stories and present them on construction paper, demonstrating their understanding of the concept - PLOT.
Tracey Cruz

Victor Ramos

Coleen Cobbs

Amber Johnson

Sarai Ramos

Saturday, November 7, 2009

October

During the month of October we discussed the Essential ELA Skills:
  • Main Idea
  • Details
  • Context Clues
  • Making Inferences
  • Making Predictions
  • Drawing Conclusions
  • Comparing and Contrasting
  • Sequencing Events
  • Summarizing

Word of the Day:

  • Tsunami
  • Transitional
  • Retribution
  • Extort
  • Analyzing
  • Demonstration
  • Independent
  • Application
  • Honor
  • Determination
  • Decorum
  • Implications

Thursday, November 5, 2009

September

In the month of September, we explored the parts and types of a paragraph.

We reviewed three types of paragraphs:

1. Descriptive

2. Narrative

3. Persuasive

We also reviewed Topic Sentences - (Thesis sentence-Honors)

Parts of an essay are :

1. Introduction

2. Body

3. Conclusion

Word of The Day

  • Experience
  • Memory
  • Patience
  • Forgiveness
  • Respect
  • Forgiveness
  • Conscience
  • Consequence
  • Confront
  • Prejudice
  • Endurance
  • Repercussion

Homework:

1. My life 10 years from now
2. My dreams/aspirations for 8th grade
3. My favorite place to be
4. My Community
5. Choose 9 of the W.o.t.d. and formulate original sentences displaying your comprehension of these words.
Tests Papers