Grade 8 LA:

Current Homework:

Thurs 05.10.12: Vocab 15, Completing the Sentence is due.

Fri 05.11.12:  We will take the TKAM Reading Quiz, Chapters 15-22. Final Vocab stories for Unit 15 are due.

Mon 05.14.12: We will take the Vocab 15 Quiz. The take-home reading quiz for TKAM chapters 23-31 is due. 



OLD HOMEWORK:

Wed 05.09.12: Vocab 15, Synonyms and Antonyms are due.
05.03.12 - Complete the take-home-test on chapters 10-14. This is due Monday, 05.07.12. The format is:

Chapters 10-14 Take-Home Test:

3 Questions about characters

3 Questions about the trial

3 Questions about _(yourchoice of topics)__

3 Detail-Oriented Questions

1 Must-Have Question: How does Miss Maudie’s quote about mockingbirds in chapter 10 help to explain the title of the book? Who is she talking about?

This is a total of 13 Questions on content.

Then, create 3 One-point bonus questions here:

Final Must-Have Question: Was this take-home test better or worse than a traditional reading test? How? Why? Please explain.

**old homework**

05.02.12 - Study for our test on chapters 4-9 in TKAM. The test is tomorrow, Thursday, 05.03.12.

04.27.12 - Read chapters 8 and 9 in TKAM. Answer the guiding questions for each chapter in your notes. Complete "Synonyms & Antonyms" in Vocab Unit 14.

04.23.12 - Reading quiz on "To Kill A Mockingbird" chapters 1-3 will be this Thursday, 04.26.12.

04.20.12 - Vocab Unit 13 test is on Tuesday, 04.24.12.

Poetry recitations will conclude on Tuesday. If you have not yet presented, you should be prepared to present on Tuesday.

Also due Tuesday is your journal response to one of the following three topics. Journals should be a minimum of two paragraphs, five to eight sentences per paragraph. Please correct your journals for grammar and spelling errors before turning them in. You may submit them via weblockers or hardcopy on Tuesday.

1. Scout, Jem, and Dill are fascinated by the Radley House, and the legends surrounding the reclusive Arthur "Boo"Radley. Was there a person, place, or legend that fascinated you? In what ways did your experiences parallel those of the children in this book?

2. Atticus tells Scout, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." Have you ever had the experience of "walking around" in someone else's shoes? Have you ever read about someone and felt such a connection that you could see things from their point of view? How do your experiences reflect what Atticus meant in his statement?

3. In our reading, Scout shared some of her first experiences of school, both positive and negative. What were your first experiences of school, both positive and negative? How do you think those experiences influenced you? In what ways did your experiences parallel Scout's experiences?

04.18.12:Complete "Choosing the Right Word" in Vocab Unit 13.
Be prepared for your poetry recitations.

04.03.12:Your poetry essay is due today. Please upload it to my weblocker in the "Poetry Essay" drop box. During Easter vacation, your homework is to memorize the poem you will be reciting to our class when we return. I ask that you read the poem aloud at least twice a day for practice. Have a great vacation. Be safe.

03.26.2012: Please complete reading the two poems and answering the questions following them on looseleaf. These are the ones we began in class, in your Lit. book, pages 304-308, answering questions 1-4; and pages 320-323, answering questions 1-6.03.14.2012: Vocab Chapter 12, Choosing the Right Word. Grammar Workbook through page 85.
Grammar:Read textbook pages 90-94, complete the concept check on page 94. Read textbook pages 94-97, complete the concept check on page 97. Read textbook pages 97-99, complete the concept check on page 99.

Our vocab chapter 11 test is on Monday 03/12/12.

8N Lit:

Prepare for our test onLeap Into Darkness, chapters 11 through the Epilogue. The test is tomorrow, Tuesday, 02/28/2012.
Yes, indeed, there will be questions about the Epilogue on the test.

8N Lit:

Tonight, Thursday 02/23/12, read Chapter 11 in Leap Into Darkness. Answer the guiding questions. (If you left your copy of the guiding questions at school, you can download them from my home page.)

Prepare for our test on chapters 8-10, which is tomorrow, Friday, 2/24/12.
8N Lit:

Tonight, Wednesday 02/22/12, read Chapter 10 in Leap Into Darkness. Answer the guiding questions. (If you left your copy of the guiding questions at school, you can download them from my home page.)

8N Lit:Tonight, Tuesday 02/21/12, read Chapter 8 in Leap Into Darkness.

8N Vocab:Test on Unit 9, Tuesday 02/21/12.

8N Lit:Test onLeap Into Darkness, chapters 5-7, Tuesday 02/21/12. You may use your answers to the guiding questions I provided for each chapter. If you need guiding questions, please download them from the link on my homepage.

8N Vocab: Complete "Choosing the Right Word" for chapter 9.

8N English: Complete the "Mixed Review" and "Mastery Test" on pages 52 and 53 of your English text book. Bring this work with you to class on Thursday.

8N Vocab:Test on Unit 8 Monday, 02/13/12.
8N LA: Finish reading Chapter 6 in Leap Into Darkness. Complete the guiding questions in the "Notes" section of your binder.
8N Vocab: Complete Unit 8 "Choosing the Right Word"

IF INCLEMENT WEATHER CAUSES US TO BE CLOSED ON THURSDAY, 02/09/12, PLEASE READ CHAPTER 7 IN LEAP INTO DARKNESS. Complete the guiding questions in the "Notes" section of your binder.



8N LA: Finish Reading Chapter 5 in Leap Into Darkness. Complete the guiding questions for chapter 5 in the "Notes" section of your binder.

Study for a reading quiz on Leap Into Darkness, chapters 1-5. This will be tomorrow, Tuesday 02/08/2012.

Select a theme for your Leap Into Darkness essay. Themes to consider include:

Water as a symbol…

Love for family…

Survival and Self-preservation…

Trust…

Bullying…

Freedom…

Select two quotes from the book which support your opinion about the theme, write them down, and write down the page number for each quote.

Complete "Synonyms" for Unit 8 in your Vocabulary book.

OLD HW:

8N LA: Finish reading chapter 4 in Leap Into Darkness. Complete the guiding questions for chapter 4 in the "Notes" section of your binder.

8N Vocab: Unit 7 test on Monday, 02/06/12.

Study for Vocabulary Cumulative Test on Chapters 4-6. This test will be on Wednesday, January 18th.











8N Friday 12/09/11: English quiz Monday, 12/12/11. The quiz will be on punctuating quotations properly. Please use your "Madlibs" quotations worksheet, pages 199-201 in your Grammar Workbook, and English/Grammar textbook pages 258-261 to study for the quiz.


8N Wednesday 12/07/11: Vocab Unit 6 test this Friday, 12/9/11.


8N Tuesday 12/06/201:
1. Complete Vocab Unit 6 Synonyms, due tomorrow.

2. Final copy of your Young Author's story is due tomorrow, Wednesday 12/07/11. Please turn in a printed final copy, along with your five graphic organizers, to me during our first period class on Wednesday. Please also upload the word document of your final copy to the "Young Author's Stories - Final Copies" drop box in my weblocker.

3. If you haven't completed the online definitions activity and parts-of-speech activity for Vocab Unit six, please click the "Vocab" link on my home page to access and complete them. Be sure to add your name in the top-right text box, and email your results to me by entering my email address into the bottom-left text box. You will receive a grade for your work. Thank you.








8N LA Wed, November 30th: Finish the rough draft of your Young Author's short story. Bring a printed copy of your short story with you to our class first period tomorrow, Thursday, December 1st. We will need these hardcopies to proceed through the peer and teacher review phases of the project. Thank you.







Vocab Unit 5 test is Tuesday, November 22nd during 1st period.

Please try the online practice tests and activities to help you prepare. Click on the huge Vocabulary book icon on my homepage to access them. Thanks!


D.I.R.T. - Next DIRT is due on Monday, November 21st. The DIRT 5 Folder is now available on my weblocker. Please upload your Word document there. Thanks!

Digital D.I.R.T. logs are available here on my Teacherweb page when you click the "D.I.R.T. Logs" icon! Please download the template and let me know what you think.
You can complete them and upload them to me using your weblocker! Woo!

Digital logs are also available in the "D.I.R.T. 3 - Digital" folder under "Reading/Literature Class" in our weblockers!

Past Homework:

Due Wednesday, 09/07/2011: Vocabulary, Unit 1, Completing the Sentences

Due Thursday, 09/08/2011: Vocabulary, Unit 1, Synonyms and Antonyms

Due Friday, 09/09/2011: Login to Weblockers and change your password. This will be checked on Friday morning, so please be sure to complete this by Thursday night, 09/08/11

Due Friday, 09/09/2011: Vocabulary Cards, Unit 1

Vocab cards should include the following:

Word (on the front)

Definition and the word used in a sentence (on the back)

At least one synonym and one antonym (on the front or the back)

Optional: include a picture (on the front or the back)

Due Monday, 09/12/2011: Vocabulary, Unit 1, Choosing the Right Word

Test Tuesday, 09/13/2011: Vocabulary Test, Unit 1

Due Wednesday, 09/14/2011: Vocabulary, Unit 2, Completing the Sentences

Due Thursday, 09/15/2011: Vocabulary, Unit 2, Synonyms and Antonyms

Due Friday, 09/16/2011: Vocabulary Cards, Unit 2

Vocab cards should include the following:

Word (on the front)

Definition and the word used in a sentence (on the back)

At least one synonym and one antonym (on the front or the back)

Optional: include a picture (on the front or the back)

Optional: color-code your cards by what part of speech the word is (e.g. noun, verb, adjective, etc)

Due Monday, 09/19/2011: Vocabulary, Unit 2, Choosing the Right Word

Test Tuesday, 09/20/2011: Vocabulary Test, Unit 2

Due Thursday, 09/22/2011: Vocabulary, Unit 3, Completing the Sentences, Synonyms and Antonyms

Friday, 9/23/2011: School closed. See you at Fall Fest! Come visit me at the Soda Wheel on Saturday from 12pm to 2pm!

Due Monday, 09/26/2011: Vocabulary Cards, Unit 3 and DIRT journals

Vocab cards should include the following:

Word (on the front)

Definition and the word used in a sentence (on the back)

At least one synonym and one antonym (on the front or the back)

Optional: include a picture (on the front or the back)

Optional: color-code your cards by what part of speech the word is (e.g. noun, verb, adjective, etc)

Study for Vocab Test, Unit 3. The test will be this Thursday 09/29/2011 during first period.

8N Library Class - Bring an example of "fine print" to our Library class this Thursday 09/29/2011 during fourth period. This example can be photocopied from a magazine or newspaper, or it can be a screen-shot of "fine print" from something on the Internet. Thank you!

Due Wednesday, October 19th:
Vocab Book: Please complete pages 42 through 46 in the "Review Units 1-3" section of your book.

Study for Vocab cumulative test, Units 1-3. The test will be this Friday, October 21st.

Due Wednesday, October 19th:
Vocab Book: Please complete pages 42 through 46 in the "Review Units 1-3" section of your book.

Study for Vocab cumulative test, Units 1-3. The test will be this Friday, October 21st.

Elegy Poem - Please upload your elegy poem to my weblocker dropbox titled, "Elegy Poem" by the end of the day Monday, October 31st.
Please be sure to include a rough copy, revisions (done as comments or in a different colored font), and a final copy including graphics. Thank you!


Vocab Unit 4 Test is on Thursday, November 10th during 1st period.

Ongoing DIRT question: What Really Matters?

In your DIRT journals, reflect on what really matters to the characters you're reading about. What do they value? How does what they value influence how they act? How and why does this matter in the book?

Next DIRT is due on Wednesday, December 14th. The DIRT 6 Folder is now available on my weblocker.
Please upload your Word document there. Thanks!