English/Language Arts
Course Description
Quarter 4 Assignments:
*Time for Writing Thesis Worksheet
*Student Thesis Practice Worksheet
*Ch. 15-18 Harry Potter packet
*Identifying Thesis Worksheet
*Plant Life Reading (back table only) OR "Labels and Illusions" from Close Reader workbook (front group only)
*Spring break quick write (on lined paper, at least 5 sentences about what students did over break)
*Triangle Factory Fire Questions (Two versions- one back table, one front group)
*Ch. 19-22 Harry Potter packet
*Uprising Questions (Two versions- one back table, one front group)
*Vocabulary Uprising (Two versions- one back table, one front group)
*Future Life Journal (on lined paper, at least 5 sentences about where you see yourself in 10 years)
*Weekend journal (on lined paper, at least 5 sentences about what students did over the weekend and the one person they would want to spend time with, dead or alive)
*The Giver Utopian Community Project (attached here as one file, in the gradebook as many different assignments)
*Giver Packet
*Giver Booklet (multiple assignments in gradebook)
*Ch. 1-6 The Giver Capture
5/2- We finished reading Harry Potter and will be reading The Giver through the end of the year.
2/16- We have been reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) by J.K. Rowling, see attached packet if needed. We read J.F. Kennedy's argument about why we should invest in a U.S. space program ("Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Center" or "We Choose to Go to the Moon"). Next we will read "Exploring the Ocean is Mankind's Next Giant Leap", an argument by Jacques Cousteau's grandson about why Americans should invest in deep ocean exploration now that the space program has ended. Ask your student about the components of a good argument. The topic of the deep ocean will lead us to further examine informational texts when we read "Living in the Dark".
January- After a mini-unit on poetry ("Ode to Enchanted Light" and "Sleeping in the Forest") we will start an in-depth unit on arguments!
11/27 update- Students learned about memoirs, reading a variety of short memoirs and long memoirs, such as "Mississippi Solo" and "Polar Dream". Students have started to work on 'translating' Shakespeare's work into modern English and will analyze a section of the famous play, "The Tempest". Next week students will read a creative short story called, "Allied with Green". Finally, we will begin a unit on informational texts, reading several ("Big Rocks' Balancing Acts" and "Hidden Southwest") before writing their own informational essay.
11/1 update - Students analyzed a Shakespeare Sonnet, along with other poetry, thought about perception in various art forms, and learned about dramas as we read a radio play, called "Sorry, Wrong Number." This week they have worked on writing their first argumentative essay for the year!
10/5 update - the Wonder project is due tomorrow! The independent novel book report will be due next Friday. [Students will start the year by selecting an independent reading novel, using active reading strategies, and starting a class novel by R.J. Palacios, called Wonder. This website has a lot of resources for Wonder : http://mrwreads.blogspot.com/2012/03/wonder-read-aloud-resources.html ]
10/5- We finished a unit on narrative writing, focusing on the intensive process of revision and editing. This is a very important skill for students to progress in their writing as they transition to high school. This week we read a folk tale, called "The People Could Fly". Ask your student about dialects. Next week we will analyze poetry and begin an informational text, "Saving the Lost".
9/18- This week we will read our first informational text in Collections, called "Women in Aviation", where they will explore author's purpose and learn how to draw conclusions from the text.
9/11- In Collections we just finished comparing different types of media that conveyed the story of Abby Sunderland, with the goal of analyzing purpose, central idea/claim, and supporting details. We will apply this knowledge to a close reading called "Finding Your Everest". Next we will learn about myths in reading "Flight of Icarus" in the Collections textbook.
8/30-Through our Collections textbook we just finished reading "Rogue Wave", with the goal of analyzing plot structure and making inferences. We will apply this knowledge to a close reading called "Big Things Come in Small Packages."