Essays

Today we finished up Paragraph 3.

Please bring all materials to class tomorrow for peer editing - paragraph 1, 2, and 3. We will be editing in class and turning in final drafts on Friday.

Paragraph 3

Today we got a new checklist for finishing this essay. We are going to skip an intro and conclusion (unless students do them for extra credit!) and focus on finishing 3 great paragraphs before spring break. Here is a checklist for what needs to be done for a completed essay.

Today we also worked on Paragraph 3 - the paragraph that describes an event that both characters experienced together and how each of them reacted. It will also give the student's evaluation of those actions. Here is a sample of that paragraph.

Looking at the week ahead

Spring Break is almost here! But we do have quite a bit of work to do before that.
We are working hard to complete our Character Essays before Spring Break comes around. Click here to see the requirements.
Today students continued to revise their first and second paragraphs - and many are still working to turn them in. I need these paragraphs by Wednesday in order for students to be released to Support & Enrichment.
If paragraph 2 is not finished - please finish tonight for HW.
Tomorrow and Wednesday we will be working on Paragraph 3 - the description of the event and the way two different characters responded to it. I will also be looking for this completed third paragraph before students will be released to Support & Enrichment. Students should plan on working on this tomorrow night for homework.

This completed essay as well as Word Study from last week are two things I will be looking for when students get signed out for Success Day.
Our Socratic Seminar will be moved to the week after Spring Break - look for a stimulating conversation in two weeks!

Hard workin essay writers!

7th graders worked diligently today to complete the second paragraphs of their essays! I'm very proud of their hard work and the writing they are producing.
If it's not already finished, students need to complete Paragraph 2 of the essay describing a second character by Monday.

Character Essays

Students heard more Word Wizard presentations today. Homework: Write compound and complex sentences with these words!
7A Words:
Dishonest
Avoid
Midden
Xuchal

7B Words:
Exasperated
Alloy
Unison
Scowl
Headland
Coax
Bawling

We also started brainstorming the rest of our essays today. Click here for an an overview of the essay and the calendar of due dates between now and spring break. Click here for the graphic organizer that should be complete when students come to class tomorrow.

Book Club Meetings!

Students met today to discuss the endings of their book and turn in work on 6 main events with quotes. Tomorrow we will continue to write about our books, main events, and characters.
There is no homework tonight, but students who are missing work should make sure to get it to me before lunch tomorrow - or else they will stay with me for lunch and Support and Enrichment to make up that missing work.

Paragraphs with Evidence

Today we continued work on characterization by writing paragraphs about our chosen characters. We are working on backing up our ideas with evidence - in this case, quotes from our book. We will finish these paragraphs tomorrow.
Also tomorrow - vocab HW is due and we will quiz on these words.

Word Wizards

Students presented words to each other today.
7A's vocab words are:
abrupt
stark
chief
pay phone
locomotive

7B's vocab words
smuggle
feeble
yowl
cannibalized

Then, we worked some more on characterization charts. Tomorrow, we start writing.

Book Club Meetings!

Today students participated in great discussions about their books, focusing on characters.
There is no homework tonight, but students who are revising their quizzes should do so by tomorrow - or stay with me for Support and Enrichment.
Tomorrow we will have Word Wizard presentations and homework to write sentences and illustrate them.
Thursday we will start working on writing paragraphs about our characters. This will lead to an essay next week.
Word Wizard homework will be checked on Friday when students will have a vocab quiz on these words.

Vocab

Today we studied vocab words. For homework, students are writing compound and complex sentences with their vocab words. Illustrate them as well!
7A vocab words from book clubs:
Jackboots (proper noun)
marriage (noun)
disappointing (adjective)
nimble (adjective)

7B vocab words from book clubs:
merry-go-round (noun)
shuck (verb)
vicar (noun)
pizzeria (noun)
Seder (proper noun)

Lit Circles

Today we met in the Media Center - what a refreshing change of pace!
Students engaged in discussion about their books and also looked for examples of different types of sentences throughout their reading - proof that good authors use sentence variety!
Students should at this point be clear about what they need to read by next week and also what role they need to complete.
We have no homework tonight. Word Wizards should come prepared to present their word to the class tomorrow. Students with outstanding work will stay with me at lunch and during support and enrichment tomorrow. Anybody who is missing work should finish it tonight in order to avoid that!
See you then.

Today, we are working some more on independent and dependent clauses
and compound and complex sentences. See some websites for review and
practice below.
Coming up this week:
On Tuesday, we will work with our literature circle groups, so make sure that you have your reading and your role
completed.
On Wednesday we will get our new vocabulary words from our word wizards for the week and complete vocabulary homework.
Thursday we will take a look at characterization.
On Friday (which is a half day), we will have a quiz on the vocabulary for the week and sentence types and time for independent reading.

Sentence Types Review
More Review
Interactive Quiz on Sentence Types
Interactive Sentence Type Quiz #2

Have a nice weekend!

Great job at Humanities Night. Enjoy the weekend. See you Monday.

Humanities Night Prep

Today in class we worked on our presentations for tomorrow night's Humanities Night. In case you need another copy of the prep form, click here.

Don't forget - all students should plan to attend Humanities Night tomorrow, Thursday, March 4 from 6:30-8PM - and we hope to see parents there as well.

Book Club discussion

Today, students met in their book clubs for the first time. It was great to hear them discussing books!

Anyone who did not finish their Reading Response Log today needs to show it to me tomorrow.

Students also need to be working on their vocabulary work from the words we learned in class yesterday. Students need to complete sentences and pictures of each of the words. This will be collected in class on Thursday and we will have a vocab quiz on these words on Friday.

Tomorrow in class we will be preparing for Humanities night. I'm looking forward to this discussion of the great work you all have been working on!