August 30th & 31st

Thursday

I was absent because my daughter was having tubes put in her ears.  She has had a terrible time with ear infections, so hopefully this will help.

1. HS101-I’m not sure what Ms. Woods did, but I’m sure it was interesting and helpful.
2. Warm-up activity-Editing sentences from the overhead.
3. Gramar activity-Writer’s Craft, p. 539-43 dealing with plural and possessive nouns.  You were supposed to read the sections and complete the “Concept Check” and “Proofreading Skills” practice for each.
4. While in the media center to take your ID picture, you were to write 10 sentences with your vocabulary from Unit 2 and then study for the test.
5. Homework-study for the vocab. test and do the practice activities on p. 93-95 in the blue Grammar & Composition Handbook.

Friday

Picture Day!!!

1. HS101-we discussed various study methods that we use.
2. Review vocabulary terms for Unit 2 Test.
3. Unit 2 Vocabulary Test.
4. Grammar & Composition Handbook, p. 95-98 practice exercises. (Finish it for Tuesday if you do not finish in class.)

Enjoy your weekend. Be safe.  See you on Tuesday.

Wednesday, August 29th, 2007

HS 101–Today we observed Ms. Woods as she demonstrated for us a new study technique for vocabulary.

We looked at our Unit 1 vocabulary tests.  These are supposed to be signed by your parent or guardian and returned by Friday for bonus points.  If they are not returned, a note will be sent home to inform your parents of the grade.

We reviewed the activities for Unit 2, p. 30-34.

We continued our exercises with nouns and then completed a “Ticket Out of the Door” about our reactions to the vocabulary test grades and then brainstormed about ways to improve them.

Homework:

None tonight.  Study for the Vocabulary Test on Friday ( It was supposed to be tomorrow, but I may not be here, so I am being nice and giving you another day to. study.)

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007

Did anyone see the lunar eclipse this morning?  I looked, but couldn’t find it.

HS 101–Lesson on diversity.  Ducks, cows, dogs, and cats.  Each group is different, but can’t they learn to accept each other and to work together?  Diversity is NOT  a bad thing.  We all have so much to offer each other.

We continued introducing the words for Unit 2 vocabulary.  Your activities for Unit 2 are due on Wednesday!

We continued working with nouns.  The differences between concrete and abstract nouns seems to be tripping a few of you up.  We’ll keep working on it.

Homework:

Vocabulary Unit 2 Activities

Monday, August 27th, 2007

Today we started a new procedure to help you become successful in my class and in high school in general.  Ms. Woods visited our 1st and 4th period classes for about 15 minutes to lead a discussion on the differences between middle and high school.  I led the same discussion with my 3rd period class since she is unavailable to visit us during that period.  We will continue this throughout the year with various topics to help you transition from MS to HS.

We began Unit 2 in our vocabulary today.  We talked about the first 10 words today and will talk about the second 10 words tomorrow.  Remember that your activities for Unit 2 are due by Wednesday.  The test for Unit 2 will be on Thursday.  This is the schedule we will follow for the remainder of the year for school weeks with five days.

We took notes on Parts of Speech and Nouns using a study guide today.  All of the information is in the yellow Writer’s Craft books at the front of the class on p. 556-8.

I also issued the blue Grammar books today.

NO HOMEWORK FOR TODAY!

Day 5

Congratulations.  You have finished your first week of English I.  Only 35 more weeks to go.

Today we did some warm-up exercises for grammar editing.  Then we went to the Media Center to check out our AR books for the AR project for 1st nine weeks.  The requirements for the books are as follows:

• 120 pages or more
• 5th grade reading level or higher
• 2 or more points for AR

We then took our vocabulary test for Unit 1.  I hope that you studied this week and that you aced this first test.  If not, I hope that we see improvement throughout the year.

Have a good weekend.

Day 4

We are off to a slow start so far.   We are still trying to get the ball rolling.

Today we went over the vocabulary activities for Unit 1 and took some notes on short stories, fiction, prose, and plot development (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution).

HOMEWORK:

• Unit 1 Vocabulary Test tomorrow!!!  Make sure you study the pronunciations, spellings, parts of speech, definitions, synonyms, and antonyms.

Day 3

Today we discussed clasroom expectations that you have for your fellow students and possible consequences for negative behavior.  We discussed the voabulary words for Unit One.  We then took a grammar pretest in the Writer’s Craft book on p. 552.

Homework:

• Complete the Unit One Vocabulary activities, p. 24-27.

Day 2

I am so sorry that I was not able to be there today.  My mom had to be rushed to the emergency room in Manning last night because of complications from an infection from a surgery she had two weeks ago to replace her right hip.  I sat all night in the emergency waiting room and this morning she was flown by helicopter to MUSC in Charleston which is where I am now.  I should return tomorrow as long as everything settles down. 

I hope that you practiced my #1 rule for the class…respect.  Ms. Judy, Ms. Brown, and Ms. Wood were nice enough to sacrifice their precious planning time to cover my classes and make sure that your education continued while I was out.  I owe them greatly.

I look forward to reading your essays about your expectations for the class and seeing where you are on your vocabulary abilities.  I had one student who has already sent me an e-mail for an invitation to join the edgespace.ning.com site.  I look forward to the rest of you doing likewise.

Day 1

Welcome to English I.  I hope that you enjoyed this introduction to my class.  Let’s recap what we did today.  First, we went over the assigned seating arrangement.  You have been assigned to pods, but not to seats within the pod.  Please don’t move the desks around in the pods.  Second, we went over the class syllabus.  This was a long process, but I hope that you have an understanding of my expectations for you in my class.  Please go over this with your parents and have them sign and return the back sheet by Wednesday for extra credit.  The syllabus itself should be placed in the front of your 3 ring binder.  Third, you were issued your vocabulary workbook.  Please write your name in the book and keep up with it.  You can write in these.

Homework: 

1. Discuss syllabus with parents and have them sign the parent sheet to return by Wednesday.  W
2. Write down ideas for good classroom behavior that we should expect in class and some consequences for not abiding by these expectations.  We’ll discuss this tomorrow.