Tuesday, November 27, 2012

WWW # 3 - Analogy Hints

P. 19 Hints
1.  Aesthetic Relationship
2.  Specific to general
3.  A and B are opposites
4.  A is a false B
5.  no hint
6.  To do A is to do B
7.  Moving vs. Sensing
8.  Numerical Relationship
9.  Left terms are subcategories of right terms
10.  no hint


Remember an analogy follows this format:

Left Side            Right Side
A:B                   A:B

example:

hand : glove      foot : shoe

Friday, November 9, 2012

Next 2 Weeks

As we are approaching Thanksgiving there are only 6 days of class left!  During these next 2 weeks students will be introduced to a fairy tale/fable writing assignment. Students have the choice to work alone or with one partner.  I will be explaining the assignment on Tuesday, but if you want to know more now - than take a look!

Classes have finished their first novels and it is time to "swap" books!   Period 6 will be reading The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson and Period 8 will be reading After by Francine Prose.  I hope the classes each enjoy their new read!

Don't forget - Accelerated Reader book reports are by 11/20.  Read, read, read over these long weekends!  I'm excited to say many students are already done!  Nice Job!!!!

The next book check-out for book reports will be 11/19 - at this time I will also explain the book report assignment.  Book reports will be due 12/18.  This way students get a jump start on the reading while on Thanksgiving break and will have the book report complete before starting winter break.

As always, please don't hesitate to call and/or e-mail me with any questions and/or concerns!


Adv. Fairy Tale Fable Unit

Friday, October 19, 2012

Family Time!

We recently took pictures at the Morton Arboretum!  As you can see the kids had a great time and we were lucky to have AWESOME weather!







Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Mystery Questions

1.  Does a father's birthday antedate his son's?

2.  Does an anticlimax enhance a play's conclusion?

3. Can the president make a bilateral decision by himself?

Friday, October 5, 2012

Do you read my blog?

I will post 3 questions in the next week...sometime.  If you e-mail me with all 3 questions & the correct answers you will receive 1 point of extra credit on Thursday's Word Within the Word quiz.

Parents please don't tell your students to come and read the blog if you are the one that found this out.  I'm trying to really teach the students to start being more proactive and read their teacher's blog.  I've told students that mystery questions can come up anywhere!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Study Guide for Advanced Reading Test

In case any of you lost the study guide or forgot it at school - I know you all have it though!


Study Guide

Friday, September 14, 2012

What's happening in advanced language arts?

I kicked off the narrative writing unit this week with the advanced language arts students.  You're going to be impressed with the topics they selected.  Below you can see the worksheet they received as a guide to help them select their topic choice.  There were 3 main categories to choose from.  I'm really looking forward to helping students write some excellent essays.  They all picked such diverse topics which will be a pleasure to read.  If you have any questions about the essay as we are writing feel free to e-mail or call!  Also, a copy of the writing rubric can be found on the Lakeview home page - 7th and 8th Grade Writing Rubrics -- Persuasive/Expository -- Narrative  - 

http://www.ccsd66.org/lakeview_home.htm


Advanced Personal Narrative Description

Monday, April 9, 2012

Career Unit - Seventh Grade Project

The entire seventh grade has begun their career unit. Students were introduced to the project last week and took a career survey online. Students have now begun the research process. Below is the syllabus and requirements for this project. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you have throughout the unit.

Career Unit

Monday, March 19, 2012

Project Challenge - Doodle for Google

I was impressed with the seventh grade Project Challenge groups work for the 2012 Doodle for Google competition.  Please enjoy their entries...

Doodles for Google

Monday, March 12, 2012

Project Challenge

The Project Challenge group is currently reading The 68 Rooms by Marianne Malone. This books takes place in Chicago and directly at The Art Institute. This spring PC students in grades 6-8 will be taking a field trip to the Art Institute to further explore the rooms itself. This week seventh graders will be working on the "Doodle for Google" project with the themes focus being, "If I could travel in time, I'd visit..."

PC students were instructed to pick a time period in which Jack & Ruthie visit from the Thorne Rooms and use that as their guide to create their Google logo. I ordered a book from the AI and the students have the opportunity to look through the book to help them guide in their search. Along with designing the logo, students need to write a 50 word maximum statement explaining how their doodle expresses the them, "If I could travel in time, I'd visit..."

Entries are due to me by next Monday, March 19.

Click on the link below to go to the contest page.

Doodle for Google

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

ISAT Week

It's that time of year again! ISAT Week!

A few reminders to make sure your students are ready for the week:

Get a good night of sleep.

Eat breakfast!

Be to school on time - you don't want to feel rushed.

Remember #2 pencils and a calculator (starting Wed.)

Take your time! You get plenty of time for the test so use it!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Glogster Book Reports

Some AWESOME examples of the hard work students put in to create cool book report assignments.









Friday, February 17, 2012

Magazine Book Report

Magazine Book Report Rubric

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Period 4 - Boy in the Striped Pajamas Final Project

Edmodo

Friday, February 10, 2012

Holocaust Book Report

Holocaust Book Report

Friday, February 3, 2012

Literary Terms to study for Monday's Quiz

author's purpose
idiom
homonym
metaphor
plot
theme
personification
character
implicit idea
analogy
context clues
alliteration
biography
inference
legend suffix
myth
fairytale
fable
conflict

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

After - Final Project

Just another example of how great our students are with thinking outside the box. Below is a project Rupa completed for me. She wanted to you Prezi which is a great online presentation website and we worked together to create a rubric to meet her needs! She told what happens after the book using this cool format! Enjoy!!!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Cay - Final Project options & rubrics

The Cay Final Project

Friday, January 13, 2012

Project Rubrics for Next Weeks Advanced Reading Classes 01/16-01/20

The Christopher Killer - Final Project Options


After - Final Project

Friday, January 6, 2012

Week of January 9-13

I am so impressed with the 7th grade, they came back to school ready to learn and jumped back into the year without a problem. Not once did a students say they were tired or wished they were still on winter break! What an excellent group!

Advanced LA
Students have spent the first week back from break selecting a topic and researching in class. Next week students will continue to research, outline and writing a rough draft for an argumentative essay! These essays are persuasive but also include the opposition in a separate paragraph. Project Challenge students in period 2 will be debating their topics in 2 weeks. Instead of writing an essay they will be modeling the debate format which is similar to the one used in 8th grade for the 60s unit! I can't wait for some great debates!

Advanced Reading - Period 4
We will finish reading The Christopher Killer next week. Students checked out books today for their next book report - a book mosaic! I will post the assignment next week. Students were given the handout of the assignment today in case you want to see it before I post. As we end the book, students will complete a final project where the majority will be done here at school. The project will be explained on Wednesday, followed with IMC time for 5 class periods.

Advanced Reading - Period 6
Students will complete the novel After next week. Many have read ahead on their own...some will be surprised, shocked and/or disappointed with the ending. Have no fear, they will be working on a final project that can let them resolve some of their "mixed" feelings about the book! Students also selected the next book for their book report which is linked directly to our class novel. Students will compare ideas from their book to After and create a "book" report to demonstrate understanding. Students were given copies of the report assignment in class today, but I will also post them to the blog next week!

LA 7
Students turned in their persuasive essays which we began working on before winter break. I can't wait to read them! We have been working hard this week on writing short speeches. Students interviewed a classmate and then created a scenario in which the classmate would be honored or a speaker of an event. These students are very creative and have vivid imaginations! Speeches will be Monday & Tuesday of next week. They should be practicing over the weekend!!!

Reading 8
We are continuing our novel The Cay. Timothy and Phillip are preparing for a hurricane coming to the island! I wonder what will become of them! Next Friday the students will have a quiz over chapters 9-16. They will need to review vocabulary and their chapter 9-16 discussion questions.