It's a GIRL!

Okay for all of my students and parents that have been waiting a guessing...It's a GIRL!!!!!!!!!

Charlotte Veronica was born on June 30 and weighed 8lbs. 5 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long!

Charlotte is keeping Mom and Dad busy.

Week 36

This week begins week 36 of pregnancy (Week 36 picture is on the right side of the blog). I am ready to be DONE - well except before I wash the clothes and finish up the nursery. As most of you know - I want this baby early, but Grandma Trader hopes that baby will be patient until after the 22nd since she will be in the UK until then. Personally, I think June 14th sounds like a nice day to have a baby! All that matters is that we have a little one who is healthy.

The race begins...we will see who has the first grandchild on the Hayes side. If I go late and Jennifer goes early she could be bringing her little man into the world while I'm still cooking! Any bets????

I hope you have enjoyed the pictures during these last nine months - especially those of you who haven't been able to see me live and moving in big slow motions!

Hopefully the next time you check out the blog you will see Baby Hayes!

To all of my 8th graders - best of luck to you in your latest endeavors - high school will be a wonderful experience. I'll be back at Lakeview in November and I know how many of you like to stop by on your shortened days so please remember to visit. I promise I will update the blog in the summer so you finally know what "Kermit" is! Congratulations on your graduation this week - you have all been a wonderful group of students and I will miss you all.

Gerunds & Phrases

Verbals & Phrases

Participal Phrase – can be lifted out of the sentence. Participal is an
adjective.

Gerund – Can be used as a subject - Reading is my favorite activity.
Can be used as a direct object - I enjoy reading.
Can be used as an object of a preposition – Today is a good day for
reading.
Can be used as a predicate noun – My favorite activity is reading.

Gerund Phrase – noun ending in – ing + one of the following:
an Adj.
Adv.
Direct Object
Prepositional Phrase

Infinitive – to + base form of a verb. An infinitive is either a noun, adjective or adverb.

Paul wants to leave. Is this the road to take?

Infinitive Phrase – to + base form of a verb and any of the following:
direct object, predicate noun, predicate adj.,
prepositional phrase, modifiers

1. First find the phrase
2. Take out to and the verb
3. Look at the rest of the phrase to determine if it is being uses as a noun, adj. or adverb.

Busy Week!!!!

As we are approaching the end of the school year it is going to be a busy few weeks! Please check with your parents if you are not going to be in school on Friday due to the Memorial Day Holiday next Monday. The schedule this week is as follows:

ALL Classes - Phrases Test Friday (Prepositions)
- If you will not be here Friday, it is in your best interest to take your test before you leave
for the weekend!

ALL Classes - AR Quiz due Friday

Reading Classes - Periods 3 & 8
- Act 4 quiz Tuesday
- Act 5 quiz next Wed. 5/28

Advanced Reading - Period 6
- Pi Final Project Due Thursday 5/22

Verbals: Notes

Verbals

Verbal – word that is formed from a verb but is used as an adjective, a noun, or an adverb.

Participle – adjective
Gerund – noun
Infinitive – adverb

Participle – verb form used as an adjective.

Use the present participle (-ing) and past participle (-ed) to form verbals.

Climb climbing climbed

Since participles act as adjectives they ALWAYS modify NOUNS!

A participle can come before or after the noun or pronoun it modifies.

Gerunds – the present participle of a verb (-ing) used as a noun.

- A gerund can be a subject, direct object, object of preposition and a predicate noun.

ALWAYS locate the simple subject and simple predicate in a sentence to determine if a the word is a gerund.

Running is both a fun and healthful exercise. (Running is the subject in this sentence therefore it is a gerund)

Infinitives – made up of the word to and the base form of the verb.

Infinitives can be used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

Be careful not to confuse infinitives with prepositional phrases that begin with to.

Preposition Notes

Prepositional Phrases

Preposition – a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in a sentence.

Sometimes the preposition are made up of more than one word.

A preposition is always followed by an object or object of the preposition.

- Music Man Jr. will be performed on a large stage.

There can be more than one object this is called a compound object of the preposition.

Between Mr. Safranski and Mrs. Myers, is Miss Lepley's room.

The preposition, its object(s), and any other words in between form the prepositional phrase.
Mason ran from the bear.

Many sentences have MORE THAN ONE prepositional phrase. Each phrase include a preposition and object(s) along with any other accompanying words.

During the performance, we sat in the back row.

When the object of the preposition is a pronoun, BE CAREFUL – ALWAYS use the OBJECTIVE CASE! Me, him, her, us...

Rachel attended the play with them and me.

Life of Pi - final project

Life of Pi – end of book activity

Project #1

Narration and description work together to create a realistic account of an unrealistic event.

In 2-3 paragraphs, describe 3 ways in which Pi alters his story to be more 'believable' for the Japanese Ministry representatives.

You will get your Tiger Symbolism journal back and you must first outline 3 ways in which you can alter the journal to be more believable. For instance, if you thought that Richard Parker was real you must now change and try and get me to believe that Richard Parker is a figment of Pi's imagination.

Re-Write your journal in 2-3 paragraphs.

All in all – this is a 4-6 paragraph essay – it must be in final draft form and will be worth 100 points.

You will need to turn in your original Tiger Symbolism Journal, your outline and final draft of re-written journal and the 3 ways Pi alters his story to be more 'believable'.

Project #2

Select a scene that you found to be the most powerful, thought-provoking, or relevant to a theme you liked in the book.

- You will represent the scene in an image and a poem.

- Create this on a tri-fold poster board where the image will go in the middle of the board; the poem will go one side, and an explanation of why you believe your scene is important will go on the other side.

- All in all – this is a 4-6 paragraph essay – it must be in final draft form and will be worth 100 points.

Themes Include:

“The Better Story” - the predominant theme is the concept of the “better story”, in other words, the importance of telling a good story. Life itself is a story and one can choose his own story. The “better story” is the more imaginative one and , according to Pi, the one God would choose as well. One must have faith in something beyond bare logic.

“Science and Religion” - A minor theme is the reconciliation of science and religion as ways to understand the world. Pi meshes the two in order to survive 227 days on the lifeboat. He ends up majoring in both zoology and religious studies.

“Religious Syncretism” - Another minor theme is the syncretism, or union of the seemingly opposing principals, of religions. As different as Pi's three religions are, they all involve a personal relationship with God. They are blended into Pi's own unique spirituality and remain with him as an adult.