8.27.18 Today we took the information from the model essay from last week and broke the information down bit by bit into graphic organizers. Tomorrow we will read another literary essay about the myth of Prometheus. Wednesday we will break the essay down into a graphic organizer, just like we did with the Cronus myth, Thursday we will create our own rough draft essays, and Friday will be our end-of-unit assessment.
Homework: Read chap 16 and fill in the adjoining graphic organizer on pg. 58. Make sure your paragraph 2 graphic organizer is complete.
Further preparation for the assessment:
- Know what a theme is
- Know all 6 of the elements in "The Key Elements of Mythology"
- Know the structure of an analytical essay and what is included in each paragraph
SMART Block Schedule for the week of August 27:
Monday: ACE practice
Tuesday: Help w/ essay writing **must come if I stamped you** If not, it will be first come first serve for available seats
Wednesday: House Group Meeting
Thursday: Greek Mythology Explained
Friday: Dance Party in Mr. Simone's classroom to celebrate the end of the 1st quarter (worth 10 dojo points)
8.24.18 In class yesterday and today we looked at a model of a literary analytical essay and broke it down section by section in order to help prepare us for our own essay writing (this will be on the mid-unit assessment next week). By Monday, be able to tell me the qualities of a strong literary response. If you can do this, you are on your way to acing your test, which I am aiming to have you take on Thursday. Also, expect one more pop quiz. These are 2 opportunities to get your averages up! Be responsible :)
Homework: Complete graphic organizer on pg. 54 and 56. We will do pg. 57 in class Monday.
8.22.18 We've been identifying themes in literary text. Students, remember there is a thematic topic (word or phrase) and a thematic statement (sentence). The thematic statement is supposed to elaborate on your thematic topic by describing what the meaning of your text is/the lesson that the author is trying to convey to you :)
We looked at the myth of Cronus (literary text) and compared it to "The Elements of Mythology" (informational text). Tomorrow you will need to choose 1 out of the 6 elements from this informational text and provide a thematic statement in regard to the element you chose. (e.g. what is the message the author is trying to give us in Cronus in regard to "fate and prophecy"?) Give evidence to back why you chose this thematic statement! If you are having trouble with this, come to my SMART Block tomorrow :)
Homework: Catch up on your reading! You need to come to class tomorrow with chapters 1-15 read.
8.21.18 Homework: Read chap 15
8.20.18 Homework: Read chap 14
8.17.18 Homework: Read chap 13
8.16.18 REMINDER: In order to maintain a learning environment, students are required to follow the ELA policy that was established on the first day of school--to place their cell phones in the caddy as soon as they enter the classroom. The only students that are allowed to keep their cell phones on them are the ones who have given me a parent note that states the reason for them to keep their cell phone on them.
*If a student without a parent note is seen on or with a cell phone, I may take it and keep it until the end of the school day.
**If the same student is seen a second time with a cell phone, I may keep it until a PARENT comes to me to retrieve it.
8.14.18 SMART Block Schedule for this week is:
Tuesday- Test Make-ups/Completions
Wednesday- Handwriting practice has been changed to Test completions
Thursday- Extra help
Also, remember I am available for extra help after school most days for about half an hour.
Homework- Finish writing paragraph gists on page 44 and answer the multiple choice question.
Read chap. 11. Use evidence flags to mark allusions to classic myths that you spot.
8.13.18 Homework- Read chap. 10
8.8.18 End-of-Unit Assessment
8.7.18 Assessment postponed to ensure success for ALL students :)
Type essays/Media Center to renew, check in, and check out books. Students MUST check out a book if they do not bring one from home.
Help w/ graphic organizer and rough draft (SMART Block)
Homework: Type rough draft, review chapter 8 (particularly challenges and responses of Percy, be sure to mark them with your sticky tabs) and The Hero's Journey
8.6.18 Graphic organizer and rough draft writing- workbook pgs. 33-34
Graphic organizer and rough draft help (SMART Block)
Homework: Finish rough draft
8.5.18 Students, tomorrow we will keep working in the workbook on pages 33-34. Most of you are done the graphic organizer on pg 33 and should be taking your information and converting it into a paragraph. Remember to use the ACE strategy to help you include everything you're supposed to. If you can do this, you will be prepared for your test Tuesday :) Also, tomorrow's SMART Block lesson will be extra practice on using ACE, so if you feel you need the extra practice to be ready for the assessment, come to ELA for SB.
Homework: Read chap 16 and fill in the adjoining graphic organizer on pg. 58. Make sure your paragraph 2 graphic organizer is complete.
Further preparation for the assessment:
- Know what a theme is
- Know all 6 of the elements in "The Key Elements of Mythology"
- Know the structure of an analytical essay and what is included in each paragraph
SMART Block Schedule for the week of August 27:
Monday: ACE practice
Tuesday: Help w/ essay writing **must come if I stamped you** If not, it will be first come first serve for available seats
Wednesday: House Group Meeting
Thursday: Greek Mythology Explained
Friday: Dance Party in Mr. Simone's classroom to celebrate the end of the 1st quarter (worth 10 dojo points)
8.24.18 In class yesterday and today we looked at a model of a literary analytical essay and broke it down section by section in order to help prepare us for our own essay writing (this will be on the mid-unit assessment next week). By Monday, be able to tell me the qualities of a strong literary response. If you can do this, you are on your way to acing your test, which I am aiming to have you take on Thursday. Also, expect one more pop quiz. These are 2 opportunities to get your averages up! Be responsible :)
Homework: Complete graphic organizer on pg. 54 and 56. We will do pg. 57 in class Monday.
8.22.18 We've been identifying themes in literary text. Students, remember there is a thematic topic (word or phrase) and a thematic statement (sentence). The thematic statement is supposed to elaborate on your thematic topic by describing what the meaning of your text is/the lesson that the author is trying to convey to you :)
We looked at the myth of Cronus (literary text) and compared it to "The Elements of Mythology" (informational text). Tomorrow you will need to choose 1 out of the 6 elements from this informational text and provide a thematic statement in regard to the element you chose. (e.g. what is the message the author is trying to give us in Cronus in regard to "fate and prophecy"?) Give evidence to back why you chose this thematic statement! If you are having trouble with this, come to my SMART Block tomorrow :)
Homework: Catch up on your reading! You need to come to class tomorrow with chapters 1-15 read.
8.21.18 Homework: Read chap 15
8.20.18 Homework: Read chap 14
8.17.18 Homework: Read chap 13
8.16.18 REMINDER: In order to maintain a learning environment, students are required to follow the ELA policy that was established on the first day of school--to place their cell phones in the caddy as soon as they enter the classroom. The only students that are allowed to keep their cell phones on them are the ones who have given me a parent note that states the reason for them to keep their cell phone on them.
*If a student without a parent note is seen on or with a cell phone, I may take it and keep it until the end of the school day.
**If the same student is seen a second time with a cell phone, I may keep it until a PARENT comes to me to retrieve it.
8.14.18 SMART Block Schedule for this week is:
Tuesday- Test Make-ups/Completions
Wednesday- Handwriting practice has been changed to Test completions
Thursday- Extra help
Also, remember I am available for extra help after school most days for about half an hour.
Homework- Finish writing paragraph gists on page 44 and answer the multiple choice question.
Read chap. 11. Use evidence flags to mark allusions to classic myths that you spot.
8.13.18 Homework- Read chap. 10
8.8.18 End-of-Unit Assessment
8.7.18 Assessment postponed to ensure success for ALL students :)
Type essays/Media Center to renew, check in, and check out books. Students MUST check out a book if they do not bring one from home.
Help w/ graphic organizer and rough draft (SMART Block)
Homework: Type rough draft, review chapter 8 (particularly challenges and responses of Percy, be sure to mark them with your sticky tabs) and The Hero's Journey
8.6.18 Graphic organizer and rough draft writing- workbook pgs. 33-34
Graphic organizer and rough draft help (SMART Block)
Homework: Finish rough draft
8.5.18 Students, tomorrow we will keep working in the workbook on pages 33-34. Most of you are done the graphic organizer on pg 33 and should be taking your information and converting it into a paragraph. Remember to use the ACE strategy to help you include everything you're supposed to. If you can do this, you will be prepared for your test Tuesday :) Also, tomorrow's SMART Block lesson will be extra practice on using ACE, so if you feel you need the extra practice to be ready for the assessment, come to ELA for SB.
8.3.18 Homework: Read chap 8
8.2.18 Since last Thursday, the students have been studying "The Hero's Journey" archetype, a story pattern seen in many fictional texts, including The Lightning Thief. Often times the heroes (main characters) we read about end up experiencing very similar events--e.g. starting off in an ordinary setting and shifting to an unfamiliar, or even peculiar, setting; e.g. receiving aid from a mentor/someone older, wiser, and with more experience.
The students began working on aligning ideas and occurrences in TLT with these different stages of THJ archetype. One of the strategies we've been incorporating into this task is CITING EVIDENCE, to prove that the comparison is valid. Tuesday we began converting our comparisons from our graphic organizers into paragraph format. Knowing how to do this is one of the requirements for the end-of-unit assessment Tuesday.
Some students had trouble citing evidence on the mid-unit assessment, so SMART Block Wednesday through Friday this week has a focus on displaying this strategy at "citation stations." In these stations students are both (1) reading 6th grade level informative text where they will be asked questions that require evidence and (2) researching claims to find out if they are true or not, and backing up their discovery with evidence.
Today they worked on graphic organizers that require them to identify a challenge and response from chapter 7 using a direct quote, match it with a stage of THJ, and lastly, give a direct quote to show that the stage they selected is a proper fit for their TLT excerpt. We will work more on this tomorrow, as well as convert our graphic organizers into paragraph format :)
Homework: None
8.1.18 Homework: None
8.2.18 Since last Thursday, the students have been studying "The Hero's Journey" archetype, a story pattern seen in many fictional texts, including The Lightning Thief. Often times the heroes (main characters) we read about end up experiencing very similar events--e.g. starting off in an ordinary setting and shifting to an unfamiliar, or even peculiar, setting; e.g. receiving aid from a mentor/someone older, wiser, and with more experience.
The students began working on aligning ideas and occurrences in TLT with these different stages of THJ archetype. One of the strategies we've been incorporating into this task is CITING EVIDENCE, to prove that the comparison is valid. Tuesday we began converting our comparisons from our graphic organizers into paragraph format. Knowing how to do this is one of the requirements for the end-of-unit assessment Tuesday.
Some students had trouble citing evidence on the mid-unit assessment, so SMART Block Wednesday through Friday this week has a focus on displaying this strategy at "citation stations." In these stations students are both (1) reading 6th grade level informative text where they will be asked questions that require evidence and (2) researching claims to find out if they are true or not, and backing up their discovery with evidence.
Today they worked on graphic organizers that require them to identify a challenge and response from chapter 7 using a direct quote, match it with a stage of THJ, and lastly, give a direct quote to show that the stage they selected is a proper fit for their TLT excerpt. We will work more on this tomorrow, as well as convert our graphic organizers into paragraph format :)
Homework: None
8.1.18 Homework: None
7.31.18 Students had a pop quiz on chapter 6.
Homework: Read chap. 7
7.30.18 Homework: Read chap. 6
Homework: Read chap. 7
7.30.18 Homework: Read chap. 6
Parents, students were introduced to Goodreads and are encouraged to keep up with their reading (personal and school) using this resource. Goodreads is a free, easy-to-use site that allows readers to set reading goals, keep track of their current reading, create lists of books they wish to read, etc. It is also available for downloading as an app.
Students, make sure you are keeping up with your Percy Jackson reading. Expect a pop quiz based off of the chapter you read for homework the previous evening.
Students, make sure you are keeping up with your Percy Jackson reading. Expect a pop quiz based off of the chapter you read for homework the previous evening.
7.24.18 Mid-Unit Assessment
Homework: Read chap. 5
Homework: Read chap. 5
7.23.18 Today we discussed the happenings in chapters 1 and 2 of The Lightning Thief and looked at examples of the gists of these chapters. With our triads, we answered questions from chapter 3 that involved both making inferences and citing evidence from the text to back up our answers.
Homework: Write the gist of chapter 3. Graphic organizers were given to some students in order to help them break down the parts of the chapter. Organizers are always available to everyone however and you are encouraged to use them if you feel they will help you. Just grab one from the front of the room.
Homework: Write the gist of chapter 3. Graphic organizers were given to some students in order to help them break down the parts of the chapter. Organizers are always available to everyone however and you are encouraged to use them if you feel they will help you. Just grab one from the front of the room.
Homework due Monday, July 23: Workbook page 15. Also, be prepared for a warm-up check any day. This counts as a homework grade.
Remember that an audio reading of Percy Jackson- The Lightning Thief is available on youtube (1 chapter per video). I recommend the one by Hamish. Make sure that if you use these videos to follow along in your book as the chapter is being read to you :)
7.21.18 Parents and students, thanks for your patience for the past two weeks as this site has not been working for faculty to post. Hopefully the problem has been cleared and we can start using it continuously for reminders and to stay updated! - Mr. Simone