UGH! I wrote a post, but apparently never posted it! So sorry!  Well....this week is always a bit chaotic - but I think we are making good progress with our study of Edgar Allen Poe - the students are being introduced to his plays and stories - I use a variety of approaches to catch their interest - Youtube readings, Hulu clips, videos, reading on their own and www.poemuseum.org.  We cover a few literary terms along the way as well as discuss the art of the short story.  Hopefully those of you that attend conferences tomorrow will not find my Dead Poet look too distracting :)

There is a MUSIC AND ME essay due on Thursday for Blocks 1 and 2 and Friday for Block 3 (because of our half day schedule. 

Reminder - I will not be available for conferences on Thursday evening.  Hope to see you tomorrow instead ! 

Have a wonderful rest of your week - bask in the last gasp of warm temps - I know I am savoring and being thankful for every last drop of sunshine and light breezes! :)

10. Windy Nights - Robert Louis Stevenson


WHENEVER the moon and stars are set,

Whenever the wind is high,

All night long in the dark and wet,

A man goes riding by.

Late in the night when the fires are out, 5

Why does he gallop and gallop about?



Whenever the trees are crying aloud,

And ships are tossed at sea,

By, on the highway, low and loud,

By at the gallop goes he. 10

By at the gallop he goes, and then

By he comes back at the gallop again.

This somehow seemed fitting for a day like today.  The English teacher in me can't help but think in poems :)

FYI - the students are receiving a packet for the last 2 presidential debates today.  They will need to watch at least one of them and to the required worksheet.  There is an extra credit for 2nd quarter option attached as well.  Hope you are engaging in this wonderful right of citizenship alongside your student! 

We also have our Bill of Rights project due on Friday - Quiz Friday as well.  For fun review, encourage your student to check out www.icivics.org  and the "Do I Have a Right? " game :) 

Whew! The last day of the quarter is next Friday 10/19!  This has been a busy week with plenty of class time to read their literature circle books and complete their packets (these are due today).  We also completed the preliminary work for a project on the Bill of Rights (there will be extra credit associated with this project and it will be due next Friday).  Finally, their 1st quarter choice book and the associated 40 point journal is due today (no surprise that so many had procrastinated on this and were probably frantically working on it last night - hopefully next quarter will go more smoothly).  Additionally, I will also be introducing an extra credit opportunity for 2nd quarter on Monday.  It will be related to the final two presidential debates and based on material you can find on  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/socialstudies/debates_short.html There will likely be a required assignment for everyone in addition to an extra credit extension.  Look for a packet and info regarding this activity Monday.  Enjoy what looks to be our last day of "Summer!"  kw

Welcome to October!  This week we will be continuing our literature circle books - in connection to these, we will be looking at the r-word.org campaign (Spread the Word to End the Word) which is sponsored by Special Olympics.  I encourage you and your students to consider taking the pledge online that asks you to make a promise to work towards eliminating the "R" word from your vocabulary.  -  In Civics, we will be delving into chapter 3 in the Civics book (mostly section 2 - critical thinking questions of pg. 104) - the branches of government (we looked at the Senate on Friday) - and hopefully generating some interest in the first presidential debate which will be televised on Wednesday evening. 

Sorry for the late post ---
This week we:

had a test in Civics - it covered the questions and terms from ch. 2
(many students need to make flashcards or use another study method in order to perform better on exams)

finished the first section of our literature circle books.
checked of section 1's journal and job.

*** if your students shows zero points for section 1 in English - please encourage them to take advantage of an offer ---- if they complete all the sections without any late items they will receive credit for their section 1 missing items (provided those are completed as well).  For the students who completed the work on time, if they complete the rest of the packet in a timely fashion as well, they will receive extra credit.  I'm hoping these inscentives will be enough to encourage them to complete work on-time!



Section 2 of the literature circle (the job and journal) is due Tuesday.

DUE DATE NOTICE!!!! the choice book journal for 1st quarter is due on OCTOBER 12th!!!!!

Things are starting to settle into a routine (sort of) --- I say this, but then realize I have students out for the Channel 3 field trip tomorrow (P.S. very few of them let me know they would be gone and needed to check out a Civics book so they could work on ch. 2 Civics reading checks.) We also have all 8th graders doing MAPS reading on Wednesday --- so maybe "routine" is a bit optimistic.

Anyways....

In English -

They should be at least 1/2 way finished with their choice book and journal.  This will be due the week before the end of the quarter.

We did a "read-around" for our literature circle.  Final selection of their books will be tomorrow and Thursday. 

In Civics -

We had our first quiz today.  They took notes last week and were asked to study them.  Some did.....some didn't.  Fortunately they will have many opportunitites to improve their overall grade.

Tomorrow, for the students that are not on the Channel 3 field trip, we will be working on Chapter 2 in the Civics book --- answering the "reading check" questions throughout the chapter. 

Hope the air stays clear and my room stays cool --- neither are likely, but it can't hurt to stay optimistic!  :)

My first thought this morning was, "Wow! We have a full week ahead of us!" --- then I remembered the students have early release on Wednesday.  None the less, we will still be very busy!

1.  In English we are reading a story called "Hamadi" about immigration and conflict resolution.
2.  In Civics we are finishing up ch. 1 and learning about immigration policy and citizenship in the U.S.
3.  We will start our first literature circle this week (reading will be done primarily in class due to the # of books we have)
4.  1st quarter choice reading should be well under way --- ask to see their dialectical journal if you would like to make note of their progress :)
5.  Finally, we will take a bit of time tomorrow to learn about 9/11 -- the history, the resulting wars and the memorial services and monuments that are currently underway. 

We are still waiting for the delivery of the Spokesman Review to start --- hopefully this week!!!