Monday 11/30

I was out today but if you log into classroom, you will see the assignment.  If you too were absent, please complete the assignment in a timely fashion.
Here is period 3's anthology
And here is period 4's anthology
And Period 7's


Logs will be collected on Monday 12/7 for week of 11/30-12/7 150 minutes expected.

Monday 11/23

Today I collected logs (not post its) and the reflection homework assignment. There is no new reading log this week.  Happy Thanksgiving.
We spent a large part of class looking further at the poems but we had out loud conversations today.  The purpose of the conversation was to determine what the meaning of the poem is.  Your homework is to, on a loose leaf sheet of paper, explain what you believe to be the main message of the poem and tell how you know that by referring to the poem itself and the images/words employed.

Friday 11/20

Today we read for 10 minutes then we moved into the poster activity where groups had silent discussion about the poem they were assigned. Please see pictures on this slideshow.  We ran out of time so your homework assignment is this worksheet as well as tallying up and finishing your reading log for Monday. Have an awesome weekend.

Thursday 11/19

Today we read then we talked about the poetry packet. We read each poem out loud and talked a bit about ho what changed our experience with the poems.

HW: Read/log/post it

Wednesday 11/18

Today we had an assembly for 3rd and part of 4th period. Those who had class had a riveting discussion about how as 8th graders their role in school has changed a bit and we talked about all being responsible for our school community and how we had the power to make it everything we wanted it to be.

HW: READ LOG POST IT 150 minutes due on Monday

Tuesday 11/17

Tuesday 11/17

Hi All,

I am still in Rhode Island and probably REALLY sick of sitting! Today’s objective is to finish up your packets from yesterday, read a bit AND complete a longwrite based off a post it that is at least 20 pages from the last longwrite you wrote).  Packets and this handout need to be turned in BEFORE you leave today. Please find your instructions below:

• Finish up packet from yesterday and turn into the substitute teacher please. This is an individual assignment and as such does NOT require talking!
• Read in your independent reading book.
• When you take a great post it stop and write a longwrite below and turn in.
• Continue reading until the end of the period (don’t forget post its)

HW: Read/log/post it

Name____________________________________

I am currently on page ____________ of _________________________________  by_____________________________.

On page_______________ my post it says, “_________________________________.

(continue writing the long write below following the directions given in your readers notebooks)

Monday 11/16

Dear Students,

I am sorry I am out today, I am at a conference called Literacy for All in Rhode Island. I will be attending workshops from Sunday through Tuesday to hear about all sorts of ideas that will help me continue my quest to make the class a place where everyone can (and wants to) grow as learners. In the meantime, I need you to be the respectful, conscientious and caring students I know and like so much. Please find your instructions below:

• Grab a new log on your way in-the new week is 11/16-11/23
• Staple your post its to the old log and turn that in (if you took actual post its, pull the ones from the pages on the log and put them on a stack on top of your log) (under 5 min)
• Settle into read your IR books-don’t forget to start a new sheet of post its. (10 minutes)
• Next look at the packet of poems the sub will give you. Read through each poem twice--the first time you are reading just to get the gist of the poem, the second time, you are annotating mark it up--note places you like, can relate to, are confused by, words you don’t know etc…
• After you have finished reading all of the poems in the packet twice and annotating them, rank the top 5 poems for you. A one should be assigned to the poem you like best all the way down to a 5 next to the poem you like least.
• Now go to the poem you ranked highest and explain what you like about the poem. Be specific about your reasons, this should be a paragraph or so and name reasons you like it! (write the paragraph right on the page that has the poem on it--if you need more room, attach a looseleaf sheet of paper to it)
• Now go to the poem you liked the least and in another paragraph tell why you didn’t like it by naming the specific reasons you did not like it.  If it is a line, tell what the line says, if it is the subject/theme/layout be clear about what you think those things are.

If you do not finish all this reading and writing in class today, do not fret as you will be able to continue the work in class tomorrow. It must be completed and turned in by the end of class tomorrow so DO NOT lose it.

HW: Read/log/post it

Friday 11/13

Parent teacher conferences today so I only met with period 3 who turned in their longwrite #2.

Everyone else be sure to have your longwrite #2 completed. It is due on Monday.
Reminder to all--I will be collecting LOGS and POST its on Monday.

Thursday 11/12

Today I looked at LW#1 and we looked at each other's longwrites to compare them to our own in an effort to point out what is necessary to make a good longwrite.
I dispersed transitions worksheets to be pasted in Reader's Notebooks.
HW: LW#2 and Logs collected Monday and post its--be prepared!

Wednesday 11/12

Thank a veteran and be sure to read and complete your longwrite.

Tuesday 11/11

Today we spent time looking at the link to the side that has longwrite directions and discussed how to write a longwrite.  We also looked at the transitions at the right and discussed how we could use those to write a better longwrite.
We also set up the reader's notebook to put a reflection section in.

HW: LW #1

Monday 11/9

Today we will get many papers back. We will file all reading logs and be sure we have completed titles on the completed books list and on the padlet on my blog.

All students will also look at their Powerschool grade and write in the ALL ABOUT ME section of their reader's notebooks.  The writing will answer the following questions in complete restated sentences:
1. As you look at your grades, which seem to be the best?

2. Why do you think this is? What strategies have you developed that worked--be specific about at least one assignment and one strategy.


3. As you look at your grades, where do you seem to be falling down?


4. Why do you think this is? What is one new strategy you will try so as to improve on those grades?



5. What is one goal you have for the next quarter in English?



Please then read independently to reach your goal of 150 minutes by next Monday OR work on submitting one of the Clarklisto missing grades if you have any. Today is the final day to turn any of that work in

Friday 11/6

You were in social studies today. I hope you did well on your test. 

Remember to finish the reflection sheet before the end of the day today and that you should read, read, read.

Thursday 11/5

Today we are not blocking but we are wrapping up Clarklisto by spending time reflecting on the project. As you know, I think this is the most important part of our days, the moments we spend letting ourselves learn from our experiences.
First we will get new logs, read for 10 minutes and then you will reflect.
Please complete this handout and then submit it by turning it in in Google classroom.  Remember--it will be view only so you will need to make a copy first.  Please name it firstnameclarklistoreflection1.

I also handed out new reading logs today. This log will span a bit over 1 week. It will be due on Monday 11/16 with 150 minutes AND post its will need to be turned in on that Monday.

Wednesday 11/4

It's assessment day.  This is your opportunity to show us what you have learned through our extensive study of the 14th amendment.  In class we will take under 10 minutes to explain what we are doing, then you will need to look at documents and the work of your peers in the hallway in order to take notes for the writing assignment that will begin at the beginning of the 2nd block.


Once you have sufficiently researched for the essay you will need to do the following in order:

1. Sign into your drive and chrome
2. Click the link here for the essay which will be in view only format
3. Make a copy (file menu)
4. Name this copy like this: firstnameessay14  example-- carlistoessay14
5. Complete the assignment
6. Read it over to check for typos and grammatical errors
7. Submit the document by "turning it in" in Google classroom.

If time permits, log into powerschool and check grades as the end of the quarter is this Friday and MANY of you are missing assignments.

Tuesday 11/3

Today we collected historical documents to check for annotations and made the point that annotating is necessary skill.  We then moved on to the back page of the handout and determined which category the document most closely fell under. Student work was posted in the hall.

The second part of the block was spent rereading "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow" looking for evidence that the 14th amendment was not not realized even in Richard Wright's time. The handout is here where students were expected to select a quote and write an explanation.
All work was posted in the hallway.

HW: Study Social Studies.

Monday 11/2

Today we reviewed the concepts from last week and watched a few videos we didn't get to last week. We then talked about the four major categories that came through in the discussion of the 14th amendment. Each student was given an article to complete using the worksheet here. Side one of the worksheet is due tomorrow. No new reading logs this week.
 Don't forget there is a social studies test on Friday and the worksheet is due tomorrow.

Friday 10/30

This is a very interrupted day due to assemblies--Wheel of Terror will happen today for a full period and Uncle Adam will p entertain us for the afternoon. When you have class, you will review for the social studies test.

Thursday 10/29

Today we watched each other's videos and looked for recurring/provocative ideas. We used psot its to share out our findings.

HW: study social studies--test Friday 11/6
English-logs collected on Monday don't forget to tally your time and pages.