> This week we have been working on our literature circles: reading, meeting with our groups, and doing our group role assignments
> 'five elements of narrative' sheet due Friday
> Choice Writing project: 'progress summary' (4 questions, 1/2 to 1 page) due Friday
> performed scenes from Literature Circles books

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! See you Tuesday . . .

Happy Monday!
> Read for lit circles and handed out packet for use over the next two weeks
> Continued lit. circles, then went to library to research writing topics

No homework, but continue your research if you can.
Check a book out with me if you need to catch up.

This week we have done 3 things so far:

1) Formed 'literature circles' groups. Each group will be reading one of four books:
> The Hobbit
> Tom Sawyer
> Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
> Summer of My German Soldier

2) Written letters to 10th grade students in response to their letters of introduction. In these letters we introduced ourselves, asked about life in high school, and requested a response. We will type up final drafts tomorrow in the library.

3) Started planning for our 'choice writing' projects. We will write nonfiction essays about the topic of our choice. These essays will put together into a small booklet for the whole class to enjoy.

These three activities will continue on an ongoing basis and will take up most of our class time for the rest of the year. Homework will be assigned on an as-needed basis.

Testing day number one: Math part 1

> Finished Academic Vocabulary worksheet (flo-cabulary)
> Took notes on subordination and practiced both coordination and subordination

CST testing begins tomorrow; get a good night's sleep so you can arrive relaxed and ready to own the test!

No homework this week

> Academic vocabulary
Today we defined 16 terms that are used often in the school setting (and on tests such as the upcoming CST)
> collected reading homework paragraphs (3 due)

Coordination Notes:
> Today we took notes on a powerpoint explaining why we use coordination to combine sentences and how to do it right.

Today we'll take the last of 3 practice tests and review it as a class.

Coming up tomorrow and Friday:

> sentence combining techniques
> test taking (academic) vocabulary
> baby pictures
> zumba

The rest of the week and next we will be taking a series of in-class practice tests. These tests will both give us practice at testing and let us know about any areas we need to work on.

Homework this week and next:

3 'choice reading' paragraphs - due each Friday

Today's focus:
Elements of Plot

>Read: "Theseus and the Minotaur" and answer questions
> Read: "Finding My Way with Jesse" and answer questions

HW: Finish "Jesse" questions, Due Thursday

> Analyzing Effects of Setting (handout)
> Revision practice (handout)
> Finish parallelism exercise

After a long hiatus, the daily blog is back.
I wasn't sure that the time it took me to update it daily was worth the effort, so I stopped.
However, I feel that this is a good way of keeping track of what we do in class each day. If a student is absent, he or she can check in here and see what we did in class as well as any homework we may have.
I hope the last eight weeks of school go smoothly for all of you . . .

Welcome back from your Spring Break!

> pair-share: "your break"
> Idioms (handout)
> parallelism practice (packet)