Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Standard 03-26-2013

Do you know your idioms?

Did you learn some new idioms today?

Greyson Papp and several others kept thinking of new ones throughout the class.

Next time I ask for an example, I won't have to hear about it raining cats and dogs because you'll have so many more at your fingertips.  Maybe you'll use...

cool as a cucumber

the bees knees

horsing around

cheesed off

a dime a dozen

a chip on your shoulder

under the weather

water under the bridge

There are a thousand of them!

We had some fun with the quiz, the matching game, and the idiom stories.  I have one more thing we'll try tomorrow.  You'll need a fresh, original one (one not discussed in class already).  We'll be idiom experts by spring break.

Battle of the Book is tomorrow.  Have you read the book? Do you have a team? Will you be participating?  Kenneth Oppel is in Mishawaka at this moment! He'll be at the school tomorrow.  He might even be asking questions during the battle.  Hope you are there.

See you tomorrow.

Enriched 03-26-2013

Quick, what are the Big Four questions you should be thinking about when reading non-fiction?

If you said...

What is the author's credibility?
What is the author's purpose? (Is the author biased?)
What are the arguments?
Is the information credible? (How is it supported?)

...then you are on your way to being an astute, informed reader of nonfiction.

Now do you have to ask these questions every time you sit down to read a piece of nonfiction?  No, but  depending on what you plan on doing with that information, those questions should always be floating around in the back of your mind.

If you are reading something so that you can better defend a position, or be more aware of the opposition's arguments, or just to formulate an opinion, then you need to be asking these questions.

You and a few classmates are currently breaking down an article on whether or not we should raise the minimum wage.  You are also writing an assessment on the strengths of the article.   While you all seem to have done a thorough job of analyzing the authors' credentials, and you easily picked up on the bias they brought to the article, the assessments of the arguments have not been that insightful.  How many arguments did they offer?  How many of the opposition's points did they break down?  What evidence did they offer to support any of these positions?  If you want to learn, you have to dig deep.

We'll pick up the discussion tomorrow, look at another article on the same topic (perhaps the other side?), and I see a debate in our near future.

Battle of the Book tomorrow!  I know over half of my period one class is participating.  I hope you have a team.  Be sure to do some last minute cramming.  Kenneth Oppel is in town as I write this.  He'll be with us tomorrow.  He might even ask some questions during the battle.

See you tomorrow.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Standard 03-24-2013


After a pretty smooth presentation schedule, we had a rash of absences Friday.  What happened?  It set us back a bit, so we will finish our presentations tomorrow--two per class.  Considering all the extra time these four presentations have had, they should be pretty incredible.  I can't wait.

We'll also take one of our final looks at Chopin's "The Story of an Hour".  Do you understand the importance of the final line?  It is of ultimate importance.  If you get that on your own, you have advanced to a higher level of comprehension and analysis.  Speaking of analysis, we'll do a little more with Chopin's piece once we look at that final line.

Have you read This Dark Endeavor yet?  If so, get a team together for the Battle of the Book.  It takes place Wednesday.  The author himself will be there and possibly asking questions for the contest.  We have a host of fun activities planned for the week aside from the Battle of the Book.  Even if you don't participate in the BOTB, you'll still manage to have some fun, especially if you have read the book.  

You might want to check out some other books by Kenneth Oppel.  One of my favorites is Airborn.  Here's a link to some of his others.  Some cool stuff.  

Have a great day.  Read a little Oppel.  See you tomorrow.

Enriched 03-24-2013

The classic debates are finished, and the performance tasks have been assessed.  Participation scores will be added tomorrow, and the third quarter grades will be submitted by the end of the day.  At that point, the third quarter will be over, and we will jump into the final nine weeks of your eighth grade career.

We'll do it with a heavy reliance on nonfiction, as you have heard me say many times.  Tomorrow, after a little Tool Time, we will look at your four questions.  What do you think you should be thinking about as you read nonfiction articles and books?  That will tell me a lot about how prepared you are for the coming unit.

I also have an article you'll be closely reading (yes, it's nonfiction).  Have those highlighters ready!

Have you read This Dark Endeavor yet?  If so, get a team together for the Battle of the Book.  It takes place Wednesday.  The author himself will be there and possibly asking questions for the contest.  We have a host of fun activities planned for the week aside from the Battle of the Book.  Even if you don't participate in the BOTB, you'll still manage to have some fun, especially if you have read the book.

You might want to check out some other books by Kenneth Oppel.  One of my favorites is Airborn.  Here's a link to some of his others.  Some cool stuff.

Have a great day.  Read a little Oppel.  See you tomorrow.




Thursday, March 21, 2013

Standard 03-21-2013

One more day of presentations tomorrow.  Period three was treated to the best presentation yet by Jordan Vargo and Sam Nicholas.  So smooth.  So well practiced.  So informative.  So easy to watch and listen to and learn from.  Period three, you can learn from them.  Period four, it's time to pick up the slack.  Six of the seven pairs of presenters from period three showed up in my room today to practice and perfect their presentations.  One of the seven from period four did the same.  Should any of us be surprised that period three is performing better than period four?

We broke down our comprehension of "The Story of an Hour" in class yesterday and today, and we plan on finishing that tomorrow.  Then we'll move on to a little deeper analysis.  We'll discuss why Chopin set the story up the way she did.  It'll be our final dabble with fiction for a while.

The nonfiction quarter will start next week.  We'll be reading a lot of articles and longer nonfiction pieces.  Be ready to analyze!

End of the third quarter was today.  Grades are due Monday.  Do yourself a favor and check your grades on HAC to be sure you have turned everything in.

See you tomorrow.

Enriched 03-21-2013

One more day of the classic debates.  We saw some strong ones today, but we also have seen the age old battle of style versus substance in a few recent debates.  Style is great.  It's voice.  It's personality.  It's pizzazz.  It gets our attention and sucks us in.  But style alone is like the little pig who built his house out of sticks or the "foolish man who built his house on the sand" (Matthew 7:24-27).  They easily get blown over or washed away because they are flimsy.  Substance, on the other hand, is the brick house, the house built on rocks.  It's the strength, the foundation, the meat that nourishes us all (except you vegetarians).  You want to have the style.  You need to have the substance.  The strongest presenters know how to balance both.

Three quarters down and one to go.  This quarter we will focus on non-fiction pieces.  We'll be reading, discussing, and analyzing a ton of them.  Hey, you'll get your first one tomorrow.  Before we start, however, I asked that you identify four questions you need to be asking whenever you read a nonfiction piece.  No, these are not four questions that everyone knows off the top of his or her head.  But they are four relevant questions you should be thinking about whenever you read non-fiction.  By coming up with these four questions on your own tonight, it will give me some insight into what you think you should be thinking about when you read nonfiction.  Have them written out before coming into class tomorrow.  I'll be checking at the door.

Do you have that Battle of the Book team together yet?  Battle of the Book takes place next Wednesday.  The author will be here.  Why not impress him with your knowledge?

See you tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Standard 03-19-2013

No matter what happens on the performance task once I assess them, I want to tell you that I am proud of you all.  You faced a difficult task with minimal complaining.  You attacked the reading and writing putting forth sincere effort even though many of you felt overwhelmed.  You realized the importance of  this type of writing and assessment not just for your third quarter grade but for your future in high school, college, and the work force.  Remember, low-skill/low-literacy jobs make up only 10% of the jobs in America's economy (Calkins et al. 8).  That means if you want to get a high paying job or even earn just a decent wage, you need to be well read, be able to express yourself in writing, and be able to analyze what you read.  This performance task is only one step in a life long journey.

Great work today Patrick Brough and George Maxwell.  Your presentation was loaded with great information and support, was easy to follow, had a catchy intro, and ended with a bang.  Add a little more spark to your voices and I'd be happy to listen to you two all day.  Period three, take heed: you could learn a lot from what these two guys did today.

We'll need to pick up the pace a bit on our presentations, especially in period four.  Be prepared, be passionate, be practiced, and don't be absent!

Spring and the end of the grading period are right around the corner, and this Friday is your final in school, March Friday of your Discovery career.  Savor it.  See you tomorrow.  I'll sign your Archer card if you tell me what it means to "take heed".  See you tomorrow.  

Enriched 03-19-2013

After all that worry, the first performance task that I assessed earned an A.  Way to go Monesh Devireddy!   Now I know it'll be difficult to sustain that awesome percentage (100% As), but with time, thought, and careful analysis, success can be yours as well.

Speaking of success, I'd like to thank Julia Kwak, Emily Mack, and Maddie Busch for sharing their magnificent pieces of writing today from the Project Imaginat10n assignment.  All three of them offered well-focused scenes that were expertly developed.  They added minute details--details that some might consider superfluous--that instead added to solid development of settings, characters, and conflict.  The stories were awesome.

We'll be packing in a lot of classic debates over the next three days.  We need to complete them all by Friday since grades are due Monday.  Be ready to present.  Be ready to perform.  Be ready to WOW us!

Spring arrives Wednesday.  The end of the grading period arrives Thursday.  The end of the week arrives Friday.  Time for an Archer card opportunity: tell me what superfluous means, and I'll sign your card.  See you tomorrow.    

Monday, March 18, 2013

Enriched and Standard 03-18-2013

Welcome to the future of your education.

I know, that performance task was pretty difficult.  It made ISTEP look like an afternoon stroll in a warm spring while eating an ice cream cone.  But it is very similar to what we have been doing all year.  What's the difference?  You don't have fellow students to bounce ideas off of.  You don't have me asking questions to help guide you.   It's not a small group analysis or a class discussion.  It's you and the material and your need to figure things out.  Problem solve.  Make assumptions.  Step outside your comfort zone.  Is it hard?  You bet!  But that's what we've been scaffolding to all year.

One of the goals of the Common Core State Standards is for you to be able to work independently.  You need to be able to work through stories, poems, assignments like this one on your own.

This performance task was fiction based.  Next quarter (starting later this week) will focus more on nonfiction material.  Instead of looking for themes in stories, we'll be analyzing central ideas in articles. Instead of looking at characters for motivation, we'll be looking at arguments for support.  We'll still analyze an author's purpose, but we'll look more at what baggage the author brings with him/her to the writing.

Tomorrow you'll have 25 more minutes to complete the performance task.  That time is locked in so you can't waste any time if you haven't yet started the essay.  Focus, have a plan, and start writing.

After the performance task is complete, we'll do a couple debates (enriched) or presentations (standard).    We'll try to stay on schedule so that we can finish by the end of the week at the latest.

See you tomorrow.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Enriched and Standard 03-17-2013

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!  It's a great day in the O'Malley household and in all Irish households around the world.  Are you wearing green?  Will you be eating some corned beef today?  At least be drinking a shamrock shake?  Regardless, enjoy the day, the sun and the last day before your...


...Performance Tasks!  Tomorrow is the day.  It's the same kind of reading and writing and analyzing I've been asking you to do all year.  There are some short answer questions and an essay that you'll be writing.  You'll have to read and understand higher level literature on your own tomorrow.  You'll have to think and patiently work your way through the readings and the prompts.  I will be assessing these.  They will have an effect on your third quarter grade.  Just be ready to try your best tomorrow.

Our plan is to give each class 70 minutes to work through the prompts.  That means you won't necessarily finish tomorrow, but whatever isn't finished Monday will be wrapped up Tuesday.  And then...we go back to our presentations.

For the enriched classes, I have finished assessing the Project Imaginat10n papers.  Look for those grades on HAC tomorrow.  Otherwise, sleep well and we'll see you tomorrow.


Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Enriched and Standard 03-12-2013

Just returned from doing the clock at the girls' basketball game.  Congrats 7th and 8th grade girls on your wins!  8th grade looked awesome in the overtime!

In the enriched classes we'll be continuing with our classic debates tomorrow.  Peter Rutkowski and Sean Conley presented an amazing debate today during period one.  Both were loaded with good arguments and strong rebuttals.  You can do it too!  Just come prepared.

In the standard classes we pushed back our starting date for the presentations.  I have a strong feeling it would have been a disaster if we had moved forward tomorrow with the first debates.  24 extra hours to hone and perfect our presentations will undoubtedly benefit all of us.  Tomorrow we will have some additional time to finish preparing and then practice, practice, practice.  Be ready.

That's it for today.  Tell me what a coelacanth is and I'll sign your Archer card.  See you tomorrow.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Standard 03-11-2013

So much for our short writing "The Story of an Hour".   We were interrupted just a little too much today by the math students.  Oh, it was fun watching them try to sing and dance.  Don't worry, we'll come back to the story tomorrow or Wednesday.

Tomorrow I'll return your elegies.  I want some of you to share them though.  They are good.  You should share!

We'll also have some time for you to work with your partner on your classic debate presentations tomorrow.  YOU NEED TO COME PREPARED!  You should have your three outside sources.  You should have your book completed.  You should have some notes on what you want to do to be successful.  I commend Emily Swaim and Kiernan Karch for coming in to see me today during lunch to be sure that they are doing what they need to do to be successful.  The biggest surprise, though, is that they aren't presenting for over 8 days.  They are two of the last people to present, yet they still are working on the information already.  Impressive.  I hope you are working on your own.  Good chance tomorrow to make some tremendous progress.

See you tomorrow.

Enriched 03-11-2013

Way to go Hannah McGinness and Ava Khan and Vishal Patel!  You gave us a good start to our Classic Debates today.  All three of you were prepared for both your arguments and your rebuttals.  Sure, nerves got to you a bit (a little swaying and fast talking) but you offered well cited information to help you present your points clearly and strongly.   Day one is finished.  Each class has seen some examples, so the expectations from here on out are going to be pretty high.  Use your allotted time.  Have strong arguments.  Go beyond just scratching the surface.

We'll be looking at a cool poem tomorrow called "The Lesson of the Moth".  We started our discussion on it today by asking if you'd prefer a long, safe life or a risky, short one.  Some heated discussion and valid arguments were presented by both sides.  I'll have to say, though, that the most memorable perspective came from Bryce Yoder.  Bryce argued for the benefits of a long life very well.

I handed in our Performance Task to be xeroxed today.  300+ copies.  One for every 8th grader.  It's coming in a week.  If you feel comfortable doing the writing we have been engaged in all year, then you shouldn't have too many concerns with what's coming your way next Monday the 18th.  

Do you know how to punctuate dialogue?  Do you know where the commas go?  the periods?  the quotation marks?  See you tomorrow.


Sunday, March 10, 2013

Standard 3-10-2013

This was a good weekend to finish reading those books.  I trust you used the weekend well and got as far as possible.  Our first presentations are Wednesday!  Will you be ready?

I assessed those elegies and came away impressed with what a lot of you were able to do.  You obviously worked on your rhymes, the rhythm has been pretty solid, the ideas have been developed and specific and the overall quality has been strong.  Way to go.  We will be sharing some tomorrow.

ISTEP is over but only for a few weeks.  Very soon (okay the end of April) we will be right back at it looking at multiple choice ISTEP questions.  With that in mind, we will be reviewing a lot of the material we have already covered this year.

The Performance Task comes next Monday.  It's not going to be easy.  It's going to require you to think about what you read and make connections.  But that's what we have been doing this year, so I trust you will be able to come through.  There's a lot of writing and requests for evidence, but you can do it.

Lots more to come before Friday's career day.  See you tomorrow.

Enriched 3-10-2013

The Classic Debates start tomorrow!  I'm looking forward to some persuasive arguments, some heated battles, some well cited research, and some scholarly discussion.  Will you deliver?  How ready are you?  Hannah and Ava?  You are first!  Are two practice group debates, hopefully, put you at ease.  You should all understand what you need to do.  Be prepared.  Be convincing.  Be ready to listen to your opponent's points and argue against them well.  Good luck.

I'm reading the scenes and the poems and am coming away with some mixed reviews.  We've had some strong examples in each category, but my fear about the poems is coming to fruition: a lot of quick writes, general ideas, thin development, rough rhythm, underwhelming presentation.  Some of you have done well, but others of you are better than what you have produced.  35 days is a long time to have to write a scene and a poem.  Due to the amount of time you have already had and the coming end of the grading period, I will not be able to offer any rewrites on these either.

One week from tomorrow will be your performance task.  It's a good one.  I like what it is asking you to do.  It's similar to what I've been asking you to do all year.  Hopefully you will do well.

ISTEP is over, but it will return (in multiple choice form) towards the end of April.  We need to do some review over the next six weeks to be sure you are ready for those multiple choice questions.

Are you a moth or a cockroach?  We'll soon find out.  See you tomorrow.



 

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Standard 03-06-2013

Okay, so we got a little reprieve from ISTEP today.  I know I didn't mind too much.  I grabbed an extra hour of sleep.  Invigorating.  No such luck tomorrow, though.  Barring unforeseen circumstances, school will be on schedule and ISTEP will take place.  One 55 minute test is all you have left.  Based on past tests it will incorporate a few short answers and an essay.  Just like Tuesday, you'll want to answer the questions fully, support your responses well, and follow those tips from a few blogs ago.

Tomorrow will be a busy day.  You need to have the article from respectable source on your book.  We need to finish those prompts over your will-it-be-a-classic books.  We also should spend a bit of time going over those elegies:  20 lines, rhymes and rhythm, lots of good detail.

We are selecting presentation days on Friday.  The very first presentations will be Wednesday, March 13.  You need to be ready well before that so that you and your partner can prepare.

Remember the differences we discussed today between the points-of-view.

First person-a character in the story (usually the main character) narrates the tale and uses first person pronouns (I, me, mine, we, etc.)

Second person-a rarely used perspective which relies on second person pronouns (you, yours)

Third person limited-the narrator is not in the story and knows everything about one character in the story utilizing third person pronouns (he, she, they, etc.)

Third person omniscient-the narrator is not in the story and knows everything about any character in the story utilizing third person pronouns (he, she,they, etc.).  This perspective is often referred to as the god point-of-view because the narrator knows all.  Omniscient means all  knowing.

Sleep well tonight so you can test well tomorrow.  See you tomorrow.

Enriched 03-06-2013

Okay, so we got a little reprieve from ISTEP today.  I know I didn't mind too much.  I grabbed an extra hour of sleep.  Invigorating.  No such luck tomorrow, though.  Barring unforeseen circumstances, school will be on schedule and ISTEP will take place.  One 55 minute test is all you have left.  Based on past tests it will incorporate a few short answers and an essay.  Just like Tuesday, you'll want to answer the questions fully, support your responses well, and follow those tips from a few blogs ago.

We made a bit of progress on our short story classic debates today.  We'll focus on those tomorrow and plan on seeing the debate on "The Necklace".   These experiences with the short stories should help you perform better when you go one-on-one.  You all know what your debate days are now.  Be sure you are doing what you need to to prepare as thoroughly as you can.

In 48 hours I will have all of your Project Imaginat10n assignments in my hands.  Just think, 33 days ago you were introduced to P.I., and now it is almost complete.  Time flies when you are having fun!
75 points hang in the balance.  Is your P.I. worthy of 75 points?

March 18 has been identified as the day for your language arts Performance Task.  The tasks shouldn't surprise you too much.  In a way we've been doing Performance Tasks since we looked at "The Masque of the Red Death", the excerpt from World War Z, and "For Whom the Bell Tolls".  Remember those?

Sleep well tonight for a strong ISTEP tomorrow.  See you tomorrow.
  

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Standard 03-05-2013

Many of you seemed to feel pretty good about your ISTEP writing today.  That was great to see.  Since you did so well, we'll let you do it again tomorrow.  55 more minutes of fun coming at you.  Remember yesterday's tips and apply them to tomorrow's writing.  Good luck.

Great work on your elegy topics today.  You now know you need as much specific information about your topic as you can muster.  Time to start shaping that info into a 20 line (minimum) rhyming, rhythmic elegy.  We'll spend some time with it tomorrow and start sharing a bit as well.

Bring your book to read.  We'll spend a bit of time in the IMC tomorrow.

More to come with the fiction as well.  See you tomorrow.

Enriched 03-05-2013

I'm hoping the ISTEP writing went well for you today.  We'll do it again tomorrow so just remember all those tips from yesterday so that you can produce the best ISTEP writing you ever have.

Be sure to complete reading your story, "The Necklace" or "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", so that you and your group can have a good discussion and generate strong reasons why your story should or shouldn't be a classic.  You'll also need to come up with an opening statement, a rebuttal to your oppositions arguments, and a crystalization.  We are going to run these debates as closely as we can to what you'll be doing next week with your partner.  Good practice!

SELECTION DAY tomorrow!  We draft our order.  Some of you will be presenting next Monday, March 11.  Will it be you?  Will you be ready if it is?  Let's hope so!

Three days until Project Imaginat10n comes in.  Is your scene focused and developed?  Is your poem creative and powerful?  I can't wait to see them all.

See you tomorrow.


Monday, March 4, 2013

Enriched and Standard 03-04-2013

ISTEP tomorrow!  Make sure you sleep well tonight.  No staying up until midnight Aliya Bralick!  Remember these tips:

Read the prompt carefully.

Plan before writing.

Use all 55 minutes that you are given.

Fill in all the lines.

Use paragraphs.

Be sure to have a clear, engaging introduction.

Support!  Support!  Support!

No matter what, make sure you take the time to add a conclusion to your writing.

Remember our goal: Pass Plus for everyone!

I can't wait to see those perfect writing scores (6/6s) come rolling in!

Nice work on the connotation/denotation quiz today.  A whole lot of 15/15s.

Enriched: Keep working on those Project Imaginat10n assignments.  I'm collecting them Friday.  Read those classic novels too.  We're selecting your presentation dates this Wednesday.

Standard: Be thinking about your ideas for elegy topics.  Bring them to class tomorrow.  You should also be reading your will-it-be-a-classic-books.  We're selecting your presentation dates this Friday, March 8.

That's all for now.  Tell me one of the ISTEP writing tips and I'll sign your Archer card.

See you tomorrow.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Standard 03-03-2013

I'm halfway through assessing the timed writings and I have to give many of you credit for writing good introductions.  You open with an engaging lead and then transition smoothly to your claims.  Great work.

I also see that this prompt was a little difficult.  You definitely have to think to see the connections.  Several of you were able to see how the stories support the theme that women are as capable as men.  However, whenever anyone asked me how the "Tell Tale Heart" could support the theme without any women in it, I knew he or she was in trouble.  I can't say anymore yet because several individuals still need to complete the writing.

We should be able to go over it tomorrow in class while the others complete it.

We should also have time tomorrow for our connotation and denotation quiz.  Be ready for that.

A few other things will come up.

ISTEP in 48 hours!  Are you ready?  Pass Plus for everyone!  Take your time on the writings, and you'll be taking the first big step towards achieving that goal.

See you tomorrow.


Enriched 03-03-2013

Good timed writing last class.  The final one before writing a couple ISTEP prompts.  A few things stand out that you need to be doing each time.

Offer an introduction.  It doesn't have to be crazily overblown.  Something simple and effective to get the reader thinking about your topic and clear on what's coming.

Use paragraphs.  That one's a slam dunk.  Shouldn't have any concerns about that by now, yet still at least 30% of you failed to use paragraphs.  Yes, I was surprised.

Focus.  Several of you started with one idea in the intro and by the time you reached your conclusion, your topic/claim had shifted.

Be sure the quotes support what you claim they support.  Several individuals quoted material from the story or poem that had nothing to do with what they were discussing.  You can't imagine they support what you are saying, you need to be sure.

Peter Rutkowski was able to bring it all together for this prompt.  Check out what he did...better yet, I'll share it with you tomorrow.

Be sure to have your Project Imaginat10n scenes and poems tomorrow.  If I were you, I'd bring multiple clean copies so I can have several people examine it without being influenced by others.  You'll have time for a couple readings.  If you come prepared, you will benefit tremendously.

We'll have our connotation and denotation quiz tomorrow.  Be prepared.

ISTEP in 48 hours!  Can't wait!