Essay Video Lessons

In our class, we are now working on writing argument papers on a variety of topics.  Students have crafted thesis statements and are using Achieve3000 to do their research. You have also gotten back your PE essay and these videos are designed to help address some of the issues we saw repeated in many of the essays.

In class, you'll decide which video your group will watch first and then answer some questions in your composition book.  Here are the links to the videos.

Thesis Sentence vs. Topic Sentence by Shmoop

Paragraph Structure

Integrating Quotes in Essays

Incorporating Quotes    
Choosing and Using Quotations by Shmoop    

Watch the videos, as needed again at home.  Let us know if you find another video that has helped you with your writing.  




    
  

Research articles for your topics.

Here are the titles of the articles you should read to prepare for your essay.

What's your position?

What's your topic?  We did carousel brainstorming with these topics today.  We'll write the full essay soon.

Bradbury Quiz

This quiz isn't one you need to study.  Most of the test is multiple choice.
Just make sure you have read to page 37.  It will cover basic items like this:

•Could you describe Clarisse, Montag, Mildred, Beatty, and the Mechanical Hound?

•What happened to Mildred? 

•How is Clarisse different than her peers?

•How does the fire department work? (alarms, rules, history, etc.)

•How is Montag changing?

•What happened to the old woman on who lives at 11 No. Elm?

All the signposts. Here if you need them.

BradburyLand: What's his style?

Students have been playing "BradburyLand" and citing evidence to support their analysis of the text through signposts.  This session ended with students writing paragraph to show what they learned about his style.  Many students needed time to finish it for homework so it's due for A day students on Tuesday, November 10th.  (B day students will probably finish during class since they didn't have early dismissal this week.)
Here's the assignment:

"The Veldt" and Words of the Wiser

Here's the full text of "The Veldt" for those of you who were absent, taking make up tests, or who didn't finish making notes on the Veldt.  Remember that the quotes you record will be used for an in-class game so make insightful, plentiful notes that are sure to help your group.  We also took notes on our final signpost: Words of the Wiser.  Here's the anchor chart from the notes, you may copy it right into your notes or use it as a reference.

You need to have ten quotes with answers to the anchor questions.  That's each signpost once and some may repeat--like Again and Again or Literary Moment.

Word Roots for Quarter 1: Quiz 10/22 and 10/23

In class, we recently watched two videos that helped us understand how spelling can help us understand word relationships and meanings.  They had some pretty deep ideas so we encourage you to watch them again, or watch for the first time if you were absent, for sure!

Click the links to view:
 Making Sense of Spelling
Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt 

Knowing the meaning of a root, prefix, or suffix can help you figure out the meaning and spelling of an unfamiliar word. So, we've been exploring roots and new words. Now that we have 19 roots/prefixes/suffixes added to our four column notes, it's time to study them.   

We'll have a roots quiz on October 22 (a day) and 23rd (b day).

Here's the second half of roots to study:

OOPS!  You'll have to get creative to fit the last ones on here.  We have a few more words that spaces.  Write all the way to the top and bottom margins or split some boxes in half horizontally to make it work.  
Use your four column notes study sheet to self-quiz as preparation for the real quiz.  If you are missing any of the roots, see the picture above to add what you are missing.

Open House e-edition!

Instead of sending you home with extra paper, this year we're directing you to our webpages via this blog.  You can find the information you need here, probably quicker than you can dig through the pile of paper on your dining room table.  We've had over 35,000 visitors since we started using this special space to share information.

We sent home a letter on the first day of school, and we're hoping you've already seen it.  Lavender?  A half sheet?  The eighth plan all their lessons together and so the letter looks mostly the same for each of us.  The only differences in the letters are the biographical information about each teacher and the contact information for each teacher.

Here's Mrs. Jackson's letter:

Literary Techniques Exit Slip-- "The Pedestrian"

Students have been using the jigsaw classroom technique to become experts on three literary techniques (in an "expert" group) and then teach those techniques in the "home" group.  We found the techniques in the story "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury.  By the end of the lesson, students mastered twelve techniques.  We'll complete an Exit Slip (10 points) to make sure they learned them.  The Exit Slip will be on September 14th and 15th (a and b day).