News to share!

A day classes will have their last lit circle meeting on February 16th (rather than the 21st) due to an in-school assembly on the 21st.  All classes have been in on this decision and are aware.  Students will be able to prepare for that meeting during the 2/14 class.  B day classes will have their last meeting on February 17th as planned.  The lit circle file can still be downloaded from the previous post.

Another important date:  FCAT Writes!  Students will take the 8th grade FCAT Writing test on February 28th.  A letter will go home this Monday and Tuesday with important information about what to bring to the classroom (a healthy self) and what not to bring ( a cell phone.)  Students have written 4 essays throughout the year.  For each one they do a self-reflection score with the rubric, get individual feedback and a score, plus a brief conference.  There's still at least one after school help sessions for writing help on Monday, February 13th.   More dates will be added if needed.  Historically, LaVilla students have done well on this test and I'm sure this year will be no exception.

Lit Circles Begin Now....Files you need!

Today, we began ramping up for our Sci-Fi Lit Circle Study.  The permission slip is available here. It is due on Thursday, January 5th 2012 for A day and Friday, January 6th for B day.  


For our practice discussion on the 5th and 6th, you can access the full text of  Kaleidoscope by clicking the name of the story or cutting and pasting your this link into your browser: http://www.scaryforkids.com/kaleidoscope-by-ray-bradbury/.


For this discussion and for the future lit circle discussions, you can print and use this discussion sheet.

Here's the calendar with our upcoming meeting/due dates.

The discussion sheet is always due BEFORE the discussion.  You cannot participate if it is not complete.    

EDITORIALS: You must act now to get full credit!

Get the full rubric here.It's time to turn in your polished, revised, typed, and persuasive editorial.

Click the image of the rubric to the right to download a  full copy of the rubric.

We've given you feedback to accompany each lesson.  Use our feedback and your notes to revise each piece of your paper.

Use the rubric as a checklist to make sure you have completed each requirement.

Use www.easybib.com to create a list of the sources you use.  We recommend about three outside sources but this varies depending on your topic.  

When you type, make sure you follow these guidleines:

• Black ink on white paper.
• Times New Roman font.
• Size 12.
• Double Spaced (use "ctrl+a" then "ctrl+2") after you type everything.  Do not use the enter button or tab button.
• You may print in the classroom if you bring your work on a jump drive.

If you have an emergency relating to technology, then it would be better than nothing to hand write your paper as neatly as possible since we can see all of the other skills even if it is handwritten.


It will be accepted late for partial credit.