Ms. T Alford

May 19 - 23

Well, here it is...the LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!  Time has certainly flown, and I have truly enjoyed teaching and working with each one of you students! 

1st period
We will be finishing the novel and students will have two big grades this week:
1.  AR Test on Nothing But the Truth on Wednesday
2.  Vocabulary test from the novel vocabulary on Thursday.
We will also be doing a timed writing this week on the theme of the novel. 

2nd/4th period
We are finishing The Hound of the Baskervilles and students will have two additional grades this week:
1.  Test on the novel on Wednesday
2.  Vocabulary from chapters 11-15 due Wednesday.
We will watch the movie in class on Wednesday - Thursday.

Week of 5/12 - 5/16

1st Period
Monday - I announced a vocabulary "mini-quiz" on the vocab from chapters 1-12.  It will be taken on Wednesday.  Time was given in class today to complete the vocabulary, but if you did not finish it is HOMEWORK!!
Tuesday - reading NBTT
Wednesday - vocab quiz and reading
Thursday & Friday - we worked on vocabulary and read from the text of Nothing But the Truth. 

Next week there WILL be a TEST on the vocabulary from the text!  Make sure you are reviewing daily!!

2nd/4th Period
Monday - Today we read chapters 4-5 and completed the vocabulary from chapters 1-5.  It is due tomorrow!
Tuesday - Today there was a quiz on chapters 4-5.  It is graded and in I-Parent.  Students then were given the vocabulary for chapters 6-10 (due Friday) and had time to read in class.
Wednesday - Second period did not have class today since we had the performing arts presentation today.  Fourth period had the chance to read and work on the vocabulary.  The quiz on chapters 6-10 will be tomorrow during the second half of class.  Make sure you read.  You may use Sparknotes.com for a review to check your comprehension.  Please don't use it as a substitute for the reading.  I have a copy of the Sparknotes, too, and the quiz requires that you have actually read the book.  There will be no "trick" questions, but this is a mystery novel, so read carefully and pay attention to all the clues that are beginning to fall into place!  I will ask questions about these clues!
Thursday - I pushed back the quiz on ch's 6-10 until tomorrow for 2nd period.  We read and worked on vocabulary. The section for ch's 6-10 is due tomorrow!

Week of 5/5 - 5/9/08

Wow!  The last three weeks are here!! Time has certainly flown.

All classes will be doing a novel study.  First period will read Nothing But the Truth by Avi, and 2nd/4th periods will read The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 

1st Period: 
Monday - preview and About the Author.  No homework. 
Tuesday - overview of how the novel study will occur, vocabulary for the first few chapters, and reading to page 19.  There will be a quiz tomorrow on commas...here are the review activities:  Download commas_page_1.jpg Download commas_page_2.jpg Download commas_page_3.jpg Download commas_page_4.jpg Download commas_page_5.jpg Download commas_page_6.jpg Download commas_page_7.jpg Download commas_page_8.jpg   
Wednesday - Friday...We read through chapter 10 of NBTT and working on vocabulary.

2nd/4th Period: 
Monday - prevew the author and the elements of mystery.  No homework.
Tuesday - overview of how the novel study will occur, and reading the first 2 chapters.  There will be a comma quiz tomorrow.  You may want to review the comma review activities posted under 1st period above. 
Wednesday - Friday - read ch's 1-3 and re-created the crime scene from the clues in chapters 2-3. 

Week of 4/28 - 5/2

CRCT's are continuing on Monday and Tuesday.  Students are working on the comma project.  It will be due Friday at the end of class.  It is a major grade - so make sure you are doing a good job!!

Also, AC classes need The Hound of the Baskervilles by Friday (or Monday at the latest!!)

Week of 4/21 - 4/25

Announcements:
1.  AC classes (2nd and 4th only):  secure your copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by Friday, May 2!!  FYI - the text can be accessed online, but you will need a tangible copy to read in class. 
2.  CRCT's began this week.  Students will not have any homework during CRCT's.

Instead, all classes are working on a comma project.  We are looking for examples of all 18 comma rules in real-life contexts.  Students are searching through magazines and clipping examples for each rule to complete their comma project.   The completed project is due May 2.  Students did have the option to work independently or in pairs.  Classtime is being given for this project and magazines are available.  Of course, you may also clip examples at home and bring them to school.  The guidelines and rubric for the project were distributed and reviewed.  Make sure to refer back to the guidelines as you work!!  It is a major grade!! 

Week of April 14 - 18

Welcome back from spring break!  I hope you all had a fun and restful time!  We are now getting in gear for CRCT's which begin next Wednesday, 4/23. 

Also...8th grade registration forms went home with students today.  Please complete these and send them back this week!

First Period
Monday - After a DGP, students finished their homophones booklets.  No homework
Tuesday - We reviewed the agreement test and then began a review of paragraph basics.  Agreement review help session:  Wednesday at 8:15 with Mrs. Cedarholm!!  Optional test (will be averaged with the first test grade) on Thursday.
Wednesday - We reviewed paragraph basics today.  Homework:  Write a good paragraph on any topic you choose.  Then, highlight the topic sentence, supporting details, clincher/conclusion, and transitions.  I suggest you type it so that you can revise and highlight on the computer.  The paragraph will be graded for accurate highlighting of the elements. 
Thursday - After we checked the capitalization review pages, students worked on a punctuation review
Friday - Students worked on a punctuation review...due Monday - so it is homework if you did not finish in class!
All grades this week have been updated in I-Parent.  Please check your progress!

Second/Fourth Period:  Don't forget to secure your copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles by the end of CRCT testing (May 1!!)
Monday - After a DGP, we completed our review of paragraph basics.  HW:  Write a good paragraph on any topic you choose.  Then, highlight the topic sentence, supporting details, clincher/conclusion, and transitions.  I suggest you type it so that you can revise and highlight on the computer.  The paragraph will be graded for accurate highlighting of the elements. 
Tuesday - We reviewed capitalization rules
Wednesday - We worked through a DGP, reviewed sentence types, and then completed our review of capitalization rules.  No homework!
Thursday - Students worked on a punctuation review
Friday - Stidents completed the punctuation review and we checked it.  All grades have been updated in I-Parent...so be sure to check out your grades on the homophones book, capitalization, and punctuation reviews!

Week of 3/31 - 4/3/08

First Period
Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday - Practice and review for the agreement and pronoun usage test on Thursday!  Any student leaving early for spring break will want to take the test early.
The test will cover:
  - Pronoun usage - cases of personal pronouns and agreement between pronouns and their antecedents
  - Agreement between subjects and verbs...even with hard to find subjects, questions, collective
    nouns, etc.
Here are the answers to review activities I gave as a study aid...
Download review_1.jpg , Download review_2.jpg , Download review_3.jpg , Download review_4.jpg   
Thursday - Test
Friday -

2nd/4th Periods
Monday - homophone books...these are due at the start of class on Thursday. 
Tuesday - Paragraph basics - a review of topic sentence, supporting details, clincher/conclusion sentences and what makes them effective vs. ineffective.
Wednesday - CRCT review
Thursday - More paragraph basics
Friday - Finish up paragraph basics

HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE SPRING BREAK!!!

Week of 3/24 - 3/28

ALL LANGUAGE ARTS CLASSES:  Don't forget that on Monday, 3/31, you are to turn in a printout from AR that you took a test on your outside reading book this month.  Or, if your book is not AR, you can create a 10 question, mulitple choice AR test that covers the entire book. 

1st Period
I announced a TEST today that will be given on Thursday, 4/3 on agreement and pronoun usage...Subject-Verb agreement, Pronoun-Antecedent agreement, & correct pronoun usage of pronoun cases.  BE REVIEWING DAILY!!!

Monday - Today we began class with a game of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" to practice with the 3 cases of personal pronouns.  It became clear through the game that students needed more review.  We reviewed the usage of each and then students were given some extra practice on the subject (nominative case) and object (objective case) pronouns.  This is to be completed for homework and will be graded in class tomorrow!
Tuesday - Today we checked last night's homework and did some additional review of nominative and objective case pronouns.  Tomorrow there will be a "status check" quiz at the beginning of class to see where students are in their understanding.  Please review tonight so that you will do well.
Wednesday - Class began with a mini quiz and then we looked at the usage of "who" versus "whom" and also possessive pronouns versus contractions.  No written homework, but REVIEW!!
Thursday - Practice with pronoun/antecedent agreement.  Make sure to study your indefinite pronouns...always singular/always plural/either.
Friday - Notes today on agreement...STUDY and REVIEW this weekend!! 


2nd/4th Period
Monday - Today we reviewed pronoun cases and agreement in preparation for tomorrow's test!  Download subject_verb_agreement_review.ppt
Tuesday - Test
Wednesday - Agreements tests returned and reviewed; Review of CRCT Benchmark
Thursday - Homophones book and forming the possessive of words ending in -s.
Friday - Worked on homophones books

Week of 3/17 - 3/21

                         Report cards will be distributed on FRIDAY!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

First Period
Monday - We reviewed the research process
Tuesday - introduction to pronouns.  HW:  Finish pronouns article.  Classify all 68 pronouns
Wednesday - We took notes on the three cases of personal pronouns.  Tomorrow there will be a quiz (knowledge level) on the different types of pronouns...personal, demonstrative, reflexive, etc.  Review your notes for AT LEAST 15-20 minutes tonight!
Thursday - DGP followed by pronoun practice!
Friday - CRCT Benchmark

Second/Fourth Periods
Monday - reviewed research process
Tuesday - pronoun/agreement practice
Wednesday - we reviewed agreement by playing "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"  I announced a test for Tuesday, 3/25 on agreement and usage of verbs and pronouns.  We will continue to review for the remainder of the week.
Thursday - More Agreement Practice!!
Friday - CRCT Benchmark

Week of 3/10 - 3/14

1st Period
This week we will be in the lab doing research for the research compare/contrast project.  Students have the requirements and the rubric for the assignment in their notebooks.  The presentations will be made on Friday, 3/15.

Every student must have:
- Notecards from which the speech will be made.  (these will be put in the portfolio)
- Final draft of bibliograpy (rough draft was turned in on Tuesday, checked by me, and revised on Wednesday)
- Visual showing their product  - large enough to be seen and effective!

2nd/4th Periods
Monday - due to half of each class being out at the chorus festival, students were taken to the media center for book checkout today.  We had a "drop everything and read" day in class today.  The March book is due to the language arts teacher this month on 3/31.  You may either take an AR test and print the report, or you may create an AR test if one does not exist for your book.  (At least 10 questions with answers provided.)
Tuesday - We will begin work on pronouns and pronoun cases in class.  Verb quizzes will also be made up and returned.
Homework:  Complete notes handout on pronouns.  It will be checked tomorrow. 
Wednesday - We discussed the different pronoun types, took additional notes on the 3 pronoun cases - nominative, objective, & possessive, and then worked on an assignment to identify pronouns in a newspaper article. Finish the article for homework.  There are 68 pronouns. 
Thursday - I have lost my voice...so...students are doing some independent work on pronouns - cases, antecedents, who vs. whom, etc.  The work was done in class today. 
Friday -