Ms. T Alford

Week of 12/17 - 12/21

3rd/5th Periods
Monday we went to the media center to check out books so students can have something to read over the winter holiday.  Then students worked on a review matrix in preparation for Friday's test on phrases, clauses, and sentence types. 
Tue - Wed we will review more and play some review games in class.
Thurs - test
Fri - holiday activities/final grades shared with students.  No homework!

6th Period
Mon - we went to the media center for book checkout and then did some pre-writing and then began our third persuasive essay.
Tuesday - finish persuasive essay #3.  Choose BEST to revise.
Wednesday - revise essays
Thursday - quiz on simple and compound sentences and subordinating conjunctions song.  Finish final draft of persuasive essay. 
Friday - no class.  No homework!  Enjoy your holiday break!

Thursday - Friday, 12/13/07 - 12/14/07

3rd/5th Periods
Thursay we finished our revisions of the persuasive essay in class.  The final drafts will be due by the end of class tomorrow.
Friday - My "non-laptop" class was given time to hand-write the essay.  My "laptop" class was given time to make final revisions and print.  No homework.

6th Period
Thursday we did an in-class persuasive writing piece on the topic of students' choice. 
Friday - students finished the persuasive essay and turned in at the end of class.  By the end of the term, students will have written 3 persuasive timed-writings.  From those, they will choose their best to polish, revise, and turn in as the final draft (test) grade.  We also learned the subordinating conjunctions song so that we can start working on complex and compound-complex sentences.  HOMEWORK - MEMORIZE the SONG!

Wednesday, 12/12/07

3rd/5th Periods
Today students came with completed rough drafts of the persuasive essay.  We created the bibliography or the works cited page, double checked the parenthetical citations, essay formatting, and then did some peer revisions.  The paper will be due on Friday (12/14).

I ANNOUNCED THE END OF QUARTER TEST ON PHRASES, CLAUSES, and SENTENCE TYPES
WILL BE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20!

6th Period
Today students learned about the persuasive essay and what it should include...arguments in support plus an acknowledgement of the other side of the argument, intro, and conclusion with a call to action.  Students were then given back yesterday's timed writing and provided an opportunity to finish and strengthen the arguments.

Monday & Tuesday, 12/10 & 12/11

3rd/5th Periods
On Monday students had some practice with the four sentence types - simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex.  I was out at an inservice.  Homework:  complete the practice.

On Tuesday students reviewed the sentence types and the practice activities from Monday.  The remainder of class was spent on completing the persuasive rough draft.  Tomorrow, we will be revising.  The essay will be completed and ready to turn in by Friday of this week!  No homework.

6th Period
On Monday students reviewed and practiced with compound sentences in preparation for Tuesday's quiz. 

On Tuesday students took a quiz on compound sentences and then worked on a timed persuasive writing piece for the remainder of the class.

Thursday & Friday, 12/6/07 - 12/7/07

3rd/5th Period
Thursday students continued their research for the persuasive essay.  Tomorrow we begin writing rough drafts.  If students need more evidence, gather it tonight! 

Friday students wrote rough drafts in class of the persuasive essay - following the format on page 132 of the Writing and Grammar textbook.  This will be completed in class on Tuesday.

6th Period
Thursday - Yesterday I asked students to tell me their persuasive writing topics along with the 3 reasons in support of that topic.  They either got a "yes" or "no" based on reasons for their choice and the availability of evidence for their topic.  (Only 2 were yes).  They got a second chance today, and those who do not receive a "yes" will be assigned a topic by me. 

Then, we went on with our sentence types lessons.  After checking last night's homework, students took a quiz on simple sentences.  Then we began looking at compound sentences. 
Homework:  workbook pp. 99-102 and complete the lessons that were not finished in class today.   Be prepared for a quiz tomorrow on this material.

Friday, we continued to practice with sentence types - specifically focused on the compound sentence. No homwork.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

3rd/5th Periods
Today students began doing research to access information for their persuasive essays.  They created a pro/con t-chart with evidence to support their topics. 
Homework - if more research is needed, gather it for class tomorrow.  This unit is going faster than I anticipated, and we'll be ready to start drafting by Friday!

6th Period
Today we did not do persuasive research as originally planned.  Based upon some issues with students' topics, I am re-assessing how to go about this project.  In the meantime, we are going along with our grammar activities - beginning with the simple sentence today.  Students will have a quiz each day following a grammar instructional day.  Make sure to review your information! 
Homework:  workbook page 95-96

Tuesday, 12/4/07

3rd/5th Periods
Today students learned how to correctly cite sources used in their persuasive essays.  We took notes using this form Download persuasive_paper_citations.doc .  We then practiced creating citations of newpaper articles, internet sources, etc.  Students were then shown the media center's citation machine to use as a tool for documenting sources.

6th Period
We went to the media center today for a presentation on the use of reliable internet sources.  All students who had their permission letters signed by parents were able to begin their evidence gathering.  Students who did not have permission slips signed were given some review information regarding phrases.  Make sure your letter is turned in tomorrow because we will continue our evidence gathering. 

Monday, 12/3/07

3rd/5th Periods
Today we are beginning our persuasive unit which is being used as part of my research study for my Ed.S. degree.  Students have been told of how the unit will work, and I will be extremely fair.  They completed the pre-test timed writing assignment on Friday.  Today, students were given notes on the persuasive process - and they will begin gathering evidence for their essays this week.  I hope each student selected a topic of interest because we will be working on this topic for a couple of weeks.

No homework (little will be given during htis unit since work for the essay must be completed in class.  Use this time to study up on you grammar skills in phrases and clauses!)

6th Period
We are at a good stopping point in our study of phrases and are beginning our persuasive writing unit.  Students took home a topic selection sheet to share with parents on Friday.  This is due back signed on Tuesday, 12/4.  Today, we did some pre-writing activities.  We will be writing a parallel paper as a model for students as we complete this persuasive paper.  Our "class paper" will be on downloading music from the internet for free - whether or not it should be allowed.  Today we watched a Jim Lehrer "News for Kids" report and gathered some evidence in support of both sides of this debate. 
Homework:  Signed persuasive topic letter