Literature
Students reviewed Act II: Scene 1 of The Diary of Anne Frank by taking an Entrance Ticket quiz over character motivation. We then dramatized Act II: Scene 2. We paid close attention to Mr. Frank's reactions to the changing relationship between Anne and Peter and discussed how Mr. Frank is a "touchstone" character for the play. In other words, we can often discern if a development is good or bad by his reaction to it. Composition We spent time in the Computer Lab conducting research for our Heifer International argument. Students should continue to take research notes on their Pro-Con Graphic Organizer. All links to the research articles are available on this website under the "Resources" and "Composition" tabs. Independent Reading Students will make their presentations to small book groups during Literature class tomorrow. Everyone should please remember to bring the artwork and completed questionnaire. Both are due tomorrow. IXL No assignments this week. Vocabulary No assignments this week. Literature
We spent some time in class reviewing Act I of the play, The Diary of Anne Frank, and then we dramatized Act II: Scene 1. In our discussion, we emphasized the various external conflicts and searched for dialogue to support our inferences about character motivations. We will continue with Act II: Scene 2 tomorrow. Composition Today, we finished reading and analyzing our third source for the argument composition about Heifer International. Tomorrow, we will go to the computer lab, and students will be able to research additional sources on their own. Students should continue to bring all Heifer materials--especially their Pro-Con Graphic Organizer--to class each day. Independent Reading Book reports are due on Wednesday, March 30. Students should be ready to present their book and visual aid to small groups. Students should check the assignment sheet to make sure they have met all of the requirements for the project. IXL No skills sets are assigned this week. Vocabulary No units are assigned this week. Literature
We spent time today gathering ideas for our Independent Reading projects and talked about ways to create visual representations of our books' characters and themes. We looked at some similar art work related to The Diary of Anne Frank for inspiration, and then we used the rest of the class period to read and to sketch ideas for our own books. Composition We continued research for our argumentation essay about Heifer International. We finished reading articles from the Heifer support materials and began reading a critique. We continued filling out our Pro-Con chart. Homeroom All readers and actors rehearsed our Living Stations of the Cross, which will begin at 11:00 AM on Friday. IXL No assignments this week. Vocabulary No assignments this week. Literature
We continue to work on completing our Independent Reading project for this month. Students received a handout today explaining the artwork and short presentation they will make starting on March 30. We then had most of the class for reading our books. We will continue to work on this project during Literature class tomorrow and Friday. Composition We continued our research on Heifer International. We read an article from the Reporter's Notebook and added research data to our Pro-Con Graphic Organizer. Students should continue to bring all Heifer materials to class. We will read additional articles as we formulate our researched argumentation composition. IXL No assignments this week. Vocabulary No assignments this week. Literature
Today, we discussed student responses to the Literary Analysis questions #5, 6a, and 6b from p. 593 in our textbook for the play, The Diary of Anne Frank. We turned in the written responses following our discussion. The rest of class was devoted to Independent Reading and discussion of our final project due March 30. (See below.) Composition We completed the "Read to Feed" pamphlet from Heifer International and began reading the Reporter's Notebook, which will provide two articles for our researched argument. Students need to continue to bring all Heifer-related materials to class and to keep taking notes on the Pro-Con Graphic Organizer. Homeroom We prepared costumes today for Living Stations of the Cross and practiced reading and blocking in the Sanctuary. Readers should continue to practice on their own. Independent Reading Students will have the opportunity to create a work of art for their books and to make a presentation to a small group. Assignment handouts will be distributed tomorrow. Presentations begin on March 30. IXL No skill sets are assigned this week. Vocabulary No units are assigned this week. Literature
Today, we completed our dramatization of The Diary of Anne Frank, Act I: Scene 5. Since the scene includes a celebration of Hanukkah, we watched a brief clip about the holiday. We then began answering the Literary Analysis questions #5, 6a, and 6b on p. 593. Students should use the ACE strategy for their responses. These are due at the beginning of class on Tuesday. Composition We continued to work on our argumentation essay about Heifer International and our school service project. Students received an outline of the assignment last Friday, March 18. Today, we read a pamphlet from Heifer about the Read to Feed program and the many animals and other items Heifer provides. Students began gathering research for their arguments by filling in a "pro-con" graphic organizer. We will continue reading articles and websites this week. Independent Reading Students are assigned to finish their books by Tuesday, March 29. There are no more surveys. Students will make a final presentation about their book later next week. IXL No Skill Sets are assigned this week. Homeroom We will rehearse the Living Stations of the Cross tomorrow afternoon. STEM Day Photos of our March 18 "Zip Line" activity are posted at the STEM Days link. Happy St. Patrick's Day!Literature
Today we shared our ACE responses to the study guide questions for Act I: Scene 3 and then we dramatized Act I: Scene 4 and the first few lines of Scene 5. Composition We continued our work with modifiers, wordiness, and redundancy. Our goal is to be able to recognize, identify, and correct these problems in grammar exercises and then apply that skill to our own original compositions. Students should finish the "Stringy Sentences" exercise #11-20 for tomorrow. IXL We have practiced all of the skills assigned this week and previewed the video tutorials on our website. Z.1 through BB.1 are due by Friday, March 18, 2016 at 7:00 PM. Independent Reading The link to Survey #4 is open and live. This is our last survey. Students should plan to finish their books and be prepared to present their final projects by March 29. Homeroom We rehearsed for Living Stations today. Students need to bring in their supplies. Stringy Sentences and Anne Frank, Act I: 3Literature
We shared a couple of ACE paragraphs for the characterization of Mr. Frank, and then we turned in our Act I: Scenes 1 and 2 study guides. We finished dramatizing Act I: Scene 3 and talked about key vocabulary words. We will continue with our discussion of Scene 3 tomorrow. Students need to remember to bring their new study guide for this section of the play. We will continue to look at the external and internal conflicts of the play and to make inferences about the characters and their relationships with each other. Composition We turned in our Warriner's packets covering modifiers, and then we began a new set of exercises in which we identified problems with "stringy sentences." Students were able to revise the sentences by using the modifiers we have studied this past week. Our ultimate goal is to use these strategies in our own compositions later this week. IXL Tutorial videos are now posted for our new set of IXL Skills (Z.1 through BB.1) due on Friday, March 18. Independent Reading Students had time during class to continue reading their books. Survey #4 is due on Friday, March 18 by 7:00 PM. Here are more images from recent productions of The Diary of Anne Frank.Literature
We finished our discussion of Act I: Scene 2 with an analysis of Mr. Frank's character. We used the ACE strategy to create a complete and well-supported response to the final two study guide questions. We then began dramatizing Act I: Scene 3. The study guide for Act I: Scenes 1-2 is due at the beginning of class on Tuesday. Composition We continued working with misplaced and dangling modifiers. Students were able to recognize the type of error in each sample sentence and make corrections. The Warriner's packet of revised sentences is due at the beginning of class on Tuesday. Homeroom Penance Service took place on Monday. We will practice Living Stations on Thursday. (Please bring in your supplies.) Report cards will be published next week. Please complete all make-up or late work. STEM Day is on Friday of this week. Here is a slideshow of images from recent productions of The Diary of Anne Frank.Literature
We spent time in class on Friday analyzing Act I: Scene 2. Students need to make sure they have written responses to all questions in the study guide--except for the last two--when they come to class on Monday. (Our class was shortened due to our Stations of the Cross devotional.) Composition We worked on the Warriner's packet covering modifiers. We practiced identifying single-word adjectives and adverbs and discussed their functions within each sentence. We then practiced identifying prepositional and participial phrases and discussed how they functioned as modifiers in sample sentences. We revised several sentences with misplaced or dangling modifiers and discussed the importance of clarity in our writing. Students should have completed the first three pages of the Warriner's packet when they come to class on Monday. IXL Skills V.1 through Y.1 were due Friday night by 7:00 PM. If students experience technology problems, they should email me. Skills Z.1 through BB.1 are due on Friday, March 18. Independent Reading Survey #3 was due Friday night by 7:00 PM. Survey #4 is due on Friday, March 18. Homeroom Please remember to start bringing in supplies for our Living Stations. Our next STEM day is Friday, March 18! Look for opportunities to participate in our Heifer International service project this week. |
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A Classroom Prayer
Holy Spirit, Giver of all good gifts, enter into my mind and heart. Give me the gift of knowledge and the grace to use it wisely. Help me in all my endeavors. Give me perseverance and fortitude. Help my memory, that I may remember what I learn and recall it when necessary. Guide me in the classroom.
O Jesus, You who are the Way, the Truth, and the Life, let me not be deceived by false teaching. Our Lady of Good Studies, pray for me. Amen. Mary, Undoer of Knots,
Pray for Us! A Prayer to Christ, the Divine Teacher
O source of all Wisdom, Christ the Teacher,
You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Teach us to embrace the truths You have revealed to Your Church. Fill our souls with Your Grace that we may love God above all and our neighbors as ourselves. Christ Jesus, friend and Teacher most patient, bless us and teach us. O Light of the world, teach us always to follow You that we should not walk in darkness, but have forever the Light of Life! Amen. Archives
August 2023
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