8th Grade Maroon Language Arts

This week, we will review and discuss text features, text structures, and the various types of text structures.  The types of text structures are sequencing (chronological order), cause and effect, problem and solution, description, and compare and contrast.  Students will complete exercises over these discussions and have a quiz over text structures on Wednesday.

Library Day is Thursday!!

On Friday, in preparation for a new Bellringer Quiz format, students will take a practice bellringer quiz in the new format.  Once students have finished, we will go over the quiz.  Students have been seeing different variations on the weekly bellringer quizzes since Christmas Break.  However, this new format will help students better prepare for the K-PREP Assessments in May.

This is a short week for students!!

Picture Day is Monday.  This is a jeans day for students, but a dress code compliant shirt must be worn.

This week, students will access the DEA/Thinklink website and input their answers from the tests they took earlier.  The overall results will be used to identify areas that students need help to push them to “the next level”.  

NO SCHOOL FRIDAY!!!  ENJOY THE THREE DAY WEEKEND!!!

This week, students will be wrapping up their 3rd grading period.  The last day of the 3rd 9-weeks is March 9. 

Students will we wrapping up the grading period with 9-weeks assessments.  Those will be completed by Friday for those students that have been absent on all or some of the days the assessments were given.

Library Day is Thursday.  This is also the last day students may take a Reading Counts quiz for the 3rd 9-weeks.

The last 9-weeks begins on Monday, March 12.

This week, we’ll finish up with our thesis statement and how to write an argument mini-unit.  Students will finish looking at their last murder-mystery for this unit.  Students will complete questions and a graphic organizer of this “crime”.  They then will have to complete a small writing assignment in which they will write a thesis and defend that thesis based on evidence from the text and picture provided. 

Because of the snow day Tuesday, students will wrap up this lesson on Wednesday, with a little time for finishing touches at the beginning of class Thursday.

Beginning Thursday, after the students have completed the last murder-mystery assignment, we will begin looking at Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.  This lesson will continue over into Friday.

Bellringer Quiz on Monday!!!

This week, students will continue working on argumentative writing, which we began last week.  Students are looking at murder-mysteries in order to pull evidence to support their claims about what they think happened.  Students are also looking at thesis statements.

Thursday is library day.  Students are reminded they must have their library books with them in order to complete their library assignment.

Bellringer Quiz on Monday.  This week’s quiz will have more questions (approximately 16) because there was no quiz last week.

This week, we will continue with our Poetry Unit.  Students began reading O Captain! My Captain! and we will finish discussion of this poem on Tuesday.  A quiz over the poem will follow.  By Wednesday, we’ll begin reading and discussing Casey at the Bat.  It is also planned to begin reading/discussing Paul Revere’s Ride, but this poem may have to be moved into next week. 

Thursday is library day!!  Students are reminded they need to have their library books with them.  Those students that do not have their books will not be able to complete the class assignment for that day.

Bellringer Quiz on Monday!!

Midterms go home with students on Wednesday!!!

This week, we’ll continue discussion of The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe.  This week we’ll discuss several literary elements found within the story.  Students will do an oral presentation on Wednesday and Friday over the use of foreshadowing, alliteration, simile, and metaphor found within the poem.   If presentations finish on Friday, we’ll move on to other short story/literary elements in the story.+

Bellringer Quiz on Monday!!

Library Day Thursday!!

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND STUDENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR READING A MINIMUM OF 3 BOOKS AND PASS THE QUIZZES WITH A 7 OUT OF 10 OR HIGHER!!!

I hope everyone enjoyed their 3-day weekend! 

On Tuesday, students will be allowed to continue, and complete, their assessment over The Monkey’s Paw. 

On Wednesday, after this week’s Bellringer Quiz, we’ll discuss protagonist and antagonist.  We’ll continue our literary elements discussion on Thursday and Friday with round and flat characters and dynamic and static characters.  We’ll also begin reading, and discussing, our next short story The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. 

Wednesday:  Bellringer Quiz!!

Wednesday:  Mid-terms go home!!

This week, we’ll continue, and wrap up, our discussion over the short story The Monkey’s Paw.  We will discuss, as a class, the elements of a short story found within the story.  We will also discuss suspense and foreshadowing.  Students will complete a plot chart over the story to help guide discussion and to check for understanding.  Students will have their assessment over the story on Friday.

BELLRINGER QUIZ ON MONDAY!!

LIBRARY DAY THURSDAY!!!

 THE MONKEY’S PAW ASSESSMENT FRIDAY!!!

Reading Counts:  Students are required to read three (3) books each 9-weeks (6th period students must read four (4) books each 9-weeks).  They then must pass three (3) quizzes each period with a 7 out of 10 or higher.  Any score less than a 7 will not count towards a student’s Reading Counts grade.

Everyone should be back into the “groove” of things here at school. We have started off with a very good start to another school year!!

This week, we’ll wrap up our Introduction to Reading Unit. By Wednesday, students will begin reading their first short story of the year, The Monkey’s Paw. Students will be able to discuss and identify the various short story elements found within this short story during discussion, quizzes, and other activities.

Key Vocabulary students need to keep in mind during our Short Story Unit: character(s), characterization, theme, plot, conflict, setting, point-of-view

Bellringer Quiz on Monday!!!

THE FIRST SCHOOL-WIDE DANCE IS FRIDAY!!! ADMISSION IS $3