Melton's Minutes

Week of May 11th

Diary of Anne Frank Test on Tuesday!

• Look through your study guide
• Complete your character quotes and descriptions
• Re-read any portions of the story that are unclear.

Monday: Today we finished reading Act II, Scene 3. We discussed and added quotations for Mrs. Frank. HW: Make sure you have 2-3 quotes for each character as well as words and phrases to describe them.

Tuesday: Test on Diary of Anne Frank. Students begin their MLA style paragraphs with internal citations according the the high school requirements. HW: Write a literary analysis paragraph in your Reader's Notebook on one of the characters or a conflict using parenthetical citations. Use the handouts to guide you.

Wednesday: Finish reading the play and discuss. Review the Do's and Don'ts of literary analysis handout (you can download a copy of this in my "Pages" section of the blog) and revise your paragraph. HW: Choose another character and personality trait and write a second MLA-style paragraph in your Reader's Notebook. Use the handouts to guide your writing. Remember, you need to show off! This should be your best writing of the year! (You will revise it tomorrow in class and type it at home tomorrow).

Thursday: Peer review of the MLA-style paragraphs. We began the movie The Diary of Anne Frank.  Students are to choose a character and in the movie and track their changes over time during their time in hiding. Take note of their words, actions, and expressions. HW: Type both Literary Analysis paragraphs (this should be your finest work to date!)Also, Reader's Notebooks will be graded tomorrow for character traits and quotes.

Week of May 4th

Expect a test on Act I of "The Diary of Anne Frank" early next week! I suggest that students bring their literature book home each night and re-read the portions we have covered in class. Use sticky-notes to record important thoughts and/or connections.  Ask your child to show you the course requirements (they were given a handout).

Monday: We read Scene three to page 718. Students copied an important quote from Mr. Frank as well as one for Mrs. Van Daan along with a description of her personality traits. This will be useful for an internal citation in the MLA style paper. HW: Read pages 718-724 and write a summary of this passage in the Reader's Notebook.

Tuesday: We completed scene three today.  Students wrote a character analysis with quotes on Mr. Van Daan.  Homework: Write a character analysis on Anne.

Wednesday: Read scene four through page 740 and write a character analysis on Mr. Dussel. No Homework.

Thursday: Today we read through page 753. Students recorded a quote from Mr. Frank and we discussed the changes that have taken place between scenes one and two. HW: Complete the study quide on Act I to prepare for the test.

6th Grade Math: http://www.mathplayground.com/locate_aliens.html

Week of April 27th

Note: Punctuation Test is this Wednesday! To study: Do the homework; ask questions; look through your notes (you can download them from my pages section; ask questions; review  your quiz; ask questions!

Monday: Today we read and discussed  passages from I Have Lived a Thousand Years as an introduction to the drama "The Diary of Anne Frank". HW: WAG page 631 Ex. 51-52; page 632-633 Ex. 59, 60-61.

Tuesday: We reviewed the grammar homework in preparation of our test tomorrow. In addtion, students wrote an entry in their Reader's Notebook detailing items of importance that they would take with them in the event of an emergency. We began the play "Diary of Anne Frank" .HW: Study for the test!

Week of April 13th

Punctuation Quiz On Wednesday! (See my "Pages" section for Rules in Punctuation)

Monday: Work on writing and anyalyzing poetic devices. HW: Grammar Work pages 173/174 (Semicolons)

Tuesday: Lesson on quotation marks in diaglogue. HW: WAG textbook pages 613, ex.. 27 & 28; page 622 ex. 39 & 40. This is a review for the quiz!

Wednesday: Students took the punctuation quiz and worked on reading strategies for CRCT. HW: Grammar workbook pages 191 & 193.

Week of March 30th

Punctuation  Quiz on Friday! (Hyphens, colons,)* Can your find a hyphen or colon error in this blog?

Monday: Students took notes on and began their cover letters and turned in Mountain Language #6. HW: Complete the final copy of a job application

Tuesday: We completed paragraphs one and two of the cover letter. Mini-lesson on the use of hyphens. HW: Complete grammar workbook page 183 (all problems) Note: Read the directions at the top of the page!

Wednesday: Students turned in their completed, hand-written cover letter. We began a day of poetry by listening to the lyrics of music and creating a "Found Poem". HW: Grammar Workbook pages 175 and 184.

Thursday: Students completed their "Found Poems" and shared them in class.These were truly wonderful! We have many budding poets in eighth grade. We also reviewed the use of the colon. Use the directions at the top of the grammar workbook pages 175/176 and 183/184 as a study guide for tomorrow's quiz. HW: Complete grammar workbook page 176

Friday: Students will write examples of poetic devices in their Writer's Notebook. We will use pieces of art to draw inspiration. Students will practice poetry type questions(See handout) and take a grammar quiz. HW: Enjoy your spring break!

Week of March 23rd

Monday: Today students visited stations to view and evaluate resumes, cover letters, business letters, qualification briefs, and interview tips. They took notes at each station and we will add to the notes tomorrow. These notes , with reflections, will be turned in to me by Wednesday. HW: Bring in 2 copies of a blank job application from any business. (One will be a rough draft and the other a final copy). You can pick up an application at most businesses or print one from the Internet.

Tuesday: We watched a video on how to prepare a Qualifications Brief (this is a "resume" for young people without work experience). They took notes on their likes and dislikes to help determine who they are as people. We will take these notes tomorrow and create a rough draft of a Q Brief. HW: Complete the "likes and dislikes" chart, bring in 2 copies of a blank job application, and a blue or black pen.

Wednesday: (I had planned to teach students how to correctly fill out a job application today. Due to the availability of our computers, I had to reschedule the job applications until Friday. Thanks to all of you who went to all of the effort to have the blank applications here on time today! )

Create  a rough draft of your Qualification Brief. Use the sample Q-Brief and notes from class to complete the draft for homework.

Thursday: Students will type and print out their Qualification Brief. If it is not done in class, complete for homework. HW:Bring the two copies of a blank job application.

Friday: Correctly fill out the first copy of the job application (This is your rough draft as you will probably need corrections! Use the Writing and Grammar book as a reference to check punctuation and capitalization. HW: Find three personal references with contact information. Complete the second copy of the job application. Due Tuesday

The Simpson Shuffle Run/Walk and Health Fair  will be held on Friday, March 27, 4:30-6:30 PM.  Registration forms for the run/walk can be found at the front office and on the Simpson web site www.cobbk12.org/~simpson.   Proceeds will support the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life which raises funds to fight cancer.  Please join us!  Together we can make a difference.

Week of March 16th

Monday: Read "Thank-you, M'am" in the Literature book beginning on page 170. Answer questions 1-6 on page 177. No HW

Tuesday: Use context clues to determine the meaning on unknown words. Read the article "The Climb of a Lifetime". Choose 5 of the underlined words, write down the clues that help you to determine the meaning, guess the meaning of the word, and then look up the definition in the dictionary. No HW

Wednesday: Take notes on figurative language. Read the poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes. Answer the questions at the bottom of the poem. HW: Complete the Diagnostic Test on page 595 of the WAG textbook. This is a pre-test on punctuation; please write neatly and use a different color for the punctuation marks. Due on Friday!

Thursday: Benchmark testing on Reading. HW: Diagnostic Test

Friday:  Grade and turn in the Diagnostic Test on page 595 of the WAG. Make corrections to the Benchmark test and turn in.

Week of March 9th

Monday: Benchmark testing today. No Homework

Tuesday: Finish viewing "Charly" (based on "Flowers for Algernon") and turn in film notes. Finish writing the "Response to Literature" in the Reader's Notebook. Share HW: Complele the classwork

Wednesday: I collected the film notes today. Lesson on theme versus a topic. Students began working in groups to complete a worksheet on themes. This will be developed into a poster that the groups will use tomorrow to persuade the others that they have chosen the best theme. HW: Complete the worksheet (Go to my "Pages" section to download a copy of the worksheet)

Thursday: Students completed and presented their posters on the themes in "Flowers for Algernon". No HW

Friday: Students wrote a story on a topic of his or her choice. They were to include three of the words in their Classical Roots book, underlined.  Students traded stories and had to guess the meaning of the root word based on context clues. No HW

Week of March 2nd

Monday & Tuesday:

1. We began watching the film version of "Flowers for Algernon". Students are taking notes on how visual media communicates tone (character's attitude) and other visual techniques.

2.  Students turned in their graded Mountain Language #4

HW: I will check the Reading Log on Wednesday (Students should have read another 150 pages of outside reading this past 4 1/2 weeks.

Wednesday:

1. Students received their graded expository essays.  They are to chose one paragraph and rewrite it using the suggestions on the rubric. HW: Due tomorrow.

2. I checked Reading Logs today.

3. We continued watching the film

Thursday & Friday:View the film, take notes and discuss. Begin a Response to Literature; we will complete on Tuesday. HW: None