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-MrBoZ

Section 1 Parents- If you send in $6, I will buy copies of Night.

Section 1 parents, I had sent home a letter asking that students buy the book Night. 
(I pasted the letter below.)

Students said they are having trouble finding the book.  They also said it would be cheaper if they could just buy the book from me because of shipping.

If you send in $6, I will order the books using my Amazon Prime.  The shipping will be free, and the cost is only $6.  

I will order the books Monday, April 18.

I would prefer cash, but if you send a check, please make it out to me, NOT the school.

-MrBoZ

April 8, 2016

Dear Parents of Section 1 students,

            Each year in 8^th Grade, we read the book Night by Elie Wiesel.  It is a powerful book about his experiences in the Nazi concentration camps. Along with reading the play The Diary of Anne Frank and watching the BBC’s production of the diary, Night provides first person insight into the struggles of Jews during World War II.  In this memoir, Wiesel recounts his struggles to not only stay alive but to hold onto his faith- in himself, his religion, and in humanity. The imagery he paints throughout leaves lasting impressions for the reader.  This book is his legacy, his contribution to this world, and we read it so that we never forget what happened nor allow it to happen again.

            The school has purchased class sets of the book, but I am asking that my students purchase their own book for two reasons.  The first reason is I think each student should have a copy of this book in his/her personal library.  It is a book that should be read many times as one gets older.  As we gain experience with life, the lessons in the book will become more relevant. 

            The other reason I would like students to purchase the book is so they can mark them up.  Reading literature for a class is an interactive process, one students will be doing frequently when they take AP classes in high school or literature classes in college.  I teach students how to actively read a text for a purpose.  Whether it is to explore themes, identify figurative language, or note personal reactions, marking the text creates ownership of the book.  The marked book then becomes their guide as the book is scanned for citations for an essay or read again for more depth.

            I am sure the books can be bought cheaply at Barnes and Nobles in the mall or at any major book retailer for around $6.  They can also be purchased online.  If you cannot afford one, your student is welcome to use the school’s copy; however, your student will have to take notes on paper.

            If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.  If you have never read the book yourself, please buy yourself a copy and follow along with our lessons.  It is a powerful book, and it would be great if you could share your experiences reading the book with the class as well.

Bradford Bosler

Have you checked your ELA HAC grades lately?

I entered the extra credit you earned from taking notes during the abolitionists presentations.
(Mrs. Jamison has a few make-up assignments she needs to add.)

The grades for 3rd marking period are winding down!  We have done a lot of hard work this marking period.  Don't blow it now.

The big grades are done.  We will wrap up the marking period with smaller completion grades and a small quiz or two.

If you have questions, please ask me what you can do to improve your grade.

-MrBoZ

GRADES ARE UPDATED ON HAC (They are not good!)

I suggest students take the extra day off to work on their Google Classroom assignments! 

If students need the online book, it is here.  Use your lunch ID for user/password.

Students should have written the following: 

• Sheet 01 Frederick Douglas- do all but I will score question #3
• Sheet 02 Frederick Douglas- do all but I will score question #3
• Sheet 03 Frederick Douglas- do all but I will score question #1
• Sheet 04 My Friend Douglass- SECTION 1 ONLY

Over the past weeks, we have been focusing on how to write a properly constructed response.  Students were expected to use the rubric below to structure their response to a question.  Not only does the response need the proper format; ultimately, the response should demonstrate that the student fully understood the section they were to discuss.

Mrs. Jamison and I have spent HOURS scoring and making suggestions on these.  We fully expect students to revise IF THEY SCORED 70% OR BELOW.

Too many students have not even written the response! 
(I feel like I have been leading horses to water.)

1.     First line indent and all other lines at left margin-  

2.     Restate prompt correctly- State your claim (What you will prove)

3.     Example One cite relevant evidence -

4.     Clarify example one with sentences relevant to evidence and claim-

5.     Example Two cite relevant evidence -

6.     Clarify example two with sentences relevant to evidence and claim-

7.     Conclusion sentence which restates what you proved.-

8.     Grammar- All sentences cap/end punctuation-

SECTION 1: Revisions on Constructed Repsonses

SECTION 1
At this point, I have scored the four sheets you were to have done.  Please go onto Google Classroom and review your scores.  IF you have a 70% or below, you may rewrite.  I have put lots of feedback on sheets 1, 2, and 3.  Sheet 4 looked good... for those who did it!

If you want me to regrade your paragraph, please type REVISED in the Private Comments part of each assignment. (See picture below.)

We are now using Google Classroom in Mr. Bosler's ELA classes!

It's been a while since I have posted to my blog.  The main reasons is everything you would need to know is on www.mrboz.com under Today in Class.

I want to use this post to briefly explain the basics of Google Classroom.  The students at H.B. have been given Schoology and Google accounts.  Google Classroom is the portal for students to complete their independent work in my class. (FYI- gmail is not turned on by default.)

When students logon, they see a screens like these below.  They can see the work that is due as well as the due date.  They can also see the scores they recieved from the teacher and icons to show that the teacher has made comments.

 But Google Classroom is more than just an electronic book for collecting work and grading.  In the last picture, you see what I see, which is who is done.  Google is the BEST platform for collaboration. At any time, I can pop in on students to see how their work is going.  I can make suggestions.  I can provide comments.  I can even turn a paper back for them to fix and resubmit!  Google provides a way for me to give one-on-one feedback on their writing, not just when I grade it, but as they write.

I am learning how to do this ON MY OWN.  I have had training on Schoology, by I prefer Google. There will be many MORE adjustments as we go.

HOWEVER, the dates on the assignments should be enough time for students who sit down and really do their work.  If students want more time, they should work on this at home.  Each student has an online book at https://my.hrw.com/  Their username and password are their lunch numbers... roughly.

If you have questions, please e-mail me.  My school Google email is bradford.bosler   @  redclayschools.com (broken up because this is public).

Grades are submitted. We are finished with the horror genre.

All Sections
On Tuesday, we will start our next unit on slavery and the Civil War.  My goal for today is to organize the resources students will need for their oral presentation due February 8th. 

Section 1
I entered your score for the oral reading.  The highest score a student received from the class was a 95%, so I averaged what the class gave you and added five points. Hopefully you can see the third marking period grades.  If not, the score will be there Tuesday.

I totaled up the points for the two readings. Group 2 won with 5606 points with Group 1 scoring 5550 points.

See yesterday's blog entry to view the recordings.

Sections 2 and 3
There are some 3rd marking period grades on HAC.  I assume you can see them.  If not, they will be there Tuesday.

Section 1 Recordings: The Outsider

Because we had extra time in section 1, we studied the short story The Outsider by H.P. Lovecraft.  It is a strange story whose message is unclear throughout.  After the students mapped the basic story, I assigned students sections of the story.  They were to become experts on their section by drawing a picture and reading their section aloud to us.  Below are the recordings we made.  Enjoy!

Group 1 Recording of The Outsider

Group 2 Recording of The Outsider