October 31, 2007

Boy, do I love the day of Halloween! The students are so focused on their school work! HAHAHAHA! Anyway, I know they are kids, but it sure makes for a long day!

So I decided we would make a recording today. We recorded the 20 vocab words, imitating the version that can be downloaded from the vocab book site listed in the vocab books. Overall, the recordings went well. I will try to get them posted as soon as possible on my website. We will listen to them tomorrow. I will make two versions. One will work well with iTunes and iPods. That version will have artwork and album information for sorting in iTunes. The other will be a basic .mp3 that should work on any player.

There is no homework tonight for obvious reasons. Happy Halloween!

October 30, 2007

Homework:
Pictionaries and Synonyms unit 3
Be ready to read the word for the recording tomorrow

Today:
I gave the groups time to finish up preparing for tomorrow's reading. All of the scripts were to be completed and handed in. This way, no matter who is absent, the recording will go smoothly.

While the students were working, I called each student up to discuss his/her grade. I showed them the few remaining grades I entered and asked for any outstanding work. Most students left the class knowing what their first marking period grade will be. Soon enough, you will be able to log on and see these grades. I am closing the grade book for the first marking period because it is a good time to do it. There is a logical break between what we have been doing and the next unit we will study. I am planning the next unit, finishing up the grades, and then I will begin grading the essays. They take too long to even think of getting them into the first marking period.

If I don't say it later, the first marking period grade is based more on doing the work than achievement. What I mean by that is, if a student did all the assignments on time, his grade will (can) be good regardless of how well he did on the assignment. There were some graded assignments, don't get me wrong, but next marking period will reflect a student's abilities better. There will be more quizzes, two graded essays or more, and more classwork grades. I don't know why I feel I should tell you this, though. It's probably because I have taught long enough to know that the first marking period is the easiest. The second and third are the hardest.

October 29, 2007

Homework:
Pictionaries 1-10 Unit 3
Have your word script ready for tomorrow.

Thursday and Friday:
First, if your child did not tell you, I was out Thursday and Friday last week. That is why I did not blog either of those two days. During those two days, the students did two Word Powers from Reader's Digest. Basically, the words are challenging, and there are four answers. I challenged the students to try them on their own first. Then they were to look up the answers. They also read a letter by a man who could not seem to find a job. After reading his letter, why he could not find a job became obvious!

Today:
It was hard getting back into the swing of things. My plans were thrown off. So I did the best I could. We are going to try something new with the vocab. I want the students to make the audio recording that we listen to from the vocab website. Today we looked at sample scripts from some words in the last recording. I showed them what was needed. They then had time to work on their word. Tomorrow or Wednesday, we will make the recording. It's something different. This method makes the students more responsible for learning the words. I imagine this will get faster as the year goes on.

With the extra time, I began recording some essay readings. I was going to do that last week.

October 24, 2007

Homework:
Get grade slip signed.
Section 3 has their essays due Thursday


Today:
Buzzword
I checked the flashcards.
I handed out the grade slips.
We took the Unit 2 quiz.
I read my essay on adversity to the class.
In some classes, students started reading their essays. Most did not.
We will listen to students read tomorrow.

October 23, 2007

Wednesday is picture day for the school!

Homework:
Flashcards for unit 2 (sections 3,6,7) Word on front/definition and part of speech on the back
Good draft of the essay is due Wednesday (100 points!)
The students who were chosen to read should be ready.

Today:
Buzzword
Reviewed for the vocab quiz by discussing what part of speech each word is and how it is used.
We looked at examples of introductions and conclusions observing how they match each other. I told the classes that they should be able to read just the introduction and the conclusion together and it should sound like they belong together. They are bookends. However, the intro has a function, and the conclusion has one, too. But they still go together well.

*Section 3's essay is due on Thursday. Our review for the quiz ran over, and we did not get to discuss all the topics I had wanted to get to.

**You can expect to see a grade slip sent home tomorrow. It will need to be signed.

October 22, 2007

Homework:
Finish unit 2
I suggested making flashcards tonight
Essay due Wednesday

Today:
I have a few things I will be looking for on the essay due Wednesday.

We spent many days during the daily drills looking at commas with non-essential information. I told the students I would like to see two sentences highlighted in the essay that contain commas with non-essential information. That information makes the sentences more descriptive. We looked at two examples today. You can see them in the daily drill archive on the main page.

We also discussed six different hooks the students can use in their introductions. I call them handshakes. We reviewed six of the twelve we will eventually study. I would like the students to use one of these six for the essay. On the back page, I would like them to explain why they chose that technique. What was the intended effect on the reader? The techniques are Question, Quote, Amazing Fact or Statistic, Anecdote, Humor, and Bold and Challenging Statement.

I would also like the students to make sure their introductions match their conclusions. I will discuss that idea more Tuesday. Ideally, the essay has similar bookends. They resemble each other, but they do their specific job.

On Wednesday, five volunteers (or victims) will read their essays to the class.

October 19, 2007

I have to rush out. Have a nice weekend. :)

There is nothing due on Monday. The essay will probably be due on Thursday depending on what we discuss in class. There is a quiz on Wednesday next week.

October 18, 2007

Homework:
Completing the Sentence unit 2 (The context clues must be highlighted.)

Today:
We did not do a daily drill. We reviewed the Choosing the Right Word. Then I gave the students time to show me some make-up work . Unfortunately, many students did not take advantage of the fact that they could get late credit for their missing work. Oh well.

We finished one of the four lessons I want to cover before the essays are finally due. We examined a bad essay, a good essay, and an excellent essay. We looked at the introduction and conclusion and how they matched. You can read the essays for yourself if you would like. I made links from the assignment page on MrBoZ.com.

October 17, 2007

Homework:
Choosing the right word unit 2

Today:
Buzzword
Checked that students had their rough drafts.
Handed back vocab quiz, notebook quiz, and a grade slip.
I will accept make-up work in class tomorrow.
The slip does not need to be signed.

The good draft of the essay will not be due until we do the following:

1. Discuss three more types of introductions
2. Discuss how introductions match the conclusions
3. Read sample essays and discuss flow
4. Discuss how they can improve their sentences using extra information, like we have been doing in the daily drills.
5. Have someone else read the paper and offer suggestions.

If all of these are done quickly, the essay will be due then.

October 16, 2007

Homework:
Pictionaries 11-20 and synonyms unit 2
Rough draft of the essay is due tomorrow (for a grade)

Today:
No daily drill
We listened to words 11-20 and discussed
Took the Notebook quiz
I gave them time to work on their rough drafts

Honestly, I have this fear that students won't write the essays. I go through this all the time. Maybe it is because I am a writer, and I don't wait until the last minute. But today, I was not getting the feeling that students had started the essay. This is why the rough is due tomorrow. Over the next couple of days, I will discuss techniques they can use to improve their essays. We will read some samples. We will also discuss the introductions and conclusions. The final draft will probably be due Monday, unless I feel we need to cover a few things.

Expect a grade update tomorrow. I will not ask it to be signed, but I will be giving it to the kids.

October 15, 2007

Homework:
Pictionaries 1-10 Unit 2
Rough Draft of essay due Wednesday

Today:
We did NOT do a daily drill today or the quiz.
(We will have the notebook quiz tomorrow.)
Reviewed the week's schedule
Listened to words 1-10 and discussed
I explained the topic again and what I was working on personally
S.S.W. time so they could get some writing done

I explained that the rough draft should be good enough to read. It should have and intro, body, and a conclusion. I plan to discuss how I will be scoring the essay this week. We will cover a few more ideas introductions, and I will explain how the conclusion is supposed to work.

I am shooting for Friday for a good draft, but I think Monday will be more realistic. I would like to look at a few more example essays sometime this week.

October 11, 2007

Homework:
None, but they can work on their essay.
There is a notebook quiz on Monday.

Today:
Since it was a half-day, I just gave the S.S.W. time to work on their essays. The spirit was moving me, so I needed to write. I have a conclusion and an idea of how I want my paper to sound, but I need to write the essay that matches the conclusion. There are so many ways to write a paper. I spent the first few minutes of each class explaining what I was thinking about and how I was trying to craft my paper.

October 10, 2007

Homework:
None really.
They could start thinking about their next essay.

Today:
Buzzword
Quiz on Unit 1
Finished the discussion of a sample essay for the next topic
Discussed the prompt for the next topic

I spent time diagramming the song and the sample essay because I want the students to see how an essay is organized overall. I tried to not use the typical five-paragraph outline. I moved the body paragraphs above the conclusion and had the thesis near the conclusion. I want to show the students that the intro should match the conclusion. I also want them to see that the conclusion should contain a little bit of each of the body paragraphs. I am trying something different this year.

October 9, 2007

Homework:
Sections 3,6,7 should make flashcards
Quiz Unit 1 Wednesday

Today:
DOL
Reviewed vocab
Discussed the diagrams for "Work It Out"
Began to diagram an essay.

Right now, we are beginning to think about how to organize ideas for the next essay. Here are some things I want the students to start thinking about:

What do we do when we are faced with adversity? What do I do? What do people do in general?

Think of a time in your life when you were faced with adversity (a tough challenge). What thoughts went through your head when you realized you had to overcome the problem? Who did you turn to? What plan did you come up with to be successful?

We then discussed what the characters did in the song. The essay we are reading discusses what people do in general.

I hope to teach students how to reflect on the topic a little more than just when they have faced a challenge.

October 8, 2007

(I forgot to blog Monday. Sorry.)

Homework:
Finish unit 1

Today:
Buzzword
Discussed the week's schedule
Began our next writing prompt
We watched the video "Work This Out" from High School Musical 2 and studied the lyrics
My goal is to have students diagram their next essay so that it has a clear progression of ideas.

October 5, 2007

Homework:
None

Today:
DOL- Reviewed apostrophes from yesterday's drill
Reviewed the Completing the Sentence
Began Photography Friday

Here is a little explanation of Photography Friday.
If you haven't noticed on my web pages, I do photography as a hobby. I do more than just take pictures. I believe photography is an art. Today, we discussed how pictures can do three things: they can document, they can be artistic in their expression, and they can do both. We looked at the pictures from MSNBC's "This Week in Pictures" found in the multimedia section of their page. Accept for the one graphic picture (which gives ample warning not to look), we went through each one discussing what type of picture it was. Some pictures merely captured a moment in time for posterity. Others did the same thing but with a creative touch. Some pictures were just beautiful.

I use these discussion to develop high-order thinking skills. In the future, the students will get better at explaining why they chose one picture over another as their favorite. It's like art appreciation. When you know what to look for, you are better at making critical judgments.

I also plan to teach the students essay appreciation, how to be critical of their writing and the writing of others.

October 4, 2007

Homework:
Finish Completing the Sentence Unit 1

Today:
Buzzword
Reviewed the Choosing the Right Word
Discussed using context clues to determine the answer for Completing the Sentence
Took an online apostrophe quiz (Try it yourself!)

I have updated the daily drill archive file. I now have the answers included. This way, if a student is absent, he can try to make the corrections himself and then check his answers. Or, realistically, a student who is absent just copies the correct answer into his notebook. Either way, he will be ready for the notebook quiz! :)

I am going to have a notebook quiz on October 15.

October 3, 2007

Homework:
Finish choosing the right word

Today:
DOL
Reviewed the synonyms and pictionaries
Discussed how to use context clues in choosing the right word in vocab

I am spending extra time this week getting the students acquainted with my expectations for the vocabulary book. In the future, the students will be responsible for doing the work at home, and we will check the answers in class.

October 2, 2007

Homework:
Pictionaries 11-20 and synonyms unit 1
Get grade slip signed if not done already.

Today:
Buzzword
We reviewed the next 10 vocab words in unit 1.
We guessed at some pictionaries on the board.
In most classes, we spent time exploring phonetic spelling. We looked at the pronunciation key on page 6 of the vocab book. In some classes, we tried to spell our own names using the key. I wanted to show students how to use the pronunciation listed below the vocab word in the book.

October 1, 2007

Homework:
Get grade slip signed if not done already.
Pictionaries 1-10 unit 1

Today:
DOL
Collected signed grade slips
Vocab books were handed out
Listened to words 1-10 Unit 1
I showed the students what pictionaries should be
Gave students time to work in class