What's happening in class?

In language arts, students did an excellent job of polishing their character sketches. They will be giving their essay gifts soon! (I will be posting 4 example essays this weekend. Check back and check them out!)

On Monday, November 12th, students will be taking a quiz on VERBS. (linking, action, helping, and irregular)

They will also begin work on Wordskills Unit 6. The book + quiz will be due on Friday, November 16th.

Later in the week, students will begin their 3rd major essay of the year, a persuasive essay. After discussion of several suggested topics, and the sharing of some previous model student persuasive essays, students will select a topic from a provided list, or come up with one on their own. ***This will be an opinion based paper, not one requiring research. We will do the majority of writing in class, and editing and revising will be done at home.

***Check back at the beginning of the week, when I will post the suggested topic list for persuasive essays in case anyone wants to get a jump start on selecting a topic.

There is a lot going on in reading! On Monday, November 12th, students will be turning in their 1st ISAT extended response. We worked on the new 2007-2008 format in class on Thursday, and students did very well organizing their rough drafts. I'm looking forward to seeing the final results!

Also on Monday, students will receive their culminating assignment for The Outsiders. They will be writing a detailed paragraph, comparing and contrasing themselves to one of the characters from The Outsiders, using examples from the book and their own personal experiences as support.

AND.......we will then be watching the 1981 movie, The Outsiders!! Though this is close to my 70th time watching the movie, I still enjoy it. AND.....I have to admit, I still have a crush on Soda Pop, played by Rob Lowe. :)