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The next couple weeks will be extremely busy!  We will be finishing our novel unit and reviewing for our benchmark/9 weeks exams that will take place the following week.  The following are important due dates:

Your child will have a 1. Vocabulary Quiz this Wednesday (December 8^th) on vocabulary terms from the Pigman book on chapters 10-15. They have their packet which has terms and definitions with which they can study from. 2. Also, your child will also have their “Pigman” book test, this Thursday (December 9^th) as well as their entire packets will be do the same day. We have been working on these in class together since the beginning of the 9 weeks so they should already be complete through chapter 12 or so. 3. Finally, don’t forget that their book report (on their individual novels, not the Pigman book) is due this Friday (December 10^th).

Benchmark Test for ELA is Monday, 12/13.

A final note, the last day for the semester is Friday, 12/17.  All grades will be turned in and no late work will be accepted.  Our Christmas/Holiday break begins

Monday, 12/20 and will run through Mon., 12/3 - students will return Tues., 12/4.

Happy a Safe & Blessed Holiday!

Hopefully all of you are receiving this message! Schoolnotes has seemed to be a little unreliable as of late.  Here are some updates for Language Arts:

We have begun Unit 4.  Unit 4 is a Novel Study and Response to Literature.  My 1st, 5th, and 6th period classes are reading The Pigman by Paul Zindel.  We will be reading this in class.  The students are responsible for completing journals, vocabulary activities, and questions, as we move through the chapters.  If they are absent, it is their responsibility to catch up on missed assignments.  They may check a book out to catch up.  We will have periodic quizzes and a Unit test.    Most work for the novel should be able to be completed in class.  However, the students are responsible for taking it home if they don't finish in class. 

The students recently finished writing a persuasive essay.  We worked on this step-by-step in class.  This will count as a test grade.  Grading them is a tedious processs.  While I have not finished grading them yet, you can check to see if your child has turned his/hers in by looking to see if they have a grade for "Rough Draft (Packet) - Persuasive Essay," as I have entered a grade for their rough drafts.  If you see a "0," please encourage your child to turn this in as soon as possible.  I had SEVERAL students not turn in this assignment that we worked for 5 days on in class.

The students have checked out novels from the media center.  They should be reading  indepently and are working on a flip book to report on their novel.  The book report is due on Friday, December 10.

Important Dates:  Thanksgiving Holidays  11/22/10 through 11/26/10

 HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED HOLIDAY? 

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Week of 10/18/10:  Ad Campaign presentations due Monday, 10/18/10.  We will begin learning how to write persuasion pieces. 

  Homework: Students will re-tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood from the point of view of one of the following characters: grandmother, wolf, woodcutter.  Due Wed., 10-20-10.

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Week of 10/11/10:  No school Monday

We will start our Persuasion unit this week.  Propaganda Techniques, media, advertisement will be the focus of discussion. Students will work in groups (in classroom) as they create a mini ad campaign.  Presentations are due on Mon., 10/18.

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Week of 10/04/10:  Benchmark Schedule: 

Science Wed., 10-6          ELA/GA Studies, THur., 10-7           Math  Fri., 10-8

  Reminder:  No School on Monday, 10/11

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NOTICE:  STUDENTS WERE GIVEN CHARACTER ANALYSIS PROJECT BACK WITH GRADING RUBRIC ATTACHED.  IF THEY CHOOSE, THEY MAY RE-WRITE THE AREAS THAT THEY RECEIVED A LOW SCORE IN AND TURN IT BACK IN ON MONDAY, 10/4/10,  FOR A REPLACEMENT GRADE.  THE ORIGINAL RUBRIC MUST BE ATTACHED. 

Week of 9/27/10:   Students will continue to work on their autobiography.  We will continue to work on Daily Grammar Practice and out of the Grammar Workbook on a daily basis.  Students will take their ELA Benchmark exam next week, on Thur., Oct 7.

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Week of 9/20/10:  This week will be a very important week of instruction.  We will dive deep into the world of writing. We will concentrate on Expository writing.  Students will go throught each step of the writing process as they create an autobiography. 

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Week of 9/13/10:  We are starting a new unit which will cover, Non-Fiction, Research, Technical and Expository Writing.  Students will receive a handout on types of non-fiction that they will fill out as we go through a non-fiction power point presentation.  A quiz will be given over the types of non-fiction on    Friday, 9/17/10.  We will read several short selections of non-fiction works from our textbook:  A Book of Rock Stars, Teen Curfew, The Question of Popularity, The Gettysburg Address, I Have a Dream and Huge, and Freed Pet Pythons Invade Florida Evergreens.  Students will create an Event Poster

 ** Do not forget Early Release on Thursday, 9/16.

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Week of 9/7/10:  I hope you had a great and restful Labor Day.  We will wrap up our Short story unit.  The unit exam is on Wed., 9/8.  Students have been given a study guide.  Projects are due on Fri., 9/10 (information below).   Progress reports will go out on Wed., 9/8.  If you have any questions or concerns about your child's grade, please feel free to contact me.

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Week of 8/26/10:  Students will finish reading "The Tell Tale Heart."  We will read the "The Monkey's Paw."  A Unit Project will be assigned and due on Friday, 9/10. Unit Project:  Character Analysis - Step 1:  Writing portion- Students will choose a character from the 3 short stories that we have read as a class and physically describe them, explain their actions & thoughts, how they interract with the other characters and what the other characters think about them.  Direct quotes from the author and information from the text should be used to support their information.  Step 2:  Students will be given a template to use for their character. They should color, decorate and create a model of what they believe their character looks like - some type of texture should be used (example:  yarn for hair).  Students have been given a grading rubric with instructions.  Unit exam of Genres, Literary Elements & SHort Stories will be on Wed., 9/8.  Students have been given a study guide. Do not forget that Monday is a holiday!  :)

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Week of 8/23/10:   This week we will continue learning about Writing Traits. We will finish "A Reformed Reformation."  Students will write a denoument for the story. We will start reading "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe.  There will be a focus on literary term, especially tone and mood. We will continue to work on our daily grammar practice and journal entries on a daily basis. 

******************************************************************Week of 8/16/10:  This week we will learn about Genre, Literary Terminoloy, Short Stories and Writing Traits.  There will be  a vast amount of information given to the students.  It would probably be a good idea for them to look over their notes nightly.  The students will be given a genre power point handout on Monday and will have a genre quiz on Wed., 8/19. We will start reading the short story "A Retrieved Reformation."  Introductions to the different writing traits will be made, starting with ideas and organization.    We will also work on daily grammar practice (DGP) and journal entries on a daily basis.

   As you can see, we will be very busy this week.  In fact, our new students may be feeling a little overwhelmed as they get used to the fast pace of 8th grade!  Please help reassure them that if they study a little each night and keep up and do their classwork, homework and bring their supplies to class they will be fine.  They will eventually fall into a routine.  Getting plenty of rest at night might help as well. 

   Have a great week.  As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.  M. Hughes

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 Welcome to an exciting year in Language Arts!  Writing, Grammar and Literature will be combined into 75 minute classes.  Students will need to come prepared with supplies each day and ready to learn. 

 Week of 8-9-10:  We will focus on learning routines, procedures, and expectations of the classroom and school. Students will be given a Pre-test (not graded). "Power words" (words they will see throughout the year, as well as on the CRCT) will be taught and a quiz (graded) will be given on Friday, 8-13-10.  Flashcards have been provided on the bottom of this page to help your child study. 

Students will also start writing in their journals on different topics.  The goal here is to getting them used writing everyday.  8th grade students are required to take a state writing exam in January.

Please continue to check SchoolNotes for announcements, information about projects, etc.  If you ever have a question, please do not hesitate to ask.  Have a great week.