Lesson Plan for: October 30-Nov 1, 2011

English 7 /Mrs. Scales

Monday—

• Quick Write – What is a      sentence?
• Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound Complex Sentence structure Lesson / Foldable
• Acuity Study Day (Independent Assignment Completion) Complete Sentence / Sentence Combining 7.4.10 Revise Writing to improve organization and word choice after checking the logic of the ideas and the precision of the vocabulary. 7.6.10 Use simple, compound, and complex sentences, use effective coordination and subordination of ideas, including both main ideas and supporting ideas in single sentences, to express complete thought.

Homework – Sentence Structure (Due Tomorrow) & Any additional work you need to do to have your Scholastic Writing Award submission ready to turn in for a writing grade by the end of tomorrow’s writing workshop.

Tuesday—

• Quick Write – Write one example of each of the four types of sentences we covered yesterday.  (Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound Complex)

• Book Talks
• Writing Workshop – Completion of  Submissions for Scholastic Writing Awards 7.4.9 Edit and proofread one’s own writing, as well as that of others, using an editing checklist or set of rules, with
  specific examples of corrections of frequent errors

Homework – Greek Mythology Notes, each group must have notes completed to select their topic by the end of class tomorrow.

Wednesday—

• Quick Write – Using at least one example of each of the four types of sentences write a paragraph about which myth you are most interested in so far.
• Review Group and Individual Mythology Assignments (Rubrics)
• Research Requirements – Know the Myths
• All groups must have their notes finished and select the topic of their research by the end of class today.  Any group not selecting their topic by the end of class today will have a topic assigned to them.

Homework – More Sentence Structure (Due Tomorrow)

Thursday—

• Quick Write – Free Write (later you will be asked to identify the types of sentences you find in your quick write)

• Mythology Project Research/Work Day 7.2.7 Draw conclusions and make reasonable statements about a text, supporting the conclusions and statements with evidence from the
  text.

Friday—

• Quick Write – Review yesterday’s Free Write for types of sentences used.
• Mythology Project Production /Work Day

Lesson Plan for: October 24-28, 2011

English 7 /Mrs. Scales

Monday— No School (Fall Break)

Tuesday—

• Quick Write – What God or Goddess am I most like?
• Sharing
• Book Talks
• Olympians vs. Titans / Our First Myth.
• Taking Notes
• Meet with new groups and begin Mythology research.
• Homework – Pronouns

Wednesday— Book Store Field Trip

• Quick Write – Identify a contemporary hero and explain what makes that person a hero to you.
• Review & Grade Pronoun Homework
• Acuity Study Day (Independent Assignment Completion)
• Bring AR book to class.

Thursday—

• Reading Time – 10 Minutes      (Taking Notes)
• Root word – hydr, hydra, hydro / Corbin / Alex / Levi/ Kaleb
• Root word – morph / Zach / Zach / Regan/Taylor
• Myth lesson continuation.
• Homework:  Reading Comprehension

Friday—

• Reading Time – 10 Minutes (Taking Notes)
• Root word – helio / Clarrissa / Jeremy / Noel / Alyssa
• Writer’s Workshop
• 2^nd Grading
  Period Writing Expectations (Prewriting, Draft, Revision, Edit, Publish)
• 1 Expository Writing Assignment
• 2 Free Choice (Can be any form of writing you pick)
• Poetry (Must include a selection of at least 5 poems)
• Memoir
• Short Story
• Myth / Faire Tale / Fable
• News Article /  Journalism
• Letter (Friendly or Business)
• Book Review
• Essay

Congratulations to our four writers whose post-it comments were selected today in our celebration of a National Day on Writing.  There were so many creative and interesting post-its to judge from.  The board will be coming down at the end of school today, but thanks to everyone who so enthusiastically participated. It’s been a great National Day on Writing at Selma Middle School.

1. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster)
2. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
3. Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick (Simon & Schuster)
4. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (HarperCollins)
5. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (Harlequin)
6. Matched by Ally Condie (Penguin)
7. Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson (Little, Brown & Company)
8. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White (HarperCollins)
9. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (HarperCollins)
10. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (Penguin)

Lesson Plan for: October 17-21, 2011

English 7 /Mrs. Scales

Monday— SMS Book Club Meeting (Lunch)

• Quick Write – What do I want to do differently this grading period? Be ready to read and discuss your quick write.
• Root word – capit or capt / Mackenzie/ Angel / Sarah/Brandon
• Read Daily Blog – Expository Writing
• Introduction to Greek Mythology Unit – Why do we study Mythology?
• Group Project – Museum Exhibit
• Individual Project – Choices
• Rick Riordan Interview
• Taking  Notes
• Summarizing Notes
• Daily Reading Lab Requirements for Readers who earned less than 15 AR points
• Homework:  Reread the transcript of the interview with Rick Riordan and review the notes you took to make sure you have all the important information from the interview in your notes. Reading Strategies.

Tuesday—

• Quick Write – Which Greek or Roman God/Goddess am I most like?
• Sharing Quick Writes
• Root word –cognoac or gnosi /Taylor / Gracie / Cory / Audrey
• Read Daily Blog – Expository Writing
• Mrs. Scales will model Book Talk

Wednesday— Acuity Testing

SMS Wednesday Writing Club (3-5)

Thursday— Acuity Testing

A National Day on Writing

Friday—

• No
  School—Fall Break

It was a great day of review in English class today. Nathan L. did a great job identifying those similes and metaphors.  Don’t forget to review all of the different forms of craft we have studied this grading period, idioms, and puns.

Jacob D. and Cameron H. were the first two to ask me to buy fundraisers, so I know they are off to a great start.  Now the rest of you need to get out there and sell at least one item.
Let’s go 7th grade!

All I can say is, “great job,” to everyone who did so well on the Point of View Homework and their English binders today in class.

Today in class we studied idioms.  One of the students was having trouble figuring out the meaning for the idiom, “out of left field”.  When I explained that not a whole lot happens in left field on a ball diamond and so when something does it seems like it is coming from nowhere or that it isn’t related to the rest of the game, he looked at me and simply replied, “Oh, I do that a lot.”

We learned that idioms are expressions we use in everyday speech that have meanings that are most of the time not literal.  The words used in that particular phrase have an established meaning that would not translate to what the words themselves literally mean.

Two important factors that define an idiom:

1. Idioms mean more than just the sum of their individual words. They have a greater, non-literal meaning.
2. Idioms are fixed – they are said the same way each time.

We had a list of 100 common idioms and everyone was assigned one idiom from the list.  Then we completed The Daily Idiom.  There were really some good expressions of just how funny idioms could be if you took them literally.

We were reminded that our English Binders will be graded tomorrow and that anyone who had not received an 80% or higher on the root word test last week needed to take it again.  We also only have three days left to get all of our AR points for this grading period.

QW – What have I learned during the first grading period this year? Be ready to read and discuss your quick write.

Today we began class talking about the reflective process and how looking back and thinking about what we have learned will help us remember it and put it to work.  It was amazing how much we have learned this grading period.  Several students were able to list many things that they have learned.

We moved on to our lesson for the day.  Really, it was two lessons in one.  We learned about taking notes, while learning about Point of View.  The note taking was pretty cool but we had to take a lot of notes.  We were given a handout that was divided into three sections.  The first listed cue words or key ideas, the second large section was a place to take the notes and then the bottom section was to write a summary of the notes taken.  Mrs. Scales helped us out with all of the cue words for today’s notes and we reviewed and wrote the summaries together.

Point of View

Point of View is very important in writing and analyzing literature. You cannot truly understand a piece of writing until you can dissect it and know the point of view and why the author chose that style.

First Person Point of View

There are two points of view, first and third person, that are applicable to most literature. A story told from the first person point of view involves the
narrator as part of the story, and usually features the following pronouns: I, me, mine, our, we, us, etc.

*Advantage: The thoughts and feelings of the character telling the story can clearly be seen.

*Disadvantage: Since the story is told through one person’s eyes, it is difficult to know the feelings and emotions of other characters, unless they are stated in dialogue.

Third Person Point of View

Third person point of view is told by a narrator who is not part of the story and generally uses pronouns such as: he, she, it, they, them, him, her, its, etc. There are three type
of third person narration: objective, omniscient, and limited.

*Advantage – The writer can include different viewpoints and often seems to know everything about the characters, setting, and plot.

*Disadvantage – Your narrator cannot be one of the characters.

Third Person Objective

Third person objective point of view occurs when a story is told by a narrator who is not part of the story. In this type of story, the actions that occur are observable through the senses, just as the action is at a baseball game.

It might help you to relate the “b” in objective to the “b” in baseball. Remind them there are three strikes in baseball to help them with third person.

Third Person Omniscient

Remember that “omniscient” means all-knowing. If a person is all-knowing, he or she knows the thoughts and feelings of everybody. Third person omniscient occurs when a story is told by a narrator who is not part of the story but knows the thoughts and feelings of all the characters in the story. In other words, a third person omniscient narrator is inside the hearts and heads of the characters, exposing their thoughts and/or feelings.

Third Person Limited

Remember that third person limited is similar to the omniscient point of view, but it is a limited viewpoint. The narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of one character.

Second Person

Normally used for writing instructions such as recipes and instructions that come with things we buy.

We had lots of examples of each point of view, did an in class activity, and have homework for the rest of the week where we will practice  identifying  the point of view.  Also, every AR summary written from today on must include the point of view of the book.

Mrs. Scales pointed out that our homework for today, Monday 10/10’s homework included four pages.  The first two sheets (front and back) of the homework packet have to be completed as homework tonight. Two more students turned in homework from Friday that allowed them to get off the homework assignments: Congratulations Regan R. and Cassie B.

Today’s log written by Zach W.

Today, we did pretty much the same thing as we did Thursday.  Some people had already turned their homework in; so some of us did not have to grade papers.

The class went over what the different categories are for the Scholastic Writing Awards that we will be entering with writing from the next grading period.  You can do a short story, fantasy, memoir, poems, etc.  Mrs. Scales said that many of the essays we have been writing would fit nicely into the memoir category, and I agree.

We have two pages of homework this weekend and we have to do both “extends” on the bottom of each page. Still, five people have gotten the privilege of not having to do the daily homework.  More people will get there soon.

End of Zach’s log.

Late Breaking News Update:  Bradley C., Audrey S., and Isabelle W. have joined the elite group of students who have demonstrated their mastery over proofreading skills and do not have to do any more of the daily homework this grading period.

Today’s lesson was on Active verses Passive Voice.  It is basically pretty straight forward.  A sentence written in active voice has the subject acting out the verb such as in – The dog bit the boy.  Whereas, in a sentence written in passive voice the subject is no longer active, but instead being acted upon.  An example of a passive sentence is – Five hamburgers must have been eaten by the man.