I found this especially funny since I just finished our January lesson on diagraming sentences.

These are the students who should really be recognized as Vocabulary Stars for this whole semester. We had some fantastic results on the vocabulary portion of the semester exam.

Way to go:

Seth A.     Katie M.     Alyssa S.      Caitlan H.     Breanna G.   Lexi W.     Tylor B.     Darienne S.

Savannah H.     Alyvia S.    Camryn C.     Parker C.     Megan B.     Lexi H.     Josh H.     Emma S.     Brylie F.

Kacie H.     Sydney C.     Alexis M.     Jackson B.     Lauren H.     Owen S.    Rileigh M.  Jacey F.    Kaylee F.

Abby V.    Skylar W.

There were many other students to score in the top 70% for the test. I have only recognized the top 28 students.

Today and tomorrow we take the reading and writing portion of the semester exam. Final semester exam grades will be put into powerschool as soon as all tests are graded.

Have a great Christmas break, read, read, read, and come back ready for our second semester together.

After finishing one of the books brought back from NCTE & ALAN this year, Mrs. Scales had to recommend it to everyone else to read. So she used her poster to demonstrate how everyone can start of the second semester with some extra credit points. By finishing the book you have been reading for independent reading (either the one she brought back for you, or any other book you enjoy reading) and making a poster for the Book Club bulletin board recommending the book to other students, you can earn up to 25 points. Posters are due the day we return from Christmas break.

We were also introduced to the Goodreads web site and the annual challenge. Any student who joins Goodreads and sets up a personal book challenge for 2017 will earn 10 extra credit points when we come back from break and more as they keep reading throughout the year.  Mrs. Scales explained how the challenge had helped her keep track of the books she has read and find new books she wants to read. The first year she did the challenge was 2015 and she challenged herself to read 25 books. She read 49. This year she upped her number to 35 books and she has already read 52. Everyone was encouraged to set a challenge that was realistic for them, but also pushed them to read more than they normally do.

You can set up a Goodreads account and join Mrs. Scales’ English 9 group.

Mrs. Scales English 9
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English 9 Independent Reading Group Dear Students, This second semester, independent reading wi…

Books we’ve read

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We finished reviewing the short story “A Christmas Memory” and read a poem “My Father Is a Simple Man” by Luis Omar Salinas. It is a free-verse poem and a tribute to the speaker’s father. Both the short story and the poem are written in first-person narration, and they both pay tribute to an older person who has played an important role in the speaker’s life. In both works the younger person has more formal education than his elder but appreciates the wisdom of his relative.

Take the first 7 minutes of class today to write about a personal Christmas memory.  Remember this is an English Language Class, so your response should be well written. Write your memory as a comment to this post. Be descriptive and use sensory detail to help us feel the setting of your memory.

Today’s challenge was a Kahoot featuring Lesson 12 words and definitions. Great job to our winners in each period. Tomorrow’s challenge will be a game of SPARKLE to practice spelling of Lesson 12 words. Tomorrow will be the last challenge focused only on the Lesson 12 words. Friday, Monday and Tuesday we will do challenges including all of the vocabulary words from Lesson 1 through Lesson 12.

Students continued reading Truman Capote’s short story about friendship, “A Christmas Memory.” Tomorrow’s Quick Write comes from that story, which will also be featured on next week’s Semester Exam.

Today we began looking at setting and its effect on mood and tone while ready the Truman Capote short story, “A Christmas Memory.”

We reviewed the use of active reading strategies to keep our minds from wondering off while we are reading.

Today marked the start of the two week countdown to the end of the first semester of Eng. 9

NWEA results reports were handed out to student. We did a review lesson on how to read the bar graph results. The four squares breaking down the test results was also discussed. The highest representing high achievement and high growth. Some students who aren’t yet in the high achievement area, may still have shown high growth, which is also very good. Below the 50 percentile range is the area for high achievement and low growth and for low achievement and low growth. Because every student has spent the last semester in class everyone should have seen some growth. Those students who did not show growth are not demonstrating that they have made any progress for the first half of their freshman year.  This is concerning and we discussed in each class period what needs to be done to show growth. Students were instructed to take the report home to review with their parents.

The Lesson 12 vocabulary list and study guide was passed out.

The remainder of the class time was used to preview the upcoming semester exam. Students were reminded that the semester exam will be worth 10 percent of their semester grade and 50 percent of the exam will be over the 12 vocabulary lessons we have done this semester. Two crossword puzzles were also passed out to use as study guides for the vocabulary.

It was also explained that a daily challenge will be held each day during each period. The daily challenge winner can choose from candy hanging on the class room Christmas tree or one of the numbered grab bags on the front board. For our first daily challenge on Tuesday, December 6th, follow these directions:

1. Pick up colored note card from the front table on your way into class.
2. Without looking at your list, correctly spell the vocabulary word that means a maze from which it is very hard to extricate oneself.
3. Underneath the word, write what the word extricate means.
4. Set at your desk quietly with the card until the cards are asked for.

Most students finished their NWEA Eng. 9 testing today. Unfortunately, due to those few who didn’t because of absents or not following directions and waisting test session time, I will not have your complete results until Monday. That means that we won’t know which class period won the Pizza King pizza party until next week.

Everyone else had more independent reading time in class. I am being told that several people are “getting called,” and just how great some of the books are. It is really exciting for me that so many of you want to share what is going on in your book. Keep reading!

Everyone was also reminded to study the Lesson 11 words for tomorrow’s vocabulary quiz. Here’s a hint for everyone reading the blog (since everyone is required to do so daily) that will be a big help on that quiz.

Lesson 11 words can be divided nicely into four groups. The two largest groups are the five words that all mean harmful in some way, and the six words that all mean mean in some way. Look at the handy study aid below: