Finals are done and the school year has come to an end. We finished today with our annual Awards Day.

The 2010 7th Grade Student of the Year Katelyn B.

The 2010 7th Grade Author of the Year Drew S.

Brooklyn L. has been awarded 1st Place in the 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest.

The Indiana Association of School Principals in partnership with The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is proud to recognize Brooklyn L. as this year’s winner of the Junior Division. Brooklyn will receive passes to the Children’s Museum for her and her family, a letter, certificate and a $500.00 cash prize.

Way to go Brooklyn!

The teams for our Movie Maker project have been posted. Everyone will be working on a specific section of the movie for our digital yearbook. The teams have members in all four different class periods and have to work individually and collaboratively to complete their portion of the project on time. There are two forms of communication between teams:

Poster Sticky Notes on the front board in the classroom

Moodle Forums

Both must be updated at the end of each class period each day so that the team leader can coordinate efforts.

Wow, we have nine more 7th graders to honor for their writing efforts this year.
Katelyn, Tessa, Keeley, Bradley, Zayne, Brandon N., Mea, Taylor and Hunter have each had a poem selected for publication in A Celebration of Poets by Creative Communications. Their work will be published in the upcoming anthology and are still eligible to be selected as one of the Top Ten poems and awards of more than $2000.00 in prizes. Congratulations!

Today was a writing workshop for everyone, as the second writing assignment for the grading period is due tomorrow at the beginning of class. Mrs. Scales conferenced with writers and everyone was reminded to have the correct color-coded checklist signed by parents.

Today we finished recording all of our final oral project clips. Everyone had a chance in the recording studio. Anyone who was not ready or absent from school needs to see Mrs. Scales about coming in before or after school to make up their recording time.

Tomorrow is a writing workshop day. Wednesday is the final due date for our second writing assignment for this, our last, grading period.

Congratulations! Michaela was selected as one of the 25 very talented Runners Up Winners of TAB Book Club’s “The Techno-Future is Mine!” Writing Contest!

Michaela will receive a new HP Laptop Computer. Way to go Michaela.

Today we took the test over The Little Prince. The whole test was just filling out an 8th grade AR Summary. The difference between the 8th grade AR Summary and the 7th grade AR Summary is that the you have to identify the specific elements of the plot, not just summarize the plot. We had already talked about the conflict, climax, themes and resoultion during class discussion. We had also done a packet in class last Friday that covered all of the information asked for on the test.

Mrs. Scales reminded us that with our returned summary we can take the AR test over The Little Prince. The AR test is a reading comprehension test and worth 2 AR points. We talked a little about the difference between a reading comprehension test in which you have to know what happened in the story and the kind of literary element identification test that we just took.

Anyone who did not score a 40 or higher on the test can turn in the completed packet with a corrected AR Summary to recieve some of the points they lost on the test.

After the test, we went back to the K-W-L charts we began last week in our packets. The K colum had already been completed. Today we brainstormed ideas for the W colum, what we want to know about operas. Several questions were explored, including:

Do they sing everything?
Why and/or how do they sing so loud?
What is the difference between a musical and an opera?

Finally, Mrs. Scales asked who had ever been to an opera before. Only one person in the 7th grade said they had ever been to an opera. So then we began watching our first opera together.

Hey guys, I will miss all of you today. I just wanted to let you know that I have most of the writing turned in yesterday graded and I am very excited about how well many of you have done. You really took our conferencing suggestions to heart and made some great revisions to your earlier work. I can’t wait to ger your work returned to you so that we can talk further about some of your stories. We definately have some creative writers amongst us. Way to go.

Don’t forget movie on Monday and Tuesday then on to our final project. Wow, I just can’t believe that my year with the greatest students in the world is almost over. What about you?

See you all on Monday. – Don’t forget to keep going and read yesterday’s blog to help you with the worksheet packet you are doing today.

Mrs. Scales

After two days of ISTEP testing we are back up and running with regular Language Arts classes.

There were several cool articles on TweenTribune to read and do our QW today about. We were reminded to make our posts, well-written responses.

Mrs. Scales had the specific requirements and scoring information about our Oral Presentation part of the final semester exam for us today. She gave everyone a handout that explained that as a part of our second semester exam for 7th grade Language Arts we have chosen or been assigned a topic that has been covered sometime this school year. Our score on these oral presentations will count as 20% of our final semester exam for this year. We were asked to please follow the instructions for this assignment very carefully to insure we receive the highest possible score.

Begin your presentations by introducing yourself and your topic. (10 points)
Give a little bit of information about how this topic was presented throughout the year in English class and how you will use it in the future. (20 points)
Define your topic – (20 points) – For a Book Talk this would mean telling the genre of the book and any distinguishing literary elements that are used in the book.
Give examples – (20 points)

You will also be scored on the following elements of your presentation:

Time – not less than 2 ½ minutes and not longer than 3 ½ minutes (5 points)
Eye contact and presentations (25 points)

After Mrs. Scales doing a couple of sample oral presentations we moved on to our review of The Little Prince. The focus for today’s review was all about elements of the plot, specifically rising action, Climax, and falling action and the rest of the characters.

RISING ACTION • After he believes he has been spurned by his rose, the prince travels to neighboring planets and eventually lands on Earth. He wanders through the desert in search of humans, and he is eventually found by the fox. All of our classes agreed that leaving his planet and his experiences meeting the characters on his travels make up the rising action.
CLIMAX • The fox teaches the little prince his secret, and the little prince realizes the value of his rose. This is when the little prince decides that he wants to go back to his own home planet. The climax of the plot occurs when the Little Prince decides to return to his planet and care for his special flower. He has learned from the fox that the important things in life cannot be seen with the eye, only felt with the heart. This lesson eventually makes the Little Prince realize that the flower from which he has fled is really very special. After meeting the narrator and explaining all that he has learned since he left his planet, the Prince accepts that he really loves the flower because she is his responsibility, and he has invested time and trouble in her survival. As a result, he decides that he must go back to his star to take care of his special rose.
FALLING ACTION • The prince meets the narrator, to whom he passes along the fox’s instructions. He is then sent back to the heavens by the snake’s bite. – This part was a little confusing for some of us, because the book begins with the little prince meeting the narrator. Then we remembered that when he meets the narrator he then begins to tell him about all of the things that have already happen to him. That made the order of the book a little easier to understand.

The list of characters we reviewed was lengthy and included:

The fox
The Little Prince meets the fox in the desert. The fox is a wise creature, which teaches the Prince about the essence of life. After they become friends, the fox asks the Little Prince to ‘tame him, which is what the latter does. Although the fox asks the little prince to tame him, the fox is in some ways the more knowledgeable of the two characters, and he helps steer the prince toward what is important in life. In the secret the fox tells the little prince before they say their good-byes, the fox sums up three important lessons: only the heart can see correctly; the prince’s time away from his planet has made him appreciate his rose more; and love entails responsibility.
The King
The king is the sole inhabitant of asteroid 325, which the Little Prince visits after leaving his own planet. He is the first person the little prince meets. The king insists upon his authority being respected and does not tolerate disobedience; however, since he is a very good man, he makes his orders reasonable. Just before the Prince leaves the king’s planet, the latter makes the former an ambassador.
The Conceited Man
He is the inhabitant of asteroid 326. Totally conceited, he insists that everyone else admire him. He does not listen to anything but praise and expects the Little Prince to praise and admire him. The sole resident of the second planet the little prince visits. The vain man is lonely and craves admiration from all who pass by. However, only by being alone is he assured of being the richest and best-looking man on his planet. Mrs. Scales used a very funny example to help explain this. She said that if she were the only female in the United States, she could probably win the Miss America contest. Most of us laughed at that idea.
The Tippler
The tippler lives on asteroid 327. When the Prince asks him what he is doing, the tippler replies that he is drinking to forget that he is ashamed of drinking. The third person the little prince encounters after leaving home is a drunkard, who spends his days and nights lost in a stupor. The drunkard is a sad figure, but he is also foolish because he drinks to forget that he is ashamed of drinking. Again, Mrs. Scales added her example to help us understand the foolishness of the tippler’s actions. She told us that she is on weight watchers and has to count how many points she has eaten each day. Sometimes if she has a bad day where she eats more than she should have, she thinks, “Oh well, I might as well have Pizza King for dinner because I have already blown it for the day.”
The Businessman
The businessman sits and counts stars on asteroid 328. He thinks that he owns the stars, making him rich. The Little Prince explains to the businessman that he is of no use at all to the stars that he owns. A caricature of grown-ups who is the fourth person the little prince visits. Too busy even to greet his visitor, the businessman owns all the stars. Yet he cannot remember what they are called and contributes nothing to them. Although the little prince comments on the oddity of the grown-ups he meets, the businessman is the only character the prince actively chastises.
The Lamplighter
The lamplighter lives on asteroid 329 and does the job of lighting and then putting out the lamplight. The lamplighter thinks that his is a terrible profession, because once every minute he has to light the lamp, for his planet makes a complete turn every sixty seconds. The Prince feels that the lamplighter is the only one who could have been his friend. The fifth and most complex figure the prince encounters before landing on Earth. At first, the lamplighter appears to be yet another ridiculous character with no real purpose, but his selfless devotion to his orders earns him the little prince’s admiration. Of all the adults the little prince encounters before reaching Earth, the lamplighter is the only one the prince thinks he could befriend.
The Geographer
The geographer lives on a planet that is ten times larger than the lamplighter’s planet. He explains that he is a scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers, towns, mountains, and deserts. He is the one who advises the Prince to visit the planet Earth, as it has a good reputation. The sixth and final character the little prince encounters before he lands on Earth. Although the geographer is apparently well-read, he refuses to learn about his own planet, saying it is a job for explorers. He recommends that the little prince visit Earth, and his comments on the ephemeral nature of flowers reveal to the prince that his own flower will not last forever.
Garden of Roses
The Prince meets a garden of roses on the planet Earth. He is overcome with sadness on seeing them because there are five thousand of them in a single garden. His flower has told him that it was the only one of its kind in the universe. He cries when he realizes that his flower has lied to him. The sight of the rose garden first leads the prince to believe that his flower is not, in fact, unique. However, with the fox’s guidance, the prince realizes that even so many similar flowers cannot stop his own rose from being unique.
Railway Switchman
The Prince meets the railway switchman on Earth. The switchman tells the Prince that he sorts out travelers and sends off the trains that carry them. The switchman also says that no one is ever satisfied with his position. During his conversation with the switchman, the Prince tells him that only the children know what they are looking for. The railway switchman works at the hub for the enormous trains that rush back and forth carrying dissatisfied adults from one place to the other. He has more perspective on life than the unhappy, thoughtless passengers his trains ferry. He agrees with the prince that the children are the only ones who appreciate and enjoy the beauty of the train rides.

We finished class today by being reminded that we have to have finished the book before class tomorrow. Mrs. Scales won’t be here and we have a big packet to do about the book. We will have to be able to fill out a plot diagram and give details about several of the characters. This will all help us be ready for the test on Monday. We already know exactly what the test will be because Mrs. Scales told us before we started the book. The test is being able to fill out an 8th grade AR summary for the book. That means not just writing a plot summary, but listing details for each element of the plot.

The deadline for our first of three required writing assignments is coming up fast. We have to have one final draft turned in by the start of class on Thursday, April 29th; that’s just three days from today!

Our writing workshop mini lesson for today showed us how to use our color coded Quick Checks to make sure we have revised and edited our writing based on the genre of writing we are turning in. For example, one of the check list items for expository writing is, “Search for hidden and unusual details that most people wouldn’t know. However, “Show readers the weakness in the opposing viewpoint” is a check list item for persuasive writing. Mrs. Scales says most of us are doing really good in understanding how to work plot lines into our narratives and we all knew that “Figure out how the conflict, problem, or question will be resolved” was from the narrative writing check list.

We wrote and conferences with Mrs. Scales all period today. I love writing workshop days.