Mrs. Scales announced that Savannah, Jordan B., Haleigh, Ryan R. and Jesse would be the 7th grade spellers for this year’s spelling bee to be held next Monday, February 8th during 6th period in Mrs. Milliner’s room.

Scholastic book orders were passed out and are due next Friday, February 12th.

There is a chat set up on moodle for anyone who has turned in their assignments. There is also a choice listing six book available for the next literary circles. Everyone needs to go to moodle and make a selection by early next week for the book they want to read next.

We worked on what information should go into each section of the resume we are to write on Israel Hands:
Objective – What kind of job is he looking for?
Education – training or schools
Experience – specific jobs he has had in the past
Qualifications – What makes him able to do the job he is looking for?
References – Who can verify his capabilities?

Resumes and Storyboard assignments are due at the start of class tomorrow.

Our root words for today were:
ROOT WORD CARD #55 DIS, DI, DE, DIF—apart, away, down

These ROOT-WORDs are the Prefix DIS, DI, DE, and DIF which means APART, AWAY, DOWN It is different from other ROOT-WORDS which have similar meanings. DIS carries with it a sense of failure; you had something and lost it. A soldier who played the violin and lost a couple of fingers was DISabled. A man who cheated and lost his credit became DIScredited. See? If you learn the ROOT-WORDS you will not be DEpendent upon a dictionary. You will be inDEpendentl.

1. Disarm : DIS arm (dis arm’) v. To take away a weapon; leave defenseless
2. Dichotomy: DI chotomy (die kot’ o me) n. A separation into two parts
3. Divorce: DI vorce (di vors’) n. Separation, one from the other

4. Divulsion: DI vulsion (die vul’ shun) n. A tearing apart
5. Debark : DE bark (do bark’) v. To get off a ship; as, the soldiers must debark at night

6. Debus : DE bus (de bus’) v. To get off a bus

7. Deplane : DE plane (dee plane’) v. To get off an airplane

8. Debunk : DE bunk (dee bunk’) v. To expose as false; talk truth

9. Disagree : DIS agree (dis a gree’) v. Not to have the same opinion

10. Disaster : DIS aster (diz as’ ter) n. A mishap; absence of your lucky star

11. Disabled : DIS abled (dis ay’ b’ld) adj. To be deprived of use, as by an injury

12. Disadvantages : DIS advantage (dis ay’ b’ld) adj. A loss; a detriment; a handicap

13. Disbar : DIS bar (dis bar’) v. To keep away; as, to disbar a layer

In chapter 26 Jim and Israel fight for survival. Jim is pinned to the mast by the dirk Hands flung at him but still manages to shoot off both his pistols. Both guns and Israel fall into the water. The assignment after reading chapter 26 was to do the storyboard handout.

Our root words for today were:ROOT WORD CARD #54 VERS, VERT—turn

These ROOT-WORDS are VERS & VERT which means TURN. VERS comes from versare and VERT comes from vertere. Both are Latin and mean TURN. This root does not tell you where to turn, that is told you by another root, a Prefix placed before the Root. From No. 8 through No. 18 you are given a signal, which way to turn. Exactly like a sign on the highway, to make a left turn or a right one, the Prefixes tell you – away, to, against, with, from, in, through, under and back. You can’t go wrong with root.

1. Versatile : VERS atile (ver’ sat il) adj. Having aptitude for many skills; able to turn from one thing to another

2. Versatility : VERS atility (Ver sa til’ it ee) n. The quality of skill along many lines

3. Versation : VERS ation (ver say’ shun) n. A turning; twisting

4. Versative : VERS ative (ver’ sa tiv) adj. Adaptable; versatile

5. Version : VERS ion (ver’ zhun) n. A changed form; an adaptation; a translation

6. Versus : VERS us (ver’ sus) prep. Against; as, in a legal action of Jones versus Smith

7. Vortex : VOR tex (vor teks) n. A double motion of whirling and pulling down; a whirlpool

8. Controversial : contro VERS ial (kon tro ver’ shal) adj. Open to dispute; as, a controversial issue

9. Averse : a VERS e (a vers’) adj. Turned against; as, averse to seeing him

10. Advertise : ad VERT ise (ad’ ver tize) v. Turn attention toward; as, advertise a sale

11. Divert : di VERT (di vert’) v. Turn attention away from; as, divert the mind

12. Invert : in VERT (in vert’) v. Turn upside down; as, to divide by a fraction, invert and multiply

13. Conversant : con VERS ant (kon vers’ant) adj. Acquainted with; as, conversant with the subject

14. Obverse : ob VERS e (ob’ vers) adj. Facing the opponent

15. Reverse : re VERS e (re vers’) v. Turn back

16. Pervert : per VERT (per vert’) v. To turn to improper use; corrupt

17. Subversive : sub VERS ive (sub ver’ siv) adj. Causing to undermine; as, a subversive group

18. Reversible : re VERS ible (re ver’ si b’l) adj. Can be reversed

19. Vertigo : VERT igo (vert’ i go) n. A dizzy spell when everything seems to be turning

20. Vertiginous : VERT iginous (ver tij’ I nus) adj. Dizzy; affected with vertigo

Today we read chapters 24 and 25 aloud in class. Jim made it back onto the Hispaniola and took control. He dumped the Jolly Roger overboard and made a deal with the injured Israel Hands.

Our quick write was – What is your opinion of Israel Hands? We have to use our quick write and find more detailed information about Israel Hand from the book Treasure Island to make pre-writing notes in our Writer Reader’s Notebook so that later in the week we can write a resume for Israel Hands. Our notes need to include information that will help us write a resume with five parts: Objective, Education, Experience, Qualifications, and References.

Our own crew Jolly Rogers were hung and crew scores given. We have some excellent crew Jolly Rogers, some are attracting a lot of attention out in the hall as well as in the classroom.

Our root word was ROOT WORD CARD #53 MOT, MO—move

These ROOT-WORDS are MOT & MO meaning MOVE. They come from the Latin words mobilis, movere, motus, all meaning move, and in them you get the reason for the changes in spelling.

1. Mobile : MOB ile (mo’ bele) adj. Capable of moving

2. Mobilize : MOBilize (mo’ bi lize) v. To assemble for movement; as, mobilize forces

3. Mobilization : MOB ilization (mo bi li zay’ shun) n. The act of assembling for action

4. Mobility : MOB ility (mo bil’ it ee) n. The quality of being able to move

5. Motion : MOT ion (mo’ shun) n. Movement; action; as, make a motion

6. Motionless : MOT ionless (mo’ shun les( adj. Without motion

7. Motive : MOT ive (mote’ iv) n. Cause; inducement to move; stimulus to act

8. Motivation : MOT ivation (mote i vay’ shun) n. The reason for an action; cause, inducement

9. Mover : MOV er (mu’ ver) n. One who moves

10. Motor : MOT or (mote’ or) n. That which imparts motion; source of mechanical power

11. Motorcade : MOT orcade (mote’ or kade) n. A group of vehicle going together

12. Automobile : auto MOB ile (au’ to mo bele) n. A motor vehicle; self-moving

13. Automotive : auto MOT ive (au to mote’ iv) adj. Self-moving; self-propelling

14. Demote : de MOT e (de mote’) v. Move away; move down

15. Emotional : e MOT ional (e mo’ shun al) adj. Moved strongly by feelings; as, an emotional act

16. Motivate : MOT ivate (mote’ i vate) v. Move to action; as, anger will motivate crime

The debate was on today in class as each crew reflected and wrote about who they think is most deserving of the treasure. It was quite interesting to hear Sara admit that Long John Silver is amoral, but still make a case for why he has the most right to the treasure. Good debating.

Study Guides were reviewed through chapter 23 and time was given to catch up any missing information so everyone should have gotten all 25 points for their study guides today.

The book talks were announced for Tuesday of next week.
1st Period – Kelsey / Cracker and A.J. / The Akhenaten Adventure
2nd Period – Brandon / The Lord of Silver Apples and Debbie / Diary of a Wimpy Kid
4th Period – Sam / Cracker and Taylor / Sea of Monsters

Master At Arms were appointed for each period. The Master At Arms will answer the phone or take care of anyone who comes to the door in order to reduce the amount of distraction or interruption during a class period.
1st Period – Makenzie (Who did an excellent job on her first day)
2nd Period – Aaron
3rd Period – Brandessa
4th Period – Bret
5th Period – Bailey
7th Period – Brayden

General Announcements:
I will be taking any student who has read and passed the AR test with a 9 or 10 to see the movie, The Lightning Thief on Sunday February 14. They deadline for having the book read and the AR test taken is by the end of the school day on Monday February 8th. Because of liability issues I can not provide transportation, but if you will get your son or daughter to the theater in Muncie I will buy their ticket. I can’t tell you the exact show time because the theater says they won’t know until Tuesday February 9th. It will be the early afternoon show on Sunday and I will get the exact time out as soon as I know it. Anyone in the class is invited to join us, I will just be buying tickets for the students who meet the criteria listed above. Right now we have 19 students who have qualified for the free ticket: Katelyn Buchanan, Dougy Burgess, Tessa Chason, Michaela Cooper, Haleigh Fernandez, Ariael Hall, Payton Howell, Brayden Johnson, Jesse Jones, Bret Lawson, Makenzie McCormick, Donovan Owsley, Drew Smith, Cody Stewart, Sam Trego, Abby Vester, Kelsey Winters, and Dan Wright. Way to go!

Our Poetry Literacy Night will be on February 16th. Anyone who turned in the pink registration slip but changes their mind and would like to attend is welcome. Please just drop me an e-mail so we can plan on the number of people attending.

We still need any box tops you can send in.

Root words – you may notice that I made an adjustment to last week’s lesson plans and the same root words are listed for this upcoming week. I did not feel that the students were ready to move forward with new words and pushed these words out until next week. These root words are basic language learning blocks, similar to addition or multiplication tables. They are just something your son or daughter needs to study and remember. Please encourage them to study the words from their root word cards or glossary each week.

We reviewed the action that took place in chapters 20 and 21 and then read about Jim’s adventure cutting lose the Hispaniola. The excitement was tremendous! We left Jim asleep in Ben Gunn’s little corscle dreaming of home and the old “Admiral Benbow.” Will the sea be his death or will Jim continue the adventure on Treasure Island? What do you think?

The root word test was taken for the second time this week and everyone was reminded that DLW sentences and study guides through chapter 23 are due tomorrow.

Oh, I almost forgot, four of our crew Jolly Rogers have been completed and hung in the classroom. It’s beginning to look a lot like pirate around here.

A.J. in pink pirate colors. Bret as a rather unattractive woman with “no taste in clothes” (student comments, not mine.) and Chris as one of the bounty hunter’s wives, all marked the very strange spirit day today.

Mrs. Scales reminded us to study for the root word test tomorrow. Everyone should be able to get a perfect score as this is the second time taking the same root word test.

Pink Poetry Night registration forms were passed out. It is a 5 point assignment to take the form home and get a parent signature. These forms are due back to Mrs. Scales by Friday.

There was also a sign up on the front board for anyone wanting to do a book talk next Tuesday in class.

We quickly reviewed the upcoming writing contest and opportunity deadlines and Mrs. Scales posted a calendar to help us keep track of deadlines.

The rest of the class time was used for crews to work on their Jolly Rogers.

Mrs. Scales had a progress report for each student as they came into class today. The quick write for today involved each student reflection on the their progress report and writing in their W-R’s notebook. Everyone had to think about their current grade and write about how they felt about that grade. Real progress reports go out to parents next Wednesday.

Mrs. Scales announced that although several people did well and got all 30 points on yesterday’s root word test, there were enough people who did poorly that we will have another test on Thursday. The lesson plans for the week are being adjusted and no new root words will be given this week. Everyone needs to study root word cards #38 – 52 for Thursday’s test.

All final copies of any Martin Luther King essays for the contest were collected and mailed today.

Crews got together and started reviewing how they have been working together and booty was tally-ed up. Each crew has a bright green crew evaluation checklist and rubric that has to be filled out and turned in by next Monday. A web page was reviewed and all crew Jolly Rogers were began. The completed Jolly Rogers also have to be turned in on Monday.

There are 155 points available between now and next Wednesday when the progress reports go out: 30 points for the root word test on Thursday, 25 points for the study guide check on Friday, 75 points for the crew checklist evaluations and 25 points for the Jolly Rogers. Everyone should be working hard to earn as many of those 155 points as possible and turning in make up work to recover some of the previous points they may be missing.

After turning in all of the homework from last week:

Treasure Island Letter
Crossword Puzzle
Anchor Piece Sentence Fluency Revision

We got the great news that 74% of all the 7th graders scored 90% or higher on last week’s DLW sentences. Only the people who didnot recieve 90% or higher have to keep doing DLW sentences. Since there are fewer students who have to do the DLW, Mrs. Scales will not be writing the sentences on the board each day. Instead those people who haeve to do the DLW sentences were given a handout with all five sentences and instructions to write each sentence corretly on their own paper and turn it in by Friday.

The rootword test was then taken on moodle.

Next, we reviewed the newest character in Treasure Island Ben Gunn. Benn has been marooned on the island for the last three years. Naturally, he is a little crazy from being all alone for so long. He really wants some cheese. He sees the British flag flying over the stockade and tells Jim that it must be his friends. Jim then makes his way to the stockade and is reunited with his friends, Dr. Livensey, Squire Telawney and the others.