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Way to go, you just climbed the mountain called "A Writer's first Novel". Congratulations!  Still writing? If so, don't give up, reach your mountain top!!    

Welcome new 2013-2014 seventh grade students to our English Class Blog!!!!  

Here you will find the latest updates to ongoing class projects and upcoming lessons from the classroom and beyond. Feel free to post questions and or comments after each new post.  

Next week in class we will be having Reading Workshop on Monday: Learning Target - I can preview a work of fiction.
 We will learn how to preview fiction books to see if they will be a good fit for us to read!!! We will call it the Five-finger Preview!  1.Genre 2. Author 3. Cover art 4. Summary 5. Readability

Tuesday: Learning Target - I can explain how I learn best using evidence from sources.  
*This will be based on last weeks workshops on learning styles. Please use all the notes and articles you have used to do this exercise.  

Wednesday: Learning Target - I can explain how I learn best using evidence from sources.
Writing Workshop. You will write a well contructed piece of writing that explains how you learn best.  

Thursday: Learning Target - I can explain how I learn best using evidence from sources.
Writing Workshop. Finishing up any necessary revisions to your writing.  

Friday: Learning Target - I can understand how to construct a writing portfolio. I can create and record writing ideas for my portfolio. 
We will be introducing how to construct your writing portfolio for class and go over all of the requirements.   

Collaborative Narrative, English Final


Now that you are in a writing group you will write the first part of your story based on the genre you have chosen. Next, a writing partner will take over the second stage and pick up after you have finished the exposition.  They will write the rising action to your story and then pass to a new writing partner who will write the climax and so on.  Remember your story will need to include each of the 5 elements to a short story, plot, character, conflict, theme, and setting.  Have fun!!!

Once you have story composed for each person in the group you will chose, as a group, which one is the best and should be the one story you all work on to make better.  

Shakespeare Unit: Intoducing Twelfth Night

This week we will use our Google ninja skills to research facts about Shakespeare's life, the Globe Theater, and Elizabethan England.  You will conduct your research in teams of four.  The following day you will use those interesting discoveries to compete in "The Circle of Knowledge Game".

Here is a look at the lesson we will be learning today about language in Shakespeare's time, more specifically insults!!  This should be fun ;)   Here is the link to the Ted-Ed video we will be watching http://ed.ted.com/lessons/insults-by-shakespeare#watch   We will then flex our own language skills with a fun mixing/matching page with insults taken directly from the play Twelfth Night.    

*Just added to the classroom: 

"Wall of Shame" a place to write one Shakespearean insult a day per class ;)   Come and have a look!

QR scan codes on each group of desks to stay updated on the class blog. Download a QRL scanner to your smartphone today to give it a try!!

This week (May 6-10) we will be watching Twelfth Night the movie. Make sure you still have your character sheets to follow your character throughout the movie.
 Porfolios were due today, Monday May 6th.

Wednesday - Today you will be annotating your Emotional EKG by using the Twelfth Night text and Spark Notes  click on the link.  Complete your EKG with a partner!  

Wednseday 5/22 - Finishing draft of Twelfth Night portfolio paper. Revising with a parner and begin typing final. Work on for H.W., due tomrorrow in class.

5/28 This week we are taking scenes from Twelfth Night and learning them with a group. Each person will asume a character and learn the lines in order to perform a dramatic reading for their class next week in the auditorium.

Authors of Substance Unit

Today is March 11, 2013 and we will be practicing for the ELA test coming up in April.  Students will take a practice test with multiple choice questions and a written response based on the passage.

We will continue reading our Authors of Substance books. Students will hand in their pamphlet notes today and get them back tomorrow to see what information they still may need.  On Tuesday we will be looking at ways to effectively reasearch online and perform Google search techniques.  

We will keep you posted as activities develop throughout the week.

Here is a super helpful link on how to effectively use Google search: click here :)

Another helpful link with the same search tips made simple: click here too!

Here is a link to a resource to help with making correct citations in your work. See page 9 for examples of citations for websites, magazines, encyclopedias, books, and beyond. Citing sources for your works cited  Also, feel free to explore this document for all things related to citing your sources.

Happy Pi Day.  In celebration of pi we will be doing pi poetry in class today!  Here is a little pi song for   all - 3.14

*Use this link to access the first page of your brochure. You will need to download it for your OWN use. Click here: Author of Substance brochure

Click here for a brief tutorial on how to cite images (pictures) for your brochure: click

*Here it is! Page two of your Author of Substance brochure is now available to download from Google docs: click here   (Complete brochure due Thursday 3/28).

Week of February 25 - March 1

Last week of the Poetry Unit:

ELA poetry practice and reading workshop on Monday

Poetry workshop, annotating poems, "Snow Day" by Billy Collins on Tuesday

Study skills and reviewing for poetry unit test on Wednesday

Poetry review games, BINGO and Around the World on Thursday

Poetry unit test today, Friday

*Read for 30 minutes a night for H.W., work on portfolio #2

New for the Week of February 4-8, 2013

We are introducing an all new poetry unit!!  Tuesday we will examine the basics of rhyming poetry. We will read rhyming poems and be able to identify the rhyming schemes.  Wednesday we will practice writing poetry with rhyme and rhythm. Thursday and Friday we will have a look at structured poems. A couple examples of structured poems are tanka and diamante. Thursday we will read them and on Friday we will practice writing them.

Here is a sneak peak at an example of a rhyming poem:

Our London Trip
 

When you go to London remember to visit the queen.
There will be many beautiful, tall buildings older than you have ever seen.
You will have to eat breakfast, they always serve tea.
But go for the rolls and jam take it from me!
We went there you know, my family and I,
We rode on the top of a red double-decker bus that was ever so high.
At there Tower of London the Crowned Jewels will be there.
The actual rubies and diamonds the queen wore in her hair.
Now for lunch, it is bangers and mash, we ate on the dock.
We needed energy to see our next sight, Big Ben, the clock.
Sherlockís home, the steps of St. Paul's and Westminster Abby.
By now Iím beginning to get crabby.
We hopped on the train
As it started to rain.
The conductor called out " mind the gap."
I thought to myself " London is great, lets call it a wrap!" 

Preview for the week of January 22

This week we will be exploring character perspectives according to each of your historical fiction books!  Make sure you know your characters and each of their perspectives. For instance, if they are a Patriot, a Tory  a woman, a slave, a child or a combination of these.