Friday, December 18

Day 2 - Friday, December 18
Words to Live By
Preparing to Write the Essay

*If you haven't finished finding your quotes, please review yesterday's directions (below this post).

Objectives:
- show Ms. Collopy 5-6 quotes
- outline essay using hand-out from Ms. Collopy
- locate your "Topic Sentence Packet"
- find new quotes if original quotes don't quite fit (once you get going, the quotes that you found on Thursday might not fit perfectly with the thesis/ideas in your essay)

* After break:
- We will write rough drafts and learn how to write effective introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions.
- We will help each other stay on topic.
- We will write final drafts and publish our essays on our blogs.

Thursday, December 17

Thursday, December 17
Words to Live By
Personal Narrative Essay
7th Grade Language Arts


Objectives:
- to read all of the directions, objectives, and topic ideas on this blog
- to pick quotes for all paragraphs; **** you must choose 5-6 quotes (minimum) today in order to be prepared for Friday!
- to copy and paste quotes onto a google doc, and e-mail document, and/or a Word document that you save in your LA folder in your school account

Procedure:
- Read this entire post.
- Start using the links to read through as many quotes as you can.
- When you find a quote that you like (must be attributed to a noteworthy person- may NOT be unknown), copy and paste it into a google doc, an e-mail document, and/or a Word document that you save in your LA folder in your school account.
Product:

• Write a well-developed essay (5-6 paragraphs) about the most important elements in your life. Not only describe what is most significant/central to you, but also explain how the important people, places, and experiences shape who you are today. Furthermore, connect those elements to quotes that demonstrate the same qualities.

Specific Topic/Guiding Questions:

• Who are you? How would you (and/or others) describe you? What/who is important in your life? Why? How did it become important? What impact do these elements of your life have one you? What specific stories examples show the importance of these elements? What do you hope others believe to be true about who you are and your values?

What will you be graded on?
Introduction
- meaningful; thesis statement; piques interest; not a list; quote included
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Body
- at least three obvious body paragraphs
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Conclusion
- meaningful; satisfying; looks to the future; relates to the rest of the essay
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Sentence Quality/Variety/Fluency
- sentences make sense; sentences show thought and variety
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Use of Quotes
- all paragraphs use quotes; attempt to introduce quotes smoothly (not just “stuck” into paragraph
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Topic Sentences- MUST BE FROM PACKET!!!
- all body paragraphs have a topic sentence from the packet and the author has labeled them accurately
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ideas- overall
- on topic; clear emphasis on what is important/significant- links to quotes- gives pertinent examples
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Organization- overall
- paragraphs follow a plan
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Word Choice
- interesting; avoids repetition; avoids you, your, thing, stuff, and elements.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CUPS (Capitalization, Usage, Punctuation, Spelling)
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


QUOTATION WEBSITES
- Use these websites to start your search for quotes. When you find a quote that you connect with, copy and paste it (including the author) into a google doc, an e-mail, and/or a Word document in your LA folder (school account).

http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/

http://www.famous-quotations.com/asp/categories.asp

http://en.proverbia.net/citastemas.asp?letra=F

http://www.inspirationalquotes4u.com/
- scroll part of the way down the page to see quotes organized by subject/topic

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics.html

http://www.quoteworld.org/browse.php

http://www.quoteland.com/topic.asp

http://www.famousquotes.com/by_category.php?letter=a

http://www.quotationreference.com/subject_index.php

http://en.thinkexist.com/topics/


Homeowork- 12/17
- Find more quotes and be ready to outline essay tomorrow (Friday).

Extra Credit
* If you have read this far, come to me for five points of extra credit (CSK) and tell me three parts of speech.

Poetry Blog Post- November 17, 2009

Today’s Objectives:

- view/discuss/fix common cosmetic problems on blogs
- comment on other students’ blogs
- check your own comments; possibly reply to a comment that someone made on your blog
- print a second clean copy of your poem for your fluency presentations on Wednesday
- make sure to leave with an evaluation sheet/rubric for tomorrow’s presentations

Commenting on Other Students’ Blogs:

Keep in mind-
- I statements with an explanation of why you feel that way… (give a reason)
o I think
o I feel
o I liked
o I noticed
o I am not sure about
o I loved
o I connected
o I was intrigued by

Try to make comments on:
- literary terms
- mood
- theme
- plot of narrative poems


The Golden Rule applies to these comments:
- make positive comments
- write comments about aspects of your poetry that you’d like to hear about your own writing
- make comments meaningful-
o meaningful- I connected to your poem about baseball because I’ve had similar experiences pitching. I noticed your metaphor too- I wish that I would have thought of that!
- not meaningful- I like your poem.

As always...
- complete sentences
- capital letters
- periods
- correct spelling

If you're still reading, before the end of class come and tell me your favorite holiday... if you whisper it to me, I will give you ten points of extra credit for reading this entire post. If you yell across the room, I won't give you extra credit. Only good on November 17, 2009.

Edublogs/Poetry Project/Last In-Class Work Day!

Project Reminders and Formatting Notes

* If you work in Safari (look in your applications folder if it's not in your dock) as opposed to Firefox, you can put spaces in between your stanzas, etc.

Formatting Your Poems
- Each poem needs a title.
- Before the text of the poem, write what type of poem it is- e.g., narrative, creative, free verse, etc.
- At the bottom of poems with required literary terms, state what line the literary term is in and re-write the words that show the literary term- e.g., metaphor- rock of courage, line 5.

Introductory Paragraph
- This paragraph should be the last post that you add. Therefore, it will be the first item that I read on your blog.

Grades will be based on:
- Quality of topic/theme
- Required lines
- Poems follow requirements- narrative tells a story, etc.
- Use of required literary terms
- Formatting guidelines followed
- Titles
- Acrostic poem contains lines, not just words
- Poems have appropriate stanza breaks and punctuation
- Ideas
- Content
- Creativity

Do you have a poem for your memorization/fluency presentation?
- See the post from Friday, Nov. 6 for links. See Ms. Collopy for more poems.

Poetry Project Reminders/Due Dates

Poetry Project Reminders and Due Dates

- Project must be done on Monday, November 16.
This includes:
- all blog posts= six poems = six posts
- introductory paragraph

Remaining in class work time: Today (11/10) and Thursday (11/12)
(I'm happy to write passes for homework club/internet access)

Six Poems (tied together with a common theme/idea/topic):
- Narrative- must tell a clear story; 28 lines
- Acrostic- use a word or phrase; 12 lines
- Creative- any type of poetry that the student chooses; 12 lines
- Haiku
- Free verse- no rhyme; 20 lines
- Diamante

Tips for Success:
- Poetry needs punctuation. It provides logical pauses and stops.
- Poetry's form is different than prose. It should "appear" different too.
- Title your poems creatively or with a clever flair.
- Acrostic Poem:
- the acrostic poem should communicate through lines of poems, not just a brainstorm of words
- for example:

Just a brainstorm of words:
Lilies
Often
Vindicate
Everything

Lines of poetry:
Lilies move my soul
Over the moon,
Villages of hope
Exercising my heart.
*Our goal is to write lines of poetry as opposed to a brainstorm of words!

Introductory Paragraph:
This paragraph will serve as an introduction and short explanation of your writing. It should clearly explain what theme/topic ties all of the poems together. It should also comment on the strengths and weaknesses of your poetry. The paragraph should use a topic sentence from your topic sentence packet. The personal pronoun, I, is totally acceptable because this is a defense of your writing. However, the personal pronoun you should not be used (or other forms of you- your and yours). An effective introduction will range from 5-7 sentences.

Fluency/Memorization Dates:
- November 18 an 19 (all students must be ready on the 18th)
- See post below for memorization options. Please print this as soon as possible! Memorization is hard work.

Edublog Set-Up

Friday, November 6, 2009
*Show Ms. Collopy your rough drafts
*Carefully review your print-out.

Goals:

1. Create an Edublog account.
2. Change the password on your Edublog account to match your school log-in (look at the G'Day message at the top right of your Edublog- click on your username, scroll down to the bottom of the page and you should be able to change your password).
3. Create at least one post.
4. For this project:
a. One post = one poem
b. Therefore, you will create six posts with poems total.
c. You will have seven posts at the end of the project, because your paragraph will be another post.
5. Pick a poem for your oral fluency/memorization presentation.

Step 1 (please read these directions before clicking on the link below the directions):

• Use the link to go to Edublogs website.
• Follow the directions to create a username, give your e-mail address, and check the box to "agree" to the terms and conditions of the site.
• **** MAKE SURE TO TYPE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS IN CAREFULLY AND ACCURATELY!
• Click "next" with the button selected that says "Gimme a Blog."
• Follow the on-screen prompts/directions for naming your blog. It must be something school related.
  
• For example: Joe's MSMS Blog
• Follow all on-screen instructions including checking your e-mail address for the confirmation e-mail. This might be instant or it might take up to ten minutes. Once you receive that confirmation e-mail, follow the instructions and you will have your own Edublog!
  
• Refer to the list above of goals for the day.
  

Link is here! Go to Edublogs.

Poetry Memorization Information:
Dates of poetry presentations: November 18 and November 19.

Great article about why memorizing poetry is a useful endeavor.

How to memorize a poem- some good strategies- practical tips.

Some good information about a strong recitation.

Some choices of poems to memorize:
Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening
Lay Your Sleeping Head, My Love
The Snow Man
Death Be Not Proud
The Road Not Taken
Shakespeare's Sonnet 18
Richard Cory
The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls
Shiloh
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
More poems to memorize

* You may choose your own poem as well, but you need to get approval for other poems from Ms. Collopy.

* See Ms. Collopy for some other options (I have copies available).

Colonial Day

Nine Men's Morris

1. Answer the questions.
2. Play the game and beat the computer.

Answer the following questions on loose-leaf or a Word document with a proper heading.

*The game will probably work better in Safari. If you have Firefox open, switch to Safari now!

Use this website to find your answers: Nine Men's Morris History *Use the link at the bottom of the page (Merrils Research) to find the answers about rules and other background information.

1. Name three cultures/places where this game has been played.
Now use this link (Merrils Research- referenced above) to find these answers:
Merrile Research- Rules, etc.
2. List three other names the game has been given throughout the years.
3. How many pieces are played?
4. What is a mill and how is it formed?
5. How do you lose?


Once you are done with the written work, play the game using the link below.

Nine Men's Morris