Word Wall as of February 10

Word Wall

The Word Wall in Ms. Collopy's room is standing extra credit. In order to earn extra credit, use the following words in meaningful sentences. Meaningful sentences demonstrate a true understanding of the definition and correct usage of the word. Sometimes, it is necessary to write more than one sentence in order to demonstrate this understanding. Each high-quality sentence is worth a possible two points. The maximum amount of extra credit awarded per quarter is 50 points.

Current List:

• inundate
• traverse
• municipal
• succulent
• fluctuate
• synchronize
• dilapidated
• divulge
• enigma
• voracious
• bipartisan
• gregarious
• adversary
• tenacious
• definitive
• bicameral
• maniacal
• degenerate
• cartographer
• antecedents
• invigorate
• formidable
• bulwark
• outlandish
• overwhelm

Intel Visual Ranking Project

Intel Log in for students HERE

Use Collopy as your teacher i.d.

Use the team name as your team name and password that Ms. Collopy gave you in class.

Scroll down to the topic that says "leadership qualities of a captain."

Follow the on-screen prompts and complete the ranking project. Make sure to hit save using the save icon.

Use the worksheet to complete this activity.

"Words to Live By"- Publishing on Your Blog

Tuesday, January 12

Goals & Objectives:
- To revise and edit your best paragraph onto your blog.

Procedure:
- Log into your edublog.
- www.edublogs.org
- re-read your paragraph before you post it (post in a new post - choose an appropriate title; "Words to Live By", Personal Narrative Essay Excerpt, etc.)
- preface your excerpt by saying something like this....
The following is an excerpt from my personal narrative essay about what is important in my life. I chose to include my second body paragraph for this blog post. Thanks for leaving comments.

- Publish your post.
- Use the links on the side of my blog to read and comment on others' posts.
- Typing should only take 20 minutes of class!

Tomorrow:
- Be ready to write your final draft as an in-class test.
- You must have blue or black ink for the final draft.
- Ask your parents/family for help tonight finishing revisions and editing.
- You will write your final draft and complete a self-evaluation.
- Refer to the earlier blog post (below) for some of the grading criteria.
- Handwriting will be graded on the final draft in addition to the other requirements.

Word Wall

Here are the second quarter Word Wall words:

(In order to receive extra credit, you must put these words into meaningful sentences. The sentence/sentences must demonstrate that you understand the definition).

• forlorn
• dwindle
• recede
• amiss
• contemplated
• fidget
• beckon
• persistent
• optimistic
• gaunt
• muster
• liberation
• intently
• legitimate
• nuisance
• flimsy
• resign
• intense
• despair
• idiosyncrasy
• interval
• coincidence
• valedictorian
• antagonism
• inscription
• incriminate
• falsify
• scheme
• drawl
• dismay
• vile
• defiant
• flustered
• contorted
• urgency

*You may write more than one sentence to get the meaning across. You may use other forms of the word.

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.