Homework Week11

Click on the link above to see Week Beg, Jan 31st Homework.

This will be the last H/W sheet until after State Reports


Enjoy Nick's poem below. Which emotion is being expressed here?
Assignment Objective: ?????
It Takes Guts


Two brutes began to pick a fight
With a timid child who was full of fright.
As the name-callers jeered and taunted,
The other student was frightened and haunted.


As he watched, John grew more incense.
He couldn’t believe how the bullying was so intense.
Strength inside John began to arise.
The power came from somewhere, but it was quite a surprise.


John was shaking but knew what to do.
He approached the boys before the fist flew.
He said, “Leave him alone. He hasn’t hurt you.
You’re only daring because you are two.”


The pests turned away before there was a fight.
John turned to the boy and asked, “Are you alright?”
A wide grin spread across his face.
John felt like the strongest kid in the place.

Poetry Parties

Poetry Parties will take place on Monday morning. These will be a celebration of language, music, and literature. I expect passionate performances and powerful deliveries from ALL of you.  Each of you will have to come prepared to deliver TWO performances.  You will also need to turn in your completed, decorated poetry books containing at least 8 of the 9 poems we have done in class from the list below. You may choose NOT to include any one poem from the list below: (you are welcome to include all 9 if you decide)

Personal Poem - Describing an emotion

Narrative Poem -  Relating the world event

Inside/Outside Poem - The Fruit

Inside/Outside Poem - About yourself.

Published Poem - The poem you recited in class

Midwest Group Perform

Road Less Taken -Interpretation

Beatles song - Interpretation

Free Choice - Show your creativity here!

Side note. I am so proud to observe your brilliant creativity with respect to the regions inquiry based assignment. A perfect example was what Lilly said in class this morning,

"Mr Buxton, can I make my timeline the Brooklyn Bridge? I also want to use different cars (forms of transport) to represent the historical events that occured over time in my region."

Bravo Lilly! How will the rest of  you, 'think out of the box?'

Impressive 'elevator pitches' today  from the Buxton class for your Animoto movies. I am excited to see your finished versions next week.

Thinking Out of the Box?

Are you making sure you are being creative with your ideas for the Regions project and thinking 'out of the box?

Recap. Joint the 9 dots with four lines without taking your pen off the paper.

Regions Research

Use the appropriate videos below to collect further facts on your regions. I have also attached some links for online reserach too. The stronger your research, the easier your written portion becomes.

The West

The Southwest

The Northeast

Week 11 Homework

Click the link above for your H/W sheet this week

For this Friday's Figurative Language Test you should be able to understand, identify, and recreate these types of figurative language:

Simile Metaphor Personification Repetition Alliteration Hyperbole Onomatopoeia

Ignore any out  of date links or terminology that we haven't covered

Do this practice test first. Aim to score 27/29. (ignore the first question) If you can do that, you are fine for the test. Spend time working through the exercises below then retake the practice test Wed. night. Did your score improve?

http://www.quia.com/quiz/449371.html?AP_rand=161924344

EXERCISES AND PRACTICE

Simile

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/quizzes26/gumbie7/PoetryPieces.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112392/similepractice.html
http://www.worsleyschool.net/socialarts/simile/page2.html
http://www.kidsonthenet.org.uk/dragonsville/simile1.htm

Personification Practice
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112392/personificationpractice.html

Onomatopoeia
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-69167.php

Metaphor
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112392/metaphorpractice.html
http://www.quia.com/quiz/234882.html 
http://www.kidsonthenet.org.uk/dragonsville/metaphor1.htm

Mixture
http://www.berghuis.co.nz/abiator/lang/lmatch/sm1.htm
http://www.berghuis.co.nz/abiator/lang/lmatch/sm3.htm
 http://www.berghuis.co.nz/abiator/rdg/onomatopoeiahelp.html (do x3 links at the bottom of the page
Examples of Figurative Language
http://www.beavton.k12.or.us/jacob_wismer/leahy/2006/flb/flb.htm 
http://www.quia.com/rr/397508.html 

This activity is a fun game to play.
http://www.newton.k12.ks.us/tech/fling3.html

Zooburst - Finished Products

Don't forget to practice the online exercises on your subjects and predicates for tomorrow's test. Some of you still seem shaky on this topic

Enjoy some zooburst from today's presentations:

Grammar Test Review Slides

Make sure you review this voice thread. Attach questions to the thread if you would like. You MUST tackle the online exercises published last week as practice. Hope this is helpful!

Week 10 Homework

Click on the link above for next week's H/W.
Pay careful attention to test dates for next week.

For the grammar test, you need to have tackled the exercises put on the blog last week. You NEED to practice for this test!

Inside - Outside Help!

H/W
Grammar Package (Due: Fri)
Spelling Test will be next Tuesday

Inside/Ouside poem about yourself. (Due: Fri) - further advice below

Don't make your poem more complicated than it needs to be...Think about the assignment for a second... all i'm asking you to do is write a poem about yourself. Now...going a bit further...i'm suggesting ways you can go about doing this by using categories...for example.. write about your personality, your dreams, your fears, your weaknesses etc etc... by thinking about categories gives you a way to organize your thoughts... so the next step is ... how do you do that...???


well why not begin by just writing about yourself in a literal way...
What do other think of you?
They think... all i enjoy writng and i a super students...
your poetry might soon like...  outside
A test taking machine some may suggest
Fear of failure is why I strive my best
inside
I think... ..i like doing art....
 how can i do that in a poetic and/or figurative way..?
Drawing and mixing paints brightens my days
Being artistic and creative in countless ways

You need to do just 12 lines like this... and maybe find a special way to end...
no...the title doesn't count....(but give a realistic title)

Also..VERY IMPORTANT...there is a rhyming dictionary on the left side of the blog...use it to find words and phrases that rhyme if you want...

Remember my old phrase... NIKE!!!!

Midwest Test

Due dates +3!

Interesting video. Worth watching for background information for Midwest test.

Snow Day #2

Wow! All H/W due dates are now pushed back 2 days! Midwest test will be Friday. Grammar test will be next Tuesday.

Zooburst - Reminders

Just a few quick reminders as you work virtually on  your zooburst assignments:

• Be respectful to all group members work and contributions

e.g. Ensure the workload is equally shared out among all team players and no one person takes on an unfair load.
e.g. Make sure you don't change or delete another person's work at all. If you notice mistakes or ineffective contributions, make a note to tell them in class or through your zooburst comment box. 

• Make sure you properly save you work when new pages are added. Test save your work once you start a new page before completing the whole page.
•  Never leave the zooburst open on your computer. It will stop other people from accessing and working on it and their changes might be lost.
•  Any questions or issues you are having with the zooburst can be asked on the blog or discussed in class tomorrow.
•  Make sure you have a clear emphasis on the grammar points  and are integrating precise Midwest facts on every page. 

Remember: If effective group work collaboration were easy, we would all be experts at it!  This is why is it the most effective form of learning and the hardest to achieve. There will be things that don't go accordingly to plan. Please try at all times to be flexible, patient, and respectful at all times as we learn and practice these 21st century collaboration skills.

Snow Day - yee pee!!!

All due dates move forward one day due to the snow day.

Midwest test will be Thur. However, Grammar review test will STILL be Friday.

Spelling test (Buxton class) will move to next Tuesday. (next Monday is MLK Day).

Feel free to use some time today to practice the online exercises for grammar and your zooburst (Due: Wed).

Don't forget your piece of fruit for Tuesday now!

ENJOY the snow!!!

Week 9 Homework

Click the link above to see your H/W for next week.

Don't forget to  bring in your piece of fruit for Monday's poetry class

Remember Students #'s 1-5 will recite their poems Monday. Make sure you give a clear, detailed, and precise explanation of why you chose your poem and your intrepretation of its message.

Zoobursts are due Tuesday. I am expecting them to be excellent. Practice how you intend to 'tell' the story to the class as a group.

Grammar Review Package due Tuesday.

I was VERY proud of all your work last week, especially your personal and Midwest group poems. What will you do next week that is even better?

End of Semester Grammar Review Test - Friday January 14th

End of Semester Grammar Review Test Friday Jan 14th

We will review the grammar topics that we covered in so far this year. This will count as a Level IV grade. Spend 5-10mins each night practicing using these links below. Make notes of things that you don't understand and any questions that you might have. Most questions on the test are multiple choice.










NOUNS
http://www.eslpartyland.com/quiz/irpl1.htm
http://odl.vwv.at/english/odlres/res8/Grammar/grammar_exercises/plural/plural.htm
http://odl.vwv.at/english/odlres/res8/Grammar/grammar_exercises/plural/Plural_Forms.htm
http://a4esl.org/q/j/ck/mc-plurals.html
- Possessive Nouns

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/exploring_possessives/index.html http://www.eduplace.com/cgi-bin/hme-quiz-play.cgi  
http://www.english-zone.com/spelling/poss2.html
Past Perfect (less than 5 questions on this topic)
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/past-perfect-simple/exercises


Time Shift Sentences
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/words/activities/pastperf02.html
http://odl.vwv.at/english/odlres/res8/Grammar/grammar_exercises/tenses/past_perfect/pastperf1.htm
http://odl.vwv.at/english/odlres/res8/Grammar/grammar_exercises/tenses/past_perfect/pastperf3.htm
http://odl.vwv.at/english/odlres/res8/Grammar/grammar_exercises/tenses/past_perfect/pastperf4.htm
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/past_perfect_simple_past.htm

Uses of the Comma
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/interact/g_commaEX1.html
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/interact/g_commaEX2.html
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/interact/g_commaEX4.html

Sentence Fragments and Run ons
Correcting Run-ons
http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/exercises/run-ons_ex2.htm

Correcting Fragments
http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/exercises/fragments_ex1.htm

Comma Splice
http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/exercises/comma_splices_ex1.htm

Games - fragments
http://www.quia.com/rr/90252.html
http://www.chompchomp.com/exercises.htm#Comma_Splices_and_Fused_Sentences
http://www.quia.com/rr/143365.html?AP_rand=1866526223
http://www.quia.com/rr/36765.html

PrepositionsTest Type Questions– Prepositional Phrases

http://www.quia.com/quiz/298373.html?AP_rand=810582058
http://www.eduplace.com/cgi-bin/hme-quiz-play.cgi


Prepositional Phrases - Test Practice

http://www.eduplace.com/cgi-bin/hme-quiz-start.cgi%20Grade=6&Unit=7&Topic=Prepositional+Phrases&x=25&y=9
http://eslus.com/LESSONS/GRAMMAR/POS/pos7.htm#Pop%20Quiz%201

Subjects and Predicates
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/quiz/mquiz.asp?filename=msmith5complsubpred
http://www.myschoolhouse.com/courses/O/1/55.asp
http://www.thatquiz.org/tq/previewtest?MROG4881
http://www.quia.com/rr/36765.html
http://www.quia.com/cb/38873.html


General

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rNYZVvyGS4&feature=related
http://www.hccsc.k12.in.us/technology/tip/SSP/HighSchool/9.6.2%20LA%20Curriculum%20PowerPoint.ppt

Make sure you visit each website at least once over the next 8 days. Much of the test will be multiple choice and 'application'. Make sure you 'know', 'understand', and can 'apply' your grammatical knowledge

Good luck :-)

Feel free to use the blog for questions as you review these topics.

ALWAYS ask yourselves... Why did we study this topic, and how does it make your writing better?

Visuword

Click the link below for an excellent resource for finding synonyms and related words and ideas for your poems. This site can be used  for any form of writing, but it is very useful for your poems. I will put a permanent link on the right side of the blog for future use. Just type in any word you are looking for alternatives or synonyms or related ideas and see what appears!

http://www.visuwords.com/

Don't forget to be thinking of your classic poem for next week's recitations. If you are unsure what is meant be 'classical' poetry, you should ask me first before memorizing your poem. An inappropriate choice will negatively affect your grade.

Enjoy's Bekah's and Will H's zoobursts. Notice how she used her own photos in her creation, and he used his own voice and sound effects. +2.  Well done!

Today's Session

sorry for the software filter issues today. I hope each of you had the chance to see the potential of zooburst in action. Win bonus +3 points if you are able to create your own zooburst.com story. This is purely optional and only for  the tech savvy motivated students among us. Log on using your passowrds from today to
http://www.zooburst.com/

Bravo to Sophie S and Mimi. The first ever 5th grader to create a zooburst +3




GRAAB Techniques.

Feel free to post a GRAAB techqniue that you create for comment. Anybody finds anything similar to a GRAAB technique in their writing, win +2 points.

Poetry

Tomorrow, we will be putting the final touches to your Midwest region  performance poems and your Defining poetry poem.  Due Dates below (these are not on the H/W sheet)

Final draft due date for Defining poetry poem - THURSDAY

Final draft due date for Midwest Region Poem - FRIDAY

Don't forget about your memorized poem for next week. Remember you can ask your parents for suggestions.

Carpe Diem - Make your lives extraordinary

Free free to comment  about today's lesson introducing poetry.  Feel free to add any of your drafts of your personal poems for others to comment.

Below is a chance to see the video clip from today's session again.

H/W Sheet Week 8 2011

Click on link above for your H/W sheet.

For the new year, I've redesigned the blog a little. Do you like it?

We will hit the ground running. Be prepared to learn more than you thought you ever could. Coming in the first couple of months of 2011:

• Poetry Recitals and Poetry Party
• Grammar Review of 1st trimeter
• GRAAB(s) - Advanced non-fiction writing techniques
• Midwest Region test
• The Regions -Inquiry based research learning
• 50 States and Capitals test
• The State Report

Enjoy a little Buxton family fun over the holidays!

This free scrapbooking design made with Smilebox