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Thursday, December 18, 2014

Grammar Test

Use this link to do your grammar test: Comparatives and Superlatives

Thank you for all your effort and hard work this first semester. The expectation is that you will read at least 3 books over the break! Optional but encouraged MEMBEAN sessions!!!
  • 192 minutes: 

    Most total time learning over the last month by Jack Weidner

As the old refrain goes, "you ain't seen nothing yet!"


  • Coming in the 2nd Semester:
  • Notice and Note Reading Strategies
  • Transmediation Reading Responses
  • Inspiring Poetry
  • Social Issues Book Clubs
  • Realistic Fiction Writing


and so much more....

Happy Holidays...

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Finishing Off


Optional Work
Extra Comparative and Superlative Practice

Harder Questions - These are VERY similar to tomorrow's test

Coming Next Semester: Genius Hour - What is your passion?


Monday, December 15, 2014

Work Cited

Use the steps below to cite your sources



Your essays should be 'almost' finished for tomorrow's class.  You will get approx. 15mins to read for editing errors. 

Reminder for Thursday
These links are useful for practice for your comparatives and superlatives test
+
Do you still know the difference between opening and delayed adjectives?
Do you still know the different types of subjects and predicates?
Can you spot parallel structure in a sentence?

Friday, December 12, 2014

The Final Week

Sophie's Survey: Please help Sophie with her research


There are many assessments next week. You have just 4 more days of academic classes. EXPECT to work HARD in all of those 4 days. Friday will be more relaxing.

Mon: End of Class - Research Essay + Genius Hour Projects Reflection
Tues: Sharing of Genius Hour Projects and Research Essays (I will begin grading this work then)
Wed: Last Membean Test
Thur: Superlatives and Comparatives Test (Look at last week's blog for practice)

Tips: 
Make sure your Reading Book chart in up to date on my classroom wall on Monday. I will begin looking at total # of books read for the semester then

You will also be receiving an assessment grade on 'minutes of Membean practiced -v- the class average' e.g.  In one class, the least minutes practiced was  a student with 259mins -v- the most a student with 543mins for the semester.  If you think your minutes practised - v - the class average is low - what can you do about this before next FRIDAY?


Thursday, December 11, 2014

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

OUTLINING Essays

Please complete these student surveys for your classmates research projects
Popularity

H/W: All Classes
You must spend 20mins working on your outline tonight. Use this link: Research Based Essay Outline - You do not have to finish the outline, but you should make a start.


Remember: Due date for this paper is end of class FRIDAY!

RECAP - Does your claim read like this one? 


Coming Next Week: 
End of Year Membean Assessment - Next Wed (50 Questions- This test is cumulative and will count triple)
End of Year Grammar Assessment - Next Thur (This will count double) - There will be some questions on parallel structure, opening and delayed adjectives and adverbs, and subjects and predicates. 

These links are useful for practice for your comparatives and superlatives test

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Comparatives

H/W - All Class
Play this game Millionaire Game - Take a screen shot to prove you have finished it!

Girls - Please fill in this survey for Olivia's and Laila's research project: Beauty Standards
Please fill in this for Joaquin's Research

Research Project - The majority of note-taking should be finished before tomorrow. You will only have 20 minutes of class time to work on note. Make sure you have done most of your note taking before then.
REMINDER - Your research piece will be almost finished for Friday (end of class)- You will have Monday's class to edit and turn in.

Lesson Recap:

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Research Tutorials

H/W - All Classes
You must collect detailed notes from one of your resources. Use Cornell or Visual Note-taking (Due:Tue) - These notes WILL be inspected and assessed!!! - You are accountable to your PARTNER - If you do not do the work, partnerships will be split up!

Link to collect sources: My List of Sources
SAS MS Database: Passwords

Use these tutorials to navigate the two simplest (catch the superlative!) databases for your research

Opposing Viewpoints in Context

Global Issues in Context   Video Tutorial

These sites are the easiest to navigate and find quality content!


From Homebase: Pay it Forward - Can you do three random acts if kindness unconditionally?





Saturday, December 6, 2014

Due Dates


Please take this due date in mind as you plan for the last two weeks of school

Monday 8th Dec: Final Membean assessment for semester: 40 questions. Think about reviewing your quizlet file.

Friday 12th Dec: 2nd round of research paper - (students away at Telunas will  be able to submit their paper on Tuesday 16
th)

Students who are missing work or need to resubmit for higher grades (e.g. Memoir, research based essay etc) Last date for submission is Friday 12th Dec. Report cards are calculated in the last week of school, so I cannot accept old assignments after this date.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Assessing Credibility of Sources

Superlatives to a Degree


Use these resources for today's lesson:



Independent Practice
During your silent reading time today, please do some preliminary research by reading about topics that interest you.  While reading, generate a list of genuine questions. These questions can later be developed into your research question.
Topic Research Guide

SAS Library Databases (see Discovery, Global Issues in Context, Opposing Viewpoints in Context)



Thursday, December 4, 2014

Research Essay: 2nd Time Around

Look at this mentor example of a very strong RR



Reminder: All your assessment rubrics are linked on the blog in the left column. Today's RR will be assessed by the RR rubric. - Claims and Evidence










Research Based Essay

  • The 2nd round of research based essays starts Monday. (yeepee!)
  • You will have exactly 5 hours of class time + any H/W you decide to put into your paper.
  • Due date for the papers are end of class: Friday 12th
  • You will be able to work with a partner
  • If you score better on this paper, your grade for your previous paper will change to a formative grade.
  • This is the last writing grade for your report card

H/W - All Classes
You must come to class with a topic on Monday and a Research Question for your pair
Use this resource to find topics:  Middle School Database Research Topics

Firday's class we will spend looking at how to spot credible sources and examine some of the resources in the school's research databases


Homebase Reflection: Finding Your Inner Peace

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Reading Response

Go to socrative.com and type in your claim
Room #

 MrBuxtonM324


We will vote on your claims at the start of class

Recap from today



Recap from yesterday

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Close Reading: Word Choice

Group 2  Shakira’s “Waka Waka” Video  Lyrics
Group 3  Hand Washing
Group 4  Anxiety Disorders

H/W ALL CLASSESTomorrow, you will be writing your NF reading response: WORD CHOICE You are welcome to bring in a source of your own. OR - you can choose from these options below.
All you need to do is check out these sources. Decide which one you would like to use.

Weight Watchers
Getting Started with Gmail
Johnson and Johnson Commercial
Cell Phones
College Education

By the end of tomorrow's class, you will turn in your RR. Will yours look like this?