Monday, 9/30/13 Good morning! Please remember to get your folder. Take out everything from your folder and place it into your binder before you do anything else. Agenda First Five Vocabulary DOL Grammar Are you ready for something completely crazy!? Let’s do ALL of them for the week! BM Practice Questions Register a “clicker” to your group. MUST DO: Gathering Blue Lit. Study Groups Reminders Benchmark Tomorrow Do you have any questions about your grade? See me today!

Vocabulary Restrained Bonus: Complete the following analogy. Ex. The angry young man’s behavior became restrained after several weeks of attending private school. Bonus: Complete the following analogy. restrained : regulated :: intrepid : _________________ Use restrained in a sentence of your own. Restrained- controlled; restricted POS- adj.

DOL She aren’t to concerned about reading the short story a rose for Emily she’ll see it on television next Wednesday.

Grammar Adverbs in Action Remember that an adverb is a word that modifies a verb, and adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs tell how, when, where, how much, and why. Many adverbs end with the letters –ly. Underline the adverbs in the following sentences. 1. You’re finished already! You completed the test too quickly. 2. The children quietly watched the movie and then went outside. 3. Sometimes I walk to school, but I usually take the bus. 4. Don’t ever speak to me like that again! 5. Yesterday we took a field trip, and today we’ll write a paper about it. 6. The students eagerly gathered near the gym. 7. I think I’ll write more in my journal later. 8. You did rather well on your exam.

Vocabulary Hackneyed Bonus Ex. Although the images and metaphors used in the holiday poem are hackneyed, the rhyme is still fun to recite. Bonus Is stereotyped a synonym or antonym of hackneyed? Is uncommon a synonym or antonym of hackneyed? Use hackneyed in a sentence of your own. Hackneyed- overused; clichéd POS- adj.

DOL The young kitten who was six months old was trapped inside of the empty closet which had nothing in it. Ms. Santini told us to do the following read the assignment take notes and to write a Report.

Grammar Writing with Adverbs Use the following adverbs in sentences of your own. Underline any additional adverbs in your sentences. 1. Brightly, so _________________________________________________ 2. too, well 3. extremely, still 4. hard, today 5. sometimes, never

Vocabulary Emaciated Bonus: Ex. The emaciated abandoned cat begged for food and milk. Bonus: Unscramble the synonyms for emaciated. 1. S W A C R Y N _____________________________________________ 2. T A N U G _____________________________________________ Unscramble the antonyms for emaciated. 3. B U R T O S 4. T H R E A Y Scrawny Gaunt Robust Hearty

DOL She don’t want to let we to kids attend the softball game we’ve been gone to much recently. Leave the book dragonwings lay on the shelf until your ready to read it said Mr. Arnold.

Grammar Adjectives and Adverbs Read each of the sentences. Underline the adjectives. Circle the adverbs. 1. We awoke to a blanket of fluffy white snow on the ground. 2. We patiently waited to see if we had a snow day. 3. When we got the news, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had an extra day to finish my ten-minute presentation. 4. I eagerly crawled back into my warm, cozy bed. 5. Fortunately, I could sleep for another three hours. I had stayed awake much too late the previous night.

Benchmark Practice This is a group activity for team points. This is your last week together, so make it count! Directions: Read the question(s). Read the passage. Discuss the questions to determine the BEST answer. Remember, there can sometimes be more than one answer that could work, but one of them will be the BEST. Cast your vote and see how you do!

Literature Study Groups After much careful thought and consideration, I have decided to allow you to select your own literature study groups. Each group will need 4-5 members. No, you may not have more than 5 members under any circumstance.  When you have a group, each member should select a DIFFERENT job for every reading assignment. You will receive an individual grade for your assignment each week, so do a good job! Here’s how this is going to work… Reading guides will be due by Wednesday and reviewed as a class, as usual. Lit. study group members will have the opportunity to work with other classmates who have the same assignment on Wednesday to prepare their presentation to their group for Thursday. On Thursday, lit. study group members will meet. Each group member will present their information to the group. Following the lit. study group meeting, each member will complete their own reading response (writing assignment) from the reading for the week. Be prepared to begin this process this week. Make sure those reading guides are complete and you pull your weight with your group!

Tuesday, 10/1/13 Good morning! Please remember to get your folder. Take out everything from your folder and place it into your binder before you do anything else. Agenda First Five Benchmark Assessment Read Gathering Blue Reminders GB Reading Guide C. 1-5 is due tomorrow

Benchmark You will need 2 pencils. (It’s always good to have back-up. ) Do your best! Just think the questions through and select the BEST answer.

Wednesday, 10/3/13 Good morning! Please remember to get your folder. Take out everything from your folder and place it into your binder before you do anything else. Agenda First Five GB Reading Guide C. 1-5 Meet with your assignment group to prepare for your presentation tomorrow. Reminders Prepare your part for the lit. study group tomorrow.

GB C. 1-5 Review the answers to the reading guide as a whole class. Meet with your assignment group so that you may work together to prepare your part for the lit. study group tomorrow. See the information and samples provided for your assigned task. If you have any extra time, you may work on your next reading assignment.

Thursday, 8/29/13 Good morning! Please remember to get your folder. Take out everything from your folder and place it into your binder before you do anything else. Agenda First Five Lit. Study Groups Meet Reminders Your reading response activity should be completed by tomorrow.

Lit. Study Groups Meet with your lit. study group today. Each person should present their information to the group. After each person presents, begin working on your reading response. You may discuss the prompt with your group, but complete your own work. This is an individual activity that will be due by tomorrow.

What Makes a Good Dicussion (p. 27) Empathetic Listening: Give your complete attention to the speakers, showing the students in your group that you value their contributions. Use positive body language Make eye contact Responding to Group Members: Expand on other group members’ ideas by sharing your thoughts and feelings about what they contributed to the conversations. Clarifying: Ask questions to understand each other’s ideas better. Tell me more about. . . What do you mean. . .? Why do you think. . .? Sharing ideas and justifying opinions: Share parts of the book that demonstrate the core content that you are addressing and explain why they are important. Justify your opinions. I think . . . is a good example of a metaphor because. . . I wonder if the relationship between these two characters would have changed if they had . . . I was surprised that the plot changed course because I was expecting . . . This part reminds me of . . . because . . . I don’t understand why the author keeps on repeating this word . . . I like this section of writing because . . . I noticed. . . because . . . I wish . . . because . . . I think this story is really about . . . because . . . Self-reflection: Consider what has been done well, and make decisions about what needs to be improved. Set goals for the future.

Participation Rating Expert Participant Willing Learner Brings reading material with passages clearly identified Willing Learner Brings thoughtful written comments Brings reading material Contributes significantly to discussion Understands purpose of reading circle Keeps the discussion going Brings some written notes Listens and responds thoughtfully Contributes to discussions occasionally or when prompted Builds on others’ comments Makes insightful connections to other readings and/or experiences Sometimes listens and responds appropriately Occasionally asks questions Discusses author’s style/literary elements, when appropriate Shares ideas when asked Reluctant Reader Active Participant Brings reading material with passages identified Not prepared for discussion Forgets written comments or reading material Brings written comments Contributes appropriately to discussions Conversation off-task Listens actively and responds adequately Seldom listens q Rarely responds to group Reluctant to ask relevant questions Makes connections to other readings and/or experiences Unwilling to share ideas Discusses author’s style/literary elements (when appropriate)

Friday, 8/30/13 Good morning! Please remember to get your folder. Take out everything from your folder and place it into your binder before you do anything else. Agenda First Five DOL, Vocabulary & Grammar Quiz GB Reading Response Read GB Have a wonderful Fall Break!

DOL, Vocab. & Grammar Quiz Do your best! These will be graded over Fall Break. They will go onto your grade for the next 9- weeks so that you will have the opportunity to make corrections.

GB Reading Response C. 1-5 What character and/or situation in Gathering Blue remind you of someone and/or situations in your own life? How are they similar and how do they differ?

Literature Response Rating Beginner Response shows a minimal understanding of the response prompt Response uses no information from class discussions and/or text as support Errors in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization that interfere with communication Learner Response shows a basic understanding of the response prompt Response uses limited information from class discussions and/or text as support Some errors in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization that do not interfere with communication Skillful Response shows an understanding of the response prompt Response uses information from class discussions and/or text as support Few errors in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization Expert Response shows an in-depth understanding of the response prompt Response is insightful, well developed and includes information from class discussions and/or text as support Control of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization