Ms. Hamilton's ELA Blog

Spring Fever a Few Months Early

2008-02-10T21:25:00.000-05:00

Hi guys,
Across the board, I have been disappointed with behavior, attitude, and work ethic over the past couple of weeks. I know you guys are 8th graders and so you feel like your time at 93 is coming to an end. It feels like senioritis is setting in. But the bottom line is that you are only 8th graders. And it is only February. We still have a lot of time left this year and a TON of work to do. So, please, for your own sakes (because if you don't work hard, and your grades slip, you are only hurting yourselves), keep reading, writing, working hard, and exercising self control. If you can do that, I know that we can end this year on a positive note.

Additional Notes:

Keep up with your independent reading. You need 19 books by the end of 3rd quarter.

The final copy of your JFA will be due the Monday you return from February Break.

Parent/Teacher conferences are the week after February Break.

Over the break, start thinking about a country and a historical time period that interests you. Our next unit, Historical Fiction, requires that you write a narrative piece about an immigrant coming to America during a historical time period.

Enjoy the February break! Read a lot and get some sleep.

Thanks.

Book Group Links

2007-10-18T20:56:00.000-04:00

Hi, Book Groupers. Here are some links that should provide helpful information about Anne Frank, her family, the annex, World War II and the Holocaust. I think that if you will look through some of these links, you will have an easier time reading and enjoying Anne's diary because you'll know more about the context in which it was written.

Enjoy!

Oh, one more thing.

2007-09-13T19:25:00.001-04:00

Check out my e-chalk page. Go to is93.org, click on Teacher pages, and then click on my name. Find out about important assignments and deadlines.

Welcome Back!

2007-09-13T18:59:00.001-04:00

Hi guys, welcome to the 8th grade.

This year we are going to build on all our hard work from last year. To start off, we are going to refamiliarize ourselves with the reading strategies, independent reading, and the rituals and routines of the classroom. Then we will jump right into to our first author studies (Walter Dean Myers for 843 and 845 and John Steinbeck for 849) and begin work on our responses to literature.

I look forward to a productive, exciting year.

Virginia Hamilton and Such

2007-05-20T21:36:00.000-04:00

We will begin our literature circles tomorrow. You will begin reading a novel by Virginia Hamilton with several of your classmates. As you read, it is important to pay attention to how Hamilton's patterns appear in your book. Remember that you will begin writing a response to literature in several weeks about a pattern or theme that recurs in Hamilton's writing. It's never too early to think about which pattern or theme you would like to focus on for this project.

Additionally, tomorrow I will give you a list of your missing 4th quarter assignments. Your ongoing homework assignment for this week will be to turn in your missing work by Friday, May 21st. If you don't have any missing assignments, then your only homework is to continue reading for the book campaign. Twenty-one books by Friday, people!

A few things . . .

2007-04-22T20:33:00.000-04:00

Spring Break Independent Reading Projects

A handful of you still have not turned in all parts of the Spring Break Independent Reading project: the reading log, reader's response, and artistic representation of your book. Remember that you lose points on this project every day that it is late. Additionally, if you do not turn it in, you cannot pass 4th quarter.

For those of you who did turn the project in on time, you will be getting your work back soon.

Executive Summary Update

We are now well into our Executive Summary unit. We began writing our polling reports late last week and will finish those up this week. Your interview notes are due tomorrow. We will finish up the interview write up next week, and should begin writing the Executive Summary iteself by the end of next week. Remember that the Executive Summary is the persuasive piece of this unit, when you finally get to express your opinion about the issue you have chosen and champion a solution to the problem.

What are you reading?

I feel that many of my students need to step it up a notch when it comes to their independent reading. We only have 9 weeks left of school and in that time, you all should complete the 25 Book Campaign! Everyone should be reading at least 30 minutes each night. I also want to encourage everyone to share what they are reading on this blog. So, I'll start . . .

I am reading a book called M.C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton. I'm not very far into it, but so far, so good. Many of you will read this book yourselves during our upcoming author study.

Have a good night, everyone.

Spring Break Updates

2007-04-04T18:02:00.000-04:00

Trackstar: I have added several more links to the Trackstar page. Specifically, I have added links to sites on the issues of crowded schools, dirty schools, and bike racks. Remember that you can use the link and track numbers listed in the post below to access this useful resource.

Independent Reading Task: Remember that you all should be working on the independent reading task that is due when you return to school next week. When you come back to class on April 11th, you should be prepared to:

Hand in a reading log, Reader's Response, and artistic representation of the book you finished over the break
Give your 2-3 minute presentation in which you summarize your book, explain which task you chose, and tell your classmates about how you artistically represented the important ideas of the book

I hope you all are having a wonderful break! I know I am. Take care and see you next week!

Executive Summary Research

2007-03-21T22:50:00.000-04:00

Before we begin writing our interview questions, we need to make sure that we are thoroughly informed about our topic. When you made your KWL charts, I asked you to determine which questions could be best answered by your poll result, your interview, or through research. Knowing where best to look for this information will help you ask better questions and research with a clear purpose.

For those questions that require research, use http://trackstar.4teachers.org. This is a site that allows teachers to create lists of useful links to use as resources. I have created two tracks with lists of resources that I think will help you with this project. Once you are on the page, you can log into my tracks by simply entering the my track numbers.

Type in 313696 and/or 314091 to access these resources.

I hope you find these resources helpful! Happy researching. Don't hesitate to ask me any questions.

What do you like to read?

2007-03-15T22:30:00.000-04:00

You guys will have noticed that I am trying to incorporate more independent reading into our classes lately. Many of you are having a hard time getting into it because you don't like what you are currently reading or you can't find a book you like. So, that begs the question: what do you like to read?

Feel free to post your comments telling what you like to read and why. Good books, authors, genres--talk about it all. But make sure you only use your first name and class number. No last names, please. Also, you should read the other students' comments to get a sense of what your classmates and the other classes enjoy.

Happy reading! Happy posting!

Task for the Executive Summary Poll

2007-03-11T17:52:00.000-04:00

Here is the task for the Executive Summary Poll. We will review this task and the corresponding rubric on Friday, but I thought I'd post it for those people who are interested in getting a head start. The final copy of your poll is due Monday, March 19th.

Task: Executive Summary Poll

Over the past two weeks, you have chosen problems in this school or neighborhood that you want to explore further through your Executive Summary project. For this project, you will survey 25 or 50 people using a poll you have written on the problem, interview someone who is an expert on the problem, and eventually write a persuasive piece in which you explain the problem and recommend a solution.

The first step of the Executive Summary is writing the poll itself. We have spent more than a week drafting and revising the polls in class. You will turn in your poll for a grade. For this assignment, be sure to:

Ask a series of questions that are all focused on one clear issue
Write approximately 10 questions in total
Include all four types of questions (yes/no and true/false, best answer, rank order and open ended)
Write questions that establish there is a problem AND write questions that test out possible solutions to the problem
Present the questions in a logical manner (i.e. the questions that establish there is a problem should be followed by the questions that test out possible solutions)
Include questions that determine the demographics of the respondents (questions about age, grade, gender, occupation, etc.)
Edit your poll for spelling, grammar, and clarity

Okay, so it's been awhile . . .

2007-03-09T21:43:00.000-05:00

It has been more difficult to keep up with this blog than I had originally anticipated, but we are starting a new unit, the Executive Summary, and so I don't see why I can't try and start the blog over again.

Right now we are writing the polls on the issues we have identified in the school or neighborhood. Remember that we need to write questions that both establish that there is a problem and test out possible solutions to the problem. Your polls should include four types of questions:

Yes/No and True/False Questions
Best Answer Questions
Rank Order Questions
Open Ended Questions

Also keep in mind that the final copies of your children's nonfiction books were due today. This is the most important grade of 3rd quarter. I look very forward to reading them!

Lastly, remember that I need your Topic Selection Contracts as soon as possible.

Welcome!

2006-10-09T18:40:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my blog. It is my hope that students and parents alike can use this site as a resource. I plan to update it frequently and share pertinent information, such as:

Homework Assignents
Tasks and Rubrics
Important Deadlines
Useful links to help with reading, writing, and test prep
Recommended books

Enjoy!