1. Mark Sheets

Unfortunately due to technical difficulties, it is not possible to send out mark sheets by email this time. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Mark sheets went home today. The deadline to hand in work is Friday Jun 11, 2010. Here are some ways you can improve your mark over the next two weeks:

1. Hand in any missing or incomplete work.
2. Do a really good job on your iRead homework. This will improve your Reading, Writing, and Media marks. (By next Friday, you should have 5 posts and 16 comments. One of these posts should be labelled as “please mark me.” An example of great posts and comments can be found on the iRead website.)
3. Do a really good job on your found poetry assignment. (We will be doing a second poem on Photoshop in the next few days.)

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

2. Blogging Release Form

A blogging release form was also sent home today. We are doing some great work with our online literature circles. Right now, the website is a private class website which means you have to log in to see it.

Over the next few weeks, it will become a public site but with some content that you still have to log in to read. Students and guardians have four options:

1. Yes, I would like to publish my work, but please do not publish my child’s name. (Their username will be used instead.)
2. Yes, I would like to publish my work, and you may publish my child’s first name (i.e. Mike)
3. Yes, I would like to publish my work, and you may publish my full name (i.e. Mike Fuchigami)
4. No, I do not want my child to publish their work.

Student work that is not published will be hidden: “You must log in to read this post.”  Choosing to publish or not to publish work online does not affect your grades. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Reading logs will be checked on Monday May 31. Please make sure you have reading logs filled out and signed. Forty five dollars of Scholastic coupons will be given out on Monday.

Also, by Monday May 31, you should have 4 posts and 16 comments on our literature circle website: iread.ldhss.educircles.com . Please note that 50 comments were removed because they didn’t add to our conversation about books. If you would like to see an example of a great comment please read this post: http://iread.ldhss.educircles.com/?p=2001. Next week, you will need to pick your best iRead post and comment to be marked.

The last mark sheet will go home shortly after Monday. (For those of you who haven’t handed in your final literature circle project in, you might want to do this before the weekend so you don’t have missing marks on your mark sheet.)

If you have any questions, please ask me in class.

Mark sheets were sent home this week. Unfortunately due to a technical error, I am unable to send them out electronically this time. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Here are some questions that have come up…

1. Is it really due today (Friday May 7).

Yes and no. Some people who have completed their prewriting and half of their draft have been given an extension to next Friday (May 14).

Students who have not completed their prewriting and half of their draft by today have 40 minutes of detention every day until their project is complete. Detentions are to be served at 1:05 or after school.

Students who do not complete their final project by Friday May 14 will need to come in every day for detention until their project is completed.

2. Will we have any more time in class to work on our final projects?

We will have one more period on Monday and that’s it. Final projects are due at the end of the week.

3. I don’t have Comic Life, SMART Ideas 5, or some other program at home.

No problem. The lab will be open next week (1:05-1:45) to work on your project.

4. I’m making a video and I’m using Sony Vegas or some other program that you don’t have at school.

No problem. Save whatever you have so that it will play in windows media player. On Monday, you can do peer revising and get feedback.

5. I’m trying to get in touch with the author. What should I do.

You can do this hypothetically or in real life. In other words, you could write the email to the author, but not actually contact them. Or, you can write the email and actually send it to the author.

There are several ways you can get in contact with your author. You might consider sending them an email, a real letter, leaving a comment on their official website, etc.

If you are trying to contact the author in real life, you must 1) make sure you have your parents/guardians permission (a note written on your assignment page), 2) have your email / comment / letter  approved by the teacher for content and appropriateness, and 3) you must use your school email account to send the email. (You cannot use your personal email.)

You are not allowed to post comments or questions on the author’s websites, unless you have done those three steps.

6. I’ve finished my draft. What should I do?

When you are revising, please use the revising checklists that we used for other assignments:

1. We used a 5 point revising checklist in our speech unit.
2. We used another revising and editing checklist when we were writing our persuasive essays / paragraphs.

Please make sure

7. What do I have to hand in at the end?

Remember, you are getting marked on using the writing process.

1. The good copy of your final project
2. Proof that you brainstormed ideas and organized your  ideas before you started the assignment (prewriting)
3. Your first draft
4. Proof that you revised your work by trying to fix your ideas, organization, voice, word choice, and sentence fluency (i.e. using red pen)
5. Proof that you edited your work by fixing your writing conventions – CUPS: Capitalization, word Usage / grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling (i.e. using blue pen)

8. I thought we had to write a paragraph explaining how our project demonstrates our understanding of the BIG idea.

Yes, we will be doing that on a post-it note next Friday when all of the projects are due.

If you have any other questions, please ask in class.

Some of you are using comic life in your final projects for your novel study. There is a 30 day trial version available online: http://plasq.com/downloads 

The school has comic life deluxe (version 1.3.7) and the 30 day trial version download is for comic life (1.3.6). I’m not sure if your work at school will open at home, but you’re welcome to try.

Downloading or purchasing comic life is not necessary. This week (and next week), students can always come in at second recess to work on their final projects at 1:05 PM.

• Download the handout: Literature Circle Final Project

• Download the handout: Final Project - Rubric and Example Mind Map

The final assignment is due on Fri May 7. Students who are working hard on their projects (and can show the work they’ve done on Thursday) will be given an extension to Fri May 14.

Students who have not started their project on Fri May 7 will be required to come in every day for 40 minutes at second recess (1:05-1:45) or afterschool until the project is completed.

If you have any questions or concerns, please see me in class.

Please finish your cue cards tonight. Try to memorize your speech. Tomorrow (Friday) will be a dress rehearsal. You will be presenting in class next week starting on Monday. Students will be selected randomly.

Don’t forget to plan out your dramatic flair by 1) underlining words to read with emotion, 2) planning your dramatic pauses, and 3) planning your gestures.

• Download the handout: How to use Cue Cards (Page 1)

• Download the handout: How to use Cue Cards (Page 2)

• Download the handout: How to use cue cards effectively

• Download the handout: How to write a great speech (sample)

• Download the handout: Public Speaking Rules and Rubric

Here is an online stopwatch: http://online-stopwatch.com

There is a silent cake auction tomorrow (Thu April 1). Bring money so that you can bid on cakes to take home! More information will be provided in class. Good luck to all students, parents, and teachers bidding on cakes. Thanks to all of the volunteers who are donating cakes for this school fundraiser.

Here’s what we did in the lab today:

1. Finish your goals document in Google Docs.
   1. What did you do well?
   2. What do you need to improve next time? Find the writing errors identified in the rubric and copy/paste the mistakes into your table.
   3. Fix your mistakes in the “comments” column.
   4. Have a teacher check your work.

The Persuasive essay (or paragraphs) is due on Thursday April 1.

1. Type in your good copy and share the file with me. For example, R7F – your name – essay. (Put the word, essay, in your filename.)
2. Triple-check your work for the errors that you put in your Goals google document.

Notes:

1. All work must be completed at school.
2. Use the revising and editing checklist to make sure you have completed the assignment correctly.
3. On Thursday, you must hand in your mindweb, your draft, and any revisions / editing you have done. (You will receive a mark for the writing process.)
4. By Thursday, you should have finished typing in your good copy on Google Docs. (Thursday’s lab period can be used to finish your persuasive writing or to work on reading stuff.)
5. If you need extra help or extra time, please come in during second recess.

Additional Notes for R7C and R7F students who are writing persuasive paragraphs:

By Thursday April 1, you need to hand in three paragraphs to be marked. You have two options:

Option 1: Write 3 separate paragraphs about three separate topics.

For each paragraph, you need to complete the following:

• mind map
• draft (there should be around 11 sentences in your paragraph)
  1. topic sentence (explaining your opinion)
  2. write a sentence about your first idea
     • write 2 sentences about your first idea.
  3. write a sentence about your second idea
     • write 2 sentences about your second idea.
  4. write a sentence about your third idea
     • write 2 sentences about your third idea.
  5. closing sentence (summarize your opinion)
  6. call to action (tell your readers what to do)
• revising / editing
• good copy

Option 2: Write a ’3 paragraph’ essay about one topic

You need to complete the following:

• mind map
• draft (there should be around 11 sentences in your paragraph)
• body paragraph
  1. introduction paragraph
     1. catchy sentences to grab the reader’s attention
     2. 3 facts about your topic
     3. what is your opinion?
  2. body paragraph explaining your idea
     1. topic sentence (explaining your opinion)
     2. write a sentence about your first idea
        • write 2 sentences about your first idea.
     3. write a sentence about your second idea
        • write 2 sentences about your second idea.
     4. write a sentence about your third idea
        • write 2 sentences about your third idea.
     5. closing sentence (summarize your opinion)
  3. conclusion paragraph
  1. restate your opinion
  2. call to action (tell your readers what to do)
• revising / editing
• good copy