Daily Class Notes 10/30)

1. Took questions on any problems students had filling in flashcards for Week 4 terms quiz.

2. Reviewed timeline for next section of novel reading and log. Student groups entered the due date and page numbers to read on the Week 5/6 logs I handed out today. I told students to bring books and logs EVERY day since I will allow some class time for reading.

3. I reviewed week 3-4 vocabulary sheet (posted above) . I pulled out vocabulary words that would fit into a suspenseful Elevator Ending from the vocabulary words students found in the last 2 weeks of reading. Students should KEEP the handout in the Voc section of their ELA binder for future use. Students must use at least 1 word from the list in their draft ELEVATOR ENDING.

4. Reviewed examples of how William Sleator used SENSORY LANGUAGE in "The Elevator" to help readers SEE, FEEL, and HEAR the action.

EXAMPLES:

Reader SEES a "single fluorescent ceiling strip, bleak and dim on the dirty brown walls" and "ankles bulging over dirty sneakers"

Reader HEARS "Gasping" and "footsteps echoed behind him like slaps on the cement"

Reader FEELS "tense in the trembling little box" and how "her coat brushed against him."

5. Elevator "Tour" I took students to take notes on what they see, hear, and feel inside and outside of the school elevator. Students zoomed in on some small details they observed and used computers to add some of the detials to their OWN writing to build tension in the draft story endings. I circulated to offer feedback.

Daily Class Notes 10/28 and 10/29)

1. MONDAY notes: I was out. Students worked with sub in computer lab.

• Students spent the class completing the POV writing they started on Friday
• Students read the instructions and FCAs for new writing assignment to create their OWN ending to the short story "The Elevator" Students completed Brainstorm questions to decide how to end the story either in One-Note on the "Elevator Ending" page in the Writing Folder section of One-Note OR they hand-wrote answers on a hard copy of the instructions.
• Students MUST keep the Brainstorm/planner page to turn in WED if they did the work on the hard copy.

TUESDAY class notes

• Students given 5 minutes to COPY definitions from Wk 4 Reading Log onto Week 4 Study Guide.
• Students HANDED IN WK 4 READING LOG.
• Student continued work on "Elevator Ending" and will finish tomorrow in class AND at home if needed.
• I circulated to offer writing advice.

Daily Class Notes 10/25)

1. I announced Week 4 terms quiz for NEXT Friday. Students marked up Reading Log 4 with what to study. Flashcards due on day of test. Study guide posted above.

2. I gave a mini lesson on POINT of VIEW. All points are covered in the PPT attached to today's HW above.

3. Students began work in computer lab to identify how Sleator creates Point of View in a short passage and then students will rewrite the passage from Dad's point of View and from the elevator's OMNISCIENT point of view.

Daily Class Notes 10/16/19 (WED)

1. Reminded students to check lost and found.

2. Reminded students that if HW asks for PRINTED work, you MUST email me and politely ask me to print the night BEFORE. Otherwise stay after to use computers at school. I will NOT print during class again this year! It robs the class of teaching and learning time.

3. Went over reading log issues: Students who did not do the work well have tonight to revise.

We reviewed common errors yesterday so you would APPLY what you learned to ALL future work. REVISE logs to be sure you

• have complete sentences (capital letter at beginning, period at end, complete thought--don't start with words like "because" "to" "that".)
• ANSWER ALL PARTS of the question. Most students skipped explaining HOW the internal conflict might lead to a future conflict in the novel--how it "moves the plot forward." Good writers don't include pointless "sissy fights"--as we demonstrated in several classes. ASK ME if you do not understand this reference!
• TURN THE QUESTION AROUND in the answer. USE the TERM from the question to begin your answer. "An Internal Conflict in this section of reading is when....
• Capitalize names,
• use

3. Students had wk 3 group novel discussions and recorded voc on flip chart.

4. Students began peer markup and review of EXPOSITION paragraphs.

Daily Class Notes 10/15/19 (TUES)

1. Handed back graded papers. Students set up the FINAL page of white-lined paper in their binders to record the TITLE of Assignment; STRENGTH; and what to WORK ON.

I reviewed my comments and how to interpret my comments and items I checked and circled to know that checks mean you showed a strength and circled or underlined items usually show a spelling or punctuation error. The most common things to work on include:

• Use more details and specific descriptions to show you read closely
• COPY spelling of everyday words (beginning, realize, a lot, writing...)
• If a word is RIGHT in the text or the directions, just copy the spelling correctly!
• Use a ' for possessives (John's house)
• Capitalize proper nouns such as character names, cities and states, languages, religions, days of week or months of year....
• Reread directions SEVERAL times as you work. AFTER finishing, check off EACH part of the directions to be sure you have included all required parts before you decide you are done.

Students did NOT get points taken off for most of the spelling and editing errors this time but WILL LOSE POINTS in the future if you make the SAME mistakes over and over.

I invited students unhappy with any grade to stay after and work with me on possible retakes or new strategies to help you succeed.

2. Students worked in the computer lab to complete EXPOSITION DRAFTS.

Students edited to correct any common spelling, capitalization, or other errors that are on their WORK ON column from the graded work to be sure the Exposition draft does not make the same errors.

Students printed the draft to use for peer review tomorrow. Anyone who needed a computer to finish after school could have stayed with me to finish and print. Bring printed draft to class tomorrow.

Daily Class Notes 10/10/19 (THURS)

1. COLLECTED: hard copy "Seventh Grade" questions. All others should be done in One-Note.

2. Handed out and reviewed vocabulary words students found in their Week 1 and Week 2 discussions. I provided definitions, sentence examples, and part of speech for each word. We acted out and gave examples of how to use the words correctly.

3. I reviewed how to add more vivid language and specifics to the planners to ensure better writing in the draft. EX: if you planned to write about "students talking" you would add a more specific WORD for talking to your planner --"students calling loudly to each other" "Students shrieking and laughing" "a buzz of sound and activity" ....

4. Students had 10-15 minutes to revise their Exposition paragraphs to add vocabulary from the new word list, dialogue to introduce characters instead of directly TELLING, and correct basic issues with capitalization, and breaking long passages into paragraphs.

EX of showing to introduce characters instead of telling:

• TELLING:

I'm JOE. I hate studying. I play football.

• SHOWING:

Students poured out of buses and into the hallways. A group of boys in blue and gold Foxborough football jerseys gathered by the stairs. One boy jammed another into the wall. "Hey Joe! Why didn't you text back last night? I needed the answers to the ELA homework! "

"Back off, Ryan. I may be the quarterback but I don't have to pass everything to you."

Daily Class Notes 10/9/19 (Wed)

1. I gave period 1 directions for the Exposition Writing prompt. (Details are in YESTERDAY'S entry since other classes got the introduction yesterday.) Students planned and drafted for approximately 25 minutes. You will have more time tomorrow.

2. I was chaperoning an enrichment field for other ELA periods. Students had the period to plan and draft their exposition paragraphs. Students will have a little more time to finish a draft tomorrow. THIS IS NOT HOMEWORK--YET.

Daily Class Notes 10/8/19 (TUES)

1. I reviewed the writing prompt students will complete in class tomorrow when I am out chaperoning a field trip for all except per. 1 (I will be here period 1). You will keep this in the WRITING section of the binder after using it tomorrow.

2. I reviewed the term INTERNAL CONFLICT on the Week 3 mini-reading log. students wrote the due date (Oct 16) and the pages to read this week at the top of the log and put it into the Lit Notes Section of the binder. Students will look for examples of INTERNAL conflicts this week--conflicts and questions a character has with him or herself. Students will also look for EXTERNAL conflicts that are caused by or that cause INTERNAL conflicts. Full definition is on the first page of the Wk 3 log posted above.

3. Students had small group literary discussions for Week 2 reading. New leaders took groups through the Discussion steps posted on every table. I sat in with as many groups as possible. For groups that say their books seem a little slow, we noted

• NOVELS take longer to build tension than short stories
• It helps to imagine you are IN the book and that issues faced by the characters could happen to YOU--Think about what choices you might make.
• Also it is fine to not LOVE your novel. It teaches you what you might do differently in your OWN writing.

4. Some students had time to begin the "Seventh Grade" reading and questions in the computer lab. Students were also invited back to use the lab during the 20 minutes after lunch, but very few students did.

Daily Class Notes 10/7/19 (MON)

1. All classes completed the PowerPoint reviewing the following Literary Terms: Tension, Rising Action,Conflict, 3 kids of External Conflict, Antagonist. You will be quizzed on the definitions and examples of each term later next week. The PowerPoint is in One-Note in the Novel Unit Section if you need to review.

2. We looked at a short video of old PCs falling like dominoes and students took notes on connections they made between the way the dominoes fell and the way a good story unfolds. (Link to video is below. I also copied the link and notes below into One-Note in the Novel Unit section.)

Your notebook should include the following observations about HOW THE DOMINO PCS VIDEO CAN REMIND US OF THE WAY A GREAT STORY MAP UNFOLDS.

• When the boot kicks the first PC, it is like the INCITING CONFLICT kicking-off the story to get the action moving.
• One PC has to connect to the next as they fall, the same way that conflicts connect through the RISING ACTION of a story. Each event builds to cause more conflicts--making more "dominoes" fall to MOVE THE PLOT FORWARD.
• The path of the dominoes goes around corners, just like the plot events in a good story should take twists and turns.
• The SPEED of the dominoes falling changes, just as the PACING of a story should vary--with some quieter moments to balance more dramatic moments.
• The PCS slow down at a major corner, just the way the action seems to slow and stretch out moments of crisis at the CLIMAX of a good story. CLIMAX is the TURNING POINT in a story.
• The final section of pcs falling after the major "turning point" moves pretty evenly and is much shorter than the section that lead to that corner. The FALLING ACTION of a story moves along fairly quickly too.
• The last 2-3 PCS fall and there is no more! The RESOLUTION of a story is usually a short wrap up the leaves the characters and events behind. No more dominoes to see. In this version the guy filming says, "Whahoo!"--It's a happy ending!

3. Some classes had time to begin reading and markup of the short story "Seventh Grade" in the One-Note notebook. It is NOT homework to finish it.

Daily Class Notes 10/4/19 (FRI)

1. LAST CALL- Yesterday, students should have turned in

• STUDY GUIDE for yesterday's quiz
• Week 1 Reading logs AND
• Genre Hw copies that were NOT done in the Assignments page of TEAMS in September. Most people did the work on the computer but some folks did a hard copy and I NEED that hard copy to give you credit. Just check the TEAMS genre assignment and you will see whether your answers are there or if you need to get them to me on paper.

2. Reviewed terms for the NEXT quiz related to Rising Action: Plot, Tension, Conflict, Types of External Conflict. The terms are on the first page of the Week 2 Reading Log. Definitions to memorize are underlined on that page.

I reviewed a PPT and asked students to take notes on pictures, examples and key words in definitions to help them focus and dig deeper than just memorizing words. The entire PPT is loaded into One-Note in the NOVEL UNIT section. It has audio to review everything I went over. I will finish the PPT review on Monday for classes that did not finish. The audio will not load as an attachment to THIS site, so you need to go to One-Note for it.

Daily Class Notes 10/3/19 (THURSDAY)

1. All students took first ELA quiz on Train Your Brain Strategies and literary terms related to Exposition and genre.

• If you struggled, you should ABSOLUTELY plan on staying after next week to discuss and practice HOW to succeed next time. Many students admitted never using any of the study strategies and not even completing the study guide. There are steps that will help improve your confidence and future outcomes.
• Students who finished the quiz before the end of class followed directions to PIN the desktop version of One-Note to their laptop . This seems to solve the delays we have had logging in to work. We will complete this tomorrow.
• Some students made more progress on reading the short story "Seventh Grade."

Daily Class Notes 10/2/19 (WED)

1. Showed classes what test pages will look like for tomorrow's quiz.

2. I handed out and BRIEFLY reviewed the terms to sticky-note examples of in Week 2 of the Novel reading. I suggested completing reading by Friday to chunk the work. (I won't check for sticky notes until Monday, but do your best. Complete Wk 2 logs are due TUES Oct 8.

3. We went to the SHORT STORIES section in the One-Note Note book to the "Text of Seventh Grade" page.

• Good writers use REAL details from their own lives to build on to create fiction. Students read the background information on author Gary Soto before we read his short story titled "Seventh Grade." Some classes had time to highlight 3 details about his life that they predict may be used in the story we are going to read.
• Some students then had time to read the exposition of the story "Seventh Grade" and follow the instructions to highlight setting details, ways the author SHOWS character traits, and the inciting conflict.

Technical glitches slowed the learning. We are working with tech staff to resolve problems.

Daily Class Notes

1. In class students tried to list 10 study strategies from memory to see PATTERNS in what to study. Students noticed they had the most trouble remembering strategies near the END of the list and strategies they may NOT have used Action or Sound to help learn. We shared more examples.

Students tried to write definitions of Exposition, and some of the genre terms from memory to see what to study more. Students were told to look up correct answers to any definitions they could not remember using the handouts I posted in YESTERDAY's HW entry. Students should use strategies they have NOT yet tried to focus on learning THOSE terms to chunk learning.

• In some classes I shared 2 poems that use all of the study strategies. We noted that creating a poem makes you PARAPHRASE and SUMMARIZE and CHUNK the list into sections in each stanza. Writing is an ACTION and reading it out loud uses SOUND. It is a great study strategy to learn ANYTHING.

2. Novel Groups finished group discussion following the steps on the GREEN sheet I left on desks and reviewed in class. Some students need to remember to USE directions that are right in front of them as they work. Students who finished ALL discussion steps then completed a PINK GROUP DISCUSSION SUMMARY. Each group handed in ONE summary and other members put their summary in the Literature Notes Section in One-Note. Keep Reading Log there for now to study EXPOSTION for the quiz. I will collect AFTER the quiz Thursday.