October 28, 2010

Students practiced identifying and labeling verbs as transitive or intransitive, which we then went over in class.  We then talked about helping verbs and students identified many of them and how we use them in everyday speech.  Students were given a homework assignment on helping verbs.

October 15, 2010

Today students took a quiz over indefinite pronouns, then received new vocab words which they had time to define in class and go over.  Students should read Huck Finn through chapter 22 for Tuesday.  I also announced that next week on Wednesday we will have vocab quiz #4.  Also, on Friday they will take a pronoun agreement test.

October 12, 2010

Students took an open book quiz on Moodle about their assigned reading in Huck Finn.  They then worked on finishing the pronoun worksheet we started yesterday in class.  Whatever they didn't complete in class is homework.

October 11, 2010

Students took Vocab Quiz #3 (grades are posted to the student/parent portals).  We then talked about pronoun agreement and indefinite pronouns and students practiced in class.  They should bring back the practice worksheet to class tomorrow.  Students should have read through Chapter 18 in Huck Finn by tomorrow.  They will have to answer a few short answer questions tomorrow in class.  We will have a pronoun quiz on Friday, Oct. 15th.

October 6, 2010

Students were given time at the beginning of class to continue reading Huck Finn, after we read Chapter 10 together.  I finished checking the thesis statements that students wrote previously.  Then students were given an ACT writing prompt and asked to write a thesis statement in response to the prompt, which was then collected.  We went over the homework that was due, and students were given a few minutes to make flashcards of vocab 3, over which we will have a quiz on Monday.  Students should also read through Chapter 18 by Tuesday and be prepared to answer questions over what they've read.

October 4, 2010

Students took a very short quiz on the first 9 chapters of Huck Finn, which they were to have read by today.  I did not assign any additional reading, so those students who did not finish through chapter 9 should do that tonight.  We then talked about the first 9 chapters and went through the highlights of the plot and discusses some nuances that they may have missed.  We then did a few online pronoun agreement excercises which can be found on the Moodle, as well as several resources if students need help with pronouns.  A worksheet over identifying pronouns was assigned as homework and is due next class.

September 29, 2010

Students took a vocabulary quiz on Moodle and then were assigned a copy of Huck Finn.  Together we read the preface.  Students should read up to Chapter 10 by Monday.

September 28, 2010

Students did a free write about racism and slavery in preparation for our first novel, Huck Finn.  We then watched a short video on pronouns, reviewed what we previously learned about pronouns, and students received a pronoun worksheet as homework.

September 20, 2010

I am out of the building today (Monday) and tomorrow, so students saw Mr. Lillibridge instead.  They were given an excerpt from The Hunger Games, a young adult novel and asked to identify and label all the nouns they found in the following categories: person, place, thing, idea.  Once they completed that assignment, they had some time to work on the vocab assignment they began last class.

September 17, 2010

After a brief warm-up excercise, students were given most of the block to complete a vocabulary assignment.  They received 15 new vocabulary words, then used a template on Moodle to define, give a synonym, antonym and picture of each vocab word.  Students should have approximately 10 of the 15 words completed before our next class on Monday.

September 15, 2010

Students took their first vocab quiz on Moodle.  Grades are available on the student and parent portals.  After the quiz we watched a short video on the life of Mark Twain to prepare for our first novel, Huck Finn.   

September 14, 2010

Students turned in their vocabulary crossword puzzles.  As a class we discussed compound, common and proper nouns and students worked on a worksheet that if not finished was to be completed for homework.  We then made flashcards for our 15 vocabulary words, which students should study tonight for their quiz tomorrow.       

September 10, 2010

Today we finished talking about the syllabus and classroom rules and procedures.  Then students defined 15 vocabulary words which we then discussed as a class.  Students were to complete this as homework if not finished in class.  We then dicussed nouns and the difference between common and proper nouns and identified them as a class in an article.

September 9, 2010

Mrs. Rennells, our resident tech expert, came into class to help students set up their minis and reviewed rules, policies and helpful tips regarding minis.

September 7, 2010

Today I introduced myself to students, and they wrote for approximately 10 minutes introducing themselves to me and giving me any information they thought I'd like to know about them.  They then briefly shared a few things about them with the class before we went over portions of the syllabus.  Students are to bring their syllabus back to class on Thursday so we can continue where we left off.