Sunday, September 27, 2015
Thursday, September 24, 2015
A Gold Miner's Tale
Does Just Believing Have Benefits?
I love the ending of this poem. The man tries more than once to "get rich quick" by going out and panning for gold. He believes that he will be a wealthy young man because he is certain he will strike it rich. He even dreams about finding gold.
But he is fooled by the false promise of riches. The old adage, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" is very true in this instance. And after failing for a second time to find gold (and giving up his job to do so!), he learns his lesson. He realizes that he can make money off of the other prospectors by selling them long underwear to fight the cold. Brilliant!
I know I told you that I would put the answers on here... and I did! You just have to look closely. And if you can't figure it out, you'll just have to go about finding the answers the traditional way: READ THE POEM!
For 5 additional points, please add a comment at the bottom (where it says COMMENTS). Your comment may not show up right away, but be patient and it will (if it's appropriate). Be sure to include your name.
I love the ending of this poem. The man tries more than once to "get rich quick" by going out and panning for gold. He believes that he will be a wealthy young man because he is certain he will strike it rich. He even dreams about finding gold.
But he is fooled by the false promise of riches. The old adage, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" is very true in this instance. And after failing for a second time to find gold (and giving up his job to do so!), he learns his lesson. He realizes that he can make money off of the other prospectors by selling them long underwear to fight the cold. Brilliant!
I know I told you that I would put the answers on here... and I did! You just have to look closely. And if you can't figure it out, you'll just have to go about finding the answers the traditional way: READ THE POEM!
For 5 additional points, please add a comment at the bottom (where it says COMMENTS). Your comment may not show up right away, but be patient and it will (if it's appropriate). Be sure to include your name.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Personal Narratives and Poetry
I loved the poems you guys wrote. I'll be sharing some of them with you in class this week.
The narratives are in the process of being revised. They should be completed by Wednesday. See me if you need more time. Remember to aim for engaging stories by using plenty of detail to make your stories come alive. And most importantly, tell what insights you gained from the experience. We will learn some other strategies later for better opening lines for our narratives.
We will be starting Step 2: The Verb this week. The verb is the most important part of the sentence, and being able to recognize verb tense and making your verbs agree with your subjects is an important aspect of writing.
Coming soon... Assignments that REQUIRE you to read this blog. Stay tuned!
The narratives are in the process of being revised. They should be completed by Wednesday. See me if you need more time. Remember to aim for engaging stories by using plenty of detail to make your stories come alive. And most importantly, tell what insights you gained from the experience. We will learn some other strategies later for better opening lines for our narratives.
We will be starting Step 2: The Verb this week. The verb is the most important part of the sentence, and being able to recognize verb tense and making your verbs agree with your subjects is an important aspect of writing.
Coming soon... Assignments that REQUIRE you to read this blog. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Meet the Teacher Night
Meet the Teacher night is Thursday night from 6:00 to 7:30. Please stop by so I can meet you and say wonderful things about your son.
I hope to see you then!
Also, please join PTA! The cost is $7 a person.
I hope to see you then!
Also, please join PTA! The cost is $7 a person.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Labor Day Weekend
I hope you're enjoying your 3-day weekend. I went to the movies yesterday (A Walk in the Woods), but then spent the rest of the day sneezing - not fun. I'm still not feeling well, but at least the Aggies, the Irish, and the Texas Rangers all won yesterday.
In our first two weeks together, we have focused on ways of analyzing text, focusing on The Giver and our 2nd book of choice from the Summer Reading Assignment. We specifically practiced ways of responding to important passages from the text:
In addition to responding to literature, we wrote our first personal narrative of the year, a prelude to next week's 3 Week Assessment, which will also be a personal narrative.
In the area of grammar, we are learning to identify prepositions and the prepositional phrases they start. We have done many practice sentences together, as well as a Group Practice (with corrections) and an Individual Practice (with corrections). Next week we will review prepositions and then take a test over them. The test will be formatted just like the Group and Individual Practices.
Next week also will include our introduction to poetry.
So rest up. Have fun. READ something!
See you Tuesday.
In our first two weeks together, we have focused on ways of analyzing text, focusing on The Giver and our 2nd book of choice from the Summer Reading Assignment. We specifically practiced ways of responding to important passages from the text:
- Put the passage in context (tell what's going on when this passage occurs)
- Explain the passage (paraphrase it into other words)
- Show the significance of the passage (what makes it important)
- Connect the passage to a similar experience from another work of literature (what does it remind us of)
In addition to responding to literature, we wrote our first personal narrative of the year, a prelude to next week's 3 Week Assessment, which will also be a personal narrative.
In the area of grammar, we are learning to identify prepositions and the prepositional phrases they start. We have done many practice sentences together, as well as a Group Practice (with corrections) and an Individual Practice (with corrections). Next week we will review prepositions and then take a test over them. The test will be formatted just like the Group and Individual Practices.
Next week also will include our introduction to poetry.
So rest up. Have fun. READ something!
See you Tuesday.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
The First Week
We had an interesting first week getting to know each other. Be sure to come to Meet the Teacher Night and see the great Flair Projects in the hall. They look great!
This coming week we will work on annotating skills, using both The Giver and the book you chose from the list. Be sure to bring both books every day (and yes, you will get your Giver book back on Monday).
We will begin working on personal narratives and continue learning to recognize prepositional phrases.
By the end of this weekend, there should be 4 grades in the Skyward gradebook:
This coming week we will work on annotating skills, using both The Giver and the book you chose from the list. Be sure to bring both books every day (and yes, you will get your Giver book back on Monday).
We will begin working on personal narratives and continue learning to recognize prepositional phrases.
By the end of this weekend, there should be 4 grades in the Skyward gradebook:
- Annotations of The Giver (major grade)
- The Giver Quiz and Quick Writes
- Flair Project
- Group Practice over Step 1 (Prepositional Phrases)
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Oh, and about that second book...
We have almost made it through the first week of school. One more day! We can do it!
By the end of the weekend, I should have 4 grades posted for you on Skyward:
1. Giver Annotations
2. Giver Quiz and Quick Writes
3. Flair Project
4. Group Practice over Step 1 (We're doing this tomorrow.)
It's important, of course, to get off to a good start, but if you don't, there's still time to bring it up. But you are going to have to really work hard.
Please remember that you were supposed to read a 2nd book in addition to The Giver. There was a long list of books from which to choose. You didn't have to annotate it, but you DID have to read it. We will be working a little with those books next week. BRING THAT BOOK TO CLASS EVERY DAY NEXT WEEK!
By the end of the weekend, I should have 4 grades posted for you on Skyward:
1. Giver Annotations
2. Giver Quiz and Quick Writes
3. Flair Project
4. Group Practice over Step 1 (We're doing this tomorrow.)
It's important, of course, to get off to a good start, but if you don't, there's still time to bring it up. But you are going to have to really work hard.
Please remember that you were supposed to read a 2nd book in addition to The Giver. There was a long list of books from which to choose. You didn't have to annotate it, but you DID have to read it. We will be working a little with those books next week. BRING THAT BOOK TO CLASS EVERY DAY NEXT WEEK!
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