AC Language Arts

Dear Parents,

Students in 7th grade AC language arts classes will soon begin a study of the novel The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer.  The House of the Scorpion is an award-winning dystopian/science fiction text, having been honored as a 2002 Parent’s Choice Award, 2002 National Book Award, 2003 Newbery Honor Book, and 2003 Michael L. Printz Honor Book, among many others. It is an excellent novel, and I feel that it is appropriate in rigor and content for my advanced content students.  The discussions it spawns among my students are mature, rich, and exciting.  An overview of The House of the Scorpion is given here:

“The House of the Scorpion is a thought-provoking novel, presenting issues like human cloning, the value of human life, the importance of responsibility and friendship, and the question of how to make social structures work for all the people of a society. Matt is a confused but sympathetic protagonist who has some of the less likable characteristics of El Patron but who also reflects the values he has learned from Celia and Tam Lin. The unusual setting is brought vividly to life with a wealth of detail based on Farmer’s childhood growing up in Yuma, Arizona, near the Mexican border. The book would appeal to science fiction, fantasy, and adventure fans who enjoy a good coming-of-age story.” (Krentz, 2004)

Woven into the exciting plot of this novel are some of the “hottest” and possibly most controversial scientific and political issues of our time, cloning and biogenetic engineering.  In addition to reading The House of the Scorpion as a fictional narrative, students will also read short stories and non-fiction texts related to the issues of cloning and biogenetic engineering, eventually leading to persuasive writing centered on those issues.  This research will directly correlate to 7th grade science units of study on cells and genetics. It is not my intention to put forth my personal opinion on these issues.  My goals in working on this unit of study are:  (1) to provide my students with an opportunity to investigate an issue of great interest to them; (2) to help them develop higher level thinking and research skills; and (3) to provide them an opportunity to take a stand and appropriately express their concerns and suggestions on a global issue to an appropriate audience.  I give my personal commitment to making this study as beneficial and engaging to my students as possible.

As always, students along with their parents have the right to request an alternate selection for independent study if a novel assigned is not considered acceptable by the family for the student to read. The teacher, parent and student will be responsible for selecting an appropriate alternative together in a timely manner. The teacher must agree that the alternate meets the objectives being taught by the original novel. The assignment that directs the study of the novel will be given by the teacher. Whenever possible, the student will remain in the classroom. The student may also work in the Media Center during times that the class novel will be discussed.  The teacher and the student will identify an agreed upon time to discuss the alternate novel as well as work on appropriate assignments.

I invite any questions you may wish to share.  The best way to contact me is via email at beth1.smith@cobbk12.org.

Today in class, students completed a pre-assessment for our personal narrative writing unit.  Students were asked to work independently on this assignment because I will use this writing to assess their strengths and weaknesses in narrative writing. I will also use this piece of writing to help me design the lessons for our personal narrative unit of study.  It will not count as a grade in the gradebook. 

If you were absent today, I would like for you to complete this assignment at home and bring it to me by Monday 8/31.  The assignment is explained below:

As a “pretest” for the personal narrative unit, you must write a short personal narrative.  Choose a topic for your personal narrative that can be developed in one class period and can be written on one sheet of paper (front and back).

Suggested time frame:
planning – 5 minutes
drafting – 20 minutes
revising – 15 minutes
publishing – 20 minutes

Stuck for a topic? You could write about…
… a time you learned a valuable lesson, OR
…a time you overcame a challenge or fear, OR
…one of your time line events.

Remember:  Time Line Project due September 11!

Class was held in the Mac computer lab today, and students were introduced to an awesome technological tool for writing instruction called Write Smart.  After working through a guided analysis of weak and strong models of a personal narrative, students then began their own analysis of a different personal narrative, using virtual highlighters and sticky notes. Fun!  We will return to the Mac lab on Friday to continue working with Write Smart.

Don’t forget:  Time Line Project due September 11!

Here’s what we reviewed/learned during Daily Grammar Practice this week and last:

1)  The “be” verbs are: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, & been.

2)  Find the subject/verb “couples”, and then you’ll know how many clauses are in the sentence.

3)  Nominative pronouns act as subjects in a sentence; objective pronouns act as objects in a sentence. 

4)  Linking verbs are always intransitive.

5)  If a noun or pronoun is already acting as the object of a preposition, it cannot be a direct object, too. (That’s illegal.)

6)  In order for a verb to be a helping verb, it must be “helping” another verb!

We also spent time in class today and yesterday preparing to work at home on the Time Line Project.  Here are the steps I recommended that students complete in class:

*From the positive and negative life events in your journal, choose a minimum of 10 that you will represent on your time line.
*Make sure that you have given each event an “impact rating” (from +5 to -5).
*Order the events chronologically (since that’s how they will be graphed on the time line).
*Plan your time line, including creating a rough draft and making a list of materials you will need.
*Using your agenda, map out a work schedule for having your project completed by the due date of 9/11/09. 

Periods 3/4, 5, and 6 also read and analyzed an example of a personal narrative today.  We discussed narrative elements such as setting, conflict, tension, details, and conclusion.

Today, we went over the guidelines for the Time Line Project.  The Time Line Project is the only “completely at-home” project that I will assign this year. 

• We reviewed “Wednesday work” for DGP.  Remember:  a CLAUSE always has a SUBJECT and a VERB!
• We watched the Media Center orientation video.  Tomorrow will be our first check-out day!
• We learned the CARDINAL RULE for Ms. Smith’s class:  Keep EVERYTHING related to a piece of writing!  Don’t throw ANYTHING away!
• In periods 3/4, 6, and 7/8, we started sharing our partner paragraphs.  They are awesome so far!  Keep those great hooks, details, and transitions coming!
• Don’t forget to ask the people you live with for ideas to add to your “positive and negative life events” journaling. 

Today we started Daily Grammar Practice– fondly known as DGP.  DGP is a “daily dose” of grammar– a grammar vitamin, if you will.  We LOVE DGP!!!  In AC langauge arts, DGP will look like this:
*Mondays – parts of speech
*Tuesdays – sentence parts & phrases
*Wednesdays – clauses, sentence analysis, & capitalization/punctuation

Students were also given class time today to work on their focused paragraphs introducing a partner. Periods 3/4, 6, and 7/8 should finish these at home by Wednesday.  Period 5 paragraphs are due Thursday.   Early finishers used class time to get some independent reading done.

Reminder:  The fall semester syllabus was sent home last Friday and requires a parent signature.

This is the sample of the partner paragraph that was written to introduce our new *fictional* classmate, Hector Hillerman:

Life is not a bowl of cherries for Hector Hillerman; it’s a barrel of laughs. Hector has what he believes is a “great sense of humor.” He learned to love comedy at an early age, probably because of a father who played practical jokes. One of Hector’s first memories is of his father dressing up as a woman to be the blind date for a young bachelor friend, who didn’t appreciate the joke. He also remembers laughing at his father’s comical brother, Clayton, who played the dwarf Dopey at Disneyland one summer. When Hector was ten, his Uncle Clayton gave him a videotape of an Adam Sandler movie, and soon Hector was imitating Sandler, reciting parts of the movie for his friends and making them laugh. Later he became an Eddie Murphy fan. He admired Murphy’s ability to imitate people and to create interesting and funny characters. Someday Hector hopes to become a stand-up comedian as funny as both Sandler and Murphy. His dream is to do his routine on the Tonight Show and then sign a contract for a major motion picture.

• “Dear Ms. Smith” letters were due today.
• Partner Paragraph due date has been changed to Wednesday, 8/19 for all classes except period 5.  Period 5 Partner Paragraphs are due Thursday, 8/20 (due to an assembly today).
• The fall semester syllabus was given out today and requires a parent signature.
• Language arts notebook dividers should be labeled as follows:  Keepers; DGP; Writing; Literature

(This is the letter that I shared with my classes on Tuesday.  You should have a copy of this letter on purple paper.)

August 11, 2009

Dear New Student,

My name is Ms. Smith, and I will be your language arts teacher this year.  This is my sixteenth year as an educator, and I enjoy my job even more now than I did when I started.  When I hear some of my adult friends complain about their jobs, I realize how very blessed I am to have a job that I look forward to coming to each and every day.  I hope that you will enjoy coming to language arts just as much as I enjoy teaching it! 

Way back in first grade, when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my response was, “A teacher.”  Because I was an advanced reader, my first grade teacher allowed me to peer-tutor some of my classmates. At age six, I had already come to appreciate the great feeling I got when I helped someone learn something new. After graduating high school, I enrolled at Georgia Southern University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Middle Grades Education.  Later, I earned my certification to teach gifted education and went on to earn a Master of Education degree in Adolescent Education with an emphasis in language arts.  Just a few months ago, I completed my second Masters degree, this time in Educational Leadership. I’m telling you about my educational background not as an attempt to boast, but because I think it is important that you know you are in the hands of a competent educator. I love what I do, and I take my job very seriously.

One reason that I enjoy teaching an advanced content class is that I feel I can identify with my students.  When I was in elementary school, I was placed in a gifted program very similar to the program which was once called “Target” in Cobb County. As I progressed through middle and high school, I remained in advanced content classes where I was challenged and inspired by not only my teachers but also my exceptional classmates.  I think that I learned almost as much from my fellow students as I did from my teachers.  One of my goals is that we, too, will create a respectful and encouraging classroom environment as we learn both with and from each other in language arts this year.

When I am not teaching or preparing lesson plans, I am typically spending time with my family.  My son Nathan is a senior at KMHS, and my son Clay is a sixth grader at McClure.  I am also the oldest of four siblings, and my sisters and brother and I enjoy a very close relationship. Music is a very important part of our family time, and we often attend music events together.  Some of my other interests outside of school include reading, blogging, surfing the Internet, and spending time with friends.

In the future, I hope to travel to the ancient places of the world, such as Greece, Kenya, Egypt, and Tibet.  I also dream of publishing my own writing, perhaps in the form of a memoir or a novel for young adults.  These hopes and wishes for the future will not keep me from continuing in my career as an educator, though, and my plan is to teach well beyond the time I have earned my retirement.

There is much more I could tell you about myself, but I think I will save some things to be revealed throughout the course of the school year.  I am so looking forward to reading your “Dear Ms. Smith” letters! 

Fondly,

Ms. Smith