Service Project...

Dear 8th Grade Parents,

In the spirit of our current Bible unit, which includes the awesome theme of serving others, the 8th graders are doing a food drive for Wilkinsburg Community Ministries.  If you would like to participate, please send in any dry/canned goods by Wednesday the 27th (the day before Thanksgiving).

In His Service,
:)
Mrs. A

8th Grade: Turn It In...

For over a month, the 8th graders have been working on formal research papers. They have learned the MLA style of writing, and they have thoroughly researched their chosen topic in light of the Holocaust unit.  It is now time to turn the FINAL draft in to www.turnitin.com.  This website will verify that no plagiarism has taken place, and it enables the teacher (me) to grade the papers electronically.

For our class, the website ID is: 7286350, and the password is in all lowercase.  Hint: uncalled-for swimwear during the DC trip, and the conversation that Mrs. Agate asked you to "drop." ;)
The papers are due to TurnItIn by 11:59 PM on Friday (tomorrow).

Want more info on the paper?  Read on!  ...
The students have completed MLA source cards, outlines, first, and second drafts!  They also have (hopefully) mastered creating a "Works Cited" page.  (You may have noticed that the teachers have been giving light homework to accommodate this paper.  Josh Cole mentioned today, "Why don't we have any homework anymore?"  This was not well-received by his fellow students.)  More information on MLA format can be found by checking out www.owlpurdue.com.  MLA writing will carry the students through high school and college, and they will continue to receive a good foundation in 8th grade to master this format. 

For this particular paper, the students were given several rubrics throughout the course of their writing to hold them accountable to the requirements.  They also received summary sheets of MLA format to guide them.  I suggested that they keep these forms as the papers will be of great assistance in the future. 

Also, we will be writing another, longer research paper during the second half of the year.  Some of the students are actually looking forward to it!  No kidding! :)  I love these crazy kids!

Detention Policy...

Just a reminder...

We are keeping with the detention policy that we have been doing for at least three years in the middle school.  A detention (missing one lunch period) is given when five infractions are received.  Infractions are administered if a student is tardy, comes to class without his/her materials, or is disobeying a school rule.  We do this to help the students stay accountable to their responsibilities and be successful in the classroom.  At the end of the week, teachers turn in any infractions to the office; the infraction details the date, class period, and reason received.  Brenda Kirkland has been amazing in keeping up with the infractions.  She has a spread sheet which keeps track of all infractions and detentions assigned and served.  Mrs. Kirkland lets us know when a student has earned a detention, and you (the parent) will receive paperwork from the office if your student needs to serve a detention.  Detentions are on Wednesdays and are administered by Mr. McLane, Mr. Miller, or one of the middle school teachers. 

I hope this clarifies any misunderstanding.  I apologize if this was not explained thoroughly at orientation in the beginning of the year.

*If you feel that your student has received an infraction unfairly, please do not hesitate to contact any of us in the middle school.  We issue infractions without discrimination, and we do our best to be as consistent as possible to ensure fairness.  If you feel a mistake has been made however, or if we need to give an extra extension of grace for any reason, we are more than willing to discuss it with you.

Thank you.

Turn It In....

Students must turn papers into www.turnitin.com . All students have done this at least once before.  For English, our class ID is: 7198070 . Our class password is:  iliketurtles  .
The seventh graders have their Persuasive Essays due TONIGHT.
For eighth grade, please see the schedule for the MLA Research Papers on this webpage.  Their final draft is due to turnitin.com on November 12th.

Hooray for writing!
Mrs. A

www.turnitin.com
  

A Few Things...

1. Congrats to my 8th grade homeroom!  We had 100% participation for the Bags for Bucks fundraiser, and we enjoyed our reward this morning!  The students were VERY excited to have donuts, coffee, and juice for breakfast.  Thanks to all who participated.

2. Over the long weekend, every middle school student should be reading!  The 8th graders have to finish The Hiding Place by Tuesday, and the 7th graders need to read chapters 10-12 in The Hobbit by Monday.

3. Aside from reading, both classes are currently writing papers.  The 7th graders have a structured five-paragraph persuasive essay due Tuesday.  We have already edited our rough drafts, and now everyone should be on to the final copy.  The 8th graders should be starting their research on their five-page Holocaust research paper.  If you can get your 8th grader to the library over the long weekend, that would be awesome!  Mrs. Scott also pulled books from our school library's shelves which has been very helpful to the students.
(Specific hand-outs and rubrics were given for these writing assignments.  Check them out! :) )

4. On October 30th we are celebrating our first "Decade Day."  The students are allowed to come dressed in 1950's garb!  Get your poodle skirts and saddle shoes ready!

5. Thank you to the strong parental involvement in the Jewish feasts projects in the 7th grade!  They were fabulous! 

6. Enjoy your mini-break!

We're in FIRST Place!

I am proud to announce that our 8th grade homeroom is in first place for our Bags for Bucks fundraiser!  We have sold more than any class in the entire school!

However, we still have work to do!

If we have 100% participation by THIS WEEK (that means each student just has to sell ONE roll), then we are rewarded with a donut-breakfast!  Yummy!

Please consider participating in this fundraiser!

Thanks!

 

 

What's Goin' On?

We have been very busy in the classroom!  Here is a BRIEF update for you.

7th ENGLISH:  *We just finished a unit on short stories where we read eight works from different cultures and eras.  We learned literary elements of a short story as well such as plot, point of view, climax, etc.  We are about to begin reading The Hobbit.
                      *We have been working on writing, and we are about to conquer the structured five paragraph essay.  We will also be writing riddles in light of JRR Tolkein works.  The students have been enjoying the Friday writing prompts as well.
                      *We have completed four units in vocabulary, and we are about to start applying our knowledge of roots and derivatives to analogies.
                      *In grammar, we continue weekly lessons in understanding parts of speech and the various roles of words in a sentence.

7th BIBLE:   *We just finished Unit 1: An Overview of The Old Testament.  The students did very well on their test as the class average was a B+.  Nice work!
                      *Unit 2 is underway, and the students will enjoy learning about the Jewish feasts and festivals.

8th ENGLISH: *We just finished a unit on short stories where we read ten works from different cultures and eras.  We learned literary elements of a short story as well such as theme, tone, irony, etc.  We are about to begin reading The Hiding Place and starting a literary unit on The Holocaust.
                      *We have been working on writing, and we are about to conquer the personal narrative and article writing/journalism. 
                      *We have completed four units in vocabulary, and we are about to start applying our knowledge of roots and derivatives to analogies.
                      *In grammar, we are practicing sentence structure and mechanics.  Note: There will be a lot more grammar in this half of the quarter. :)

8th BIBLE:   *We just finished Unit 1: An Overview of The New Testament. 
                       *Unit 2 is underway, and the students will enjoy learning about the birth of the early church and Paul's missionary journeys.