Oh my... where did the time go?

Wow. I have no good excuses for why I have not posted in such a long time. I will simply update and bring you up to speed with what has been happening in English. My students and I have been working very hard to learn the ins and outs of poetry. Things such as similes, metaphors, personification, and many other topics and types of poetry.
We have had the opportunity to listen to tons of music and identify figurative language. The students recently completed found headline poems. If you have never seen one or heard of this type of poetry, you are missing out on a very creative form of poetry. The students cut 100 or so words from magazine and newspaper headlines and then use those words to create a poem of their own. Some of the kids have some AMAZING poetry. My hope is to ask some of them if it would be okay for me to upload them to this blog and share.
Our next project allowed students to analyze the lyrics to one of their favorite songs. They wrote an analysis and labeled figurative language in the song. This project required students to use prior knowledge acquired this marking period. I love to read the responses to the theme of the lyrics that the students write, the responses of the kids always amaze me.
This week, the students worked on a "Pick Your Own Poetry" project. Each student created a poetry portfolio full of poems that they wrote about the Fall or Halloween. The culminating activity for the Poetry unit will be a Poetry Reading in the library this Tuesday. All parents and school staff are welcome to attend. There will be refreshments and each student will be sharing their portfolios with the class. Please join us if you can, we would love to have you there!

First Full Week... Wow, that was fast!

Can you believe that the first full week of school is over already? We have already had a flooding, a pep rally, and school portraits. Before you know it, we will be turning in our textbooks and we will be planning summer vacations. Okay, maybe I am getting ahead of myself. This week in class we started our unit on Poetry. After some review of what everyone remembered from other years and realizing that music is SO close to poetry, we started working. The vocabulary review was great, we listened to and analyzed some Billy Joel (to the thrill of everyone, hee hee). Next, we focused in on practicing similes and writing some journals in our "Writer's Workshop." Hopefully, everyone is getting the gist of how class procedures work in room 212. Wow, what a quick week!

Welcome Back!!

Well, here we are again, starting another year of school! It is hard to believe that the summer is gone and we are back to living by the bell system and 43 minute blocks of time. Hopefully, you were able to enjoy the time off and you are back, ready to learn a ton of new things this year in English! This year, we will start with a Poetry unit which should be really fun. Keep in mind that if you are a music lover, you should be able to find something that sparks your interest in this unit because of the similarities between music and poetry. Song lyrics are really just poems set to music. As you listen to the radio, tv, and whatever is playing on you iPod listen to what the lyrics are actually ABOUT. You might be surprised!

Hopefully, we will have a great year. I am excited to meet the newest group of 8th graders and see what you have to offer!

Here Comes the Summer!

Image by ruminatrix via Flickr

Happy June!
Well, we are closer to another year of school closing as June rolls around. Although I am currently teaching English, I previously taught Reading and am an avid reader myself. Therefore, I would love to instill in each of my students the love of reading that I have had since I was very young. I can't stress enough the importance of reading for pleasure. When summer comes, many people turn their thoughts to vacations, free time, sleeping in, and time with friends. How about this summer, you take some time and read a book? I would encourage each and every one of you to pick up a book this summer and really ENJOY it. Find something that interests you. Find a book on a topic you're interested in learning more about. Find a book that helps you learn a hobby. Find a book that you will actually read. Find a book!! If you need help finding something to read, let me know. I would be happy to help you find something. Come on now, you have to read at least one book for your summer reading requirements anyway, so you might as well find something that you will enjoy reading. Plus, if you don't believe me when I tell you that reading helps you to become a better student, take a look at the link I have posted about Summer Reading.

Happy reading!
Mrs. E :)

Click here for the article

So... tell me what you know about Poe.

We have started our background on Edgar Allan Poe and will begin reading many of his short stories and poems starting this week. Keep in mind that the background about Poe is very interesting and gives you some insight about him as an author. Think about the common themes throughout his life. What can you predict will also be common themes throughout his writing? Well, you will soon find out. This week we will read "The Raven". This is probably Poe's most famous work, and if you remember from our discussion in class, he only ever received payment for this poem. It seems like any of you that love the many mystery and suspense tv shows should love this unit. If you want to brush up on your skills, you could watch any of the following shows: CSI, Law & Order, NCIS, Numbers, Bones, Harper's Island, or many more. Bring your observations with you to class for a compare and contrast discussion.

Happy Mysteries!!
Mrs. E :)

The Raven- Edgar Allan Poe

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Get ready!!!

Image via Wikipedia

Start looking around for blogs on the web. See what you find. Consider the following questions as you look around on these blogs:

Does it look good?

Can you find the information that you want to find?

Can you comment on the post?

What does the language look like for the posts and comments?


Get ready... we will be using this blog as an interactive journal for our next unit on mystery. Whoo hoo!

Mrs. E :)

Here comes the ASK 8...

Well everyone, the time has come to start intensifying our practice for the ASK 8 test. Basically this means that we will be practicing many forms of writing and all of the grammar and mechanics that need a review. Look at the following types of writing and think about which ones you are most comfortable with writing:

Persuasive Essay
Speculative Picture Prompt
Explanatory Essay
Poetry Response


Over the next few weeks, be prepared to get your pencils moving and write those essays!!! To get you inspired... or your parents, there is a PowerPoint found on the front page of the GHS website that offers some great tips to get you ready for the test:

click here for the link

Wondering What Everyone Thought...

So, we finished the Night unit. I was wondering what the students thought of the unit. What did you like? What do you think you will remember? What questions are still swimming around in your mind? I am throwing these questions out into the void and awaiting your responses. Let's start a discussion, shall we?

Ending of a unit...

It always is a bit sad when we end a unit and move onto another one. Our class just finished reading Elie Wiesel's novel Night. The classes had some great discussions about the Holocaust and the World War II era. Every time I have the opportunity to teach this unit I am always amazed at the great insight some students show in class. I think my favorite part of this unit is the final unit project. The students were asked to create a "Holocaust Journal". Basically, each student created a 10 page journal, made a character, and made their journal entries follow the time period. Many of the students have done such an amazing job! My hope is to have the students read their entries and create a podcast that I can link to this blog. I would love to have you listen to them... stay tuned. Mrs. E :)