Ok, it really has been way too long...

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Let's catch up! We have been reading Night and studying the Holocaust. Stating tomorrow, you can check here for chapter by chapter summaries. This will help keep you on track with the novel. Since we will have to take a break from the novel to prepare more carefully for the NJASK8, you can check here for some information to help you keep on track!

Homework For Today

Science- none
Algebra 1: Study for Mid-Term
Math 8: Study for Min-Test
English- Work on 8 Character Journals, DUE TOMORROW
Reading- Remember to return parent interest sheets for the Southern Feast
Social Studies- none

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!