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 :)

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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 :)