How to get an "A" in literacy!

Read at least 2 hours every week and hand in responses (samples below).
Every time you read, even at home, update your daily independent reading log. It should like like this:

Daily Independent Reading Log

Date*Title*Page*Start*Page*End*Completed Date

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Here are some sample responses.

Literary Letter on Tar Beach

9-15-02

Dear Diana,

I am reading Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold. I will be done reading it today, because it is a really short picture book for kids. At first I felt weird reading a kid’s book, but I could really see the connections between this book and the unit we are studying in American history class. I also chose this book because it reminds me of New York City, where I am from. In the book a little girl named Cassie Louise Lightfoot pretends she can fly over all the tall buildings and bridges in New York City. She lies on the roof of her apartment building in Harlem while her parents are up there having a party with their friends. She looks out at the sky and imagines herself up with the stars—this is a very nice image—like she is free. I always wanted to be able to fly when I was little and imagined that I could fly away home when I was having a bad day at school. I bet I am not the only one who did this. This is a very good book, because I can relate to the story even though it describes an experience Cassie had a long, long time ago (in the 1930s!). It makes me think differently about the history I am studying, too—like real people were part of history—not just wars and dates and famous men.

Yours truly, Maria

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Response to Ziggy

I am reading Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs by Sharon Draper. On pages 43–44 Jerome is taking with his grandmother. I like this part of the story because it reminds me of times when I would talk to my grandmother when I was a little kid. Like Jerome’s grandmother, my grandmother used to tell me stories about the history of my family. I really liked to hear the stories that she told me.

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VOCABULARY FOR ZIGGY (Mystery Genre)

You need to have index cards for all the following words. Look up definitions in your dictionaries and we will review in class.

fierce, investigate, character, excavation, originate,
convey, physique, trauma,reconstruct, specify, durable,
modify, constant, commute, incredibly, excursion, lapse,
distorted, suspense, retrieve, placid, explode, prefix, velocity, acrid

It's Almost Report Card Time!

Please continue to review your science, especially the invertebrates and vertebrates, definitions and examples. Also be prepared to explain what adaptation is and how it relates to both predators and their prey. Finally, you should be able to identify major parts of the cell and identify three one celled animals. The quiz is Tuesday!

I have added more sites. Don't forget to practice the U.S. Map site it is fun and you will learn a lot.

Seventh graders you have until Wednesday to finish all the questions through page 51. We will go over answers then and have a quiz on Friday. The question pages I need handed in are the matching answer pages, and you do not have to write out the whole question, but you do have to identify the page number. This Thursday you must hand in two essays based on the "find outs" in your book or another topic related to the material but approved by me.

Have a nice weekend, do not forget to read. By October 31st when I do grades I will be checking your book logs and reading responses to ensure that you have read a minimum of 2 hours a week or I can't give you an "A" in literacy.

Oh! Be prepared to present your ideas for a newscast!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

Do not forget the trip slips for Tuesday, and lunch if you want to bring your own. If you lost your slip, have your parent write a note saying you can go, but they must sign the note. NO SE OLIVDEN LOS PERMISOS PARA EL PASEO.

Here is the science study guide again, for those who need it. The test will be Wednesday, since we have the trip Tuesday.

October 2006 Science Study guide

Vertebrate - An animal with backbones.

Invertebrate - An animal that does not have a backbone.

Ecology – The study of interactions of organisms and their environment.

Habitat – The place where an organism lives.

Cell – The smallest, most basic unit of life.

Food chain – A way of showing how food, and energy passes through a community of organisms. Example: The sun gives energy to plants. Plants are producers. Plants give energy to primary consumers, insects. Primary consumers give energy to secondary consumers, small birds, frogs, or rabbits. Secondary consumers give energy to tertiary consumers, humans, wolves, bears, and tigers.

Producer – Organism that makes its own food.

Predator – Organism that kills and eats another organism.

Prey – Organism that is killed and eaten by another organism.

Adaptation – A trait that helps an organism survive in its environment.

These are examples of adaptations:

Claws Camouflage
Small feet Hard-shell
Big feet Poison
Sharp teeth Porcupine Needles
Opposable thumb Keen sense of hearing, smell, and sight


There are 5 kinds of vertebrates
Amphibian
Reptile
Mammal
Bird
Fish

There are 5 kinds of invertebrates
Mollusk
Arthropods
Sponge
Worms
Cnidarians (for example, jellyfish)

Other homework:
6th graders have a sheet from Mr. Bruce to complete for social studies.
7th graders: start to memorize the second paragraph on page 85 of the American Govt. book (end with the word equal).
Everyone: Write 4 sentences with count and non count nouns, begin with I have a lot of....or I have some..., end with in my house. You can also use much or many in your sentences.
Finally, please complete the articles worksheet below.

ARTICLES (a, the, etc.)

We are still studying animals...

What are three characteristics that may be adaptations for this Black Capped Kingfisher? How might these adaptions help this bird in his environment?

And now onto a community issue...equally important because if we feel comfortable and safe in our class then and only then will optimal learning take place.

The excerpt below is from www.facinghistory.org and written buy a self-proclaimed middle school bully. (Self-proclaimed means he himself admits to having been a bully.) That is why he was able to change, because he admitted his mistakes first. My students know that the well-being of all in my class is a huge priority for me. Sometimes as a teacher it is hard to know if I am reaching everyone I need to reach, so I thought it would be good for you to hear the words from someone your own age.

I Faced History and Found Myself

Cleveland, Ohio-‘I was known as the class bully, taking my title so far that once I nearly broke a kids arm,” recalled Jonathan Lykes about his behavior in middle school. That changed when Jonathan took teacher Lori Eiler’s Facing History class as a 9th grader at Shaw High School in East Cleveland.
“I faced history and found myself,” he now says.

Through Facing History’s approach to studying the Holocaust, Jonathan learned about concepts such as “bystander,” “upstander,” and “universe of obligation.” He began to realize he wanted to care about more than just himself, to give up his attitude of indifference. Jonathan was also inspired by Facing History resource speakers, including Holocaust survivor Max Edelman, South African Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs and Carl Wilkens, the only American to stay in Rwanda after the genocide began. These speakers inspired and encouraged Jonathan to take a stand against injustice.

Last spring Jonathan wrote a poem called “Perception” about how prejudice influences our decisions about helping others. It won a regional poetry contest sponsored by the Cleveland Playhouse. Jonathan then went on to participate in a national contest and placed 12th. On October 25th Jonathan, who is now a junior at Shaw, will speak at the First Cleveland Benefit Dinner at the Intercontinental Hotel.

Perception [excerpts]

by Jonathan Lykes

How do they see me?

How do I see them?

For I noticed that there is this thing called perception
that gives people the opportunity for acception
or, on the flip side,
to be in the circle of rejection.

All different types of sections and cliques
making fun of that person and talking bad about this person,

so I ask you what is your outlook on things?
So many different stereotypes
and all types of legal rights
being violated just because you look this way or act that way,
and you’re telling me it’s OK
to give a blind eye to the less fortunate
simply because they’re beneath you....

What you need to do is stop judging others....

Perception. For one second make an exception
and listen to a person younger than you,
not really wiser than you.
Give me a minute I just might surprise you.

Perception. Now I see people plagued with this lasting infection
of carelessness once we face history and look it in the eye.
It’s an embarrassment.
Yes, I do realize good intentions meant, but we still went wrong on our courage to have the right perception.

TEST: You see an Arab man; he comes and sits next to you on a plane.
Your heart pounding, your mind going insane,
you automatically think he’s there to bring pain,
out to terrorize all for “Allah’s” gain.
But what’s going to put you to shame is that he never hurt a soul in his life,
has three kids and a wife.
And, on the Fourth of July, with everyone else he sings, “I’m proud to be an American…”

Wrong perceptions…
tend to hurt ....
What is your perception?
(see the rest of Jonathan's poem at www.facinghistory.org)