Progress reports and Winter Break!

This week we are wrapping up our Anne Frank and the Holocaust unit with an overview of genocides that have taken place since WWII.  Not terribly cheery during the holiday season, but an important part in understanding why we study the Holocaust and how the world's declarations of "never again" haven't come to pass.

Progress report grades are due on Tuesday.  All grades are entered and up on Synergy with the exception of their Holocaust Novel Projects.  I am still grading those and should be finished by the end of the week. We will spend the last few days of the week watching the BBC Masterpiece movie of The Diary of Anne Frank.  It should appeal to students more than the classic film from 1959 and it is significantly shorter in length.

When we return from break, we will be reading To Kill a Mockingbird and writing our first literary analysis essay of the year in preparation for high school.  Students will be developing their skills writing thesis statements and supporting their analysis with examples from the text.

The only homework during winter break is for students to be reading a new novel for their next Independent Novel Project.  I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing winter break.

Safe travels and happy holidays,
Ms. Hermes

Wrapping up Anne Frank and the Holocaust

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving vacation.  We are wrapping up our unit on Anne Frank and the Holocaust.  Independent Novel Projects are coming in tomorrow, December 3rd. I'm looking forward to hearing about the various books that they read and to see what creative projects come in.

Study questions and vocabulary are due on Monday, December 8th.  Those activities should prepare students for the Unit Test on Thursday, November 11th. We will do a test review on Wednesday, November 10th in class. We've had a lot of fun using an online quiz/review game called Kahoot!

As we end this unit, we will watch two films -- Anne Frank Remembered (an Academy Award winning documentary) and the BBC film version of The Diary of Anne Frank.

Assignments:
Act 2 Study Questions -- Due Monday, December 8th along with the vocabulary packet posted earlier

Quarter Grades, Days-off, and Technology!

My apologies for getting behind on this blog/website. Quarter grades are posted and report cards should be mailed home soon. If you check Synergy, the default is now Quarter 2. You will need to adjust the view to see Quarter 1 and associated grades.

Thanks to all of you who have donated to the Beverly Cleary Fall Foundation Campaign. I feel so fortunate to be teaching in such a generous, caring, and supportive community.

With any luck, next week we will have a full week of school and can make some real progress in our reading of the play and our study of the Holocaust.

Today -- Friday, Nov. 14th -- we are going to attempt to use Google Classroom (a place where students can view and submit assignments) and do a "webquest" on Nazi Concentration Camps.  Most of our time will be spent on a website called The Holocaust Explained -- http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/   

This is a great website designed for student use with images and information suitable for various student age groups. We are using the portal for 11 to 14 year olds. If all goes well, then students will be able to submit their paper through Google Drive instead of turning it on paper. If not, I have paper back-up! We shall see if technology is our friend or foe! 

Upcoming Homework;

1. Due Monday, 11/17: Look up the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah in preparation for the play next week. The Holocaust Explained website is an excellent source as is the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website. Write a solid, legible, properly punctuated paragraph (minimum of 5 sentences) using the following words: Hanukkah/Chanukah, Maccabees, and menorah.

 
2. Study for Vocabulary Quiz for Anne Frank Words 1 through 19 on Thursday, November 20th.

3. Read your Holocaust era novel.  You may want to mark important passages as you read to help you with your selected project! You should finish your novel soon so that you can focus on your project. Get it done sooner, rather than later since Thanksgiving is coming up. Remember, your project is due on Wednesday, December  3rd.

Anne Frank & the Holocaust

Last week we started our unit on Anne Frank and the Holocaust.  Before we start reading the play, we are learning about the time period and the historical events surrounding Hitler's rise to power in the aftermath of WWI.

Students will be selecting a Holocaust era book to read for their next Independent Novel Projects. Ideally, students will have their novel by Monday, October 27th.  However, it is important that they find a book they connect with, so if they aren't liking their chosen book there will still be a little time to make changes. Below is a book list, but students are not limited to these titles. There are lots of choices out there -- from fiction to survival stories -- so this list is just a start.  I am bringing in lots of choices from Multnomah County Library. Students may borrow these books from me, but they are responsible for the cost if they get lost. Parents, please talk to your student about their book and make sure you approve of their selection.
Holocaust Era Booklist

Due on Monday, October 27th: Anne Frank Background Questions

This week, I will see 5th period students on Monday and Tuesday. 6th period students only attend LA/LIT on Monday due to the dance on Tuesday afternoon. I'm looking forward to meeting many of you at conferences on Wednesday, October 29th from 8:30am to 7:30pm with breaks for lunch from 11:30 to 12:30pm and dinner from 4:30 to 5:30pm.

Have a great week and a fun Halloween!

No School Wed. 10/16 & Conferences 10/29

The Independent Novel Projects I received last week are just incredible. It is amazing what students will come up with when given choice and some artistic freedom.  I have read amazing stories, watched videos, and examined maps and timelines all related to books they read on their own.

Just a quick reminder that there is no school for students on Wednesday, October 15th.  Instead of late openings once a month, the Beverly Cleary school community has four days without school so that the staff from all three campuses can gather for professional development.

Conferences are quite early this year on October 29th and 30th. They are "arena style" which means that all the middle school teachers will be in the cafeteria (or gym) and parents will go from teacher to teacher for short conferences. Since I am part-time, I will be at conferences ONLY on Wednesday, October 29 -- all day and in the evening. I believe they go from 8:30 am to 8pm (with a few breaks in between).  I will be in touch with exact times as soon as I know them.  I will NOT be at conferences on the 30th, so please make note of that as I would hate for your to show up on the 30th to discover that I am not there. Also, the evening hours can get busy and there are sometimes lines to see teachers. If you can come during the day, I highly recommend it.

Deadlines this week:
WW Lesson 4 quiz on Monday.
"The Landlady" news article printed and ready for peer editing on Tuesday.
No school on Wednesday.
Final copy of news article due on Thursday.

10/3 Grades are up!

Grades for both Literature and Language Arts are up on Synergy and can be seen on ParentVue and StudentVue.  Or at least I think you can see them. Please do not hesitate to let me know if there are any issues as this is a new program for me.

Independent Novel Projects are due on Tuesday, October 7th.  Novel projects should reflect your best work and your knowledge of the book that you selected.  Always edit and proofread your work closely before turning it in.

This week we studied foreshadowing in a short story by Roald Dahl entitled "The Landlady."  Students are working on a newspaper article  that  reveals what they think happened next in the story. Here is the assignment link: "The Landlady" Newspaper Article Assignment
We will be working on this in class this week along with properly punctuating dialogue. No final due date has been set.

Hope everyone enjoys this beautiful weekend!

9/15 - 9/19: Futuristic Short Stories + BTSN

This week in Language Arts, we read two futuristic short stories: "Autumntime" by A. Lentini and "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury.  Students will compare and contrast the setting, theme, conflict, and climax of both stories.

On Thursday, all students took a district mandated test called the EasyCBM.  It took less than a class period and it provides a baseline score on reading comprehension and vocabulary development.  They completed the same test last year in 7th grade.

I enjoyed meeting many of you at Back-to-School-Night.  Attached below is a pdf. of my presentation for those who were unable to make it.  There was a lot of information to present in a short period of time. Please feel free to contact me with any questions at: lhermes@pps.net.
HermesBTSN2014

A few parents asked if it was possible to purchase a Wordly Wise 9 book for their student to write in rather than using as separate piece of paper. The school will not be selling copies, but the books are available at Amazon for approx. $11.00.  We are using Wordly Wise 3000, Book 9, Third Edition.  I am unsure whether or not there is a difference between the 2nd and 3rd editions so please stick with the third.

Students, make sure you are keeping up with your reading for the Independent Novel Project. October 7th will be here before we know it!

9/8 to 9/12: Photo Bio essays, Banned Books, and Independent Novel Projects

Week of Sept. 8 - 12:

This week, students finished their Photo Bio essay, started Wordly Wise 9 (WW9) Lesson 1 (due Wed., 9/17; test 9/19), and were assigned their first independent novel project due Tuesday, October 7th.

On Wednesday, Jackie Partch, from the Multnomah County Library School Corp, came to our classroom to do a banned/challenged books presentation called "Feasting On Forbidden Fruit." Most students were surprised to learn about the wide array of titles that have been banned or challenged over the years.  It was a great way to kick off independent reading!

The Independent Novel Project choices attached below were designed to reach a wide array of abilities and interests.  Please pick a novel that both interests and challenges you. It should be new to you -- not your favorite book that you read over and over again. Students are welcome to submit proposals for other projects, but all projects must be approved by me.  These projects are done outside of school. They should represent your best effort and reflect your knowledge of the book you selected. See assignment details below:
Independent Novel Project #1

I am enjoying getting to know you better through your Photo Bio essays. Lots of fun reading ahead for me this week.

Back-To-School-Night is Thursday, September 18th  from 6:30pm to 8:15pm.   I am looking forward to meeting your parents/guardians.

9/2 - 9/5: Welcome!

Welcome to my 8th LA/Lit Classroom Blog. This is my first attempt at creating a blog, so please bear with me as I figure it all out. My hope is that this will be a useful place for both students and parents to receive class updates and find links to class assignments.

I am still working on the assignment calendar function. It isn't quite working the way I would like it to, but if you scroll up and down you can see past assignments, etc... We will be doing the written planner in class to keep track of assignments so that is always a good place to start. Students should be getting a PPS Google Apps For Educators (GAFE) account that will allow them to use Google Drive and associated apps without a gmail. I believe they should be receiving their accounts sometime in the next week or two.  "Blogger" is part of the PPS GAFE domain, so if you have difficulty viewing any of my documents (or the formatting is off) you made need to be signed in to a Google account.

Attached below you will find my introductory letter and a formatting guide for both handwritten and typed papers.  In preparation for high school, all typed papers will follow the MLA formatting guidelines.  On the side of this blog, there are links to resources, including the Purdue Online Writing Lab website and the OSLIS On-line MLA Citation Maker, both of which are excellent resources for the MLA format. I will continue to add on to this list throughout the year.

8th LA/Lit Introductory Letter
Hermes Formatting Guidelines 2014
I am looking forward to a great year in 8th LA/Lit.
Best,
Ms. Hermes