Book Review Assignment and Reminder!

Hi 8th graders!
Hope you are having a good 3-day weekend.

In case you forgot your assignment at school, here it is:

Book Review Assignment
Sample Book Reviews

Remember -- typed draft due on Tuesday. Come with it printed and ready to go!

Assignments for Week of December 7th and Week of Dec. 14th

Assignments for week of December 7th:

Newsela -- due Wednesday, December 9th -- free choice; read, annotate, take the quiz.
Anne Frank Act II vocabulary quiz on Friday, December 11th

Assignments for week of December 14th:

Holocaust Book Review

• Typed draft due on Tuesday, December 15th
• Final draft due on Wednesday, December 16th.

Please return all library books borrowed from me BEFORE you leave for break. Any fines will be passed on to you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you were absent on Wednesday, November 25th, here is the link to the video we watched. It is called One Survivor Remembers and Gerda Weissman shares her amazing story of survival during the Nazi occupation of Poland.  Please take the time to watch it.
Here is the link:  http://www.tolerance.org/kit/one-survivor-remembers

Upcoming due dates:

• Newsela article on Germany and refugees due by Wednesday, November 25th before you leave for break.
• The Diary of Anne Frank Act I vocabulary quiz will be on Wednesday, December 2nd.  Try making a Quizlet to help you study! 
• Study questions for Act I will be due by Friday, December 4th.

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Anne Frank & the Holocaust

This week we are starting a unit on Anne Frank and the Holocaust.  We will be reading the play based on Anne Frank's diary and each student will be selecting a novel about the Holocaust era.  Students can select fiction, non-fiction, or memoir for their independent reading.

Upcoming due dates:
Wednesday, November 11th -- Newsela article due if not completed in class.
Thurday, November 12th -- 2nd Independent Novel Project due (extension from the 9th).
Friday -- Holocaust Background Vocabulary quiz on Friday, Nov. 13.

Please select novel by Monday, Nov. 16th!

End of Quarter and NaNoWriMo

This week we read a suspenseful short story entitled "The Landlady" by Roald Dahl.  Students are creating a newspaper account that reveals what happens to the main character, Billy Weaver.  Here is the assignment:
"The Landlady" Newspaper Article Assignment
A solid draft of your article is due on Monday!
Final draft will be due by  Friday, November 6th.

The next independent novel project is due on Monday, November 11th. Here is the assignment sheet in case you have misplaced it:  Independent Novel Project #2

Sunday, November 1st marks the first day of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).  For my writers out there, this is a great way to give yourself an added challenge to just get the words down on paper!! Set a word count goal, dedicate some time each day, and write! The initial goal is quantity with quality and revision coming later on.  For more information, check out the NaNoWriMo Young Writer's Program website at:  http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/

Conferences on Wednesday only!

Just a reminder that I am available for conferences on Wednesday only. I will be at school from 8am to 8pm with a lunch break from 11:30am to 12:30pm and a dinner break from 5pm to 6pm.

Students:  Your final writing assignment for Nothing But the Truth  (Final Writing Assignment: NBtTruth) is due on Monday, October 26th. Please PRINT it BEFORE you arrive to class.  Your chapter questions that I've stamped along the way are also due on Monday.  If you haven't fully answered the questions, with examples from the text when required, then please add on to your responses before turning them on the 26th! I expect complete sentences and full answers.

Be sure to spend time reading your next book for your novel project! You should be done with your book by Thursday, October 29th!!

Enjoy your time off. I'm looking forward to meeting your parents and guardians at conferences!

Conferences next week on Wednesday, October 21st!

Last week, students participated in the first Socratic Seminar of the school year on our novel, Nothing But the Truth.  In a Socratic Seminar students are in charge of facilitating the discussion. They did a great job!  I was so impressed by their level of engagement as well as their ability to make sure everyone had a chance to speak.  No hands were raised, students politely took turns sharing in the discussion, and my role was only to listen and observe.

This week, we are doing a Webquest Research Presentation. In groups, students will be examining one of two topics from the book -- How is the first amendment right to free speech applied in public school settings? or What is the role of truth in journalism? Documents for the Webquest can be accessed in your Google Classroom.

Each group will create a Google Slideshow about their research findings as well as their connections back to the novel.

Next week is conference week.  It is important for families to know that because I am a part-time teacher, I am available to conference all day on Wednesday only. I will not be there on Thursday.  As most of you know, middle school conferences are "arena" style so you do not need to schedule a time.