Enjoy...

Thanks for a great first semester. Enjoy the winter break.  I look forward to seeing everyone again in 2014!

Another Contest!

Here's a link to information about the annual Creative Writing Contest hosted by the Anchorage Daily News and the University of Alaska Anchorage.
I encourage folks to enter!

Research Links

Here are some links to websites with information that may help with media research:
Links to Information about Advertising
Links to Information about Social Media

And here's a link to a helpful site for citing sources.

Beginning Unit Two...

Beginning this week, we'll be moving into the second Springboard unit of the year: "Real-Life Challenges."  This unit involves an examination of the impact of commercial media on our lives, it involves reading and writing about the effects of mass media, and it culminates with a persuasive essay.  The two essential questions of the unit are the following:
How does commercialism impact daily life?
and
How does research enhance the ability to persuade?
Here's a link to the learning focus of the first part of the unit.

During the first two weeks, we'll be reading a variety of articles about the media, including "Just the Facts About Advertising and Marketing to Children," "How Advertisers Persuade," and "Branded."

Also, a reminder that the end of the quarter (and the end of the first semester) falls on the last day before winter break: December 20th.

Writing Competitions!

Here's a link to the 4th Annual Alaska Statewide Youth Art & Writing Competition .  It's hosted by F magazine, and it's for young Alaskan writers.  The deadline is coming right up on December 16th.  Click on the website for details!

And, if you're interested in a national competition, here's a link to the website for the Scholastic Art and Writing awards.

There are many talented writers in my language arts classes, and entering a contest is a great way to put your work out into the world.  I encourage participation!

What's Happening in Language Arts...

This week, we're launching into a big project, one that will take us through the next few weeks, and one I'm really excited about.  It's generated by Springboard as an assessment that synthesizes many of the concepts we've been working with this semester with the novel we just finished reading: Lois Lowry's The Giver.  The project involves a graphic novel, a reflective essay, and a presentation. I've created a variety of tools to help guide students through the various components of the project.  Here's a link to an overview of the steps of the project, here's a link to a planning and design template, and here's a link to the reflection outline.  I'm looking forward to all of the creative and critical thinking this project involves!

This Week in Language Arts...

We're now deep into the fiction world of Lois Lowry's The Giver, discussing the themes of the novel and making connections to our own society.  It's been great listening to all of the great ideas!

This week, we'll explore the concept of imagery in writing, with a focus on sensory details.  Students will analyze the sensory details in a piece of description, and they'll create visual representations of the place described, using specific quotations to identify the details that they found most powerful and memorable.  Here's a link to the piece we'll read: from Springboard's "Coming to Your Senses" Lesson.    Students will also draw on earlier lessons about film techniques of framing and angles to create their visual representations.

We'll also use the piece to write found poems.

All classes will be continuing to read and discuss the novel, engaging in close reading, analysis, and Socratic Seminars.  It's going to be another great quarter!

This Week in Language Arts...

Believe it or not: it's the last week of the first quarter!  Time goes so quickly!
This week, students will continue to read Lois Lowry's The Giver, examining Lowry's fictional dystopia.  We'll compare and contrast the rules and customs of Lowry's fictional society with the rules and customs of our own society.  After some brainstorming and discussion, students will write a two paragraph Compare/Contrast piece, comparing and contrasting the two societies and weighing the benefits and drawbacks of each system.  There's a link to the assignment overview and guidelines available HERE.
Note: This is a short week for students, as they have Friday off.

This Week in Language Arts...

Having wrapped up our first major essay of the year, this week we'll begin reading our first novel: The Giver by Lois Lowry.  The novel will bring us back to our exploration of the archetype of the Hero's Journey, and we'll be focusing on the imagery in Lowry's fictional world.  Eventually, students will be creating visual representations of events in the novel.
In addition to beginning the novel, students will read an excerpt from Thomas More's classic--and challenging!--Utopia.  We'll also focus on the concepts of tone and diction.
One final note: as I read and gave feedback to students on their draft essays, I noticed a common thread through many of their pieces.  The essay focused on  defining heroism, and it was great to see how many students honored their parents as heroes in their essays.  Students should have graded final drafts back by the end of this week, and I encourage parents and students to read the finished pieces together; they're really wonderful!

This Week in Language Arts...

This week students are working through the writing process with their definition essays.  Last week, we outlined the essays, focusing on using a variety of definition strategies for the concept of heroism.  This week students will draft essays and work in critique groups to revise and edit the essays.  There's a link to a list of qualities for student editors to consider here.  I also have a list of suggestions for students to extend their writing beyond the five-paragraph form.  There's a link to the list of suggestions here.
Students will be using their school district Google Drive accounts to type their work, so they may work on it at home as well.  I encourage students to get as many readers as possible, getting feedback from those readers as to what's working in their essays and what can be improved.  That's one of the things good writers do: they work with editors to improve their work.
I'm looking forward to reading the essays!

This Week in Language Arts...

Because we have conferences on Thursday and Friday, this is a short week in language arts.  On Monday, we'll be discussing and analyzing a real life hero in the Springboard Activity "An Everyday Hero."  Then, we'll jump into the first Springboard Embedded Assessment, the culminating writing piece we've been working towards over the last month.  The assessment is a definition essay: each student will write a multi-paragraph essay that defines his or her concept of heroism.
I look forward to meeting everyone at conferences!

This Week in Language Arts...

We'll continue to examine the concept of heroism this week, focusing on Joseph Campbell's hero's journey.
We'll be discussing the differences and similarities between the terms "archetype" and "stereotype" in this springboard activity.  We'll discuss and analyze the various stages in Campbell's hero's journey.  In this activity, students will examine one step in the hero's journey: The Refusal of the Call.  Then we'll read a section of Homer's Odyssey, focusing on the stage in the hero's journey of The Road of Trials and Odysseus's heroic qualities.  (There's a link to the reading and activities in Springboard here.)
Also, we'll prepare for Friday's visit to JDHS for the "Romeo and Juliet in Music" performance.  And, or course, we'll be doing some writing in our writing notebooks.

Vocabulary Quiz Tomorrow!

This is just a reminder that we have a vocabulary quiz tomorrow.  Here's a link to a practice quiz.

Book Recommendations

If you're looking for a new AR book to read, I've compiled a list of some titles I've enjoyed.  THIS LIST includes realistic novels, mysteries, survival stories, fantasies, historical fiction, and more.  I also have hard copies in my classroom.
Enjoy!

This Week in Language Arts...

This week students will be writing Poetry Analysis Paragraphs.  You can take a look at the assignment by clicking HERE.  (Note: Some of the formatting gets a little messed up with the transfer to the website, but you can still get the general idea.)
We'll also be reviewing the key vocabulary terms we've been studying over the first few weeks of the school year.  The list of key vocabulary words can be found HERE, along with some of the review activities.  The first quiz--on the vocabulary words--will take place on Friday.
Looking ahead, on Friday, September 20th, we'll have our first field trip of the year.  I'm excited for the opportunity to attend a performance of "Notes From the Balcony: Romeo and Juliet in Music" by the Boston Brass quintet and the Enso String Quartet.  The concert will take place in the JDHS auditorium, and students will bring home permission slips this week.  You can learn more about the performers here and here.  I'm looking forward to this opportunity for students, a great connection between music and literature!

This Week in Language Arts...

Because we have MAP testing this week, we'll have fewer language arts classes than in a normal week.  During language arts this week, we'll focus on analyzing two poems: "O Captain My Captain" by Walt Whitman and "Frederick Douglas" by Robert Hayden.  Next week, we'll be working on formal analysis paragraphs, pulling together some of the terms and concepts we've been studying as we analyze poetry.
Have a great week!

Setting Up SPRINGBOARD accounts

Click HERE to begin the process of setting up a Springboard account.

Open House!

Floyd Dryden's Open House is tomorrow--Wednesday--from 6:00 to 6:30 for eighth grade.  Hope to see you there!

This Week in Language Arts...

In language arts this week, we'll analyze poetry and film, examining the theme of heroism in both print and non-print texts.  We'll also review adjectives (what they are, how to use them, and how to find them).  (Here's a link to the Adjectives Notes and Practice Assignment.)  We'll discuss the three strategies of definition (definition by function, definition by example, and definition by negation).  At the end of the week, students will set up their Springboard accounts, so by next week the Springboard materials will be accessible at home as well as at school.
Also, grades are up on PowerSchool, so it's a great time to start checking grades.
Have a great week!

This Week in Language Arts....

This week in language arts, we'll introduce ourselves, start getting to know each other, and jump into learning.  On the first day of school, students will compose an "Opening Day Letter," introducing themselves to me.  This isn't an assessment; it's a way to start getting to know each other.  I look forward to reading the letters and meeting every student.

Also, this week, we'll reflect on the meaning of "success," thinking about broader definitions as well as goals for the upcoming school year.  In addition, we'll start familiarizing ourselves with the Juneau School District's new curriculum: Springboard.  Though this is my first year working with Springboard, I'm really excited about the program.  It involves lots of critical thinking and employs many rich, complex texts.  Of course, we'll be supplementing that base with many activities, projects, and other texts as the year progresses.  I'll be setting up links to the materials on this website.

The focus of the first Springboard unit is "The Challenge of Heroism."  We'll be examining a variety of texts, from poems to newspaper articles to films to a novel: The Giver by Lois Lowry.  In the first week, we'll work to identify the characteristics of a hero, discuss the term hero (focusing on diction, connotation, and denotation), and analyze poems with a focus on theme and tone.  And of course, we'll be doing some writing as well.

I'm looking forward to a great first week!

Welcome to Eighth Grade!

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone next week.  If you're checking in about back-to-school supplies, below is a list of recommendations.  It's okay if you don't have time to get supplies before the first day of school, but I thought I'd post this for the advance planners out there.  In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys the last days of summer, and I'll see you all soon!

Mrs. Davis's List of Recommended Supplies
The Essentials:

• pencils
• pens (at least two, in your favorite colors)
• lined paper
• a binder or set of folders for handouts

Also Useful:

• a flash drive (very handy for saving work and transferring files between computers)
• extra erasers
• a hand-held pencil sharpener
• highlighters
• Tissues (for the classroom...thanks!)

Thanks for a Great Year!

Thank you all for a great year.  Enjoy your summer!

Mrs. Davis waves good bye to the eighth graders--now high schoolers!



(And to future students and families: I'll be back to the blog shortly before the new school year starts.  I look forward to meeting all of you!)

Important Upcoming Dates

Here are some key end-of-year dates...
TUESDAY, MAY 14th - THURSDAY, MAY 16th: Final MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) Tests
FRIDAY, MAY 17th: All books due back to the library; all fourth quarter assignments due by today
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22nd: Gold Rush Field Trip (a gold rush simulation/re-enactment!)
THURSDAY, MAY 23rd: 8th Grade Picnic
FRIDAY, MAY 24th: 8th Grade Promotion!

Speeches!

This week, students are finishing their research papers and moving into speech preparation.  Working with this packet, students will plan, prepare, practice, and present informative speeches about the person they've been studying over the past few weeks.  Speeches begin on Wednesday, May 8th.  I look forward to having students become the teachers, as they teach their classmates about the influential American they've studied.

Book Recommendation: THE GRAVEYARD BOOK

When I was a child—especially during my third and fourth grade years—I loved ghost stories.  My best friend Jenny and I would tell each other the scariest stories we could dream up, trying to give each other goosebumps (even if we were sitting in the warm sunshine near the pool’s snack bar drinking orange soda and eating grilled cheese sandwiches).  We roamed the school library, searching for anything involving anything haunted.  And we loved graveyards.

I grew up in a small town on the north shore of Massachusetts, and so I was lucky.  Not only was Salem nearby—with its witches and cobwebbed history—but we had some old graveyards right in our town.  Jenny and I got it in our heads that we wanted nothing more than to camp overnight in a graveyard.  Preferably the oldest graveyard in town. Ideally on Halloween.  Upon hearing this request, my mother didn’t immediately forbid this venture.  Instead, she waited a little while—a while during which we made plans involving tents and chocolate bars and grave rubbings and such.  Then she gathered us to share the unfortunate news that it was illegal to camp in graveyards.  We were forced to abandon our plans, moving into new supernatural investigations.

I first heard about Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book from my nephew, a precocious reader and one of my favorite people with whom to talk about books.  When I asked him what it was about, he told me that it starts with the murder of a family in which one member—a toddler—escapes and is rescued by the ghosts of the graveyard.  I was hooked.  I knew that at some point I would have to read this book, and now that I have I’ve finally gotten my chance to spend the night in an old graveyard. 

And not just one night: the toddler who escapes death grows up in graveyard, learning the dangers of ghouls and the tricks for becoming invisible along with his ABCs.  Bod—short for Nobody—has parents and mentors and friends and guardians just like any other boy.  Except that all of these folks just happen to be dead.  This small detail doesn’t stop them from being funny and sweet and odd and difficult in turn.

In The Graveyard Book, Gaiman makes us believe every detail of Bod’s world.  Gaiman makes the impossible seem merely invisible, and in doing so, blurs the line between fantasy and reality.  One of my favorite passages occurs not long after Bod has made his first “live” friend, a little girl named Scarlett:

On the way home Scarlett told her mother about the boy called Nobody who lived in the graveyard and had played with her, and that night Scarlett’s mother mentioned it to Scarlett’s father, who said that he believed that imaginary friends were a common phenomenon at the age, and nothing at all to be concerned about, and that they were fortunate to have a nature reserve so near. (42)

Of course, five-year-old Scarlett is not making Bod up, just as Bod is not making up his graveyard friends and caretakers, though Scarlett—not having the Freedom of the Graveyard—cannot see them.  And upon hearing that Scarlett’s father, a teacher of particle physics, has dedicated his life to “things that’s smaller than atoms,” Bod decides that such a man is “probably interested in imaginary things” (44).  Who can argue with that kind of logic?

Each chapter of The Graveyard Book holds a little adventure, while the central tension—the man who would murder Bod is still after him, yet a boy can’t live in a graveyard forever—remains throughout.  The Graveyard Book is a novel that can be enjoyed and appreciated at any age, by anyone who enjoys a sometimes dark, sometimes funny, sometimes fantastical, sometimes tender book.  And certainly by anyone who believes that the impossible might just be the invisible in disguise.

[Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book. New York: Harper, 2008.]

Research...

Over the next few weeks, students will be working on a project that integrates history and language arts: a research project about an influential American.  Students have selected topics and started research, and they'll be compiling what they learn into research papers (complete with works cited pages).  They'll also present a informative speeches, sharing what they learn.  Here's a link to the project.
Students are also working on their class poetry anthology.  And our celebration of National Poetry Month continues with visiting artist Christy NaMee Eriksen, who started working with students yesterday on creating poetry performances.
It's hard to believe that on Friday, we'll be at the halfway point of the final quarter of eighth grade!  Progress reports will be sent home sometime next week with mid-quarter grades.

April is National Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry Month, and we're celebrating in language arts classes with poetry reading, poetry writing, and poetry in performance!  Though one focus over the next couple of weeks will be the SBA tests, another will be poetry.  Students will write poems and contribute to a class anthology, a book that will live on the shelves of the Floyd Dryden library after this year's eighth graders have moved on to high school.  Thus, students will not only learn about poets and literary devices, but they'll also get a glimpse of the process of publication from rough drafts to a finished anthology ready for readers to enjoy.  Also, I'm excited to announce that guest artist Christy NaMee Eriksen will be working with students during our literary explorations.
Over the next couple of weeks, we'll play around with several different poem prompts.  We'll also read about some of the concepts behind poetry, including the importance of the image in poems (and the difference between "concrete" and "abstract" words) and the ways poet's use sounds to communicate mood and theme in poems.  We'll draw from what I find to be one of the best books about poetry ever: Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry by John Frederick Nims (I was introduced to the text in college, and I've often returned to it in the years since).  Students will respond to the readings creatively and critically, using packets such as this one and this one.
Also, in celebration of National Poetry Month, Write Young AK is holding a poetry contest.  You can click HERE for information.  There are many more ideas about poetry, including a project that involves students writing to poets, at the Academy of American Poets website (another one of my favorite resources).
So this month, read a poem or write a poem (or maybe just carry one in your pocket--after all, Thursday, April 18th is Poem in Your Pocket Day)!

This Week in Language Arts

Welcome back from spring break!
This week in language arts, we'll be doing some work to prepare for the Alaska Standards-Based Assessments (SBAs) in Reading and Writing.  We'll talk about the content of the tests, and we'll discuss test-taking strategies.  The SBAs will take place during the week of April 8th.  For more information, here's a link to the Alaska Department of Education's website.

Contest for Extra Credit

Here's a link to the Juneau Human Rights Committee's Essay Contest, which ends on Friday, March 22nd.  Entrants earn extra credit in either language arts or history--for your choice of third or fourth quarter.
Have a wonderful spring break!

This Week in Language Arts (and a New Contest!)

This week in language arts we'll be critiquing rough draft essays (the literary analysis essays of Shakespeare's Macbeth).  We'll also be wrapping up the Macbeth Project.  The end of the quarter is right around the corner (the end of next week).
Also, for all the poets, there's a new contest sponsored by Write Young AK.  You can check out the details here.

This Week in Language Arts...

Over the next few weeks, we'll be working critically and creatively with Shakespeare's Macbeth.  Students will complete a creative project of their choice, and they will write a five-paragraph literary analysis essay.  We'll be working on both the project and the essay in class.  Here are links to both assignments: the Macbeth Project and the Literary Analysis of Macbeth.
Here's a link to the version of Macbeth we read in class (with narrations for some scenes and the "During Reading" questions in the margins.
Here's a link to the full original version of the play.

New Contest for Novelists

Here's another writing contests for teens I discovered: The PUSH novel contest.
From the website:
"The PUSH novel contest is open to submissions! All entries must be postmarked by January 15, 2013. Happy writing!
Submissions must contain at least three and no more than five chapters from an original novel (excerpt minimum 15 pages, maximum 50 pages), as well as an outline/summary of the rest of the book, not to exceed two pages in length. All entries should be double-spaced and in 12-point font. The award is given inconjunction with the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and all rules andregulations can be found on www.artandwriting.org. For more specific information about the PUSH novel writing contest, please visit www.artandwriting.org/Awards/Categories#NOVEL. This contest is only open to students in grades 7 through 12. The gold medal winner will win a Scholastic Art & Writing Award, and the manuscript will be worked on with PUSH editorial staff, with the hope of eventual publication."

Shakespeare Links

I've been having a great time reading and discussing Macbeth with my language arts students.  Every year a student makes a comment that makes me look at the play in a new way, which is why I never tire of Shakespeare's writing.  For students who would like to look deeper into Macbeth, Shakespeare's life, or his work, here are some links to sites:
Folger Shakespeare Library (includes things like "How To Be a Shakespeare Expert" and "Discover Shakespeare's World" amongst other resources)
Two articles about the curse of Macbeth here and here
An article from The New York Times about "How Shakespeare Invented Teenagers"
The complete works of William Shakespeare can be found online here.
Explore and enjoy!

Shakespeare's MACBETH

Today in language arts, we'll begin reading and discussing William Shakespeare's Macbeth.  We'll study the play in the original language, for the richness of that original provides much depth to the story, but we'll also read summaries of some scenes.  For my language arts classes, I've put together a version of the play that combines the original language with narrations of certain scenes.  (Here's a link to a PDF of that version.)  Also, the text is peppered with analysis and comprehension questions (in sidebar boxes).  Those questions will guide our in-class discussion.  Here's a link to the version of the play we'll be reading in class.  As I mentioned in class, the thing I love about Shakespeare is that no matter how many times I read a play, I always discover something new.

Writing Contests!

I often mention writing contests for students, as I think entering a contest is a great way to gain a wider audience for one's writing.  Even if a writer doesn't win a contest, his or her work is still being read by a broader audience, which is pretty exciting.  And sometimes, a student does win, as Katherine Johnston did earlier this year with her story "Beyond," which won Write Young AK's "Ghosts and Legends" contest.  (Here's a link to Katherine's story, as well as the other winners' stories.) 
Here are some other current writing contests (click on the links for more information):
Write Young Alaska's "My Alaska" Contest (enter by February 14)
UAA/ Anchorage Daily News 2013 Creative Writing Contest (Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry; enter by February 13)
The Requiem Writing Contest (Write a story in which love is dangerous; contest is judged by Lauren Oliver, entries due by March 3)
Good luck to all who enter!

What We've Been Up To...

I haven’t posted here in a while, and I apologize for the lapse.  (That is, I apologize to anyone who might be reading…the tricky thing about a blog is one can never be sure if anyone’s checking in!)  So here’s what we’ve been up to in language arts.

We’ve been reading and discussing a variety of poems and short stories, honing our ability to look at the figurative meaning of texts.  We’ve been examining how various literary devices appear in the poems and stories and, of course, doing some creative writing of our own.  We’ve read and analyzed “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “The Silken Tent” by Robert Frost, “Garden of My Childhood” by Kuangchi C. Chang, and “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou.  Today, students will begin work on a formal analysis paragraph about one of those pieces.

Next week, after critiquing and finalizing the analysis paragraphs, we’ll begin studying Shakespeare’s Macbeth, beginning with a look at some background information about Shakespeare’s time, then launching into a “reader’s theater” reading and discussion of Macbeth.

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable winter break.  We return to school with the beginning of the second semester; it's hard to believe we're halfway through the school year already!  There's a lot to look forward to in the upcoming months.

During the first week back, we'll be studying a list of literary terms.  Students will complete a project to help them learn the terms and definitions, and we'll be reading a variety of short stories and poems to analyze how the literary devices work in literature.  Analyzing literature will be a focus for the upcoming quarter, and I'm excited about the writing and discussion that always emerges from the variety of texts we study.    The first significant assessment for the quarter will take place next Wednesday, January 16th.  It will assess students' ability to define the literary terms from the list.  An understanding of these terms will not only help students analyze texts we study this year, but it will prepare them for success in their freshman year Introduction to Literature classes.

Here are links to some of the assignments we'll be working on in class this week:

LITERARY TERMS LIST

Literary Terms Project (Your Choice)

"The Lottery" Analysis Questions (link to the story)

I look forward to great reading and writing in the upcoming semester!