September 16, 2013 - September 20, 2013

Monday

·         Reading 8 – Introduction to fiction vs. nonfiction. Assign textbooks to students and take notes from book on nonfiction (different types, etc.). Discuss "Brain" article with talking to text notes and construct RACERS writing prompt response.

·         Reading 7 – Students will complete a PSSA lesson on Text Organization and Features. They will be required to read passages and answer multiple choice questions and one open-ended question.

·         Practical Literature 10 - Students will examine writing prompts to determine how to respond to them effectively. They will write an essay using the strategies presented in the readings.

Tuesday

·         Reading 8 – Introduction to fiction vs. nonfiction. Assign textbooks to students and take notes from book on nonfiction (different types, etc.). Discuss "Brain" article with talking to text notes and construct RACERS writing prompt response.

·         Reading 7 – Introduction to RACERS writing prompt response format. Students will read a passage and respond to a writing prompt using the RACERS format sheet. They will then use this to construct a response in paragraph format. Students will read an article for homework and complete talking to text notes while reading.

·         Practical Literature 10 - Discuss the essay written yesterday together as a class to clarify the correct format. Examine sample responses on the board. Continue reading "Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket" together. Students will also complete the plot chart using examples from the story and they will work on completing the questions after reading. Students will take a reading quiz on the story tomorrow.

Wednesday

·         Reading 8 – Discuss notes on nonfiction and examine RACERS prompt responses together. Students will then begin reading "The Baker Heater League" from the textbook together as a class and students will record the guided reading question responses as they read.

·         Reading 7 – Discuss the article that was homework for today. Students will practice the RACERS format by responding to a writing prompt with the article and we will discuss student thoughts on the article (Talking to text notes).

·         Practical Literature 10 - Discuss the questions and plot chart for "Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket." Students will also take a reading quiz on this story.

Thursday

·         Reading 8 – Discuss notes on nonfiction and examine RACERS prompt responses together. Students will then begin reading "The Baker Heater League" from the textbook together as a class and students will record the guided reading question responses as they read.

·         Reading 7 – Read from "An American Childhood" in the textbook and discuss guided reading questions together as we read. Students will focus on using context clues and identifying point of view as they read in class. Students will work together to complete the post-reading questions after the story.

·         Practical Literature 10 - Introduction to the short story, "A Problem." As a class, we will discuss conflict and background information for the story. Students will begin reading the story and focus on completing a chart on conflict as they read.

Friday

·         Reading 8 – Continue reading "The Baker Heater League" and respond to guided reading questions. Discuss these questions together and students will work with a partner on post-reading questions on the story. Students will then be assigned to read "The 11:59" for homework for next class period. They must also complete the questions for this story for homework for next class period.

·         Reading 7 – Discuss post-reading questions from "An American Childhood" and students will also complete a writing assignment on hyperbole.

·         Practical Literature 10 - Students will read "A Problem" and fill in the conflict chart as they read. They must identify examples of conflict in the story and categorize them as the correct type of conflict.

September 9, 2013 - September 13, 2013

Monday

·         Reading 8 – Reading strategy lesson: Think aloud and talking to text strategies explored with pictures and sample text. Students will practice these on their own with an essay.

·         Reading 7 – Bullying Lesson: Students will learn the difference between harmless teasing and hurtful language by discussion and completing an in-class assignment with a partner. 

·         Practical Literature 10 - Read "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allen Poe together as a class. Students will work on the active reading worksheet on symbolism after reading. 

Tuesday

·         Reading 8 – Bullying Lesson: Students will learn about being a bystander and things they can do to take a stand against bullying. They will complete an advice column writing assignment for homework for next class period.

·         Reading 7 – Review notes on nonfiction and discuss topics for the unit. Introduce the big question for the unit (p. 406 in textbook). Begin reading "The Three Century Woman" from the textbook. Students will complete the guided reading questions for this story while reading and add any other talking to text notes that they wish as they read.

·         Practical Literature 10 - Students will finish reading "The Masque of the Red Death" and they will work together to complete the worksheet on symbolism. As a class, we will discuss symbolism within the short story, "The Masque of the Red Death."

Wednesday

·         Reading 8 – Bullying Lesson: Students will learn about being a bystander and things they can do to take a stand against bullying. They will complete an advice column writing assignment for homework for next class period.

·         Reading 7 – Students will continue to read "The Three Century Woman" together as a class. Students are responsible for individually completing the guided reading questions as we read. As a class, we will discuss these questions at the end of the story. 

·         Practical Literature 10 - Students will be introduced to the short story "Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket" by reading the background information in the textbook. As a class, we will begin reading this story and students will complete an active reading worksheet with discussion questions on the story as we read.

Thursday

·         Reading 8 – Students will explore the "talking to text" reading strategy with an essay. As a class, we will examine student examples of "talking to text" notes on the board and students will work individually to read the rest of the essay using this strategy.

·         Reading 7 – Students will read from "The Fall of the Hindenburg" together as a class and respond to the guided reading questions while reading. When finished, students will respond to the post-reading questions for each of these stories ("The Three Century Woman" and "The Fall of the Hindenburg").

·         Practical Literature 10 - Students will continue reading "Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket" together. Students will also identify parts of the plot as we read and complete the active reading worksheet.

Friday

·         Reading 8 – Students will explore the "talking to text" reading strategy with an essay. As a class, we will examine student examples of "talking to text" notes on the board and students will work individually to read the rest of the essay using this strategy.

·         Reading 7 – Students will complete a Venn Diagram with a partner to compare and contrast these two stories. As a class, we will discuss the similarities and differences and decide if they fall into either the fiction or nonfiction categories. 

·         Practical Literature 10 - Students will continue to read "Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket" together as a class. They will work together on the active reading worksheet and on identifying parts of the plot. We will discuss these together as a class.

September 3, 2013 - September 6, 2013

Monday - No School - Labor Day

Tuesday

·         Reading 8 – Bullying Lesson - Students will learn about negative bystander behavior and how to safely and effectively take a stand against bullying. Homework assignment: Advice column response due next class period (Thursday).

 

·         Reading 7 – Bullying Lesson - Students will learn about the differences between playful teasing and hurtful language. Students will read several scenarios and decide with a partner which of these categories they fall into. We will have a class discussion about the results of this activity and students will make a list of standards to use when trying to differentiate between these.

 

·         Practical Literature 10 - Read "The Monkey's Paw" together as a class and discuss examples of foreshadowing found throughout the story. Students will complete the active reading guide.

Wednesday

·         Reading 8 –  Bullying Lesson - Students will learn about negative bystander behavior and how to safely and effectively take a stand against bullying. Homework assignment: Advice column response due next class period (Thursday).

 

·         Reading 7 – Review think aloud strategy. Students will then read the first paragraph of "Seventh Grade" by Gary Soto using the think aloud strategy and we will discuss this together. Students will then be introduced to the talking to text strategy and practice this with parts of the story. Students will work together to use the talking to text strategy with the story.

 

·         Practical Literature 10 - Students will finish "The Monkey's Paw" and complete the active reading guide. Students will also complete the plot diagram using the story. We will discuss responses in the active reading guide together.

Thursday

·         Reading 8 – Volunteers will share their advice column responses that were due today and we will discuss these as a class. Students will also brainstorm together in small groups about reading strategies. We will review reading strategies used to navigate through text and create a list together.

 

·         Reading 7 – We will continue to read "Seventh Grade" together as a class using the talking to text strategy. Examples will be displayed on the board for class discussion.

 

·         Practical Literature 10 - Students will complete the post-reading questions on "The Monkey's Paw" and we will discuss these as a class.

Friday

·         Reading 8 – Volunteers will share their advice column responses that were due today and we will discuss these as a class. Students will also brainstorm together in small groups about reading strategies. We will review reading strategies used to navigate through text and create a list together.

 

·         Reading 7 – Students will take notes on the elements of fiction and nonfiction noting the differences between the two types. We will discuss these as a class and begin previewing the story, "The Three-Century Woman."

 

·         Practical Literature 10 - Introduce "The Masque of the Red Death" - Complete the setting/mood activity in groups to introduce how each interacts with the other. Begin reading the story and working on the active reading guide focusing on symbolism.

 

August 26, 2013 - August 30, 2013

Monday
Reading 8: Discuss Course Outline, classroom rules, Accelerated Reader guidelines. Students must get rule sheet signed by parent/guardian and turn in to teacher.

Reading 7: Discuss Course Outline, classroom rules, Accelerated Reader guidelines. Students must get rule sheet signed by parent/guardian and turn in to teacher.

Practical Literature 10: Discuss Course Outline, classroom rules, Accelerated Reader guidelines. Students must get rule sheet signed by parent/guardian and turn in to teacher.

Tuesday
Reading 8: Discuss Course Outline, classroom rules, Accelerated Reader guidelines. Students must get rule sheet signed by parent/guardian and turn in to teacher.

Reading 7: Library to get AR book. Mrs. David and Mrs. Miller will go over where to find different types of books, how to look them up, etc.

Practical Literature 10: Assign textbooks and read Three Little Pigs to review parts of plot.

Wednesday
Reading 8: Library to get AR book. Mrs. David and Mrs. Miller will go over where to find different types of books, how to look them up, etc.

Reading 7: Interview bingo, reading survey, and students will write and discuss goals for the year.

Practical Literature 10: Notes on short stories and discuss essential questions for the unit.

Thursday
Reading 8: Library to get AR book. Mrs. David and Mrs. Miller will go over where to find different types of books, how to look them up, etc.

Reading 7: Brainstorm reading strategies in small groups and discuss as a class.

Practical Literature 10: Finish notes on short stories and begin to read "The Monkey's Paw

Friday
Reading 8: Reading survey and students will discuss goals for the year.

Reading 7: Introduce think aloud strategy with images on board. Students will practice this strategy together with a small chunk of text.

Practical Literature 10: Read "The Monkey's Paw" together while discussing and completing study guide questions.

February 18, 2013 - February 22, 2013

Monday - No School – President’s Day Holiday

Tuesday

·         Reading 8 – Odd – Students will discuss the three poems that they read for today (Concrete Mixers, Harlem Night Song, and The City is So Big). As a class, we will discuss the examples of figurative language provided within each of these poems and we will discuss the other critical thinking questions together. Students will turn in their completed questions today. Students will then read their AR books silently for the remainder of class.

·         English 8 – Students will review the vocabulary terms from “A Running Brook of Horror.” They will take a quiz on these terms tomorrow. Students will then work on finishing the packet for the story for tomorrow as well.

·         Practical Literature 11 - Students will continue reading the play, “The Crucible” together as a class with assigned parts. Students will also work on the study guide questions for Act 2.

Wednesday

·         Reading 8 – Even – Students will discuss the three poems that they read for today (Concrete Mixers, Harlem Night Song, and The City is So Big). As a class, we will discuss the examples of figurative language provided within each of these poems and we will discuss the other critical thinking questions together. Students will turn in their completed questions today. Students will then read their AR books silently for the remainder of class.

·         English 8 – Students will take a vocabulary quiz on the words from the story, “A Running Brook of Horror.” When finished, students will begin reading “Harriet Tubman” and they will use the highlighting/chunking strategy as they read.

·         Practical Literature 11 - Students will continue reading the play, “The Crucible” together as a class with assigned parts. Students will also work on the study guide questions for Act 2.

Thursday

·         Reading 8 – Odd – Students will silently read their AR novels today and work on completing AR quizzes. AR is due on March 20^th.

·         English 8 – Students will work on activities in the packet for “Harriet Tubman.” They will complete the context clues activity today in the packet. We will discuss these terms together and students will take a quiz on these tomorrow in class.

·         Practical Literature 11 - Students will continue reading the play, “The Crucible” together as a class with assigned parts. Students will also work on the study guide questions for Act 2.

Friday

·         Reading 8 – Even - Students will silently read their AR novels today and work on completing AR quizzes. AR is due on March 20^th.

·         English 8 – Students will take a quiz on new vocabulary words from the story, “Harriet Tubman” today. They will also turn in their completed context clues activity. Students will then complete a word search with vocabulary words from the last two stories that we read in class.

·         Practical Literature 11 - Students will finish reading Act 2 together and we will review the study guide questions together as a class in preparation for a quiz on Act 2. Students will take the quiz next week on Act 2 and then watch the video of Act 2. Students will turn in the Act 2 study guide on the day of the quiz.

February 11, 2013 - February 15, 2013

Monday

·         Reading 8 – Odd – Students will continue working on their poems in class today. Poems are due by the end of class today. Volunteer students will recite their poems to illustrate the sound devices that they used and we will discuss how these devices contribute to the mood of the poem. Students will then turn in their poems and begin discussing the next set of poems in the textbook (p. 672 – big question). Students will respond to the big question and then read the next set of three poems focusing on using context clues and figurative language. Students will read each poem while using the talking to text strategy to analyze each one as they read. They will then respond to the critical thinking questions on page 678 and the questions on page 679 involving figurative language and context clues.

·         English 8 – Students will continue working on the packet for “A Running Brook of Horror.” They will complete the news story and context clues activity today.

·         Practical Literature 11 - Students will watch the movie version of Act 1 of The Crucible today in class. If time permits, we will begin reading Act 2 together as a class with assigned parts. Students will receive a study guide for Act 2 to respond to as we read.

Tuesday

·         Reading 8 – Even – Students will continue working on their poems in class today. Poems are due by the end of class today. Volunteer students will recite their poems to illustrate the sound devices that they used and we will discuss how these devices contribute to the mood of the poem. Students will then turn in their poems and begin discussing the next set of poems in the textbook (p. 672 – big question). Students will respond to the big question and then read the next set of three poems focusing on using context clues and figurative language. Students will read each poem while using the talking to text strategy to analyze each one as they read. They will then respond to the critical thinking questions on page 678 and the questions on page 679 involving figurative language and context clues.

·         English 8 – Students will discuss the context clues activity together as a class to make sure students have the correct definitions for each word from the story. Students will have a quiz on these vocabulary words tomorrow. Students will also continue working on the open-ended prompts in the packet.

·         Practical Literature 11 - Students will continue reading the play, “The Crucible” together as a class with assigned parts. Students will also work on the study guide questions for Act 2.

Wednesday

·         Reading 8 – Odd – Students will continue working on the 3 poems from last class period. They will be reading these poems and using the talking to text strategy to take notes and analyze each poem as they read and identify examples of figurative language. Students will also respond to the questions that follow on pages 678 and 679 in the textbook. When finished, we will discuss these together as a class and students will turn in their work for a grade.

·         English 8 – Students will take a vocabulary quiz on the words from the story, “A Running Brook of Horror.” When finished, students will continue working on the open-ended prompts. Students will finish the packet for tomorrow.

·         Practical Literature 11 - Students will continue reading the play, “The Crucible” together as a class with assigned parts. Students will also work on the study guide questions for Act 2.

Thursday

·         Reading 8 – Even – Students will continue working on the 3 poems from last class period. They will be reading these poems and using the talking to text strategy to take notes and analyze each poem as they read and identify examples of figurative language. Students will also respond to the questions that follow on pages 678 and 679 in the textbook. When finished, we will discuss these together as a class and students will turn in their work for a grade.

·         English 8 – Students will turn in the activity packet for “A Running Brook of Horror” today. Students will then read “Harriet Tubman” and use the highlighting/chunking strategy while reading. Students will also complete the double-entry journal for this narrative.

·         Practical Literature 11 - Students will continue reading the play, “The Crucible” together as a class with assigned parts. Students will also work on the study guide questions for Act 2.

Friday - Act 80 Day

February 4, 2013 - February 8, 2013

Monday

·         Reading 8 – Even – Students will be introduced to a unit on poetry by viewing a movie clip from the movie, “Dead Poets Society.” Students will then begin taking down notes on poetry terms, forms, etc. from the textbook. As a class, we will discuss these terms together.

·         English 8 – Students will respond to two open-ended prompts based on the short story, The Dinner Party. Students will then continue on to the last activity in the packet, which is using a dictionary effectively to define new words and identify synonyms, antonyms, etc. Students will have a quiz on these terms on Wednesday.

·         Practical Literature 11 - Students will continue reading the play, “The Crucible” together as a class with assigned parts. Students will also work on the study guide questions for Act 1.

Tuesday

·         Reading 8 – Odd – Students will respond to the big question for the unit on poetry and discuss this together as a class. Students will also read and critically analyze the first set of poems focusing on sound devices and the use of context clues (p. 651 – 660 in textbook). Students will answer questions in the textbook analyzing these poems with a partner. When finished discussing these together, students will begin to write their own poems utilizing sound devices to convey the mood of the poem (p. 669 in textbook). This poem is due next class period.

·         English 8 – Students will discuss the vocabulary terms from the packet and the open-ended responses to the prompts. Students will have a quiz tomorrow on the new terms from the story that they defined in the packet. Students will also begin reading the short story, “A Running Brook of Horror” while using the highlighting and chunking reading strategy.

·         Practical Literature 11 - Students will continue reading the play, “The Crucible” together as a class with assigned parts. Students will also work on the study guide questions for Act 1.

Wednesday

·         Reading 8 – Even – Students will respond to the big question for the unit on poetry and discuss this together as a class. Students will also read and critically analyze the first set of poems focusing on sound devices and the use of context clues (p. 651 – 660 in textbook). Students will answer questions in the textbook analyzing these poems with a partner. When finished discussing these together, students will begin to write their own poems utilizing sound devices to convey the mood of the poem (p. 669 in textbook). This poem is due next class period.

·         English 8 – Students will take a quiz on the vocabulary terms from “The Dinner Party.” When finished the quiz, students will begin working on the double-entry journal for “A Running Brook of Horror.” We will discuss these together as a class when students are finished.

·         Practical Literature 11 - Students will finish reading Act 1 of The Crucible together with assigned parts. Students will also complete the study guide questions and discuss these responses together.

Thursday

·         Reading 8 – Odd – Volunteer students will recite their poems to illustrate the sound devices that they used and we will discuss how these devices contribute to the mood of the poem. Students will then turn in their poems and begin discussing the next set of poems in the textbook (p. 672 – big question). Students will respond to the big question and then read the next set of three poems focusing on using context clues and figurative language. Students will read each poem while using the talking to text strategy to analyze each one as they read. They will then respond to the critical thinking questions on page 678 and the questions on page 679 involving figurative language and context clues.

·         English 8 – Students will continue working in the packet for “A Running Brook of Horror.” They will summarize the story by writing a news story to convey the important events, etc. in their news story. Students will then use context clues to define unfamiliar words from the story by completing the context clues activity in the packet.

·         Practical Literature 11 - As a class, we will continue to discuss the responses to the study guide questions for Act 1 of the play. We will also review the terms from the notes that students will need to know for the quiz on Act 1. They will take a quiz tomorrow on Act 1 of the play.

Friday

·         Reading 8 – Even – Volunteer students will recite their poems to illustrate the sound devices that they used and we will discuss how these devices contribute to the mood of the poem. Students will then turn in their poems and begin discussing the next set of poems in the textbook (p. 672 – big question). Students will respond to the big question and then read the next set of three poems focusing on using context clues and figurative language. Students will read each poem while using the talking to text strategy to analyze each one as they read. They will then respond to the critical thinking questions on page 678 and the questions on page 679 involving figurative language and context clues.

·         English 8 – Students will discuss the context clues activity in preparation for a quiz on these terms on Monday. Students will also work on responses to the open-ended prompts for “A Running Brook of Horror.”

·         Practical Literature 11 - Students will take a quiz on Act 1 of the play. When finished, students will write a prediction of what they think will occur in Act 2 of the play. Students will then begin watching Act 1 in the movie, The Crucible.