Response to Literature Essay, Advisory Clubs

Response to Literature 5-Paragraph Essay is due Monday. Please present your work, stapled, in the following order:

1. Cover page (with your name, name of essay (give it an appropriate title), due date (Dec. 1, 2008), and the name of our class)
2. Final draft (may be typed of handwritten; error-free and neat please!)
3. Drafts (most recent on top). Please limit this to two handwritten drafts (drafts should show revision and editing)
4. Peer Review Sheet (optional)
5. Rubric (missing rubric loses you 3 points)

Late papers will lose 5 points.

Advisory Clubs have been narrowed down to these three selections:

• Fine Arts Club (books, music, plays, etc)
• Home Ec/Life Skills Club (cooking, home skills, crafts, etc)
• Art Club (various art stations)

On Monday in advisory you will select your first, second, and third choices. We will try to accommodate everyone with their first or second choice. We can rotate these clubs or change the clubs as we go. We will then decide on a meeting schedule and let you know what you need in terms of supplies, etc.

We wish everyone and their families a safe, happy, and healthy Thanksgiving.

Mrs. Marks and Mrs. Moreno

Advisory Clubs

We took some quality time to share our works-in-progress with classmates. Letting another set of eyes (and ears) into your writing helps you become a stronger writer. Use the suggestions plus the rubric to revise tonight.
Essays are due Monday, 12/1. Please make sure you keep your rubric safe. Lost/missing rubrics will cost you 3 points.
Read/respond #15.

Mrs. Marks' advisory has been discussing advisory clubs, which would meet anywhere from 2 to 4 times per month. These are the ideas so far:

• Book Club
• Dance Club
• Technology Club
• Arts Club
• Home Ec./Life Skills Club

More details tomorrow when we have a grade meeting during advisory.

Don't forget to bring in an international dish or paper goods *plates, cups, etc.* for Wed.'s school feast.

Revising the Essay

We did a lot of great writing work today. Your essays (which are hard to do) are coming along nicely.

Homework:

702 - Revise entire essay using a different color pen. Remember, you are revising for format and flow. On Monday, you will switch papers with a partner and complete the peer review handout. You will be able to use the handout you receive from your partner to further revise your work.

731: Draft entire essay on loose leaf. Skip lines and use only one side of the paper. We will begin to revise on Monday.

ALL: Read/Respond #14.

Main Idea

For those of you who want to practice main idea more, use the strategy as your response to reading. We will be reviewing and learning new test sophistication strategies that will really prepare us for the ELA 7 test in January. Keep reading and responding, it will help you be a better and stronger test-taker.

5-Paragraph Essay

Several people were confused about topic sentences. Think of the topic sentences (the top, or first, sentences in paragraphs 2, 3, and 4) as mini-theme statements. They are big ideas (not the one you chose for your theme statement in paragraph 1, but they are other big ideas from your list related to it) that guide the rest of the paragraph. We are still drafting, so anything that is unclear or confusing can be changed during revision.

Homework: 731 and 702 should have paragraphs 1-4 drafted in Writer's Sourcebook. Tomorrow we will work on the conclusion.
Read/Respond #12.

New due dates for 5-Paragraph Essay and Writer's Sourcebooks: Dec. 2. Rubrics to come soon!

Portfolio Conference Success!

The portfolio conferences have been a huge success so far....we are looking forward to the final conferences tomorrow. Mrs. Moreno and I were impressed with the mature way our students handled their presentations -- you spoke intelligently and really showed what you have learned through evidence. Get ready - we will step up our work as we complete our 5-paragraph essay, and begin a nonfiction reading and writing unit that will take us to the holiday break.

Homework: Read/Respond #11.
731: Draft intro paragraph (1) in Writer's Sourcebook
702: Draft body paragraphs (2, 3, 4) in Writer's Sourcebook

Ms.Mark, 

I have trouble  with my text evidence and reason chart

Reaction Toward Portfolio Activity

I like how we made our portfolios. I think it a was good idea to have us write a reflection for each piece. I think it helped us understand how important our work was. It also shows how hard we have worked on it.

It's also an understanding of why we have did our work.

Very nice ALL My work is up to date when is the 5 paragraph essay is due

Portfolios - Part 2 (and still going strong)

702 endured a rigorous two-hour-long portfolio selection process. I was impressed with your focus and attention to detail. Tomorow , the process continues as we write narrative reflections on all 3 portfolio selections, as well as practice "defending" our selections based on standards and learning. We are in good shape for portfolio conferences, which begin Monday evening, continue Tuesday afternoon (it is a half day for middle school students) and Wed. afternoon (when students are in field work).

731 will continue to think about why they chose their pieces and beging writing and practicing talking about their selections, and how the work represents standards-based learning and growth.

Homework: Read/Respond #8.
Writing Sourcebooks will be collected for grading next Friday. You will receive a rubric (similar tothe one you have in your Reader's Sourcebook) early next week.

Portfolios

Over the next two days, we will be reflecting on the work that we've done so far, and determining which pieces from our work-in-progress folders best match the standards (what New York State expects grade 7 ELA students to be able to know and do). Remember, we are not doing work for grades only, but also to prove that we have met standards.

Ultimately, we will select three pieces of evidence from our work-in-progress folders, reflect on the ways in which they meet ELA standards, and write about the learning/work process. These pieces will be the basis of our portfolios that we will use for conferences next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We will continue to build our portfolios throughout the year.

Homework: Read/Respond #7
731 only: Complete theme statement text evidence/reasons chart in Writer's Sourcebook.

Have a great day off, but don't forget to log, read, and respond.

Due Wed. (702):

1. Revised 3-paragraph essays. Please include all drafts with your new final draft. Evidence of revision/editing is necessary.
2. Writer's Sourcebook: Draft the first paragraph of the 5-paragraph essay according to the format we reviewed in class today.

Reminder for Mrs. Marks' advisory: Please have your parents fill out the portfolio conference sheet and select a first, second, and third choice appointment. Forms must be returned (or you can e-mail me with the selections) by Wed.

New York State Learning Standards

This week we will be looking at our work in ELA so far -- as it relates to the New York State Learning Standards for ELA at the Intermediate Level. Please check the New York State Education Department @ http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/ela/pub/elalearn.pdf for the complete profile.

As we learned during our Standards/Concentration game, ELA Standards are broken down into: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, Viewing, Conventions of English Language & Grammar, and Literature.

Everything you know, learn, and can do in ELA is compared to these Standards. Your WJPS Portfolio is evidence of this. You will need to examine yourself and your work so far to determine where you believe you are on your way to mastery of these Standards and how fast that progress is happening.

Get ready to work!

702 mini-essays have been scored and are up on Teacherease. Remember, as with all published work, you can revise. Please take note of our comments and ALWAYS submit original and revised drafts. Please note: we cannot and will not accept any more revised work if it is not accompanied by the original "final" draft and the most recent "revised and edited" drafts. We need to see the progression of your work and all of the changes you have made.
These grades are your periodic assessments, as well as the comments made on all assignments turned in since the last periodic assessment (small moment draft).

731 essays are being graded this weekend.

Please check Teacherease for revised due dates for Writer's Sourcebooks. We are moving back the due dates to allow you to review a forthcoming rubric and understand exactly what is expected of a level 4 Sourcebook.

Have a great weekend.

Mini-Essays

731 completed their mini-essays in class today. Please refrain from using work time to socialize. We need to use all of our work time efficiently, and that means accountable talk (only accountable talk) and writing, writing, writing!

702: We will publish in class tomorrow. If you wish to type your work, please do so tonight. You can read during writing time tomorrow. Please bring your written, revised, and edited draft with you. You will submit both drafts tomorrow. We will begin reading our independent short stories and work on the full essay.

Homework: Read/Respond Nov. #3.

702: 3-paragraph mini-essays are due Wed. on loose leaf. Please turn in the final draft on top (can be typed) and a handwritten, revised/edited draft attached below (please staple). Use your notes in the Writer's Sourcebook on the essay format as your rubric. Each paragraph will be 33 points. This essay will be graded as a Sourebook grade (25 percent of your total grade).

731: see above....yours is due Thurs.

Have a great day off. Teachers will be in school all day Tuesday attending meetings and planning. We are always learning how to better teach you!

Queens Library & Trip Essays

Both classes have now been to the Flushing Main Branch. We hope you enjoyed seeing the library and learning about the many, many resources available. Please refer to their website @ http://www.queenslibrary.org/ to continue to learn about, and use, the services available.
After the trip each student was given a copy of the Queens Library Schedule, with all the schedules of our local branches. We hope this is helpful.

Beginning this week, the Flushing Main Branch will be hosting Teen Research Help on Tuesdays from 3-5 PM. Every Friday afternoon between 4-5, those of you between the ages of 10-13 can enter the "Tween Zone" to relax after a long week of school. There you can play board and video games, make crafts and have a snack with other Tweens.

Did you enjoy the trip? Did you learn something new? Want to "Share what you know?" Using your experiences from this, or any other trip, you may enter Principal Schneider's trip essay contest. See Mrs. Marks or Mrs. Moreno for further details -- prizes WILL BE awarded.

Reading logs will be collected tomorrow, Monday, Nov. 3. Please bring them with you to class. If your log is in your locker, it's not "with you".

We will work on our mini-essays ("Thank You, M'am") tomorrow in class. Be prepared with your revised drafts (702) and your first drafts (731) tomorrow. The published 3-paragraph mini-essay is due Wed. at the end of class. This will count as a Sourcebook/Class Work grade.

Please check Teacherease for due dates for the 5-paragraph essay (independently read short stories), Writer's Sourcebook, and other assignments.