Games Make Studying at Home Fun,Fun,Fun!

Hey kids, check out the new games attached to my blog. They will be a BIG Help for the upcoming test on Thursday, October 2nd.

Got to get back to my reading. Some of your journals are well done. You have some great insights.

Quote of the Week

"Each morning, take the time to imagine the person you want to be." Please respond to this quote in your journal.

Congratulations to the Team 7-2 Students of the Month! Brooke Bogacz, Melissa Barisano, and Kyle Butler were voted by their peers as the September Students of the Month. Students nominate boys and girls in one specific homeroom whom they feel demonstrate teamwork, responsibility, good work ethic and a positive attitude toward learning and each other.  Brooke and Melissa received an identical number of votes. This month Mrs. Jaggers' homeroom began the rotation. Next month the winners will be from Mr. Bellerose's homeroom.  Great work Team 7-2!

Hey Kids Are You Ready For The Test?

Remember to study your vocabulary words and know what part of speech each word is AND be able to use each word correctly in a sentence.

Check out The Grammar Gorillas. It is a fun way to check your understanding of the parts of speech. Give it a try!!!!

Now Do You Get It?

We worked on parts of speech today and reviewed subjects and predicates. Break the sentences into "pieces" like we did in class today. The subject of the sentence tells who or what did the action in the sentence or who or what the sentence is about. The predicate of the sentence is a verb. It tells what the subject did or tells more about the subject. Compound Subjects contain 2 subjects joined by a conjunction. Compound predicates contain 2 predicates joined by a conjunction. 

Prepositions must have a noun or pronoun as the object of the preposition. Prepositional phrases begin with a preposition and end with a noun or pronoun as the object of the preposition.

Remember!!!!! Every word in a sentence has a job to do!

An example of all of the above: Mr. Bellerose and Mr. O'Brien washed and waxed Mrs. Downey's car in Mrs. Jaggers' driveway.   Can you identify the compoound subject, the compound predicate,  and the the prepositional phrase???????

Don't forget       1. Vocabulary test on Monday, September 29th.

                            2. All captions due on Tuesday, September 30th.

Parts of Speech are Exhilarating

Every word has a job to do. Since you have learned the parts of speech, please label the following sentences the same way we did in class today. It is not too hard.

1. In a chorus of squeaks and whistles,one dolphin will sing to another dolphin.HINT What is the action? Who or what is doing the action? The answers to these questions help you to identify the subject and predicate. Which words show position? These words are prepositions. Remember a preposition must have an object. Can you do it? Do #'s 5, 7 and 9.

Two more captions for The Penny Book. We will work on them tomorrow.  

Actively study for the vocabulary test on Monday, September 29.

So Much Information, So Little Time!

Yesterday, we learned the terms metamorphosis, epiphany,foreshadowing and flashback.

We discussed how Julie  James went through a metamorphosis or change after the night of the accident. She changed from a perky, bubbly cheerleader to a serious, studious bookworm.

Ray Bronson also experienced a metamorphosis. He changed from an irresponsible,  spineless teenage boy to a mature, confident, responsible young man.

Helen Rivers had a wake-up call or epiphany at the age of 12. She realized her looks were really the only thing she had going for her. She examined herself in the mirror and focused on improving her appearance. She had very little academic ability, and acknowledged that her physical attributes would help her to succeed in the future.

The novel is told through flashbacks or events that happened in the past which help to tell the story. Foreshadowing or a hint about the future, is evident in Chapter 8 when Collie tells Helen that his own Mom would "lose it" if anything happened to her son. He assures her that after Barry was shot, Mrs. Cox is  acting the way any mother would act in the same situation.

Vocabulary words, definitions and parts of speech due tomorrow, September 24th, in Vocabulary/Notetaking Notebook.

Chapter 10 quarter notes due on Thursday, September 25th.

Keep working on the captions for The Penny Book. You should have 8 captions by this Friday, September 26th.

Remember alliteration, personification, simile and metaphor. We will continue to work on all of the above. Great Work TEAM 7-2!!

Quote of the Week

"Instead of blaming others when things don't go well, rely on yourself to make things better."

In an attempt to do more "purposeful" writing, a quote of the week will be displayed on the front black board. Students are to write their impression of the quote's meaning  and give an example of how the quote applies to his/her life. The responses should be 5-8 sentences in length, well-organized and well-written.

PRONOUN SONG

If you were in Academic Enrichment, you probably learned the PRONOUN SONG! If you were in Band, don't worry we will teach you. Next week, we will be creating songs to help us learn the "eight parts of speech" in a fun yet effective way. We have already talked about verbs this week and pronouns. We still have a great deal more to learn but we can make it worthwhile and commit all this information to memory.

The captions for The Penny Book look pretty good. We will edit our 6 captions and make them perfect.

Chapter 8 in I Know What You Did Last Summer makes one a little suspicious about a certain charcter. Doesn't it? New terms we will learn next week: metamorphosis, epiphany, allegory, and of course flashback!!

TEST TOMORROW

Don't forget to actively study for the vocabulary test tomorrow. Bring your Penny Book pictures to class to continue writing your captions.

Chapter 8 quarter notes are due on Friday.

QUESTION ?????  Who had a flashback in chapter 8? Where was she and what was the flashback about? Who showed up and WHY???????

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Congratulations to Stephanie Gulezian, Michaelin Jaggers, and Brooke Bogacz for winning the poster contest for their portraits of the four members of the pact from the novel, I Know What

You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan. Great Job!

Verbs Can Be Action Or Linking

September 15, 2008

If you listened in class today, you understand the importance of verbs in both reading , writing, and speaking. Verbs can be either action or linking. Make sure you remember that a linking verb expresses a state of being. ex: Mrs. Jaggers is old. An action verb ,on the other hand, expresses a physical or mental action which can be carried out by the body. ex: Mr. Bellerose teaches some interesting concepts in science.

PLEASE be sure to have your pictures and pennies for The Penny Project by Wednesday, September 17th. We will be working on writing our captions on Thursday, September 18th during ELA, after the Vocabulary Test on the word list for chapters 4-9.

Mrs. Jaggers is available for after school help every Tuesday! Bring in some pennies to share!!!!Thanks to all who have provided additional pennies for their classmates.

September 13, 2008

Whew!!!! It is finally the weekend! Remember to check your penny jars at home and bring in as many pennies as you can find from 1995-6 to 2008. We will share next week so everyone has his/her pennies by Thursday, September 18th (the release day). See if Mom or Dad or Nana or Pepere or and aunt or uncle has a special picture which might help you to capture a special event from a particular year. Remember, you can draw half of the pictures if you do not have a photo or image for a specific year.

September 11, 2008

Today we worked on our collages depicting one "member of the pact."  Please make sure that your collage contains 5-10 words describing the character, and 5-10 pictures illustrating "traits" of the character. No white should be showing on the collage paper.

Vocabulary definitions due tomorrow. Test on words and how to use them next Wednesday, September 17, 2008. 

Start collecting pennies for the penny book and pictures over the weekend. We'll get started next week!

ELA September 7-12

September 9, 2008

Test today on chapters 1-4.

This week we will continue to read the suspense thriller I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan. Today, students received a list of vocabulary words which are due on Friday, September 12th. The words are to be copied into the vocabulary notebook and the definitions should be written beside the word in the notebook. Also, the students are responsible for identifying the part of speech. Quarter notes for chapter 5 are due tomorrow, September 10th.

Also, bring magazines, glue stick, scissors, and ideas to class on Thursday, September 11th as we construct a collage of " personality attributes" of a specific member of the pact.

Does anyone have a portrait of  one of the four teenagers??? Contest ends soon!!!

Welcome to 7th grade English!  For the remainder of this week we will continue to read I Know What You Did Last Summer. Over the weekend (September 5-7) read Chapter 4 of this exciting novel. The quarter notes for this chapter will be due on Monday, September 8th. Keep reading!!!