Happy New Year.

By now you have probably completed your packet on "A Walk to the Jetty" and maybe checked out the notes for "The Giver" as well.

Have a wonderful new year and don't forget to read and write. Have any of you written thank you notes to grandparents or aunts and uncles for Christmas gifts? It's not too late.

Hopefully You Will Read Over the Vacation.

Every student has now received the packet to complete before January 5th. Please read thoughtfully and purposefully and use some of the strategies we've discussed to successfully answer the multiple choice and open response questions.

All students have received a copy of The Giver by Lois Lowry. We'll begin reading together after the break. Look on the side and click on "Give This a Look" for the notes to The Giver.

Final Tomorrow and Second Typed Open Response Due Tomorrow, December 21st.

Today we checked over our "perfect open responses." We soon realized we have much to do in terms of writing a careful response with proof to support our answer. We are improving in our use of quotations and will continue to write answers including clear and rich details. Tonight we will type a great, well-thought out answer to our second open response question to be graded with our final on "A Christmas Carol" tomorrow.

Things to know for the final: sequencing, similes, metaphors, personification, and hyperboles,character id's.

Packets for Periods Two and Three will be distributed tomorrow. The packet is due January 5th.

Finish Open Response for Homework. Should be Perfect.

Today we worked on writing a well-constructed open response for homework. Mrs. Jaggers and Ms. Patenaude read each essay and made suggestions to each student for improving his/her essay. We have a great deal of work to do.

Final on A Christmas Carol on Tuesday, December 21, 2010.

You should be choosing your next open response question to answer before next Wednesday, December 22nd.

Reading/Writing students need a book for next Monday, December 20th. It should be a biography or autobiography.

Great Job, Today

The seventh graders looked beautiful today and were well-behaved at the theater. It was fun to watch the play and notice the similarities and differences between the play and the book. Thanks for dressing up and making us proud!

No Homework Except Study For The Final On Friday, December 17th.

Tomorrow we will venture to the North Shore Music Theatre to see "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. We finished the book today and look forward to a great day tomorrow.

Don't forget your LUNCH!!!!!

Listen to Stave Four and Finish Traditions.

We went through Stave Three today. We discussed all the places the Ghost of Christmas Present took Scrooge. He realized that "Christmas spirit" does not require wealth or Christmas presents. Those who lacked many basic essentials demonstrated joy and giving on Christmas Eve. Try to remember all the places Scrooge and the Spirit visited.
If you have "A Great Illustrated Classics" version of "A Christmas Carol" please read up to the appearance of the phantom.
If you are still having difficulty, try the Spark Notes. They will help.

If you have not passed in your traditions, please do so on Monday, December 13th.

Test Tomorrow, December 9th.

Don't forget to study for the vocabulary test tomorrow. Your new definitions are due tomorrow, also. The Quiz Time is due on Friday, December 10th. Your traditions sound wonderful. I can't wait to see them on the bulletin board.

Type Your Traditions

We listened to quite a bit of Stave Two today. Questions to ponder might include;

1. How did Charles Dickens describe the first spirit?

2. Who was this ghost?

3. What two scenes did this spirit show to Scrooge?

4. Who was Dick Wilkins?

5. Who was Fezziwig? Describe his character.

How did Fezziwig make you feel and why?

6. Why did Belle ( Scrooge's fiance) break their engagement?

7. How had Scrooge changed?

Type your traditions but do not glue on the hat, yet.

Finish answering the questions on Quiz Time Part Two. (This will not take long).

Study vocabulary words for a test on Thursday, December 9th.

Complete your bookmark.

Tonight You Need to Read to Page 46 and Listen.

We accomplished an incredible amount in class today. We read the rest of Save One of "A Christmas Carol" and reviewed all the vocabulary on the Word List we received in class this week. In addition, we talked about traditions we observe at Christmastime or other holidays in our families and the origins of those traditions. We will be constructing a bulletin board with our traditions next week.

Tonight we need to read up to page 46, study our vocabulary and write three traditions and their origins on the sheet we received yesterday.