May 15th--Friendly Letter to Jillian

Please type your friendly letter to Jillian. Make sure you run your letter through spell check! Make sure your letter is appropriate and thoughtful. I will be reading these before they are sent. If I have to question your content you will receive a failing grade!

Use this return address:
Your Name
c/o Shrine Catholic Schools
3500 W 13 Mile Road
Royal Oak, MI 48076

When you are finished you may go to the following sites ONLY:

• http://freerice.com/ --a fun vocabulary game
• http://www.funbrain.com/ --select your grade for your skill level near the bottom of the page
• http://www.prongo.com/games/ --select your age range for appropriate games
• http://www.theproblemsite.com/games.asp --fun games to stimulate your problem solving skills!

May 13th --Tuesday

Today you had your last editing session in class. We reviewed parenthetical citations again as well as the works cited page. Use your red MLA book as a reference guide!

Your final package (again, use the handout I gave you called FINAL PACKAGE) is due on THURSDAY! NO EXCEPTIONS! If some crazy error happens to your computer, the only excuse that will free you is a note from mom or dad!

HOMEWORK:
Open book punctuation test tomorrow! I would look through this unit in the book tonight. The answers will not jump out at you on the test tomorrow. You will have to know the material!

May 12th

Today we discussed and looked at a sample paper with parenthetical citations, a Works Cited page and an indented quote.

I also sketched out our plans for the week.

Homework:
Come to class tomorrow with a TYPED version of your rough draft! Make sure you properly put in your MLA heading, PARA, STAT, DQ, and IQ (complete with parenthetical citations) and make a Works Cited page.

Tuesday:
One more peer editing session day. You will have time for at least two peers to edit. Make sure you properly put in your MLA heading, PARA, STAT, DQ, and IQ (complete with parenthetical citations) and make a Works Cited page.

Wendesday:
Open book punctuation test. You will have time after the test to ask any final questions about your paper if you have any....

Thursday:
Turn in the Final Package (final draft and other items listed on the handout given last week).
In class we will do a nice fun creative writing assignment.

Friday May 9th

"Do I Have Any Homework?"

After two editing sessions now with your peers, I would STRONGLY ADVISE you to go home this weekend and type up your rough draft, using the suggested changes, and coming to class on Monday with a new, typed rough draft. This way you won't be spending the night before typing your final draft. All you will have to do is tidy up your rough draft.

So.....if your questions is "Do I have any homework?"---I am not assigning some, however, I think you should assign yourself some, using the advice above :)

Have a great weekend! Don't forget to tell your mom how much you Love her!

Thursday May 8th

EDITING DAY!

On the next three school days we will edit rough drafts. Each day you will partner with someone different. Make sure you come prepared with a copy of your rough draft, your MLA stylebook, and the editing sessions worksheet I gave you last week.

In each of these sessions it will be important to:

• read your partner's work CAREFULLY. Remember: I am not reading your rough for grammar/punctuation. I will only look at your STAT, IQ, DQ, and PARA as well as your intro. and conclusion. Your editing job is crucial because you are the one who will correct the body of the paper.
• make NEAT and LEGIBLE suggestions/marks on your partner's work. If you do not make marks neat, your partner will not be able to correct the mistakes.
  give CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. Remember: your partner has taken great care in his/her work. Be mindful and courteous.
• have conversations after you have silently edited. If you do not understand a part of the paper, talk with your partner. Make sure that revise this part. Chances are if you don't understand it, I will not understand it either.
• Editing should NOT end in the classroom. I suggest going home each night and making corrections. Come back each day with a newly revised rough. This will reduce the amount of editing you have to do in one night. And, hopefully, each rough you receive back will have less and less errors to correct. After Friday, please have your mom/dad/brother/sister/grandma/someone at home edit your work as well. The more sets of eyes looking at your work, the better :)
  

Good LUCK and happy editing! Next week will talk about the Works Cited page one last time before you turn in your paper.

Your paper is DUE Thursday May 15th.

May 6th

Today was the final day to work on you rough draft in class. Tomorrow you MUST have a completed, hand written rough draft in class.
Also, you must have the permission slip in class tomorrow in order to participate in the video taping!

May 5th

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Today you had the hour to continue working on your rough draft.

Your Completed, HandWritten Rough Draft is due

on Wednesday, May 7th! No exceptions.

Advice: If I were you, I would also begin to type it up to make sure you are on your way to a 5-7 double spaced typed paper (you will be turning in the typed version in your final package).

May 2nd

Today you had another class day to work on your rough draft.

ADVICE: This weekend start typing what you have to see how a page front and back hand written equates to a typed page. Remember your final paper must be 5-7 pages typed, however, you do need your rough draft to be HANDWRITTEN!

Your completed rough draft is due on MAY 7th (Wednesday!) It must be here, complete, handwritten, skip lines for full credit! No exceptions.

Use your weekend time wisely. You will also have all day Monday, and all day Tuesday to work on your rough draft in class!

May 1st!

Today you started writing your rough draft in class! YIPPEE!

You MUST HAVE A HAND WRITTEN version of your rough draft! Your rough draft will be due on MAY 7th! You will have entire class periods today, Friday, Monday and Tuesday to work on it. Again, it is due when you walk into class on WEDNESDAY MAY 7th!

After you have your completed rough draft finished we will be having in class editing sessions with it.

Homework: From now until May 7th, continue writing your rough draft (even over the weekend!)

April 30th

Today we corrected the mastery review for our punctuation unit.

In class, and if you are not finished, at home this evening, you must finish the quotation marks worksheet.

Tomorrow, you must also have two typed versions of your outline in class. You will be starting to write your rough draft tomorrow in class! If you don't have your outline, you will receive a zero for it and you will not be able to start your paper! It is VITAL that you have it tomorrow!

April 25th---HAVE FUN IN DC (if you are going :)

Read the message below for instructions and outline due date.

Remember: The day you come back to school, Wed April 30th, we will be correctly the stash of homework that we have not corrected yet (including the review assignment for the punctuation unit).

Make sure you have it all!

Have a great two day vacation!

Those of you off to DC--have an awesome time and be safe!
Those of you sticking around Michigan---rest and relax :)See you on Wednesday!

Wednesday April 23rd

Today you began writing your outline in class.

You have two options for the due date.

Option #1
You can either handwrite or type the outline and turn it in on Friday April 25th. You will receive 2 points extra credit for it. I will take it and you will receive feedback from me on it.

Option #2
You MUST type it and turn it in on MAY 1st. You will need TWO copies of it on this day. (One you will turn in and one you will use to start writing your paper in class). No extra credit will be given on this day. Also, I will not give you feedback.On May 1st everyone must have a copy of their outline in class so that they can use it to write their paper.

April 22nd--HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Today we discussed Introductory paragraphs and Concluding paragraphs. You took notes from my overhead on to how you are to begin writing your outline. You had 25 minutes today to work on the introduction and the conclusion.

Homework:
The introduction and conclusion must be done and brought in completed tomorrow. You do not HAVE to type it, but think about the legibility of your writing. You will be having two friends read through it tomorrow and get some feedback.

Monday April 21st

Today you began reviewing for your unit on punctuation.

You worked on this assignment in class:
Page 653 Part A #1-15, answers only
Part B #16-20, write out the sentences
Part C #26-28, write out the sentences
Part D #36-38, write out the sentences
Part E--rewrite the letter correctly
Part F--#56, 57, 60, 61, 62, write out the sentences.

We will cover this along with the other assignment you are holding on to when you return from DC on Wednesday, April 30th.

For the remainder of this week we are going to focus on Thesis Statements, Intro and Concluding Paragraphs and Outlining. We will have LRC days to work on this Tuesday-Friday.

April 17th

Today we discussed quotation marks. You took a few notes first from the reading and then we applied them to a class discussion.

Next I gave you an assignment. Pay special attention to it and especially when we go over it in class tomorrow. Quotations are sometimes hard to grasp! Ask questions as needed!

Assignment:
Page 649 Part A #1-5, write out the sentences
Page 650 Practice your Skills (section of dialogue) (write out)
Page 651 Part A, answers only

April 16th

Today we corrected and collected last night's homework.

Next we discussed apostrophes.

Assignment:
Page 645 and 646--take notes
Page 645, answers only Part A
Page 647, answers only Part A and Part B rewrite the paragraph
Page 652 Check Point, Part A only, answers only

April 15th

Today I checked your notecards in.

While I did this you completed an assignment. If you didn't finish, it became homework.

Class/Homework
Page 641-take notes; Part A, answers only; Part B rewrite the paragraph
Page 643/644-take notes; Part A rewrite the paragraph

April 9th

Today you had another work day to take notes for your research paper.

I will not be here tomorrow, and Ms. Stefanakis will be here in my place. You will again be taking notes for the research paper.

Remember: your notecards are due on Tuesday April 15th! (see the blog entry below) You will also have Monday in class to work on them as well.

April 3rd through the 8th

Last week we discussed statistics (STATS), indented quotes (IQs), paraphrases (PARAs), and direct quotes (DQs). In your final research paper, you will need at least one of each of these in your paper. You may have additional STATs, PARAs, and DQs, but ONLY ONE IQ.

The reason I covered this lesson was so you could properly begin your notecards with all of the research you will need to write your paper.

When composing your notecards you should simply write notes. You may use bulletted points. You may also skip ONE line between each note. After each note, you should also write the Source Card number where it came from so you know where you found the information and also so you can cite it in your paper. Each note card should be completely filled.

HOW MANY DO I NEED?

See the list below for notecard size:

3x5 = 35 notecards if you write on both front and back (70 if you write on one side only)
4x6 = 25 notecards if you write on both front and back (50 if you write on one side only)

WHEN ARE THEY DUE?

You will have class time today, tomorrow and Thursday. Friday you will not be in class due to the field trip. You will also have one final day to work on Monday (and not to mention an entire weekend). Your total number of notecards are due on Tuesday, April 15th. The total depends on the list provided above. You must do the same size for all of the notecards and you must choose to do ALL front/back or ALL one-sided. You must also highlight your STAT, PARA, IQ, and DQ on your notecards. This makes it easy for both of us to find them.

If you have any questions while you are going through this process, please see me! I am here often times afterschool and am also available during lunch and homeroom.

April 2nd

Today we had a good class discussion about creating Source Cards (also known as Bib. Cards---bilography cards).

I modeled how to document an internet source properly and also showed you the places in your red MLA book where you can find information on citing internet as well as books and magazines.

Class/Homework:
Tomorrow come to class with at least your minimumly required 5 sources on source cards. If you have additional sources or gather more sources later, you will need to make source cards for those as well. I am only grading 5 (2 hard copy sources and 3 internet sources).