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RESEARCHING and WRITING: Our Expository Essays are Finally Here!

RESEARCHING and WRITING: Our Expository Essays are Finally Here!

HARD WORK PAYS OFF! 

 

We’ve all heard this before and we now have PROOF!  The work began in February, and finally most students are done!

Here’s a quick timeline of what we worked on throughout this process:

Research Research Project Bukowski & McKnight. How will research help you? Buying a phone Buying new sneakers Buying a car Going on vacation Health information. - ppt download

February – Students selected their own topics to make the research and writing process an interesting and personally meaningful experience.  We learned how to narrow a too-broad topic, and identify something that could be manageable for an essay of between 1-5 pages.

 

 

Late February – We began the research process by learning how to find information using our databases on the Virtual Learning Commons.  Students learned how to do searches using key words and phrases. We used the VLC exclusively in order to ensure that the information we gathered would be of good quality.  Although it is important for students to learn how to navigate search engines like GOOGLE or BING and distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources, the length of time we had for this project required a level of certainty from the start.

Research Design: Definition, Types & Characteristics | Leverage Edu

March – During the first few weeks of March, we researched our topics.  We gathered articles online, read a lot about our self-selected topics, learned how to take notes in our own words, kept a record of our sources, and filled our Reading Notebooks with interesting information to be used later in our writing.  Putting research into our own words helped us to avoid plagiarism and ensured that we truly understood what we were reading.

Late March and Early April – Students took their notes to the classrooms where they wrote their essays by hand in their writing notebooks.  First we reviewed our notes, made outlines for our essays, and colour coded our notes in accordance with our outlines.  In other words, students decided what each paragraph would focus on and which notes would go in each paragraph.Tips for How to Start Writing in a Journal for Beginners

We spent many days learning what makes for a good introduction, how to write clear topic sentences, how to write transition sentences at the end or beginning of each paragraph, and how to finish our essays with strong conclusions.  Students also learned how to cite their sources by using a Works Cited page at the end of their essays. This informs the reader of where the student-writer found the information in the essay.  Students also learned how to properly use an in-text citation for a quote they wanted to use from one of their research sources.

April – Students had opportunities to read their work aloud to a peer who was ready to offer revision advice.  We revised and edited and then spent the last couple of weeks typing our final drafts!  And, we’re DONE!

Please take a moment to read an essay or two!

We are so proud of all of our hard work!

 

 

Wrapping Up our Novel Studies!

Wrapping Up our Novel Studies!

Students in all 4 of our English classes have wrapped up the novel studies this week!

We’ve worked hard over the last several weeks, reading, writing, quizzing, and discussing our novels.  During these novel studies we learned about:

  • character development

  • point of view

  • settings

  • conflicts

  • plot arcs

  • themes!

(Thank you mistersato411 for all the great videos about the elements of a narrative.)

 

We practiced our understanding of these elements of narrative using short stories and excerpts, watched videos about them, and discussed them in the context of our novels.  Great learning!

7B Read “Freak the Mighty” by Rodman Philbrick

Grade 7A read “No Fixed Address” by Susin Nielsen

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8A Read “Refugee” by Alan Gratz

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And 8B read “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton

We will be switching things up later this year by having Grade 8s switch novels (Grade 8B will read Refugee, Grade 8A will read The Outsiders; Grade 7B will read No Fixed Address, and Grade 7A will read Freak the Mighty), so I’ve asked all students to avoid discussing their novel studies with other classes.  Thank you for not spoiling it for others!

I’m proud of the work we’ve done, and I hope you all are too!  

 

Staying Home and Staying Healthy Together!

Staying Home and Staying Healthy Together!

Hi students!  Long time no see, as they say!  I hope you are all doing well, staying home, and keeping busy and healthy.  I thought I’d let you know what I’ve been up to in my little hideout!  I hope that you will follow the format and us know how you’ve been spending your time this week.

Here’s how this post works.

  1.  Tell about ONE thing that you are sad to have missed. (Limit to 1.  We’re following the toilet paper model. No hoarding sad things.)
  2. Tell about ONE or TWO things that are bringing you outside for fresh air.
  3. Tell about what you’ve been reading. (NO LIMIT! Books are not toilet paper.)
  4. Tell about 1-5 songs you’ve been listening to. If you do this one, you have to share a youtube video of one of your songs so that we can all enjoy each other’s music.
  5. Tell about 1-3 shows you’ve enjoyed or 1-3 video games you’ve been playing.  (I”m assuming some of you have been watching TV or MOVIES??? MAYBE?? Playing games????)
  6. Tell about 2 foods you have enjoyed over the past week!
  7. Tell about 1-5 activities that have kept you busy at home.  Maybe this will become a list of things that others can use when they get bored.
  8. Tell about one thing that you’d be doing or would LIKE to do once this virus is history!

By the way, you can do just a few of the above if you want.  Just GO FOR IT!  Write something!

 

  1. I have been following instructions.  I’ve stayed home.  This was HARD for me to do. Believe me, I was so so sad when I had to cancel my plans to spend March Break in Montreal with my daughter to watch the World Championship Figure Skating Competition.  Whaaaaa! (That’s what I sounded like, crying.)   The competition was cancelled, of course, but still . . . I was looking forward to being with my girl.  But, my daughter and I promised one another that we’d attend a similar event as soon as this whole Covid-19 thing is over.

2.  I love taking my walks down along the water in Morrisburg.  That’s been getting me outside almost every day for at least 30 minutes.  Something about getting outside, even if it’s just for a walk makes me feel GOOD!  Here’s a few pics from today’s walk.

 

3.  OK, you KNOW this is one of my favourite things to do!  I’ve finished a couple of books over the past week or so.

I finished these two books.

 

And I’m currently reading these two.  I’m listening to Indian Horse on audio and it’s one I think you will read in high school.

 

 

4.  I’ve been listening to . . . Lady GAGA!  Her voice is so inspiring to me.  What a crazy BIG voice!

I love this one by one of my ALL TIME favourite groups!  It is a fitting song for now because it’s called “Home We’ll Go” (and stay, I hope).

5.  Some of my favourite shows this past week have been: Schitt’s Creek and The Good Fight.  Schitt’s Creek is so funny.  I love all of the characters.  Moira cracks me up, but I also admire her  because she has a brilliantly broad vocabulary.  Have you noticed that? Also, if this #stayhome thing lasts a long time, I’m going to envy Moira’s collection of wigs, cause I’m not that good at cutting hair.  I love David and Alexa too.  Alexa is just so . . . selfish that it’s funny, and David is just a cool observant character.   The Good Fight is about a team of lawyers.  It’s political and funny and serious too.

I don’t play video games (except for Pacman and no one wants to hear about that).

6.  Two foods I’ve enjoyed . . . . does COFFEE COUNT?  Because – you know me – I drink a lot of coffee.  Ok, maybe coffee is not a food. In that case, I’d have to say I love my salads.  I’m trying to remember to eat fresh vegetables and fruits since I’m not going to the grocery store often. I make a very, very, mean salad.  My salads usually contain: baby romaine lettuce, broccoli, red pepper, red onion, avocado, cucumber, and sometimes grated cheese! 🙂

Another food I’m enjoying is pasta!  Pasta is a comfort food for me.  I love tomato sauce on my pasta. Any kind of pasta will do, but my favourite is penne or spaghetti.

7.  I have been WRITING a lot!  That’s an activity that has kept me very busy.  In January I started a challenge with other teachers online called #100daysofnotebooking and I’m on day 84 today!

I’ve written in my journal/notebook every day for 84 days, which is more than I’ve ever written since I was a student in university.  I’m enjoying it and finding it very helpful, especially now during this very weird and sometimes difficult time.  You should try it!  Blog or writing in your journal.  Sometimes a journal is better when you just want to get angry on the page or be sad or rant or whine (not that I ever whine . . . never).

Here’s a page out of my journal in February:

I’ve also been face-timing with family and calling friends and texting a lot with everyone I know!  It’s been nice to keep in touch when I can’t see people face to face.

8. One thing that I really want to do when I get to go out and not think about Coronavirus any more is visit my daughter in Georgia!  I can’t wait to see where she lives and walk around her neighbourhood with her!  I hope I’ll be able to to that sometime this summer.

Write your own version of this post in your blog.  If you have a problem with uploading a photo or embedding a youtube video, email me and I’ll help you.  When you’ve finished your blogpost, come back to this one and put a notice in the comments.  Just say: Come see my blogpost!

I can’t wait to read all about what you’ve been up to this past week!

Class News

Class News

This fall has been a busy one!  To update you on everything we’ve done so far would take a while, so I’ll just mention the big ideas we’ve been working on.  The BIGGEST news is that we all have finished designing or updating our blogs, and we’ve posted our writing on them, so please take a moment to check them out!  I hope that parents feel free to comment on their child’s blog.  Everyone LOVES the encouragement that comes with a positive comment on our writing.  Writing is hard, and we can all use a boost!

Also . . . .

In Grade 8 we’ve worked on:

  • Quickwrites – We’ve done several to get the ideas flowing and ready for our more formal assignment on Memoir.
  • Memoir – We read lots of memoirs (some of which you’ll find on the One Note for Grade 8), analyzed the form and wrote our own. They are ON THE BLOG!  Please feel free to read and comment on them!

  • Vocabulary – lots of prefixes and more to come . . .
  • Punctuation – Quotation Marks!  Test on Tuesday!
  • Independent Reading – We are all reading our own novels.
  • Elements of a Narrative – So far we’ve discussed and studied character, conflict, plot, and theme.  We’ve written about character, conflict, and now in the process of writing about theme in the context of a short story.

In Grade 7 we’ve worked on:

  • Independent Reading – Getting into the reading habit by reading in class and at home every day has been a focus for us.  I’m proud of the work students have done to get into the reading groove.
  • Short story study – We’ve read “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto, “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes, and “Charles” by Shirley Jackson.  Through these short stories and our own novels, we’ve been studying the elements of a narrative.
  • Elements of a narrative – We’ve discussed and written about character traits, and we’ve touched on conflict and themes in our discussions.
  • Vocabulary – lots of prefixes and more to come . . .
  • Media studies – We designed our blogs!  Take a look at the way in which we’ve made our blogs unique and expressed our personalities through our designs!
  • Quickwrites and developing our ideas – We did several quickwrites and we developed the one we did on “My Favourite Place” to put on the blogs.  Please feel free to read our blogs and leave a comment!
  • Grammar – We worked on identifying the subject and predicate (main ingredients) of a sentence.  Now we’re working on Coordinating Conjunctions: FANBOYS! Our test is on Thursday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And what’s coming up?  Novel studies in small and large groups will begin this week in both grades!  In grade 8 we’ll be reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and some of us will read Rules by Cynthia Lord. Reading a novel as a group means there will be daily reading homework with specified page numbers.  Work the following day may include chapter tests, discussions, and other activities, so it will be important that all students keep up with the reading homework.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ll continue our work on vocabulary and punctuation (dashes, parentheses, ellipses and more coming up).  We will be writing short stories and newspaper articles!

In Grade 7 we will be reading several novels as large groups.  In Grade 7B, we will be reading Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson.  In 7A students will either be reading Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick or Shipwreck by Gordon Korman. Reading a novel as a group means there will be daily reading homework with specified page numbers.  Work the following day may include chapter tests, discussions, and other activities, so it will be important that all students keep up with the reading homework.

We are in the process of writing “Where I’m From” poems (check out the original by George Ella Lyons and mine here).  We studied the original and developed our own based on the poet’s style of ‘showing’ rather than ‘telling’.  They should be on the blogs in a week or so and they are going to KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF!  Be on the lookout!  We will also continue our study of prefixes in vocabulary and in grammar, subordinating conjunctions are up next!

If you’re not convinced that punctuation matters, you should consider this.

 

 

 

Questions and comments are welcomed!  Thank you for reading!

Hard Work Underway!

Hard Work Underway!

If you are new to our class blogs, WELCOME to “Discovering Our Voices” where I try to keep parents and students informed about what’s going on in the classroom, AND where students share their writing with peers, parents, and me.  This year, I am also putting LOTS of information on our two OneNote notebooks – one for 7th grade and one for 8th grade.  If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, please do so!  There’s lots of information in the OneNote notebooks that you will find useful in class and at home.

We’ve been at school for a month now, and if you think of what we’ve done so far, it’s clear we haven’t wasted the last four weeks.  In all my classes, we’ve been reading daily, at home and at school, and many students have already read a book or two!  If you’re a parent, please ask your child about what book(s) he/she’s been reading this year so far!

Here’s a quick list of what we’ve done so far in each grade.  If you’d like more information, please ask your child to show you our grade level OneNote. You’ll find lots of resources there.  Students and parents are also always welcome to email me with questions about our work in the classroom!  I will do my best to keep you informed.

Grade 7:

  • 2 vocabulary units focused on prefixes (sub, contra/contro)
  • short story unit to review/learn the elements of a narrative
  • Writing Territories (identifying the types of things we could write about this year)
  • quick-writes (a five minute writing session in which we just let the ideas flow)
  • reading response journal with a focus on character traits
  • grammar: sentence elements – subject and predicate

Grade 8:

  • 2 vocabulary units focused on prefixes (sub/trans, pro/retro)
  • memoir unit – reading lots of memoirs in order to understand the form
  • Writing Territories (identifying the types of things we could write about this year)
  • quick-writes aimed at ‘mining’ ideas for our own memoirs
  • reading response journal

It’s clear that we’ve been busy in English class so far.  In the near future, all my new students will have blogs, and we’ll be ready to share our writing with our peers and parents.  I can’t wait to ‘hear’ your voices on the blog!

 

The Week in Photos

The Week in Photos

This was a busy week!  We did lots of research in the lab (both grades) and writing and reading and discussing.  In Grade 8 we had literature circle discussions about our group novels.  Click on the links below to see some of our groups in action!  In 7th grade we discussed our whole class novels.  They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, so . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the links below to see snippets of our discussions!

Although the videos below are too brief to really get a good sense of how well students are doing in their literature circle discussion, you can easily see that everyone is listening, interested, and focussed on the discussion.  I’m very proud!  I’ll try to take longer videos next time!

The Sight 8B Literature Circle

The Bully Boys 8B Lit Circle

The House of the Scorpion 8B Lit Circle

Subject-Verb Agreement, Opinion Essays, and Literature Circles

Subject-Verb Agreement, Opinion Essays, and Literature Circles

It has been a very weird week because I’ve been home sick.  I know that Grade 8s are doing some really excellent work in the classroom, and I’m excited to get back to work because we have some rich units to finish up and others to start.  I wanted to give you a general sense of where we’re at and what we can all look forward to in the near future.

Grammar: Subject-Verb Agreement

We’ve been working on subject verb agreement for a little while now.  The rules are simple at first, but get a little more tricky as we get into interrupting phrases, compound subjects, etc.  Here are some of the rules we focus on in Grade 8:

  1. A verb must agree with the subject.  If the subject is singular, the verb is singular.  If the subject is plural, the verb is plural.   
  2. When a subject is separated from the verb by a group of words/phrase, the verb must agree with the simple subject.
  3. When the parts of a compound subject are joined by and, use a plural verb.  
  4. When the parts of a compound subject are joined by either/or or neither/nor, the verb agrees with the subject closer to the verb.
  5. Don’t be confused by a subject that follows the verb.  Identify the subject and then determine if it’s singular or plural before selecting the correct verb form.

The practice work we are doing in class will prepare you for our test, which should be in the next week or two.  I have also sent you a list of links if you’d like to practice your subject-verb agreement skills online!

* Please note that the example in the above picture proves that cats can’t be professors AND that people WILL notice if you use subject verb agreement incorrectly!

Opinion Essays

We’ve been working on developing the skills to prepare us for opinion essays for a little while now.  The things we’ve done so far?

  • We wrote on-demand (no prep) opinion essay writing on the topic of homework (This was actually a former OSSLT opinion essay topic.).
  • We reviewed and assessed sample OSSLT opinion essays on the same topic and using the samples, we created a list of things that a strong opinion essay contained (success criteria).
  • We learned about using criteria to make a judgement/opinion using a real life award – the Giraffe Hero Awards – and a set of case studies.
  • We used our success criteria list to create an opinion piece outline.
  • We selected a Giraffe Hero based on the set criteria, and we are in the process of writing opinion pieces that propose the individual is worthy of the award.

After we’ve completed these essays and typed them up, we’ll start learning more about how to research a topic, develop or identify our opinion on a topic, and then write a personal opinion piece on that topic.  Since there are benefits to both approaches, I’m still not sure if we’ll all study one general area or if each student will choose his/her own topic and opinion.   If you have a preference, please feel free to comment on this blogpost, talk to me in person, or send me an email.  If you have ideas for a general topic that will appeal to most students, please let me know!

 

Literature Circles

If you’ve never experienced literature circles, you have a treat coming!  The best thing about literature circles is that you get to discuss a book with a small group of your peers as you read it, and through that discussion, you are bound to dig deeper into the ideas the novel explores.

How it works:

  • starts with a BOOK PASS, which is one (or two) wicked class periods where you have to look at about 15-20 books: read the back, read a page, and decide if it’s of interest to you, write a note
  • select top 3 choices
  • Mrs. D makes groups based on several factors: a) how many copies I have; b) how many people I’ll need for each group in both classes; c) how the book fits each students’ reading abilities; d) if each group will have some good group dynamics;
  • books get handed out and students decide how much to read for each day or the week (a minimum of 10 pages of reading homework per day is expected for all books)
  • each week students will write a Reading Response Journal entry on the novel which will hopefully help students to a) think about the ideas in the novel; b) identify good questions to bring to the group; c) help students to prepare for the culminating essays; d) spark discussion during our weekly meetings
  • we may also do some vocabulary work based on the novels, so different groups would have different vocabulary lists
  • groups may have different end times for their novels since some novels are shorter than others
  • when we’re all done, students will have to write an essay on a) character; b) conflict/climax; c) theme

*The Literacy/Literature Circle discussion starts off difficult to hear, but hang in there because the sound quality improves as it goes.

This discussion is a pretty good one!  These girls have all read and thought deeply about the ideas in their novel.  They don’t just say, “I really liked the part . . . ” without having something important to say about the characters and themes of the book.  Everyone speaks in the circle and contributes good points. (We will discuss more about this particular circle discussion in class before we begin our discussions.)

 

Yes!  We are going to be very busy with grammar, opinion pieces, and literature circles!  And that’s just the next couple of months, right?

 

Grammar, Research, and Novel Studies in Grade 7

Grammar, Research, and Novel Studies in Grade 7

It’s going to be busy in Grade 7 in the coming weeks!  I’m excited to begin and wanted to fill you in on what to expect.

Grammar

As you know from the recent post on Subordinating Conjunctions or AAAWWUBBIS words, we’ve had a good time in Grade 7 creating fun sentences that show we understand how to create a complex sentence structure using a subordinating clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction, a comma, and then an independent clause. We LOVE sharing our crazy sentences.  We wrote about killer apples, Dr. Phil and Steve Harvey, canned beans, Johnny and his sinkhole, and (sorry I forget, Boden and Grace) and characters who really have a problem with their legs (inside joke). 

The POINT of learning about subordinating conjunctions, though, is that we use them in our daily writing.  We need to take the time to ask ourselves, “Did I just start a sentence with an AAAWWUBBIS word?  If so, I need a comma!” (See?  I wrote a sentence with “If” and I used a comma!)  I will be marking all grade 7 writing from now on EXPECTING that FANBOYS and AAAWWUBBIS rules are followed.  Marks will be deducted for not using the comma correctly.

*To clarify, the above example does not involve a subordinating conjunction.  The missing commas are called serial commas which are used when making a list.  The last comma before the ‘and’ is called the Oxford Comma.

 

 

Research

 

Do you know where Zimbabwe is?  How about El Salvador?  Do you have any idea what the climate in Greece is like?  Portugal?  Sudan?

In the coming weeks, we are going to learn a lot about the countries of the world while simultaneously learning about:

  • how to read nonfiction text
  • how to use our school board’s online library – the VLC or Virtual Learning Commons
  • how to determine which ideas in texts are important
  • how to take notes in our OWN WORDS
  • how to write the essay from our notes to avoid PLAGIARISM
  • how to cite our research sources on a Works Cited page
  • how to use an effective expository essay structure

 

Students will be given several websites in addition to those on the VLC that they can use in their research; however, they will not be allowed to just ‘google’ and find their own cites.  All of the writing will be done in class from the notes in our notebook.  Student will be advised to have at least 3 pages of notes by the end of the reading/research process.  Then we will type out our essays and share them on our blogs!

 

Novel Studies

In the coming weeks, we are also going to get back into a whole class novel study in both Grade 7 classes.  Please be good friends to each other and don’t spoil the books for the other class by divulging details that are much juicier when discovered during the reading!

 

For 7B, this will be “Freak the Mighty” by Rodman Philbrick.  We will have regular novel quizzes and reading journals to during this novel study, so it will be important that all students keep up with the daily reading!  I also look forward to some good small group and class discussion about the novel, which has deep themes and lovable characters!

In 7C we will be reading “Touching Spirit Bear” by Ben Mikaelson.  In this class we will be doing regular chapter questions, reading responses, and small and large-group discussions so students will also want to keep up with the reading.  This book is also one of my all-time favourites because of the rich themes, the sometimes gory details (you’ll see what I mean) and very real characterization.

As you can see, I am not kidding.  We are going to get very busy in the near future!  If you have a question or comment, please don’t hesitate to share with me in class, in email, on the blog, or in person.

 

Week in Review: A brief look at our first week back

Week in Review: A brief look at our first week back

Thank you to all my students and parents for the warm welcome back!  It’s good to be back to a normal routine again!

We started off the week with this lovely quote:

 

WRITING

After reading and discussing the meaning of the quote, we all (grade 7 and 8) wrote two journal entries:

  • Masterpiece Me! – a journal entry describing something we’ve done over the last few months that we are proud of, that shows expertise or improvement in a specific area
  • Work-in-progress Me! – a journal entry identifying two specific goals for this year.  The first goal – and action plan to achieve it – was to be a goal outside of English class.  It could be a personal goal, a goal for sports or another subject in school, a general goal for learning skills, etc.  The second goal – and action plan to achieve it – was to be about English class (e.g., a reading, writing, speaking, listening, media studies goal).

These journal entries allowed us to reflect on our learning and learn about goal setting, which is an important learning skill.

READING

Nonfiction Reading:

Grade 8 students read an article entitled: “How to stick to your New Year’s resolutions” from HowStuffWorks and answered 4 multiple choice questions about the text.

Grade 7 students read an article entitled: “How to set goals for the New Year” by WikiHow and answered 4 multiple choice questions about the text.

Each of the above articles was available at various reading levels, so the titles may be slightly different for each level.  Each student received an article that was appropriate for their ability.

 

Independent Reading:

Students also had time in class to read their self-selected novels/books.  We read every day at school, and students were expected to read at home (Grade 8 -30 minutes; Grade 7 – 20 minutes).

 

Vocabulary

We are continuing to work on our vocabulary in both grades.  Almost all of our vocabulary this year will be based on prefixes, root words, and suffixes because learning these word parts helps us to learn the meanings of many unfamiliar words.  It reminds us, also, to look for meaningful word parts in longer, unfamiliar words.  That helps when we are reading and come to a word that we’ve never read before!

We have started using vocabulary.com again, and we had fun doing a vocabulary jam on Friday!  This site is great for becoming familiar with the meanings of the words on our lists, but students should also remember to use the definitions given during our vocabulary lesson.

 

This week’s words in Grade 8 start with ‘dia’ and ‘per.’  In grade 7, our words start with the prefix ‘hyper.’

 

grammar

Although we didn’t do much in grammar this week (none in grade 8), we did get a sneak preview into learning about FANBOYS (coordinating conjunctions) by reviewing what a RUN-ON sentence is and how to fix it.

How can you fix a run-on?  You can: 1) separate the two independent clauses into two separate sentences; 2) Use a semi-colon, but only when the two independent clauses are closely related; 3) Use a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)!

 

 

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