Discovering Our Voices

Here’s a great video to help us think about social media and OVERSHARING!

 

It’s the start of a new school year, and I am beyond excited for all the things we will do this year in our English class.  I want to welcome you back to the blog if you have already blogged with me last year, and I want to welcome all the new bloggers in 7th and 8th grade who will get to start a brand new blog this year.

 

Why do we blog? 

There are a few reasons why blogging is a good way to develop writing skills and ‘find our voices’ as writers.

1. Blogging gives us a REAL AUDIENCE.  You know how sometimes when you write for school you think, “Who’s going to read this, anyway?  Just my teacher.”  Well, with blogging you get a larger audience which can be inspiring to some writers.  You know that your friends will get a chance to read your stories or poems or rants . . . and that makes you want to say what you have to say!
2. Blogging give us the chance to give and receive FEEDBACK.  One rule we have on these class blogs is that our feedback must be POSITIVE and ENCOURAGING!  Writing is HARD WORK, and writers need LOTS of encouragement, so this gives students a chance to get positive and specific feedback that reminds them they are doing a LOT of things right!
3. Blogging gives us the chance to mix media forms.  We can use images, video, and audio to enhance our written words.  That helps us to be CREATIVE!
4. Blogging is a MEDIA FORM, and designing a blog gives students the chance to express themselves through this medium.

So, welcome back to you all!  I can’t wait to see what we can create here together.

Watch Drew Dudley’s Ted Talk and then write a blogpost in response to it.  Here are some questions to guide your thinking and writing:

• Have you ever experienced a Lollipop moment?  Describe it!
• If you’ve never thanked the person responsible for your Lollipop moment, describe the event and then write a thank you letter/blogpost.  Send it to that person.
• Write a blogpost about leadership.  Do you agree with how Drew Dudley sees leadership?  Explain your ideas in a blogpost.
• What are the qualities of a true leader?

 

The following video has more to say about leadership and how important the first follower of a leader is.  Watch it, think about it, comment on it or write a blogpost about the power of followers.  Some questions to guide your writing might include:

• Are you following a leader who is doing great things?
• Are you creating a positive movement by being a follower?
• Are you the first dancing guy? Do you know someone like him?
• Now that you know how powerful a first follower can be, will you think more carefully about who you follow and why you are following them?

Discuss in a comment on this blog or in a blogpost of your own.

Today, in our Grade 8B class, we are celebrating having finished the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.  Here are some photos of our celebration!

Writing on Halloween?  Here are some ideas!

 

 

As promised, I have asked for and was granted permission to share some Grade 7 Reading Responses with you to help you better understand what an excellent reading response might look like.  Grade 7 students have all read the short story called “Thank You Ma’am” and they were asked to write a response that included: 2 character traits, along with supporting evidence and explanation for each of the two main characters – Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones and Roger.

For those who have not read the story (Grade 8 students or parents/guardians and guests to our website), I am posting the file here:

[embeddoc url=”https://rdeighton.edublogs.org/files/2021/10/Thank_You__Mam-teacher-1.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google”]

Thank you to all the students who were willing to share their work here!

 

Thank You Ma’am

Reading Response by Hannah

 

Mrs. Jones is very empathetic in this story.  She is empathetic because she feels the pain and sorrow Roger is experiencing and understands why he acted the way he did.  A good example of this is when she makes him cocoa and gives him a towel to clean off his dirty face.

Mrs. Jones is also very honest.  I know this because she comments on when Roger tried to steal her purse and said that she also did things she wasn’t proud of as a kid, like stealing others’ things as well, but learned and wants to help him learn better ways.  A very important factor showing Mrs. Jones is honest is when she has faith that Roger will not try to steal her things again, even though she can’t see him while making the food.

Roger is a little bit desperate in this story.  He is desperate because he comments multiple times that his family is out of the picture, and he obviously isn’t in the best physical nor mental state.   He really demonstrates that he’s desperate when he first tries to steal the pocketbook and then proceeds to say he wasn’t try to after he got caught by Mrs. Jones.

Another trait for Roger is trustworthy.  Although he was more on the cowardice side for the beginning, he ended up changing for the better thanks to Mrs. Jones.  Roger is now trustworthy because he learned his lesson about doing wrong and was shown through Mrs. Jones’ kindness that it is always better to do the good thing.  A main example of his trustworthiness is when Mrs. Jones left the room, he had every opportunity to steal her pocketbook, but instead he wanted Mrs. Jones to know he’s very thankful for what she’s done and that bringing him home wasn’t a mistake.  I think from then and one, Roger will continue to be a better person, also from how Mrs. Jones had faith in him then, especially since Roger probably would have succeeded had he tried to take everything and leave.  Overall, even though Roger started off a coward, he learned through kindness the way to trust people and become a happy, better person.

 

 

Thank You Ma’am

Reading Response by Abby

Mrs. Jones is one of two protagonists in the story.  Mrs. Jones can be scary sometimes because when Roger tried to take her pocketbook she kicked him, picked him up by his shirt, and yelled at him.  This can be very scary especially when you are a kid and have no one else with you.  Roger was scared because he just needed some money, but Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones was not OK with someone touching her ag.

Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is also understanding because she took Roger to her house, then helped him wash up.  She gave him some food and combed his hair.  She also gave him money to buy the shoes he wanted.  She is trying to show to not judge a book by its cover and trust them because everyone goes through rough patches and has bad days.

Roger is the other protagonist in the story.  I think Roger is determined.  I think this because at the beginning he is determined to get money from Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones which takes a lot of determination, because she can be scary.

Roger then continues when they get to Mrs. Jones’.  He was so determined to gain her trust.  Throughout the whole story, he showed determination with smaller things as well.  In the beginning when he tried to steal the money, he didn’t give up when the bag didn’t come right off Mrs. Jones.  He still tried to run even though it didn’t work.  Then, more towards the middle when he needed to gain her trust, she already trusted him, but he still put himself in her sight so he knew she could see he wasn’t going to do anything bad.

I think Roger is also honest.  When she asked why he tried to steal her money, he told her exactly why, because he wanted to get new shoes.  He continued to be honest like when he sat in her sight to be trusted.  I think this shows honesty and truth or when he almost made a run for it to leave, but didn’t.  Overall, I think Roger is a kind, honest, determined person and he shouldn’t try and steal people’s money, but he should keep up the honesty, kindness and determination.

 

Thank You Ma’am

Reading Response by R.J.

Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is one of two protagonists in the story.  She is kind and trusting.

I think Mrs. Jones is trusting because she let a young boy who tries stealing from her into her home and then left him unattended.  He could easily run or stolen something. Roger even thinks about running in paragraph 32 when he thinks, “He could make a dash for it down the hall.  He could run, run, run, run, run.” Personally, I wouldn’t let someone who just attempted to steal from me in my house and cook them a meal.

My second trait for Mrs. Jones is kind.  I think this because she cooks a meal for Roger, makes him cocoa, and gets him to wash his face.  All of this happened between paragraphs 26 to 41, and I think it represents kindness. Roger was probably scared, and I bet Mrs. Luella Bates Washing Jones’ acts of kindness made him feel better and learn a lesson.

Roger is the other protagonist in this story.  I think that a good character trait for him would be desperate.  I think that because he literally tried to steal an old lady’s purse.  I would never dream of stealing, especially not from an old lady, but then again, I’m not desperate.  In paragraph 27, he said he had no one home and no one has fed him, which makes me believe either he doesn’t have parents, or he has parents but they just don’t take good care of him, which again brings us back to the fact that he’s probably desperate. I would definitely be desperate if no one took very good care of me. Even Mrs. Jones said he looks filthy in paragraph 26 and said to wash his face.  This is why I think Roger is desperate.

 

Thank You Ma’am

Reading Response by Connor

Mrs. Jones is one of two protagonists in this story.  She is kind.  I think this because she helped Roger get food helped him get shoes, and cleaned him up.  She did not have to do these things, but she did to teach Roger.

Mrs. Jones is also understanding.  I know this because she understood that Roger can’t get these things he wanted and that his family won’t get it for him.  She even got him the shoes he wants.  She could have just called the cops, but instead she let him eat with her.

Roger is honest.  I know this because in paragraph 9 he told Mrs. Jones he would run away if she let him go.  In paragraph 23, he told Mrs. Jones his name.  This is honest because he could have lied so she would let him go.  Then the cops couldn’t have gotten him.

 

Thank You Ma’am

Reading Response by Elizabeth

One of the protagonists in this story is Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones.  Mrs. Jones is a very kind person. I know Mrs. Jones is kind by the way she treated Roger.  Whenever Roger tried to steal Mrs. Jones’ pocketbook, she didn’t take Roger to the police like a lot of people would have done.  Mrs. Jones took Roger to her home, washed his face, and cooked him a meal.  These are all extreme acts of kindness, but one think in this tory that was very nice of Mrs. Jones is that she actually talked to Roger.  She didn’t automatically assume that Roger is a horrible person.  What he did was not good, but like I said before, she didn’t take him straight to the police.  Instead, she taught him a lesson with kindness.

Another character trait for Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is that she is understanding.  I know that she is understanding by the way she forgave Roger.  Not a lot of people can forgive someone or understand them like Mrs. Jones did.  In the story, Roger said, “I wanted a pair of blue suede shoes,” and then Mrs. Jones says, “Well, you didn’t have to snatch my pocketbook to get some suede shoes. You could have asked me.”  And then Mrs. Jones said, “I were young once, and I wanted things I could not get.” Whenever Mrs. Jones said that I thought that she was a very understanding person.

The second protagonist in this story is Roger.  In this story, Roger starts out bad, but at the end of the story he is kind of good. So, I think in the end of the story, a character trait for Roger would be respectful. He is respectful in an off sort of way.  I know he is respectful by the way he treated Mrs. Luela Bates Washington Jones.  Whenever she brought him to her house and cooked him a meal and washed his face, he had the opportunity to run away from Mrs. Jones, but he didn’t.  To me, that shows respect.  Also, whenever Mrs. Jones said, “I were young once and I wanted things I could not get,” and when she said that I thought that she had gained his respect.  And that is why I think Roger is respectful.

 

Thank You Ma’am

Reading Response by Laila

Mrs. Jones is forgiving because she gave Roger food and money to buy him shoes.  Mrs. Jones didn’t need to bring Roger to her house and give him food and money. She could have taken him to the police for trying to steal from her, but she decided to forgive him instead. That shows that Mrs. Jones is forgiving.  She admitted that she did bad things as well when she was young, instead of just saying how bad Roger was.

Roger is trustworthy because when Mrs. Jones took him to her house and left him alone with her purse, he didn’t run or take the purse.  He wanted Mrs. Jones to trust him, and she did.  When Roger took her purse, he didn’t run away and that shows he is trustworthy. 

Roger is determined because he wanted Mrs. Jones’ trust, so he tried to be good for her.  If I were Roger, I would be tempted to take her purse when she left the room, but he was determined to get her trust.

 

 

Thank You Ma’am

Reading Response by Anonymous

Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is one of two protagonists in the story.  She is kind.  In the story, Roger tries to steal Mrs. Jones’ handbag, but when Mrs. Jones catches him, instead of punishing him, she shows him kindness by feeding him dinner, washing his face, and giving him money to buy the shoes he wanted. She knows what it feels like to be in his position. 

Mrs. Jones is empathetic. In the story, after Roger tries to steal her handbag, she takes him home, feeds him, and tells him, “I have done things too” after telling she was young once.  I believe that changed Roger’s perspective on Mrs. Jones because she showed him empathy.

Roger is also one of the two protagonists in the story.  He is well-mannered.  In the text, when Mrs. Jones caught him stealing, he remained polite throughout the entire story.  For example, Roger was grateful when Mrs. Jones let him wash his face, gave him money and fed him.  When he was leaving and Mrs. Jones said, “have a good night! Behave yourself, boy!” Roger said, “Thank you” to her.  Those are my traits for both the protagonists in the story!

 

I hope this helps us all to envision all of the possible ways we can make a statement or claim about an idea in a text and support it using specific evidence and explanations to support our thinking!  Thanks again to all students who shared their work here.

Dear Students and Parents/Guardians,

I’m so excited to be starting a new school year in person again.  Last year, I worked for the school board in a completely virtual capacity, and although I enjoyed my work, it wasn’t the same without students.  I had no students last year.

 

The past week – our first of the year – reminded me of how much I love teaching face to face!

I hope you all felt happy to be back too!  We spent the week just getting used to some of our routines, learning about what we will be doing in our English Language Arts class, and getting to know one another.

Some of the things we did this week in English class:

• We started to learn one another’s names!
• We selected a book to read in class and, next week, at home.  Students chose books from the class library, home or community library, and Grade 7 students were introduced to the school library to check out the books there.
• We learned what a quickwrite is and we completed a couple of quickwrites!  (Our class OneNote explains the process.)

• We discovered that we will have access to IXL (a website for practising math and English Reading and Writing skills), we will be blogging, and we have a class OneNote that we will use for English class.  If you are a parent or guardian, please ask your child to show you the OneNote (on students phones or other devices).

 

Next week, we will continue to read daily in class, and we will start reading nightly at home.  Students in Grade 7 will be asked to read for 20 minutes every night.  They will bring the same book they are reading in class home for the night and then they’ll bring it back to school for reading in class.  Students in Grade 8 will do the same, except they will be asked to read for 30 minutes every night.

Other things we will start to learn about in the near future:

Grade 7 and 8

• The Elements of a Narrative
• The basic structure of a sentence
• How to use editing marks when editing our writing
• Short stories (Grade 7)
• Memoir (Grade 8)

 

 

Normally, we’d be having a little fun in the classroom during this last week of school.  Normally, I’d say good-bye for the summer and ask you all about your plans for the summer months.  Normally, on the last day of school, I’d be out in the parking lot with all the other teachers and administrators at the end of the day, and we’d wave off the buses as they left for the last time for that year.

Normally, we’d sing and dance and play games today.  But this is not a normal year, so I wanted to take a moment to say:

Have a super, awesome, fantastic, wonderful, fun-filled, healthy summer!

I am looking forward to seeing you all in September! 

Today we CELEBRATED all of our hard work on our novel study of The Outsiders.  This morning, we all piled into the computer lab, looking pretty fierce in our Greaser and Soc costumes, and we watched the movie!  There were snacks, and laughs, and tears and an amazing discussion after the movie.  It’s clear that many of us liked the book much better than the movie!  (Pssst! Secret for you: The book is almost ALWAYS better than the movie!)

Once again, I have to tell you all that I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!  I couldn’t believe how we were able to have a really interesting and totally civil discussion with about 60 people in the room.  Grade 8, you are totally amazing!

Here are some pics of us enjoying our morning!

THE GREASERS!

THE SOCS!

 

 

THE RUMBLE!

 

Greasers, just standing around looking ‘tuff.’

We look very ‘tuff’ and Soc-y, right?

 

Thanks for a great day, Grade 8!  This was the best celebration of The Outsiders yet!