Online resources to help you find your next great read!

As promised, here are the links for reading resources we checked out today. Remember to talk to your parents before creating any online accounts. 

http://www.goodreads.com -  a social media site for readers! This is a great place to keep track of your reading life by creating "to-read" lists, setting challenges, marking progress, and rating and reviewing books. Even if you don't set up an account, you can go here to check out community reviews of books you might be interested in reading. 

http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/ - a quick, bare-boned way to get a few suggested titles based on books you've enjoyed before.

https://www.overdrive.com/ - this is an app/resource provided by the excellent Connecticut library system. Anyone with a CT library card can set up an account (select "all LION libraries" when given an option to choose your library); you can then check out up to 10 ebooks at a time, all for free. The ebooks can either be downloaded directly to the Overdrive app or sync with a Kindle/Kindle app.

http://www.amazon.com - even if you're not buying here, it's a great place to "window-shop", read reviews, and see what books might be suggested based on your interests and search history. 

I hope these resources will go a long way in helping you meet your reading goals for the rest of the year!

Writing compound sentences that include a prepositional phrase - a quick tutorial!

Hi, 7th graders.

I'm seeing that there's some confusion with the Word Voyage sentence requirements for Lesson 6. Here are the instructions broken down for you:

1. Write a compound sentence.

2. Properly punctuate that compound sentence using a comma+conjunction or a semicolon.

3. Somewhere within that compound sentence, use a prepositional phrase.

4. Underline at least one prepositional phrase (you'll sometimes have more than one without even trying). 

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Here is an example of the right way to do this:

We hiked all day, and then we set up camp at the base of the mountain.

(This sentence has two independent clauses joined by a comma and a conjunction. There are also two prepositional phrases.)

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Here as an example of the wrong way to do this:

At the base of the mountain, we set up camp. 

(Even though this sentence has two prepositional phrases, it does not have two independent clauses, so it is not a compound sentence.)

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Here is a list of common prepositions, should you need it:   http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/preposition_list.htm

If you're feeling confused, remember you can always come see me BEFORE submitting your sentences - I recommend it!

​Happy Word Voyaging! :)

-Mrs. Liu​

Congratulations! (And looking ahead . . . )

Congratulations, 7th graders, on meeting the challenge of the MacLane Recitation with such success. You all have so much to be proud of as we go into the weekend. 

A few reminders as we look ahead to next week:

1. Letter-essay (focused on imagery in your novel) due Monday. You should all have what you need to complete this assignment, including an example paragraph and checklist in your reader's notebook (from class discussion on Wednesday). 

2. The re-take for your first poetry terms quiz will be Tuesday. Keep reviewing the terms.

3. We will continue working on the revision of your winter prompts ("describe your ideal school") on both Tuesday and Thursday in class. The revisions will be due by the end of class on Thursday. If at all possible, bring a device to class on these writing days. 

Get some rest, enjoy the snow, and I'll look forward to reading about the beautiful imagery you've noticed on Monday!

Cheers,

Mrs. Liu

Recitation versus Dramatic Interpretation

Here's the link to the Poetry Out Loud recitation we looked at in class earlier this week. As you'll see, there are several other videos with powerful recitations you can watch and learn from. Remember that you're aiming to be engaging - but not distracting - with your physical presence, letting the poem - and your understanding of it - do most of the work.

http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poems-and-performance/video-recitation-series

I look forward to seeing how you're thinking about your physical presence (eye contact, body language, small gestures, etc) in the recitation as we practice and present in class in the coming days.

Class Notes for the Fall Trimester, 2016

Middle School English has taken on a different look this year. Class is based on a Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop model. During Reader’s Workshop this trimester, students have been selecting their own titles, allowing them to follow their own interests and read at an individualized level and pace. Through one-on-one work with us, class mini-lessons, and partner shares, students have been developing the stamina and skills to understand and enjoy longer, more complex titles. We encourage our students to read a variety of genres; they have set personal reading goals and tracked their progress throughout the trimester in their Reader’s Notebooks.  To showcase their understanding of their independent titles, students write letter essays about their reading. Topics covered include understanding character, making inferences, and supporting ideas using textual details. Students have also presented book commercials to each other, persuading their peers read similar titles. The excitement in the room was palpable as they discussed why their books were worth selecting.

Since September in addition to their letter essays, students have been writing

expository, narrative, and descriptive pieces. Using their Writer’s Notebooks as a seed bed for ideas, students have been practicing different types of writing skills from how to hook a reader and write a thesis statement to varying sentence structure by playing with adjectives. They even spent a class observing the outdoors and then turned those observations into a poem that focused on sensory details and rich vocabulary. They practiced telling a story with very few words.

Students are able to additionally practice their grammar (compound sentences, compound-complex sentences, complex sentences beginning with subordinate clauses, opening adjectives and delayed adjectives) when they craft their original sentences for their weekly Word Voyage lessons based on  classic Latin and Greek roots.

This has been a busy trimester, and we continue to develop the skills that make our students lifelong readers and writers. We are looking forward to building on the foundation we’ve laid in the first trimester as we head into the winter term. Second trimester highlights will include book clubs - again self-selected but with more than one student reading the same book at the same time to allow for rich discussion - and a study of poetry culminating in The Country School’s longest and most celebrated tradition, The MacLane Poetry Recitation.

Letter-essay reminders

This letter-essay should focus on the major themes you have noticed in your book club books. You can center your essay on one theme (three body paragraphs demonstrating that theme) or choose a variety of themes to illustrate (a different theme discussed in each paragraph).

It is essential that you use evidence from your book to add to your argument. Each body paragraph should have a quote to back up the topic. Don't just drop the quotes in, however: remember to introduce and unpack them. Here is the example we looked at in class from a letter-essay about the themes in The Outsiders :

I believe The Outsiders is, first and foremost, a book about friends. Some of the friends are leaders and some are followers. I see evidence of this when Ponyboy says, “But I realized that these three appealed to me because they were like the heroes in the novels I read” (p. 76). This quote shows how much the younger guys looked up to the older ones.

Notice how the theme is first stated, then the quote is introduced. After the quote, the writer takes a moment to explain her point once more to really hammer home the argument. If you need a sentence starter to help you with this, look to the document in your reader's notebook called "Writing about Reading: Some Openers".  Number 23 on that list gives you an excellent framework for working textual evidence into your own writing.

Remember all the general requirements of a letter-essay (look back in your reader's notebook if you're unsure):

• Include the title, author, and genre of the book
• Attempt to rate the book (recognizing that rating might change once you reach the ending)
• 2 pages double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point font

Please email me if you have any questions. I'll look forward to seeing your letter-essays (printed and attached to your reader's notebooks) on Monday!

Happy writing!

Assignments for 12/5 - 12/9

Monday, 12/5
English 7 - Read 30 (book club book takes priority)
Word Voyage Lesson 3 (delayed adjective structure)


Tuesday, 12/6
English 7 - Read 30 (book club book takes priority); 3 post-its for Wednesday
Word Voyage Lesson 3 (delayed adjective structure)


Wednesday. 12/7
English 7 - Read 30 (book club book takes priority)
Word Voyage Lesson 3 (delayed adjective structure)


Thursday, 12/8
English 7 - Read 30 (book club book takes priority); letter-essay due Monday
Word Voyage Lesson 3 (delayed adjective structure)


Friday, 12/9
English 7 - Read 30 (book club book takes priority - catch up if you need to!)
Letter-essay due Monday (demonstrate themes using at least 3 quotes/passages from the book as evidence)