Terms to Remember for Semester Exam!

Summarizing

Only include important events (or parts), no minor details.

Author’s purpose

Remember this is WHY the author wrote. Main ones are persuade, inform, and entertain.

Making inferences about characters

Think about the character’s actions, words, appearance & make a guess!

Symbolism

When something represents or mirrors something else. They are usually similar objects.

Theme

Moral of the story or lesson that you or a character learned!

Personification

Giving living qualities to non-living things (the wind whispered in my ear).

Author’s argument

What is the author trying to convince you of? That’s their “argument”

Alliteration

When 2 or more words start with the same letter (ex: Sally sells seashells)

Rhyme Pattern (Scheme)

Look at the ending words of each line. Mark the first line with “A” always, then look at the next line. If the next line rhymes with the first, then mark it “A” too, if it doesn’t, mark it as “B”. Continue this until you’ve marked all lines. Ex:

I could lift you up (A)

I could show you what you wanna see (B)

And take you where you wanna be (B)

You could be my luck (A)

Even if the sky is falling down (C)

I know that we’ll be safe and sound (C)

Comparing themes of two poems

Think about lessons from each poem you learned, are there any similarities?

Making inferences about the author’s beliefs based on what they wrote

What do you think the author believes after reading what he/she wrote. This is similar to author’s purpose & tone.

Similes

A comparison using like or as. Ex: “He was as fast as a cheetah”

Comparing two settings

You must identify the two settings and then think of how they are alike/different

Purpose of including graphics, pictures, etc.

Ask yourself “Why is this picture or chart included? Would the passage be the same without it?”

Summarizing paragraphs

Only include important parts of the paragraphs. If it isn’t necessary or just extra information, don’t include it.

Claims

Remember, first you make a claim, then it is an assumption, until you give a fact or some kind of evidence.

Vocabulary

USE A DICTIONARY ON ANY VOCABULARY QUESTIONS! PLEASE!

Poetry!

Sorry for not updating for a while! Here's what we've learned so far about poetry. So, if you missed any day last week, you can catch up really quick!

Ballads: A story poem, usually meant to be sung. The classic ballad stanza has 4 lines, with the lines alternating between eight syllables and six syllables. The 2nd and 4th lines must rhyme.

Example

"Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now I’m found,

Was blind, but now I see."

—Free Verse Poetry:  a style of poetry written without using strict rules, structure or rhyme.

Sonnets: very structured type of poetry. Must be 14 rhyming lines (3 four line stanzas, 1 two line couplet). The rhyme scheme is: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.

Example:

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed.

But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
  

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Rhyme Scheme: —the pattern of rhyme between lines of a poem or song. It is shown with letters (indicating which lines rhyme together). For each word that doesn’t rhyme with a word before it, label it with a new letter (alphabetical order). See example below...

Safe & Sound by Capital Cities

—I could lift you up (A)

—I could show you what you wanna see (B)

—And take you where you wanna be (B)

—

—You could be my luck (A)

—Even if the sky is falling down (C)

—I know that we’ll be safe and sound (C))

Character Analysis for Rumpelstiltskin

Click the link below to go to the website that had has the script. You'll have to click "Rumpelstiltskin (Reader's Theater Play)" to view it.

>>Click here <<

Email me @ Megann.backus@lifeschools.net if you have any problems. 

Remember you can only do your analysis over the Miller, the Girl, the King, or Rumpelstiltskin. Don't forget your 3-5 sentences on the back. 

Daedalus Interview Videos

Click the following links to view some of the interviews we did in class :) Good job you guys!!!

Aiyana & Shelby

Justin & Elizabeth

More to come! :)

Quiz Tomorrow

Hello all! We will be taking a quiz tomorrow. It will test your reading skills that we have covered so far. The questions are just like the STAAR test questions, so be prepared to use a strategy that we've talked about in class. The skills that will be tested in this quiz are:

Elements of plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution)

Remember that the first thing you should do is identify the climax (the most suspenseful part), then everything else will be easier to figure out :)

Theme

This is the lesson that YOU can apply to YOUR life! It may be a lesson the character learns, or something you learned from the story. It is also known as the "main message" or "moral"

Characteristics of characters

A couple of questions will ask about how the characteristics of certain characters affect the story

Author's purpose (inform, entertain, persuade)

This is WHY the author wrote what he/she did. When determining the correct answer choice, always try to pick the MAIN purpose

Summarizing

Good summaries will include important events & details. NO MINOR DETAILS. 

Real & mythic elements

We touched on this briefly; Mythic elements are of course magical (not real). If something is mythic, it is not something that would happen in our world. Real elements are things that could actually happen in our world/life.

Don't forget to organize & preview your questions FIRST! Re-read if you zoned out, or didn't understand. USE YOUR DICTIONARIES :)

Test Tomorrow/Monkey Paw Questions

Don't forget to study for your test tomorrow!! Click this link to read The Monkey's Paw online: CLICK HERE!

Questions (go along with the answers you have on your notebook paper). Study your answers to help with the test.

1. What kind of mood is created by the setting?
2. What mood is created by Sergeant Morris' story?
3. What does his story foreshadow?
4. Herbert foreshadows his own death. What does he say?
5. Re-read the breakfast scene. The mood has changed from ___________ to ______________
From here, the numbering will be different for 7th & 8th period
6. Who is the unanticipated visitor? What news does he bring?
7. List two examples of imagery found in the scenes following Herbert's death.
8. What does the monkey's paw symbolize?
9. What point of view is this story written in?
10. What do you think the theme of this story is?
11. (except Pre-AP) Finish the ending to the story. Include three examples of imagery/figurative language, resolve the conflict, and keep the same point of view.

Pre-AP students, here are the requirements for your writing assignment that will be due on TUESDAY the 29th:

1. Include 10 examples of figurative language/imagery
2. Showcase your plot development skills (include all elements of plot-- resolution not required)

Passages for Pattern Project

Text Pattern Project Extension.

Here are all the passages. Also, they go in order according to your graphic organizers. This is due Monday. I've given you a great extension; please work diligently and turn this in on time. Be brief when recording info from the passages (summarize/key words). I don't want the exact sentence from the passage! Pre-AP, see below the passages for your article requirements!

Pre-AP Assignment-- DUE MONDAY!

-Write according to one of the patterns you've learned this week

-Persuade or inform me of a topic of YOUR choice!

-Back up your claims with evidence! List your source at the bottom of your article. Just the URL will do fine.

New Ticket Reward System Overview

Hello everyone. On Friday, I introduced a new reward system that we would be using in our class for the rest of the year. If you've forgotten, or were absent, here are the details:

-Tickets will be given out to students that are displaying leadership skills, good behavior, and hard work. You can be given tickets in AND out of class. For tickets given in class, you must write your name on the back of the ticket, then turn it in at the end of class. I will initial your ticket when it is returned to me, and place it in your class' envelope.

-On Fridays, I will draw 5 tickets out of your class' envelope. The more tickets you've received throughout the week, the more chances you'll have to get your name drawn. The following rewards can be received for having your name drawn:

1. Free 100 on any daily grade (even if it was a zero)
2. Eat lunch with a friend & me
3. Nice note/phone call home
4. Sit anywhere you want on the following Monday (even the teacher's desk!)
5. 10 extra points on any test grade
6. If you have TWO tickets drawn with your name on them, I will get you Whataburger for lunch one day the following week :)

-After drawing on Fridays, I will take the remaining tickets and place them in your class bucket.

-At the end of every six weeks, I will count each classes' tickets and the class that received the most tickets together will win a party day with food and no classwork!

-At the end of the year, whichever class has received the most tickets will win a big reward (to be determined).

Imagery Pictures and Notes

Here are some examples of our imagery hunt from the past couple days! I've edited out the names... Also, at the very bottom, I've included a picture of the board today covering what we're going over. If you were absent, this is something you need to see!

Pictures from Imagery Hunt!

Today, we identified imagery in informational text! We read about The Great Fire in Chicago :) Tomorrow, we are going to finish reading the story we started today and apply our knowledge of authors purpose, tone, mood, and making inferences. We will also be illustrating imagery we found! See y'all tomorrow!

New photos!

We had a lot of fun playing the vocabulary review card game on Wednesday!

Don't forget, our vocabulary test is tomorrow! Study hard :)

Tone & Purpose Video Homework, due 10/3

Please take notes over this video! We will turn our notes in tomorrow for a grade :) These notes are due on Thursday, October 3rd.

>>> CLICK ME! To watch the video :)

Have a great night!

Allusion Video Homework THURSDAY NIGHT!

Just so we are all on the same page, you MUST write NOTES over this video tonight! We will turn them in tomorrow; that is the only way you will get credit for your homework. I have to see the notes you took!

>>CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO!<<

GOOD LUCK TONIGHT FOOTBALL GUYS & VOLLEYBALL GIRLS!! GO MUSTANGS!

Theme Video Homework

Click the following link to view the video about theme for homework tonight. Please follow the instructions and takes notes/answer questions as you are instructed to do so! This assignment will be due at the beginning of class tomorrow :) have a great night!!


>>CLICK HERE<<

Poetry Week!

Class, this week we will be analyzing poetry for theme and allusions! Wednesday and Thursday night you'll have a video and notes for homework! Ill post the links tomorrow :) Come ready to talk about common themes! Maybe we will even talk about mood too :)

Abuela Invents the Zero

Hey everyone!

We did an assignment on Friday that involved you making your own ending to Abuela Invents the Zero. If you did not finish, here are the requirements:

1. You must continue using Connie as the narrator

2. You must include three examples of figurative language (underline them)

3. You must fix the conflict between Abuela and Connie

This is homework if you did not finish. It will be due on Monday :) have a great weekend!

Fashion Disaster Day Pics!

Retro DAY!

Tomorrow we will be working on our rough drafts for our first personal narrative. The theme of your narrative should have something to do with kindness :) The final draft is due MONDAY SEPTEMBER 16th! We will be working on this the rest of the week. You should be able to complete the whole paper in class. If not, you'll have the weekend to finalize it!

Retro Day Pics!

Nerd day photos