Horse Heaven Hills Middle School

Wednesday- Students are well on their way to becoming an astute detective!!  We have been reading the novel “Monster” by Walter Dean Myers.  Students must try to figure out is the main character, Steve Harmon, is guilty of the charge of felony murder.  Each student is responsible for keeping their own detective notebook of important quotes, evidence and noting flashback.  They must find ways to prove that Steve is guilty or not.  We are paying close attention to how flashback is used in this novel.  Students must dig deep into Steve’s character to see if he is at all capable of committing such a horendous crime.

It is mid-quarter and students must have 3 books read by this half-way point.  They are responsible for completing a WASL prompt and journal entries for each book.  There is still several weeks to go before the quarter is over and 3 more books must be read by then!! 

Students have handed in their essay on Diversity and Interdependence, they look wonderful.  I will work on reading them over this next week and will post their scores.  The papers will be scored on a rubric and scores for each category will range from 1-4.  You will be able to see what areas your child has mastered and where there is still room for improvement.

Today students will be introduced to a novel that we will read in class. The title of the book is “Monster” by Walter Dean Myers.  This book will be the foucs of this clas for the next few weeks.  The objective of this book is to see how writers use flashback in their writing and to explore the credibility of a character.  I will continue to update this site at the beginning of next week.

Have a great weekend!

Today students are working on drafts of their essays.  Students will turn in all 4 body paragraphs today for me to look over.  In these paragraphs students must analyze the 3 pieces of literature we read over in class.  They must also connect the literature to the themes of diversity and interdependence.  Their 4th paragraph focuses on teamwork in schools, their role and a teacher’s role.

Tomorrow students will work on locating a meaningful quote that they can use in their introductions.  Students will also locate a graphic to use in their essays, once again to promote diversity and interdependence.

 Homework- students can revise their paragraphs and read their SSR books. 

5/6-  Today students were to complete their four body paragraphs for their essay, “One”.  Students have been working on analyzing writings to incorporate into their essays.  Students must continue reading their SSR books, as mid-quarter is fast approaching. Each student must have 3 WASL prompts and journal entries completed at mid-quarter.  The book fair is going on this week, buy one get one free!!  Please email me if you have comments, questions, or concerns.

4/30-   Students are currently working on an essay assignment entitled “One”.  Within this assignment students are searching for the meanings of diversity and interdependence.  These are the themes that we are working on in class.  Students have been given several pieces of work to analyze and then relate to the themes of diversity and interdependence. 

Students have analyzed an excerpt from a speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and will take a look at a song today.  They will listen to and analyze for meaning the song “One” sung by Bono from the group U2.  Students will underline specific lines from the song and explain how those lines have significant meaning and then relate to the themes of the essay.

5/1- Happy May Day!

Today students will be given their 3rd piece of media to link to the themes of the essay.  They will study a political cartoon which focuses on 9/11.  They will make assumptions as to what they think that illustrator meaning is and then connect to the themes of the essay.

5/2- Students will discuss various quotes that they can use in their essay.  They will choose several that will support their ideas and will use in their writing next week.

Homework for the weekend:  Read - Students should be close to completing 2-3 books for this quarter.  They must continue with their 6 book requirement for the quarter.