Week of March 20 - 24, 2017

Happy Spring!

Thursday HW
1.  TIFF Kids form and fee
2.  MMS 106-07.  This work is on
3.  Library Book exchange tomorrow.
4.  We continued our work on persuasive writing today with a fifth lesson on writing the Conclusion for a mini-essay on Smoking.   We also looked at a clip from the Simpsons "Monorail" episode to see what advertising techniques for persuasiveness can look like.  The sheets will eventually cover five lessons on the topic and will be collected in a bundle as an in-class assessment.  As this progresses, students should continue to think of a topic about which they would like to write persuasively.  We explored some topics of personal interest in class today.
5.  Next book report is due on Thursday April 6, 2017.  Reading for it should be underway.

Wednesday HW
1.  TIFF Kids form and fee
2.  MMS 106-07.  This work is on Rotational Symmetry,  We used tracing paper and learned proper vocabulary structures to describe it.  We also noted links between line symmetry and rotational symmetry.
3.  Cartoon panels were present for 20 of 28 students.  I encourage the remaining students to secure one ASAP.
4.  We continued our work on persuasive writing today with a fourth lesson on completing a mini-essay on Smoking.   The sheets will eventually cover five lessons on the topic and will be collected in a bundle as an in-class assessment.  As this progresses, students should continue to think of a topic about which they would like to write persuasively.  We explored some topics of personal interest in class today.
5.  Next book report is due on Thursday April 6, 2017.  Reading for it should be underway.

Tuesday HW
1.  TIFF Kids form and fee
2.  MMS 104-05.  This work is on Line Symmetry,  We used tracing paper and learned proper vocabulary structures to describe it.  We also noted links between line symmetry and rotational symmetry.
3.  We continued our work on persuasive writing today with a lesson on "loaded" words and linking devices.  Students were provided with suggested vocabulary improvements to use to create a persuasive tone.  The sheets will eventually cover five lessons on the topic and will be collected in a bundle as an in-class assessment.  As this progresses, students should continue to think of a topic about which they would like to write persuasively.
4.  Next book report is due on Thursday April 6, 2017.  You should be reading from a book you've chosen by now.

Monday HW
1.  TIFF Kids form and fee.
2.  MMS 102-103.  This is work on Similar Figures that was begun before the break.
3.  Think about a topic and thesis you might like to write a persuasive essay about.  We are introducing persuasive writing with the essay format in a step by step way.  Today's focus was on turning a topic (usually a noun, such as "smoking") into a thesis (a short sentence that gives an opinion about the topic e.g., "Smoking is harmful to people.").  We also looked at using a graphic organizer to plan reasons and support details for each part of the five paragraph essay.
4.  Bring a cartoon to school for Art class.  An example could be a panel from "Pooch Cafe", "Peanuts", or "Calvin and Hobbes".  These are easy to locate online (e.g., Google search) and print using the snipping tool in Windows, or some similar application on Apple computers.