Cave 180

Workshop 8

2010-05-05T14:36:00.000-07:00

Ekiwah Adler http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=11694

http://www.vsarts.org/prebuilt/showcase/openbook/onlinejournal/selectedworks/2005/featured/featured_essay.cfm

http://www.poetrygso.org/ekiwah.htm

http://207.46.150.51/id/6734970/

Fun with Idioms

2010-04-28T12:52:00.001-07:00

Here is a site with a matching game:

http://www.quia.com/mc/66234.html

Mexico and Corn

2010-02-16T16:22:00.000-08:00

New York Times
July 12, 1993
Mexicans Fear for Corn, Imperiled by Free Trade
By ANTHONY DEPALMA,

Before they plant even one kernel of corn, the Perez Rueda brothers always follow the timeless Mexican custom of using the first 12 days of the year to predict the weather of the coming 12 months. It rained here last Jan. 5 so they planted in May, the fifth month, and their corn is almost three feet high.

Joel and Benjamin Perez Rueda firmly believe that abiding by the old tradition has brought them success, the proof being that in 13 years they have moved up from two mule teams to three tractors, including one they bought just last year because it was such an "ano maicero" -- a good corn year.

But they are worried about next year. They know the custom won't help them handle the big changes that will come if the United States Congress approves the North American Free Trade Agreement and Mexico is flooded with cheap corn from the north.

"Look at what happens when other products are allowed in and the local market gets wiped out," said Benjamin Perez Rueda, 36, jumping off his new Ford tractor on a misty morning in the Chalco Valley, about 25 miles east of Mexico City. "The truth is, the treaty is not going to help us at all." Farmers in Trouble

Even with a 15-year shelter that protects Mexican corn longer than any other products covered by the trade agreement, people here are worried. While many Mexicans would benefit from the new jobs that are expected to be created, corn farmers like the Perez Ruedas would be hard pressed to survive the fierce new competition. Peasant farmers could be hurt even more, and thousands could be left with few choices but to abandon their land and head either to Mexico's already crippled cities or to the United States.

The trade agreement still faces a tough fight in Congress. And a Federal judge in Washington recently increased the uncertainty by ordering the United States Government to assess the environmental impact of the agreement, a process that could take several months. But most people here believe it is inevitable, just as inevitable as the cultural changes that are already under way as Mexico tries to modernize.

As people become more well-to-do, they generally consume less corn, the food of the poor. Bread replaces tortillas, steak replaces tamales, Ford tractors replace mule teams. Mexico City now has Jenny Craig Weight Loss Centers and Denny's restaurants, but whether such changes represent improvements in the quality of life or a long slide toward cultural obscurity is unclear.

"Corn still connects the Mexicans of today with Mexicans from before the conquest, but when you don't get a good tortilla in a restaurant, it's a very good indication of a deterioration of the quality of life," said Homero Aridjis, a Mexico City poet and environmentalist who is constantly tested by the sweet, long-ago memory of his grandmother's handmade tortillas. "It's just like when the French do not find a good baguette in their restaurants. It shows something serious has happened." The Indian Heritage Corn and Mexico Evolve Together

At last the rains have come, and the dark volcanic fields of the Chalco Valley are erupting with an ancient variety of cream-colored corn.

But here and there in the jagged rows tended by Leopoldo Neria Rodriguez and his black and white mules Aguacate and Paloma sprouts an even older type of corn called teosinte, a reminder of the Aztec people who lived in these misty hills half a millennium ago.

In some Indian tribes the word for meals refers only to corn. But corn represents far more than food. Since Indian wanderers first decided to save gnarled kernels of a tiny ear of corn 7,000 years ago and plant them the next season, Mexico and corn -- here it is called maiz -- have evolved together.

Corn cannot grow without man and man cannot survive without corn -- from the earliest times, Mexicans have interpreted this as a lesson for a life of self-sacrifice. Growing corn is a national obsession, even though this is a nation cruelly unsuited for agriculture. More than half of Mexico is arid, and more than half of all land is too steep for cultivation. Yet corn is grown in all 31 states by nearly three million farmers, mostly peasants working small, inefficient fields without irrigation and at the mercy of the rains. With their families, they represent nearly a quarter of all Mexicans.

Because corn comes from the land, land too is an important part of Mexican life, and was a big factor in the violent 1910 revolution. Rambling haciendas were seized from their Spanish owners and the land was redistributed to peasants, who used it to grow corn.

But no green revolution ever followed because corn grows most productively on large flat fields, the kind found in Iowa, not Oaxaca. Average yields in Mexico are one-third those in the United States. Many Mexican farmers either cannot afford or stubbornly resist improvements like tractors, fertilizer or improved hybrids.

Even though cultural changes are reducing the middle class's reliance on corn, Mexico's young population keeps growing by 2 percent a year, increasing the demand for corn and turning self-sufficiency into a matter of national security. A complex system of subsidies has evolved, accompanied by inefficiency and corruption. At a cost of almost $2 billion a year, the Government buys all the corn that Mexicans produce, at nearly $200 a metric ton, almost twice the world price. Then it has to subsidize tortillas, to bring the price back down.

Even so, Mexico often must import corn from the United States to satisfy demand. The corn is dyed green or pink at the border so it cannot be sold back to the Government at a profit.

The price of local corn has gone so high, while other subsidies have shrunk or disappeared, that many farmers who once grew other crops have switched to corn. The production of rice, cotton and sorghum in Mexico has dropped, while corn production, and corn subsidies, have soared. Even without a treaty such a system is unsustainable, and Mexican officials have studied alternatives, including direct payments to farmers who grow corn and other crops, and subsidies based on income.

Whichever is chosen, many who live by corn face an uncertain future. Big farmers can simply switch to some other crop. Peasants who grow only the corn they eat can continue as they always have. But those in the middle, like the Perez Ruedas, stand to be squeezed out by the new competition and the loss of subsidies. According to the World Bank, in the first five years of the treaty, from 145,000 to 300,000 farmers could abandon their land and head for the cities.

When they leave, they will take with them an unwritten encyclopedia of knowledge about hundreds of varieties of corn that have been cultivated for generations until they became ideally suited to their own weather and soil conditions. Scientists are concerned that the genetic stock that is lost may never be recovered.

To Americans used to supermarket yellow corn, the variety of corn grown here -- from stubby cobs like pine cones to those with red, white and speckled black kernels -- is staggering. Mauricio R. Bellon, a scientist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico who has studied this biological diversity, worries that important gene strains could be lost under the coming economic and cultural changes.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Texcoco, near here, has already set up the world's largest corn seed bank with nearly 13,000 samples. But its directors fear they might not be able to keep up with the rate of abandonment if the economy is transformed. The Staff of Life For Mexico's Poor, Corn Is Everything

In one swift, easy motion, Graciano Palma Mancilla splits open the soil with his coa, a three-foot-long digging stick. Except for its wide steel blade, made from a discarded tractor part, the coa is a replica of the planting tool used by his Aztec ancestors.

"We planted 15 days ago," he said, "but it was just too dry. Look." He jabbed his coa into the ground near a spindly seedling. Then he dipped his left hand into a plaid pouch on his waist and took out a small handful of dried corn kernels, which he flipped into the hole.

For roughly $10 a day, Mr. Palma Mancilla will repeat the same motions up and down long rows on the San Juan farm in Temamatla, also in the Chalco Valley. He has his own field of corn to tend, but it is too small and he is too poor not to have to work for someone else. That, he says, is life in Mexico.

For him, there isn't much more to life than corn. He lives with his wife and three children, and the corn they grow provides them with food every day: corn porridge in the morning, tortillas and beans for lunch, a stew with tortillas at night.

"Without corn," he said, "what are we going to eat?"

For the poor, the answer is little else. Per capita consumption of corn in Mexico exceeds 260 pounds a year, which is roughly 3,600 tortillas, or 10 tortillas a day. Almost none of Mexico's harvest goes to feed animals. Here they say an ear of corn fed to a pig is a meal taken from a peasant.

Besides tortillas, corn is turned into soups and tamales -- ground corn steamed in a corn husk. Pushcarts sell corn on the cob, rolled in a crumbly white cheese, and cups of corn kernels doused in atomic chile. At midday, practically every construction crew makes a small fire on which to cook tortillas. A rare fungus that grows on some corn husks is saved and turned into a delicacy called huitlacoche.

But even without free trade, many Mexicans have already changed the way they feel about the crop. In a modern supermarket, pasty tortillas in plastic bags are displayed across the aisle from pasty white bread in plastic bags. In wealthier states near the United States border, people prefer more expensive tortillas made of wheat.

It could be just that the northerners eat more beef, and wheat tortillas taste better with beef than do those made of corn. But to many traditional Mexicans in the center and south of the country, that preference aligns the northerners more with wheat-eating Europeans than with the corn-eating Indians of their past. The Mighty Tortilla Corn Loses Its Hold On Many Mexicans

Walls once yellow are stained a greasy gray. A conveyor belt runs ceaselessly and the gas-fired flames of the oven, exhausted into the garage-sized room, give the Marta Elena Tortilleria in the mountain village of Tenango del Aire all the charm of a bus terminal.

Mario Sanchez, 18, figures that on an average day he makes and sells about 12,000 tortillas at the Marta Elena, one of about 24,000 small tortilla-making shops in Mexico. On a special day like the recent celebration of Tenango del Aire's patron saint, John the Baptist, he could go through 35,000 tortillas, especially if they are blue ones made from black corn.

The corn he uses comes from the Chalco Valley, from the fields of Mr. Neria Rodriguez and the Perez Rueda brothers and the farm where Mr. Palma Mancilla works. The shop on Tenango del Aire's main street thus completes an ancient cycle of planting, harvesting and tortilla-making that Cortes found in 1519 when he landed on the coast of Mexico.

Outside the open counter, hoping to rush home before the rains started again, Emma Chong bought a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of tortillas, about 35 of them at a cost of one peso -- 33 cents. Mrs. Chong said she, her husband and their 6-year-old son, Carlos Antonio, would not finish them for a week; they much prefer bread.

Her mother, Concepcion Varela, also bought a kilo, but she and her husband will finish them in two days. She said that in her 66 years she had never gone a day without eating corn, and if for some reason a day should come when she couldn't find a tortilla, she supposed she would eat bread, but she wouldn't like it.

"You see how my children like bread now," she said, clearly concerned with the way her family and Mexico were changing right before her eyes, how their roots seemed no longer to run so deep, and how corn for many no longer was so important. All so different. "But I'll tell you," she said, defiantly, proudly, "for me and for my husband, the tortilla still is everything."

Free Trade

2010-02-16T16:08:00.001-08:00

NAFTA has caused unemployment within the agricultural sector of Mexico to skyrocket. According to the Economic Policy Institute, at the end of 2004 there were 6.8 million unemployed agricultural workers in Mexico. Corn producers were perhaps the hardest hit by the free trade agreement: over one million of the crop’s cultivators have lost their jobs since the end of 1993, with many of them being forced to sell off their land at artificially low prices. Overall, paid wages to Mexicans working on corn farms have fallen 70 percent and, according to Witness for Peace, rural poverty rates in Mexico have risen to 81 percent. Between 1991 and 2004, the percentage of the Mexican population involved in the agricultural sector fell by over 10 percent.

In 2000, over 530,000 Mexicans immigrated to the U.S. In a COHA interview, Jeffery Rassel, Senior Research Associate at the Center, said that the numbers from the report are “actually a bit low,” revealing that the most recent figures estimate that 80 percent of all immigration from Mexico is illegal. Those choosing to make the illegal trek into the U.S. must endure extreme natural and physical conditions. Deaths are disturbingly common along the U.S.-Mexican border. In 2005, over 460 Mexicans died attempting to cross into the U.S. In 1993, the year prior to NAFTA’s enactment, there were only 205 immigrant deaths. A Witness for Peace study revealed that in 1998, weather-related deaths (hyper- and hypothermia) among immigrants were three times higher than they were in the 1980s.

In Cancún, Mexico, on the stifling afternoon of September 10, Korean farm leader Lee Kyung Hae scaled the police barricades, which were keeping 10,000 protesting farmers from storming the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks, and thrust a knife into his own heart. His self-sacrifice proved to be a catalyst for the disparate protesters and a solemn reminder of the toll trade liberalization has taken on the world's poorest farmers. When the talks collapsed four days later, it became clear that the ship of free trade had foundered badly on the shoals of its captains' hypocrisy on farm policy.

Mexican farmers provided the protests' largest contingent, and not just because the meeting took place on their own embattled soil. Based on their experiences under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the free-trade model that it embodies, they had a lot to say. Farmers of maize and other grains, who produce for subsistence and for local and regional markets, have been hardest hit by liberalization, with imports from the United States driving prices down to unsustainable levels. But much of the export sector has suffered as well, with gains in industrial tomato farming more than offset by sharp declines in coffee, Mexico's most important export crop in both employment and output.

Mexico's small-scale farmers came together last winter to demand that their government renegotiate NAFTA's agricultural provisions and establish new policies for the countryside. While they have thus far failed to win a commitment from the pro-free trade administration of Vicente Fox to renegotiate NAFTA, last spring they secured new funds for rural development and a promise to assess the agreement's impact on small farmers and to take measures to defend and promote the sector. Whether the movement can hold Fox to those promises remains to be seen, but the farmers' rejection of the neoliberal model is here to stay.

A closer look at the experiences of Mexican farmers of corn and coffee—the country's largest domestic and export crops which directly support some 20 million of the country's 100 million people—illustrates the perils of agricultural trade liberalization. Farmers' responses to the crisis and their policy proposals present a useful starting point for an alternative approach to rural development, one that recognizes the limits of trade, the importance of domestic food sources, and the value of peasant production.

Imports doubled and the price of corn fell nearly 50%.

February 1, 2010

2010-02-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

Computer lab:

1. Watch and listen to this video:
http://roccovogel.com/slavery_video.html

2. Read about this organization and the kids who are heroes and who have been saved.
http://www.bba.org.in/

3. Go go pioneer and read more articles about child labor.
http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com/discoweb/disco/do/search?keyword1=child+labor&stype=basic&sort=relevance&easy=on&mod=on&chal=on

4. Look for other sites about child labor.

5. Select two images you think would make good illustrations for a poster about child labor and after checking to make sure no one else has picked those two, print them (in color if desired). (Do you need help to know how to do this? Placing the images on a Word page first is usually the best way.)
Look for child labor, migrant labor and children, etc.

January 11, 2010

2010-01-11T10:30:00.000-08:00

January 11, 2010 -- All class members were here.
Students received their notebooks and put their names on them.

In their notebooks they wrote
January 11, 2010
We watched the Anchor Video (about Stolen Childhoods -- our new workshop) and we answered the questions on the video

Reading Counts Quiz --
   Partners:
    J.D.
    Matt and Alex
    Stephanie and Neisha
    Katelyn and Naomi
    Jacob and Brackston
    Kennedie and David

rSkills Test 2

2009-12-08T12:24:00.000-08:00

Preparation:
word families
inflectional endings such as -ed, -ing

For Alien Invaders

2009-12-04T05:42:00.000-08:00

This was in the news December 4, 2009:

http://news.channelone.com/ap/business/Poison-planned-to-keep-Asian-carp-from-Great-Lakes-163098

Unit: Disaster

2009-11-10T11:16:00.001-08:00

Vocabulary/sequence of events

software -- Word Distracters == 7-15
Roots and Affixes -- cards? 7-17

destruction
major
prevent
recovery
severe

focus
increase
degree
abandon
cycle

prefixes -- re-
pre- ven (come) t

suffixes -- -tion

sequence of events:
video --
Present vocabulary
1. Struck by Lightning -- brief stories about people struck by lightning -- pairs read, prepare, present
struck by lighning newpaper article
Additional vocabulary
Read article -- oral cloze
topic
signal words
sequence of events
2. Mountain on Fire
headings and subheadings
vocabulary
topic signal words
sequence
oral cloze with questions to look for answers
sequence of events

read -- oral cloze
1. Hurricanes
vocabulary
close
topic
finding main idea
sequence of events
comprehension questions

prefixes and suffixes

1. video and vocabulary (words and prefixes)
2. struck by lighting
3. mountain on fire
4. hurricanes (2 DAYS)
5. APPLY VOCABULARY
6 test --
November 4 -- video and vocabulary
November 6 -- struck by lightning presentations
November 9 -- mountain on fire
November 11 -- finish mountain on fire
November 13 -- hurricanes
November 16 -- Word Challenge -- practice vocabulary and prefixes/suffixes
Novmeber 18 -- Test --

October 14, 2009

2009-10-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

rBook page 22 and handout
computers
individual reading

October 12, 2009

2009-10-14T11:47:00.001-07:00

rBook pages 20-21
Computer
Reading

October 8, 2009

2009-10-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

We talked about antonyms and synonyms.
Antonyms mean the opposite.
Synonyms mean the same or close to the same.

Students completed pages 20 and 21 in the rBook.

Individual Reading
Computer

The pumpkin

October 6, 2009

2009-10-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

October 6, 2009
Main idea -- We looked at two passages that could be misunderstood, and looked at how finding details can help us figure out the main idea.

Page 19 in the rBook -- finding the main idea in an article
Computer and Individual reading

September 29, 2009

2009-09-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

September 29, 2009

We went to the media center to look for books that are at each student's independent reading level.
The student's independent reading level ranges from 100 points below the student's lexile level to 50 points above.
Check out lexile.com. They've updated their site, and it's much more helpful and user-friendly than it was before.

Students spent time at the computers and reading individually.

September 25, 2009

2009-09-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

September 25, 2009

Free Read Friday! Read your own book during reading time or books I provide.

Main idea and detail
rBook

Computer Software

HOMEWORK:
Receive a progress report to be signed by a parent or guardian.
Don't forget to take home the passage to read aloud to a parent or guardian or other adult.

Parent-Teacher Conference

2009-09-23T16:16:00.001-07:00

Parent-Teacher Conferences are this Thursday, September 24.

I will be here at the Parent- Teacher Conference until 6:45. Then I will need to leave for the evening. If you do not have the opportunity to speak with me at Parent-Teacher Conferences, please feel free to call or e-mail. (The same applies even if you do see me that evening!)

My email is dorsc405@alpine.k12.ut.us

September 23, 2009

2009-09-23T15:58:00.003-07:00

September 23, 2009

All students have received a passage to read aloud to their parents or other adults. It should be returned signed as soon as possible.

Three students have joined the 1000 Word Club by reading over 1000 words on the software and individual reading (books are counted after the student successfully completes a computer test on the book).

Today we talked more about main idea and details. We worked with the main idea that "I went to a movie." We added details about where, with whom, what was the movie, who were the stars, whether the stars were "hot," whether I got popcorn or other treats, where I sat, and whether the movie was good, scary, exciting, sad, or funny.

We read from the rBook about new trends in immigration, and how immigration laws have changed over the years. We found out that we can learn a lot from the U.S. Census.

Parents, ask your student what book he or she is reading in individual reading time.

September 21, 2009

2009-09-23T15:58:00.001-07:00

September 21, 2009

Today we worked in the rBook, reading more about a teen immigrant who made a plan to succeed in school. We looked for the main idea and details, and introduced a new vocabulary word. Some students received a passage to take home and read aloud to their parents. It should be returned, signed, within a week, if possible.

September 17, 2009

2009-09-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

Today we watched a video review for the article "Fitting In," about a young immigrant girl named Irene Rodriguez.
We then read the article, and looked for topic, main ideas, and a new vocabulary word: income.

Students worked on the READ180 software and did individual reading of leveled books, filling out QuickWrites for their chosen books.

September 15, 2009

2009-09-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

September 15, 2009

We worked together on filling out a QuickWrite for Ant Attack.

Students learned where to find the QuickWrites. They received the levels that they should be reading. For now, level two students are allowed to read books in levels 1 and 2,and level three students are allowed to read books in levels 2 and 3.

20 minutes -- 2 rotations -- Reading /Computer

Students left the books they are reading in their individual Hanging Folders.

Extra Credit

2009-09-15T04:05:00.000-07:00

I just found a fun word --
Sternutation (ster - nyuh-TAY-shun) means the act, fact, or noise of sneezing!

Come tell me by October 1, 2009, and receive 5 extra credit points. That's nothing to sneeze at!

September 11, 2009

2009-09-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

September 11, 2009

Today the students worked on their rBook.
They began using the Read180 software.
Some of the students did individual reading.

September 9, 2009

2009-09-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

September 9, 2009

Today we looked for words in our rBook (and other words we could think of) that we could use for a search about immigration.

We read one chapter from Crossing the Wire.

Students retook the SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory).
Students did research using Pioneer Library online.

September 2, 2009

2009-09-02T18:40:00.000-07:00

Today we started using our rBooks. Our first workshop is about New Americans. We also listened to more of The Mighty.

Book for English class

2009-09-01T11:13:00.002-07:00

Students, if you have permission from your English teacher and from me, you may use a READ180 book (of appropriate length and genre) for your English Book-of-the-Month.

August 31, 2009

2009-09-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

We listened to more of The Mighty, did more "Book Pass," and I finished up individual student fluency testing and interviews.
Thanks!

August 27, 2009

2009-08-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

Today, students completed a "Visualizing Reading" assignment in which they drew what reading is like for them.
It was a very unusual game because they were able to play games while the teacher did individual testing and interviewing.

Thanks, Students, for being so well behaved!

August 25, 2009

2009-08-25T11:05:00.001-07:00

Today students
1. Students finished the timed reading questions packets.
2. We had a spelling test that provides the teacher with information about how students read!
3. We listened to part of an audio-book -- The Mighty -- and the students answered questions about what they had heard and read.
4. We did more book pass.
5. Students received their disclosure documents. They should return the signature sheets and VIP (student information) forms by September 1. Before is better! Thanks.

School Supplies

2009-08-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

For READ180, be prepared to bring pens and/or pencils everyday. Please also purchase a 3-prong pocket folder and lined binder paper (not a binder) to bring the first week of school.

General Supplies needed for junior high:

Remember that in junior high the school and teachers do not provide your school supplies.

If your family cannot afford school supplies, please speak with a teacher or administrator.

When the school supply sales come on, you would be wise to purchase these items:
4Plenty of lined paper (Get enough to last for the school year, since it costs so much more when it's not on sale.)
4Plenty of pencils (Teachers usually keep some on hand for students to borrow in an emergency, but students should supply their own, and should not break or throw pencils.) If you like to use mechanical pencils, have extra lead on hand. Teachers won't have it.
4 Pens with black or dark blue (indigo) ink
A red pen might be used sometimes, but do not do your homework and in-class writing with it or with other odd colors of ink.
Parents, please don't send sharpies or other permanent ink pens to school with your students. They can quickly become a nuisance item. If they need to use them to mark binders, notebooks, P.E. clothes, etc., please do that at home.
4A couple of three ring binders. Some students do better with everything kept in one binder, and others prefer to have one binder for A-Day classes and another for B-Day classes.
4 Binder dividers -- You can buy these or make your own with index or construction paper.
4Spiral notebooks -- Watch for those that go on sale for ten or fifteen cents each.

4Optional:
A thumb drive comes in very handy. In the past, students have done a PowerPoint presentation for science class, and may want to use it to save or hand work for other classes. Colored pencils may be needed for history class, and come in handy at times in other classes.
A three-ring hole-punch that fits in your binder is very helpful if you receive handouts that haven't been punched.
A small manual pencil sharpener
A small pack of Kleenex -- We usually have facial tissues/Kleenex available in our classrooms, but they are not soft on a tender nose.
Hand sanitizer
If you find a good deal, you might want to have on hand some poster board. Sometimes teachers will assign students to create posters, and it's nice not to have to run out to the store at 10 pm when the student remembers he or she has a poster due the next day.

Note to Parents: If you have a computer and printer, you might want to check to see that you have enough printer ink on hand so your student can print off homework when needed. Please encourage your student to finish and hand-in assignments before the deadline, so any computer or printer problems don't make them late.

More about computers and Internet: It is very helpful to have the Internet available at home. Our English classes use a writing program called MYAccess for several assignments during the year. We access it at school, and students can write and revise their work from home or anywhere else they can use the Internet. That also allows parents to read their student's writing and watch their progress.
Students may also need to do research on the Internet for various classes.
If you do not have access at home, the student could use computers in our school media center, sometimes (such as during CaveTime) our computer labs are open to students who need extra time, and the Internet is available at the public library.
Parents will need to sign a release for the student to use the Internet at school, and the student will need to have his or her Internet card in hand to use the Internet on the media center computers and in the other computer labs.

Teacher Web Sites: Many of our teachers have web sites, blogs, and wikis where you can find much information about classes, requirements, etc. Take advantage of this resource.
If you're absent or looking for more information or maybe some extra credit, check this blog.

First Days of READ 180

2009-08-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

First Days

On August 19th we spent time getting to know each other.

On August 21st, this is what we did:

Students made tri-fold name plates to use at their desks.

Students did an attitude/understanding survey.

We watched a DVD preview of part of the computer software: reading zone, spelling zone, and word zone.

Students did a timed reading about a boy who was lost in the wilderness, and then answered questions about the reading.

We did a book pass in which students got to sample some of the READ180 books and decide if they'd like to read more in them.

Parents: To Learn More About READ180

2009-07-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

Go to http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/read180/overview/tour.htm and click on "Take the Product Tour" for an overview of the program. (Actually it's an advertisement for the program, but gives you a good idea of what we do.)

Information for the Beginning of the 2009-2010 School Year

2009-07-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

If you're looking at this because you'll be in seventh grade next year, here's some information for you. Back to School Night will be held August 18th from 5 - 7 p.m.

On August 19 we will hold seventh grade day, when only seventh graders come to school all day.

August 20 will be 8th-9th grade day, so seventh graders do not need to come!
All grades will come on August 21st, a B-day.

Workshop 8

2009-05-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

Vocabulary
label
involved
persist
positive
attitude

Activity #1
Turning Points: Read the text on page 182 about what a “turning point” is.

What are some examples of a turning point in someone’s life?
1. starting at a new school
2. _____________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________

How can a turning point hurt someone?
5. make them angry
6. ________________________________________________
7. ________________________________________________
8. ________________________________________________

How can a turning point help someone?
9. help them make new goals
10. ________________________________________________
11. ________________________________________________
12. ________________________________________________

13. One difficult situation faced by a teen in the video was ______________________________________________

14. Another teen had to deal with ______________________________________________

15. Why did Juan have trouble fitting in? ___________________________________________

16. Before Juan started boxing, was he on a path toward a successful future or an unsuccessful future? successful? unsuccessful?

17. What did boxing teach Juan about his life? ______________________________________________________________

18. If you moved to a new country, what do you think would be the most difficult change?
If I moved to a new country, I think the most difficult challenge would be __________________________________________________________

19. Which of the challenged faced by the teens in the video do you think would be the most difficult? Why?
I think __________________________________________ would be the most difficult because _________________________

Vocabulary
A. Complete the chart on page 183.
B. Answer these questions.

1. Who is involved in making a movie? _____________________________________________

2. Which label would you give a snake? (Circle one.) cool scary

3. When is it harder to persist: during a short jog or during a long race? _______________

4. What are you positive that you want to do this summer? __________________________________________________________

5. What is an attitude that you see at this school that you think should be changed?
_____________________________________________________________

Fill in each blank with the word from the new vocabulary on page 183 that makes the best sense.
You may add an “-ed” if needed.

6. When you are sure you know the answer to a question, you are ____________________.

7. When our whole class works on the project, every person will be __________________.

8. When you smile at people, they can tell you have a cheerful ______________________.

9. Even thought the state core test was long, I did my best to _______________________.

10. When you call a person “shy,” you are giving that person a ___________.

Optional for extra credit:
Draw an illustration to show the meaning of one of the vocabulary words.

Compare and Contrast

2009-05-03T11:17:00.000-07:00

Compare and Contrast
-- This is another type of Text Structure or Text Pattern. When you recognize it, you can understand and remember better what you're reading.

Compare =
tell how things are the same

Signal words for comparison: both, too, also, in addition, similarly, . . .

Contrast =
tell how things are different

Signal words for contrast: but, rather than, however, yet, nevertheless, although, on the other hand, . . .

Also watch for –er words such as harder, better, happier, etc

Spelling Hint VCe

2009-05-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

Rules for VCe

Each syllable has only one vowel sound.
VCe refers to a syllable with long vowel – consonant – silent e.

The "e" is silent, and it makes the vowel before the consonant say its own name.

Examples:
slide i - d - e
combine i- n - e
make a-k-e

Vocabulary for Workshop 7

2009-04-30T13:48:00.001-07:00

Vocabulary for Workshop 7
alter
environment
invade
method
species
poisonous
interfere
release
responsible
capable

Idioms

2009-04-29T05:14:00.002-07:00

Idioms are combinations of words that mean something different than the surface meaning of those words.

Examples of idioms that use food words --

Thomas needed money for the movie so he had to butter up his father.
That college only accepts students who are the cream of the crop.
She turned as red as a beet when I caught her cheating.
Marco acted as cool as a cucumber on the day of the big race.
Jake said the test would be a piece of cake.
Maybe he was telling the truth, or maybe he was full of beans.
At the bake sale, my mother's brownies sold like hotcakes.
People were packed in like sardines on the subway train.
My mother works hard to bring home the bacon.
My father stopped to chew the fat with our neighbor, Mr. Jones.
Oresha and I went to the game to egg on our team.
My aunt's ring looked expensive, but she got it for peanuts.
The puppies in the cage were going bananas.
Stephanie is the apple of her father's eye.
My teacher told me I had to beef up my report on George Washington.
Jack Traxel is the big cheese at the cable company.
It was so cold I practically froze my buns off.
Even though Paul worked at the job, he wasn't able to cut the mustard.
I opened my big mouth at the wrong time, so now I have to eat my words.
So that's the problem in a nutshell.
Books by that author are not my cup of tea.
The vase was broken so there was no use crying over spilled milk.
The little Jackson boy is a bad egg.
I was embarrassed to give my piano teacher such a cheesy gift.
We should have known the half-baked idea would not work.
Please don't spill the beans about the surprise party.
The souped-up car made so much noise that our neighbors called to complain.

Thanks to http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp064.shtml

More idioms:
All ears
Ants in your pants
Arm and a leg
At the end of your rope
Axe to grind
Back to the drawing board
Barking up the wrong tree
Between the lines
Blood out of a stone
Blow your stack
Bone to pick
Bull in a China shop
By the skin of your teeth
Can of worms
Cold feet
Crash a party
Cry your eyes out
Don’t wash your dirty laundry in public
Down in the dumps
Eagle eyes
Elephant in the room
Feeling Blue
Fifth wheel
Fish out of water
Go round in circles
Grab the bull by its horns
Head is in the clouds
Heart of gold
Hook, line, and sinker
Horse of a different color
In the doghouse
It cost an arm and a leg
Jump the gun
Like a fish needs a bicycle
Make waves
Money talks
Opening a can of worms
Out on a limb
Piece of cake
Pull someone's leg
Pull your weight
Rock the boat
See the light
Stick out like a sore thumb
Tall story
Thin-skinned
Thrilled to bits
Walk on eggshells
Written all over your face
You can say that again

Thanks to http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp048.shtml

Sample Idioms

hit the books

make a beeline

got a tiger by the tail

a frog in the throat

pie in the sky

bat in the belfry

blow his or her stack

hit the nail on the head

go fly a kite

have a green thumb

pull a leg

eager beaver

stick in the mud

have a ball

raining cats and dogs

make a mountain out of a molehill

have something up the sleeve

pull the wool over someone's eyes

walls have ears

lose one's marbles

Thanks to http://www.education-world.com/a_tsl/archives/00-1/lesson0001.shtml

Idioms

2009-04-29T05:14:00.001-07:00

Idioms are combinations of words that mean something different than the surface meaning of those words.

Alien Invaders

2009-04-10T05:31:00.001-07:00

Alien Invaders
Learn more about plant and animal invaders.

See the map to show where Guam is.

Vocabulary
interfere
poisonous
alter
environment
invade
method
species
release
responsible
capable

Do you know what an "idiom" is?
Example: "She's as cool as a cucumber."
See more examples here.

April 10, 2009

2009-04-10T05:28:00.000-07:00

Recently students have taken an rTest and corrected their rBooks. If there is a student who has not completed either one, he or she should do that immediately.

Students are now able to write their reading logs on our class wiki. Notice that these should contain as much information as those written on paper.

Today is free-read Friday. Watch especially for cause and effect!

We're working in the workshop about Alien Invaders!

March 31, 2009

2009-03-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

March 31, 2009

Practice Test for Workshop 6. Take the practice test on pages 156-157. You may look back in the text for comprehension questions and for the short answer questions.
Answer the vocabulary questions without looking back.

Short Answer: 1) Make a statement using words from the question.
2) Support it with details, fact, etc. from the text.

Computers: Take the rTest.
Reading: Read and fill out a reading log.
Table: score rBooks for Workshop 6
Work with vocabulary building and word play that go with the Scope magazine (the one with an illustration on the cover for Jekyll and Hyde.

March 27, 2009

2009-03-27T13:13:00.002-07:00

March 27, 2009
Students reviewed for the test on workshops 5 and 6 from the rBook.
Homophones and homographs
Synonyms
Compound words

Also on the test, they will show their understanding of --
Problem and solution
Main idea and details
Summary
Setting
Plot
Character
Word families
run-on sentences
capitalization
multiple-meaning words
antonyms

Today was Free-Read Friday!
We saw a trailer for an old Dracula movie, since we've been learning about Poe's influence on horror stories.

March 25, 2009

2009-03-27T13:13:00.001-07:00

March 25, 2009
We watched a short video called "Vincent," directed by Tim Burton, about a young boy who wanted to be like Vincent Price.
Students filled out a chart for plot, setting, and characters in the video. We did this as practice for completing the chart in our rBook for "The Fall of the House of Usher."

Students also practiced some of their vocabulary words.

March 23, 2009

2009-03-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

1. Workshop 6, Lesson 4 Worksheet
Follow the directions. You will hand this in before the end of class.

2. Listen to "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. (Just the audio from The Simpsons' version)
Lenore is the narrator's love who died.
A bust is a statue of someone's head and shoulders.

3. Anchor Video for the poem "The Haunted House." -- page 144
We watched for alliteration and onomotopoeia.

4. Rotations
rBook -- Do pages 144-147, and finish page 135 if you haven't yet.

March 17, 2009

2009-03-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

March 17, 2009

Students completed a worksheet to practice their target vocabulary, and to practice identifying elements of literature.

We read half of the story "Fall of the House of Usher" in our rBooks, and completed some of the exercises in the margins.

We watched part of a movie based on "Fall of the House of Usher," titled "House of Usher" and staring Vincent Price, comparing it to the story in our rBooks.
For the full story by Edgar Allan Poe, go to http://www.online-literature.com/poe/31/

A3 -- up to the breakfast scene
A4 -- Madeline showing Phillip the family burial vault

Workshop 6 -- Edgar Allan Poe

2009-03-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

Workshop 6 -- Edgar Allan Poe

Today, Friday the 13th (appropriately), we started our new workshop on Edgar Allan Poe, Master of Horror. We watched the movie trailer for the 1932 version of "Murders in the Rue Morgue." We also watched the anchor video that comes with this workshop, and talked about fears and why people enjoy being frightened by scary stories and movies.
In this workshop students will be learning about story elements including setting, character, and plot. They will also study rhyme and onomatopoeia, synonyms, word families, and target vocabulary words (vocabulary words that are commonly used in more than one school subject).

March 4, 2009

2009-03-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

Students did a before reading activity -- see the worksheet.*

At table time we worked on the rBook, with an article about "The Power of Peer Pressure," working especially on summarizing and using the problem-solution text pattern. Students worked on their own or with partners (their choice) to complete pages in the rBook up through page 119.

Students were working on the READ180 software.

Students are reading a variety of books, magazines, and other materials for individual reading time. They fill out a reading log after or during about 15 minutes of reading.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

* Worksheet /Self-Starter for today --

You may do this with a partner. - one worksheet for both

Workshop 5, Lesson 5
Today we will read the article “The Power of Peer Pressure.” Generate “why” questions based on the title of the article  :
1. Why ___________________________________________________________?
2. Why ___________________________________________________________?

3. What would you tell a friend who is being pressured to do something that will make his or her parents really mad?
______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

4. Do you think it’s worth possibly hurting your friendship to try to convince your friend that what he or she is being pressured to do is wrong? Why or why not? _______________________________________________________________

5. Predict: In what grades do kids have the most trouble with peer pressure?
grade _______though grade _______

6. What is an example of a time when you stood up for your principles? ______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________

(See page 116 to fill in the definition of “principle.” Find the definition in the glossary. Here are some examples of principles, shown in a graphic.

Quote about a Real Friend

2009-03-04T20:05:00.001-08:00

"It takes courage to be a real friend... A friend is a person who will suggest and render the best for us regardless of the immediate consequences.

Sir Winston Churchill became Great Britain's greatest friend in his country's darkest hour because he was courageous enough to call for "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" when some would have accepted him more readily as a friend had he advocated peaceful surrender.

President Abraham Lincoln was once criticized for his attitude toward his enemies. "Why do you try to make friends of them?" asked an associate. "You should try to destroy them." "Am I not destroying my enemies," Lincoln gently replied, "when I make them my friends?"
--Marvin J. Ashton

March 2, 2009

2009-03-02T21:52:00.000-08:00

Today is Dr. Seuss's birthday -- birthday 105 to be exact. Of course, he's not around to celebrate, but we could celebrate by reading!

Today in READ180, students completed a worksheet to review contractions, r-controlled vowels, reading prepositional phrases, and to write out (on a separate paper) things they like about themselves.

Students also worked together to put together syllables to form some of our vocabulary words.

At table time we worked on the rBook, with an article about teen self-esteem, working especially on summarizing and using the problem-solution text pattern.

We're finishing up the rSkills test on the computers, and working on the READ180 software.

Students are reading a variety of books, magazines, and other materials for individual reading time.

Teen Self-Esteem

2009-02-28T13:20:00.000-08:00

One of the articles we read told how teens try to solve the PROBLEM of low self esteem by "improving" the way they look.

The article suggests healthful ways teens can improve their self-esteem. [SOLUTIONS]
1. Lend a hand to others.
2. Find a mentor.
3. Get involved.
Ms. Dorsey would like to add . . .
#4. Put in the effort to do your best in school. Learning and achieving can boost your self-esteem!

Failed ATTEMPTS to solve the problem:
Sometimes teens go on extreme diets or develop eating disorders. See these sources of information:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3435077.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3191633.stm about anorexia in boys

Sometimes teens may use drugs to "bulk up," or to "improve" athletic performance. Following is a site with information about performance enhancing drugs and their dangers:
http://www.drugfree.org/playhealthy/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=mlb

Workshop 5

2009-02-28T11:19:00.000-08:00

Workshop 5 in our rBooks is titled Under Pressure.
"In these selections, readers discover the power of peer pressure and its dangerous effects on teens."

Our comprehension focus is on the text structure: Problem and Solution.
We have also been looking at using and reading contractions, and pronouncing R-Controlled Vowels.

Here are our Workshop 5 vocabulary words:
authority
convince
image
negative
pressure
rebel /re-bel/
constant
appreciate
principle
participate

February 27, 2009

2009-02-27T10:25:00.000-08:00

February 27, 2009
We recently finished Workshop 4 "Stolen Childhoods" about child labor. The students made great posters against child labor. They also took a computer test on Workshops 3 and 4.

Parents, I can provide you with data about your student's progress, including test results.

I enjoyed vistiing with the parents who were able to come to our Parent-Teacher Conference. Please e-mail me or call if you'd like to talk with me about your student.

January 29, 2009

2009-01-29T20:07:00.000-08:00

We had a special guest today -- Cimberly Carr who spent a couple of months in India working in an ashram for boys who were rescued from child labor.

We are working on finding the topic and details for a passage, and then summarizing it.

picture from National Geographic

January 23, 2009

2009-01-22T18:46:00.000-08:00

January 23, 2009

October 10, 2008

2008-10-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

October 10, 2008
finish scrambled sentences
contracts
reading and reading log
think-alouds for reading log
computer software

October 8, 2008

2008-10-08T16:07:00.000-07:00

October 8, 2008
Today we practiced types of responses we can use on the reading logs.
At table, students got started cutting out and organizing sentences from three mixed up paragraphs. They are using connecting words and other clues to put the sentences in the right order.
Students used the computer software and I was able to talk with several about their overall grades and about how they are doing on the computer software.

October 6, 2008

2008-10-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

October 6, 2008

Students were to finish up the worksheets on connecting words and on Pompeii.
I gave students their assigned reading levels (based on their SRI lexile scores) and they picked out books and picked up QuickWrite sheets to go with their books.
Students also worked on the computer software.

October 2, 2008

2008-10-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

October 2, 2008
There was a substitute today since Ms. Dorsey was at a District Meeting all day.

Students had a free read today, but they were still to fill out their reading logs.
They worked on the computers.
They were to work on a "Connecting Words" worksheet. We call these words transitional words and phrases or connecting words, and the rBook calls them "linking words." They are used to connect ideas in a paragraph or essay. For example: (I've bolded the connecting words.)
I had a great time at Hee-Haw's on Monday evening. First of all, it was free because a company I do business with had reserved the place for the evening. Second, I love Halloween, and there were haunted houses (little kid ones), a trick-or-treat hayride, donuts and cider, and, of course, the corn maze. Finally, and best of all, my grandchildren were with me, and being with them made it truly fun.

Also, the students had a passage to read about Pompeii, and questions to answer about the passage.

September 30, 2008

2008-09-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

September 30, 2008
Preparing to Write a Paragraph
Paragraph Prompt: Explain how immigration has changed your neighborhood.
Students will write one paragraph. They will start today and finish next time.

I. Self-Starter: Word and Idea Collector -- List words and phrases you could use in your paragraph under these categories:

Countries/
Languages Food Restaurants Events Music Entertainment School Other

II. Note: Plan on using two or three (or more) of our vocabulary words in your paragraph: Circle three of these:
trend communicate isolated income currently influences immigrant policy motivate minimum percent

III. Unlocking the Prompt
1. What type of writing will you need to do to answer the prompt? (circle one of each)
fiction or nonfiction?
informational, functional, or literary?

2. Who is your audience? __________________________________________________

3. What is your purpose? (circle one)
to entertain
to inform
to persuade

September 26, 2008

2008-09-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hispanic Population as percent of total population by county - U.S. Census 2000

September 26, 2008
READ 180

Whole class: We talked about the U.S. Census, how it's conducted, how it helps, and whether it's worthwhile.

Computers: READ 180
Reading: Today was Free-Read Friday. Students got to read their own choice of books, but they still needed to record it in their reading logs, with a comment.
Table Time: rBook pages 16-17 -- We worked as a group on finding topic and main idea.

September 24, 2004

2008-09-24T15:39:00.003-07:00

September 24, 2008

Self-Starter: Vocabulary Review/Preview Students answered these questions --
1. What percent of students in this class are boys? _____________ girls? _______
2. What percent of students in this class were born in Utah? _______________
3. What percent of students in this class are taking Utah history right now? ____________

Select words from those below to fill in the blanks on the sentences.

trend communicate isolated income
currently influences immigrant policy

4. My ______________for the past year all came from gifts from grandparents. Over the year I received two hundred dollars.

5. When Danny wore his sneakers inside out, he started a ____________. Most of the kids turned their sneakers inside out.

Rotations:
Computers: Students either finished up the SRI, or went on to the READ180 software.
Table time: Students did the vocabulary builders on pages 16 and 18, and worked on pages 20 and 21.
Reading: Students read from Read180 leveled books and filled in their reading logs entries.

September 22, 2008

2008-09-24T15:39:00.001-07:00

September 22, 2008

We worked some more on main idea and details.

Computers: Most of the students finished taking the SRI.
Table Time: This was a catch-up day for the rBook and any unfinished worksheets.
Reading: Students should have read leveled SRI books, and filled in a entry on their reading logs.

September 18, 2008

2008-09-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

September 18, 2008
More about topics and main idea
Take the SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory) computer reading test.
Work on word search.

September 16, 2008

2008-09-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

September 16, 2008
Students at table time finished the play they were reading.
Students at "computers" worked on a wordsearch of their vocabulary words -- and a few names.
Students at reading time read and wrote a brief response.

Whole Class --
Today we talked about finding the main idea of a passage.
1. First you find the topic.
2. Then you find the main point that's being made about the topic.
3. Then you see if you can find a sentence that combines the topic and the main point that is being made about it.
4. If there isn't one sentence that does that, either combine parts of sentences, or create one of your own that will name the topic and express that main idea
5. Then you check to make sure that the details in the passage support that main idea.

Here is our worksheet from today:
Workshop 1 – Reading 2 -- Fitting In
Generate how, what, or why questions using the title on page 12, and the large type at the top of page 13.

1. _____________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________

On page 12, do the section in the left column titled “Target Word.” Use the glossary.
You also need to know that “isolated” means all alone.
Vocabulary Review:
4. I feel isolated when _____________________________________________________.
5. People can increase their income by ___________________________________________.
6. What jobs pay a high income? ________________________________________________
7. How could you communicate with someone who did not speak your language?
________________________________________________________________________
8. Who influences you to try hard in school? ______________________________________
9. Who is an athlete or other famous person currently in the news?
________________________________________________________________________

After you have read pages 12 and 13 with the class, finish this sentence:
In my opinion, Irene (should/should not) have stayed with her grandmother because. . .
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

Finding the Main Idea of a Paragraph or Passage
1. Find the topic. (Look for repeated words, or for what the passage seems to generally be about.)
2. Look for a sentence that tells the most important idea about this topic.
3. If there isn’t one sentence that tells the most important idea about the topic, use the words and ideas in the paragraph to make a main idea (topic) sentence.
4. Check to make sure the details in the paragraph are about this topic, and support the main idea you’ve picked.

We found the topic and main idea for the first paragraph on page 13 together:

What is the topic for the profile that starts on page 13?
Answer: Irene Rodreguez, a young immigrant
Try it out on paragraph #1:
What sentence tells the most important idea about the topic?
Answer: This young immigrant turned failure into success.
Now, add the topic to that sentence.
Answer: Irene Rodreguez, a young immigrant, turned failure into success.

When you look for a main idea sentence in a paragraph, look in these places:

1. At the beginning
This is where you’ll most often find it!
2. At the end
This is the second most common place to find the main idea.
3. In the middle
4. It’s not stated in one sentence.
You have to put words and ideas together to create one sentence.

September 12, 2008

2008-09-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

September 12, 2008

Today we talked again about topic, main idea, and details.
We watched again a brief video introducing the story of Freddy Adu, who came from Ghana with his family as an immigrant to the U.S.

Students also read a newspaper article (in the rBook) about Adu, and answered questions related to the article. The new vocabulary word for today is "currently."

We did rotations.
At reading time, student participated in "Free Read Friday." They were able to read either their READ180 book, or books they had brought, or extra books I had made available today.

At "computer time" since our computers aren't ready to go yet, students completed pages 10 and 11 in the rBook -- we'd already done part of it together --, completed a supplemental worksheet (What could you do with $750,000 which was what Freddy Adu was offered to quit school and become a pro soccer player?), and filled in a vocabulary worksheet with words for the play they read at table time.

At table time, students read a play together based on an episode of Everybody Hates Chris.

September 10, 2008

2008-09-10T18:39:00.000-07:00

September 10, 2008
We discussed the meaning of topic, main idea, and details, using the example of the assembly which was held yesterday:
Topic: Election of class officers for the seventh grade class at American Fork Junior High
("Elections" would be too broad to be the topic because there are many kinds of elections in many places. "Jade's video" would be too narrow because there were nineteen other candidates who presented videos, skits, speeches, etc.)
Main idea (This should be stated as a complete sentence.): Yesterday, an assembly was held for the purpose of electing class officers for the seventh grade class at American Fork Junior High.
A few details:
There were twenty students running for office.
Each student running for office was alloted two minutes of the assembly.
One boy had eggs broken over his head.
A girl was turned into a "hot dog" when friends poured ketchup, mustard, mayo, and relish on her.
One student gave a speech, then played a song on the xylophone.
Students voted by marking three names on a ballot.
The candidate who received the most points became the class president, the next vice president, and the third secretary. (Actually, there was a tie for third place, so the class has two secretaries.)

A possible main idea for Workshop 1 would be "Immigrants come to the U.S. from many countries, and they come for various reasons, and they face challenges."

We did rotations today. Students rotated through three activities.
One activity involved working with the vocabulary words for Workshop 1 in the rBook:
communicate, immigrant, trend, policy, and influence.

At "reading time" students had a sustained silent reading time, reading their choice of the READ180 books and writing a response (using response starters provided) to their reading.

At "table time" students played a game, imagining they were new immigrants to the U.S. Some students took time to take the spelling test they had missed.

During class wrap-up, students filled in their behavior logs, we corrected part 3 of the vocabulary worksheet, and we read a bit from the novel Crossing the Wire.

September 8, 2008

2008-09-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

September 8, 2008

Today students filled in their behavior charts for the day, received their rBooks, and were introduced to the rBooks. We watched the set of videos that goes along with the first workshop in the rBook.
1. Students looked through the Table of Contents for the rBook and wrote a response:
"I'm most interested in Workshop # ____ because. . . . "
2. Students shared responses.
3. Students previewed helps at the back of the book, including the Glossary.
4. Students rated how well they knew the vocabulary words on page 9.
(A4 took the quiz on pagers 6-7.)
5. We watched the videos for Workshop 1, and watched for where the immigrants in the video came from, why they came, and especially what challenges they faced when they got here.
We used these sentence starters:
"One challenge that immigrants face is. . . . Another one is. . ."
(or) "I think the most serious challenge immigrants face is. . . "

We also started reading the novel "Crossing the Wire" by Will Hobbs. Go here to learn more about the book.

Extra Credit

2008-09-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

Extra Credit
To earn 5 points of extra credit, just tell me what the featured book is for this week, and a little of what you learned about it here -- through September 12.

The book this week is Daniel's Story by Carol Matas. It is a fictional story (based on fact, so it is HISTORICAL FICTION) about a 14 year old Jewish boy named Daniel who lived through the Holocaust.

This book is one of our READ180 Audiobooks.

September 4, 2008

2008-09-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

September 4, 2008
Today students began using their folders. They should pick up their work folders when they come into the room, and fill out the first two columns on the blue behavior sheet.

Students listened to and followed along with the first few chapters of The Mighty (also known as Freak the Mighty).

Students practiced a group activity that combined "Numbered Heads" with Pair-Share.

A3 reviewed the demo of how to use the Reading Zone on the computer software.
(A3 is no longer allowed to have gum. Students were noisy and distruptive with gum, and left wrappers on the floor.)

A4 took a spelling test to help the teacher learn more about their spelling and reading.
Part of the students in A4 also did individual testing (The San Diego Quick Assessment).

September 2, 2008

2008-09-02T14:12:00.002-07:00

September 2, 2008
Today we gathered data in the form of two surveys, and A3 took a spelling test to check for spelling (and reading) strengths and weaknesses.
Students put together their folders for the class.
We had a lesson on "What is Reading?" "For what purposes do we read?" and "What is the Reading Process?"

August 28, 2008

2008-09-02T14:12:00.001-07:00

August 28, 2008

August 26, 2008

2008-09-02T14:11:00.001-07:00

August 26, 2008

Extra Credit

2008-08-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

To earn 5 points of extra credit, just tell me what the featured book is for this week -- through August 29.

This is the first book in a series of graphic novels. The title is Out from Boneville. Many of my READ180 students have enjoyed the Bone books. The sample page here shows you how the books mix pictures and text.

If you want to learn more, go to http://www.boneville.com/bone/
There is also one of the Bone books available in the Scholastic book orders this month. I plan to order it.

August 22, 2008

2008-08-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

August 22, 2008

Students should be turning in their disclosure document signatures and bringing a folder with pockets and prongs to leave in the classroom.

Today we played a name game. Each student selected an adjective that describes him or her and that starts with the same letter or sound as his or her first name. Then we each introduced ourselves using that adjective-name combination, and repeated the names of the people before us.

The teacher did a read-aloud from the book All in a Day's Work and Other Stories, and students followed along, and then practiced filling out a QuickWrite for one or two stories.
In A3 we read "The Alien" and "The Flatterer."
In A4 we read "The Alien."

We also did another book pass, to get acquainted with our READ180 book collections.

August 20, 2008

2008-08-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

Today was our first regular day of class. This is what we did:
1. Students received the disclosure document, and started filling out the VIP form. Please remember to complete the signature sheet and VIP form, and return those to the teacher by August 28. The best way to give me your contact information is to e-mail it to me at dorsc405@alpine.k12.ut.us. The subject line should say "Parent of [your student's first and last name]."

2. Students watched a demonstration video showing what we do in READ180.

3. Students filled out a "Garfield" reading attitude survey.

4. We did a "Book Pass" in which students previewed several of our READ180 books.

Supplies for 2008

2008-08-05T05:46:00.000-07:00

- Supplies Needed for READ180 Class -

Prices for school supplies are usually at their lowest just as summer vacation is ending. Watch for deals on these items, and, if you can, pick up enough for the school year.

For this class you need to bring these items:

1) pencils and pens (blue or black ink) -- Make sure you bring one or more pencils or pens every day!

2) A highlighter is also helpful.

3) A thin folder with pockets and grommets for three-hole-punch paper.

These materials are not provided by the school,

and bringing required materials to class is considered part of the student’s preparation to learn.

If your family can't afford school supplies, please let the teacher know.

Authors of the Month

2008-07-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

Authors of the Month
Authors who have birthdays this month include these:
July 12 -- Joan Bauer, author of Hope Was Here, Stand Tall (a seventh grade whole-class book), and more. Warm, funny stories that deal with real problems.
July 21 -- Ernest Hemingway -- famous, famous. Try The Old Man and the Sea.
July 22 -- S.E. Hinton, author of The Outsiders, another seventh grade whole-class book, Tex, That Was Then, This is Now, etc.
July 26 -- Jan Berenstain -- Read a Berenstain Bears book to a little brother or sister!
July 28 -- Beatix Potter -- Sit down again with that younger child to read any of her books -- maybe Peter Rabbit or Squirrel Nutkin, Jemima Puddle Duck, or just read her books on your own!
July 29 -- Sharon Creech -- You might read Walk Two Moons in class in seventh grade. She has lots of good realistic fiction novels.
July 31 -- Lynne Reid Banks -- If you haven't read the Indian in the Cupboard books, you should. Or try some of her other books. I, Houdini is "The life-story of a highly intelligent hamster, whose determination never to be imprisoned leads him into every kind of comic and dangerous scrape - and out again."
And here's a description of The Fairy Rebel from Banks' official web site: "When Tiki, a feisty rose-fairy, gets earthed on Jan's toe, they strike up a forbidden friendship that links the fairy and the human worlds. When she gives Jan magic help to have a baby, the tyrant Fairy Queen steps in - with terrifying results."
July 31 -- J.K. Rowling -- Enough said.

Summertime 3

2008-07-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It's categorized as adolescent (for kids your age) and the lexile level is only 730, but the subject matter is heavy, there are some special challenges to comprehension (such as the story skipping around instead of always being told in chronological, which means time, order), the characters use harsh language, and the book is over 500 pages. The main character of the book is a girl growing up in Germany during World War II, but there is also an important boy character. Something very different about this book is the point of view. The narrator is death -- the one who comes to carry away souls. This is a unique book, and one with powerful emotional impact.

When I finished reading The Book Thief, I started reading Out of Nowhere by Ouida Sebestyn. Sebestyn is the author of Words By Heart, which we read in English class last year -- and probably will read again this year. Out of Nowhere is about a thirteen year old boy who is left "in the middle of nowhere" by his mom and her new boyfriend, a dog who is abandoned by his owners in the same area, a woman who has just been abandoned by the man she's been married to for over 40 years, a cranky old man who collects everything (but nothing that seems worth much), and a teen girl who reminds me of the title character of Jerry Spinelli's Star Girl because she is comfortable with being different, she works hard to help people, and she could use friends.

Summertime 2

2008-06-25T23:15:00.000-07:00

Emily (my daughter who will be a sophomore at A.F. High this year) and I went to hear Jessica Day George present at the Orem Library. She is great fun! One of my very favorite books is her fantasy Dragon Slippers. We also picked up signed copies of the sequel, Dragon Flight, and her newest book, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. Emily has already read the latter, and loved it.

The main character in Dragon Slippers is a girl, but there are also strong male characters -- especially Prince Luka -- and there are dragons. dogs, and action. Of course, boys, you do have to get through reading some descriptions of dresses and shoes. but the story is worth it. At the author's presentation in Orem, there were quite a few teenage boys who are fans of her writing.

We're reading The Battle of the Labyrinth, Book Four in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. It's as funny and adventure-filled as all the rest.

Summertime I

2008-06-06T18:33:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is having a great summer vacation, and is reading! You could be reading newspapers, magazines, comics, novels, etc. I'll list in this post some of the books I'm reading.

If you're interested in the Summer Olympics, there is lots of information at the official site: http://en.beijing2008.cn/
I was just reading about the football (soccer) competitions. There is a lot going on with that!

Here is what I've been reading:
I actually finished reading The Host by Stephanie Meyer (the author of Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and, the soon to be released Breaking Dawn) before school got out. She has again written a book that's hard to put down, and a very satisfying read. This one is billed as an adult book, but young people who have enjoyed the Twilight series will probably like it. As with her other books, I warn parents that though these are pretty "clean" books, they deal with adult themes.

I just had to read Eclipse again before Breaking Dawn comes out August 2. I should have waited longer to begin reading it since I reread it in just two days.

In May, an author named Mark Peterson came to visit my creative writing class. His presentation was fun and entertaining, and that's just what his book (the first of a series) Paraworld Zero is -- fun and entertaining! Some reviewers are describing it as Harry Potter mixed with Star Wars. Actually, Mr. Peterson came up with the idea and started writing the book long before J.K. Rowling published a Harry Potter book.

My daughter and I are reading aloud the book Fablehaven. I've already read it, but it's her first time through -- an enjoyable experience for both of us.

I had purchased a new historical fiction novel about a month ago, and was happy to have the time to read it. It is Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. It is about an eleven year old boy who was the first child born free in a community settled in Canada by newly freed and escaped slaves from the U.S. Did you know that during much of the slavery era in the U.S., though people in some states didn't own slaves, it was against the law in all states to help (or to not help catch) an escaped slave? Canada was at the time "the land of the free" for escaping slaves.
In Elijah of Buxton, the title character has both funny (very funny!) experiences, and serious and frightening ones.

End of Year

2008-06-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

We finished up the year watching movie versions of The Fall of the House of Usher in B3 (the Vincent Price version) and part of The Adventures of Ulysses in B4 (the Kirk Douglas version).
We compared and contrasted the movie versions with the stories we'd read.

Have a great summer and continue to read to keep up and improve your skills -- and for entertainment!

May 19, 2008

2008-05-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

May 19, 2008
We read from The Adventures of Ulysses about the Wandering Rocks and the Sirens.

May 15, 2008

2008-05-16T01:10:00.000-07:00

May 15, 2008

Today we read from The Adventures of Ulysses the rest of the story about "The Cave of the Cyclops," and students were to write one or more responses.
They also responded to their individual reading.

In the rBook, B3 again read the end of "The Fall of the House of Usher," identified details about the setting, main character, and plot for that part of the story, and answered other questions in the rBook.
B3 also completed a practice sheet about MOOD in a story, and about nine of the vocabulary words from this workshop.
The students are studying the short story.

In the rBook, B4 worked on reading and practicing reading strategies with an article about snakes that have invaded Guam, and started another article about America's "Least-Wanted List." Today we learned more about Kudzu, and practiced recognizing cause and effect.
The students are studying cause and effect.

May 13, 2008

2008-05-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

May 13, 2008

Today we read from The Adventures of Ulysses about "The Cave of the Cyclops," and students were to write one or more response.
They also responded to their individual reading.

In the rBook, B3 worked on pages 135, rereading pages 136 through most of 141.
The students are studying the short story.

In the rBook, B4 worked on pages 162 through 164.
The students are studying cause and effect.

May 9, 2008

2008-05-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

May 9, 2008
Today was Free Read Friday, and we did drawings. During table time students were able to select one of these games to play: Boggle, In a Pickle, or Authors.

B3 also listened to the end of "The Fall of the House of Usher" and wrote responses in their response journals.

B4 listened to The Adventures of Ulysses, pages 1 through 9, and wrote responses in their response journals.

May 5, 2008

2008-05-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

May 5, 2008
Today we started our new workshops in the rBook.
B3 voted to do Workshop 6, Poe -- Master of Horror.
B4 voted to do Workshop 7, Alien Invaders, about real plants and animals that cause problems by invading an area in which they do
not naturally occur.

Students worked on their new vocabulary words in the rBook (page 133 for B3 and page 159 for B4), and completed a worksheet activating background knowledge for their workshop, and using their new vocabulary words. Students who are absent should compete this work.

May 2, 2003

2008-05-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

May 2, 2003

Students voted for which workshop in the rBook they'd like to do as we finish up the year.
The B3 class will learn about horror stories and Edgar Allan Poe, and the B4 class will learn about Alien Invaders: Real Plants and Animals that Invade and Take Over

Today some students needed to finish taking the rBook test.

Students also did more decorating on their new response packets.
They did an exercise using the guide words on dictionary pages. (I'm so sorry about that one guide word!)

In small group we read more from the book about Ulysses, adding to background knowledge, and practicing writing responses to our reading.

April 29, 2008

2008-04-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

April 29, 2008
1. Decorate new response books with colored pencils.
Students received a new format for their reading responses. Each student received a stapled booklet and was able to decorate it.

No rotations today.

2. We read from The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin and practiced writing different sorts of responses to our reading. (If you were absent, get your new response booklet when you return.)

3. We took a test on rBook Workshops 3 and 4. (See me about taking the test.

April 25, 2005

2008-04-26T13:02:00.001-07:00

April 25, 2005
Happy Friday! Students who had all of Workshop 4 finished in their rBooks got to have free reading (with no response). Those who did not had time to catch up on the rBook.
Go back and make sure you have done all of pages 85 through 96. Also, check back through workshop 3 to make sure you've done everything except the Literature Response.

At table time, students read a play based on the new movie Speed Racer.

April 23, 2008

2008-04-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

April 23, 2008
Dictionary Activity -- If you weren't here, ask for the worksheet for using the dictionary.
Pages 96 and 97 in the rBook -- then go back and make sure you have done all of pages 85 through 96. Also, check back through workshop 3 to make sure you've done everything except the Literature Response.

April 21, 2008

2008-04-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

April 21, 2008
Students completed a worksheet of questions using our Workshop 4 vocabulary words. See below. You could copy this to a word document, print it, and answer the questions as directed.

Before we read, we previewed by viewing the short video segment and looking at the title, subtitle, headings, and picture, and asked "how, what, and why" questions about the selection titled "Child Labor Around the World."

We read pages 92-93 of Reading 3 in Workshop 4 on Child Labor, and did the activities at the side of page 92, and part of the activities on page 93.

Workshop 4: Reading 3
Vocabulary review: Answer five of these questions that use vocabulary words from this unit.

1. What resources available at school could help a student get better grades?

2. List three activities that you would find exhausting.
1)
2)
3)

3. It would be difficult to cross the border between what two countries?

4. What is one activity Ms. Dorsey requires you to do each day in class?

5. Would you rather drive a car with an automatic transmission or one with a manual transmission? Why?

6. How does earning a little money benefit the families of child workers?

7. We’ve been hearing a lot of news lately about the economy of our country.
Write down one piece of bad or good news you’ve heard lately.

8. Pretend that you were an international traveler over our spring break. Tell in
two or three sentences about where you went and what you did.

April 10, 2008

2008-04-11T16:19:00.002-07:00

April 10, 2008

At table time, students read a play based on the movie Nim's Island. They also practiced commonly confused words.

April 8, 2008

2008-04-11T16:19:00.001-07:00

April 8, 2008

April 4, 2004

2008-04-11T16:18:00.002-07:00

April 4, 2008

April 2, 2008

2008-04-11T16:18:00.001-07:00

April 2, 2008

March 31, 2008

2008-03-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

March 31, 2008

March 28 -- Self-Starter

2008-03-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

March 28 -- Self-Starter
Workshop 4: Stolen Childhoods Exercise #2
Part 1. Complete these sentences with these vocabulary words from page 85:
benefit economy international labor produce
1. It can be hard to find a job in a weak ___________________________.
2. Because it is eaten in lots of different places around the world, rice is considered an ___________________________ food.
3. Baby calves feed from the milk their mothers ________________________.
4. Having an older sister to help me with my homework is a big ___________________.
5. Moving a heavy table is hard ________________________.

Part 2. We watched the video about children who have no real childhood because they have to work hard. List two or more interesting questions about child labor.
1. ________________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Part 3. Extra Credit to finish this before we correct it together.
Have you ever heard of The Children’s Crusade of 1903? This took place in the United States. The Crusade was inspired by the plight of America’s textile workers. A group of workers from Pennsylvania walked 100 miles to President Theodore Roosevelt’s home in New York to bring attention to the evils of child labor. At the time, much of the work done in textile mills was done by children. They worked 60 hours a week. It was dangerous work. Many children were missing fingers that had been torn off by machines.
When the marchers arrived near the President’s home, the Secret Service kept most of them away, but the leader of the march, a lady known as Mother Jones, dressed three of the young boys in better clothes, slipped onto a train with them, and showed up at the President’s door. This march helped end the practice of sending very young children to work at dangerous jobs. (adapted from Life Stories of 100 American Heroes)

1. Which of these is the topic of the above paragraphs?
a. Pennsylvania mine workers
b. Child Labor
c. The Children’s Crusade of 1903
d. President Theodore Roosevelt

2. Which of these is not a detail in the above paragraphs?
a. In 1903, some children had to work 60 hours a week.
b. The Children’s Crusade took place in 1903.
c. The leader of the Children’s Crusade was called Mother Jones.
d. Many children have to spend their days picking through garbage dumps.

March 28, 2008

2008-03-29T15:27:00.000-07:00

March 28, 2008
Self-starter: Students completed a worksheet on vocabulary words and on finding the topic and details of an passage. See the nearby entry for this self-starter.
We viewed again a brief video about children working in garbage dumps. Then we read a newspaper article about an eleven year old girl in Indonesia whose job (along with many other children) was to pick through piles of rotting trash for anything of value.

March 25 -- Worksheet

2008-03-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

March 25 -- Worksheet
Learning Target: I can summarize information from a nonfiction text.

Academic Language (These are part of your vocabulary words for this unit.)
Topic: what a text is mostly about
Details: information that tells more about the topic
Summary: a short statement in your own words that tells the most important ideas in a text
Synthesize: to put ideas together

Watch the anchor video and complete these sentences:

1. One reason many people feel that child labor should be stopped is ______________________
2. A second reason that most people oppose child labor is that ______________________________
3. Write down one way kids are trying to help child workers.
________________________________

Find in details for the topic and subtopics on this chart:

Overall Topic:
Child Labor

Subtopic:
Why Some Children Work:

Subtopic:
Problems with Child Labor:

Subtopic:
Working conditions:

March 25, 2008

2008-03-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

March 25, 2008
Today we begin a new Workshop in the rBooks. We will be learning about child labor and practicing summarizing.
With this workshop we have several academic terms to learn:
Topic: what a text is mostly about
Details: information that tells more about the topic
Summary: a short statement in your own words that tells the most important ideas in a text
Synthesize: to put ideas together

Our other vocabulary words for this workshop include these words:
benefit: a good result
economy: the way money is made and shared
international: relating to two or more countries
labor: hard work
produce: to make something

Students continue to have individual reading time, writing a response each day to their reading, and continue to work on the READ180 software.