ELA STUFF

Dear One and All,

Happy New Year!! I'm so flabbergasted that Christmas snuck up and rushed away in a blink of an eye this year! I sucked at sending mails all my life and I'm worse this year. I got caught up with my "very challenging" scholars and for the most part of my time, it was them that I focused my energy to which is why I created this blog site.

Let me back track December 2009 before it disappears for eternity:)

We are in the last marking period for the Fall Semester which started December 4 and will end on January 29, 2010. Time isn't only flying, I tell you but it is warping like crazy!

90% of 801 students received their Christmas Reading Homework and for those who did not received them, rest assured you will have them on Jan. 5 and would have 6 days to complete the work. The rest of the class is expected to submit the work on the 5th.

I am hoping that letters the 8th grade team mailed to the parents for those who are in danger of not graduating Middle school have reached their homes for the family to sit down and talk to their child. The Promotion in Doubt will be officially submitted at the end of January so scholars have time to get their priorities right.

Here is a CHECKLIST of the ELA Graduation Requirements for your information and compliance:

• 5 Book Reports which should have been graded and filed in their ELA Portfolio


• 3 Writing Assignments

a. Family Story (First Marking Period)

b. Biography of a Famous Person and My Autobiography (Second Marking Period)

c. My Education Story and What Education Means to Me (Third Marking Period)

• 
  
  5 Short Story Reports equivalent to 5 Book Reports (Formats Vary Weekly)

Note: Currently, we follow a "Friendly Letter Format" introducing a major character from the story "Born Worker" EMC Soft Cover. This is the Christmas homework which also includes characterization. Both reports MUST BE TYPED.

Lastly, Progress Reports for ELA will be out on January 9.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU AND MAY 2010 BE A BETTER YEAR FOR ALL OF US!!!

PEACE...PROSPERITY AND AN ABUNDANCE OF LOVE FOR ALL MANKIND!

Toodles,

Ms. Maria Acedo

ELA Stuff

Hello once again! I'm so excited to share with you a lesson I did with my scholars this week which also marks the ending of the 2nd Marking Period. How time flies so very fast like Superman :)

The lesson was about finding "Big Ideas" along with its "Supporting Ideas" from reading any informative text. First we read, dissected and discussed the text "The Emperor Lays an Egg" by Brenda Z. Guiberson using guided reading for comprehension purposes. Second, we looked for the Big Ideas using the structure of the text along with its content. Third, we came with 4 big ideas -Mother Emperor Laying and Leaving the Egg, The Father Emperor Looking After the Egg, The Egg Hatching and The Family Reuniting. Last, they were all set. When the Big Ideas were generated, I modeled how to determine how to identify the supporting details for each of these ideas. I did one sample and the class did the rest for independent work.

Next day, I gave them a new text: The Long Journey Home: The Life Cycle of the Sea Green Turtle. The task was to dissect the text the same way we did the previous day. Let me share with you some amazing work that my scholars did! Enjoy!

Toodles,

Ms. Acedo

Happy Black Friday!

My Edward Cullen :)

Belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all and a Happy Black Friday! Don't drop when you shop guys!

Yesterday was fun for me. It was pretty quiet...I went with my girlfriends for a Thanksgiving Breakfast (since we each have our own dinner plans as well) and went to see the matinee of New Moon! I watched with a few of my students last Wednesday but I had to see it again! I couldn't get over the realization that the movie was better than the book! For real and my apology Stephenie...the director this time did an awesome job.

The additional touches he made on the movie made it more convincing and real for me... I like the touch of "Misery" effect he did when Bella was very heartbroken... I could not help imagine how the actor from "Misery"( I cannot recall his name..) was typing his story and the season changes from the bay window as he typed...it was cool that the same effect had been added to New Moon. I must say that the undelivered e-mails of Bella to Alice also did wonders to the movie because it sealed the friendship between the two girls. The actions added during the Volturi scene along with the "Matrix" effects gave life to the discreet existence of vampires. Lastly, I must say that each of the characters had really meshed with the characters from the book. I could see Edward coming to life with all his machismo and charisma. Bella was becoming the funny Bella from the book who was also enchanting and mesmerizing. And Jacob...dear Jacob, buffed to fill in the role which he did so great... All of the characters specially, Jessica, trascends from the screen like the characters coming to life. With all these, I can't wait for the next installement next Thanksgiving..."Eclipse".... I wonder who will direct it this time.... Cameron? Spielberg? Jackson? or Lucas? Not to mention..."Breaking Dawn" which should be the most unforgettable of all the series! Please don't omit the honeymoon scence :)

Anyway, we came home very happy with our chick flick Thanksgiving date.

A few reminders though:

• 
  
  Non-Fiction Pair Magazine Project is due on Monday, November 30.


• 
  
  Your Book Report #5 is also due this week.


• 
  
  The 2nd Marking Period ends on Friday, December 4.


• 
  
  Cards will be distributed before we go for Christmas Break!


• 
  
  New Book Report Format will be communicated and displayed on Dec. 7


• 
  
  Christmas Raffle will be on Dec. 23rd with the following requirements:

*NO ABSENCE FROM DECEMBER 7 -22ND

*NO LATE

*ALL ELA WORKS ARE UP TO DATE!

• 
  
  RAFFLE STICKS WILL BE GIVEN ON DEC. 22 DURING ELA TIME IF YOU MEET THE REQUIRMENTS. THERE ARE 12 STICKS IN TOTAL FOR ATTENDANCE, 3 EXTRA STICKS FOR EACH REQUIREMENT SUBMITTED ON TIME AND BONUS STICKS FOR EXTRA WORK THAT WILL BE ANNNOUNCED IN CLASS.

Toodles,

Ms. Acedo

NON-FICTION PAIR PROJECT MAGAZINE

I guess is still a busy day for me. This is the third time I went to blog about my class must-do and me must have!!! IT'S CALLED ELA GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS....

This will be my final blog for today though. I want to make sure that it is here for information and compliance purposes.

My 801 scholars (except for 2 who are doing this Magazine Project on their own) were paired for shared reading which will culminate into a non-fiction project - CREATING THEIR OWN MAGAZINE. Deadline for this is on November 30, Monday which also marks the ending of the 2nd marking period for the current school year. Wheww!!! how time flies so fast!!

The following pictures show the instruction for creating their magazine project. This was introduced last Friday, Nov. 6 and was discussed again today with the changes in the submission date from Nov. 25 to Nov. 30 instead.

• The pair must come up with an original cover design which must include the features found inside their magazine.


• Required parts of the magazine are :


• Table of Contents


• 2 Autobiographies of the magazine creator


• 1 or 2 Biographies from their independent reading (one(1) if both read the same book and two (2) if the pair is reading 2 different biographies)

They are to choose two (2) other features for their magazine from the menu of list provided in class.

Above are pictures related to the instructions for the Non-Fiction Pair Magazine Project.

Toodles,

Ms. Maria Acedo

ELA 801 for Ms. Acedo’s class November 11, 2009

ELA Requirements for those who have failed to submit on time are the following:

• Expository Essay from National Geographic is due on November 13, 2009. It should be typewritten. Font: 12 and Spacing: 1.5. This paper was started on November 5.
  
• ORAL BOOK TALK for presentation on Thursday. Follow our mini-lesson format.
  
  • Personal Information
    
  • Issues/Challenges/Problems your person faced and how they were resolved. Use details from your book. Write 3 challenges!
    
  • Write two (2) achievements of this person. Use details from the book and explain why these are important.
    
• Book Report #4 is due on Thursday as well.
  
• BOOKS YOU HAVE BORROWED FROM OUR CLASSROOM LIBRARY MUST BE RETURNED INCLUDING MY NATIONAL GEOPGRAPHIC BOOKLETS. *Reggie owes me two (Anthill and Genes)
  
• Progress Reports for the 2^nd Marking Period will also be distributed for ELA on Thursday. Your parents/guardians will also have copies of these reports for Parent Night on Monday, Nov. 16 from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. and November 17 from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m.
  

Report Cards for the First Marking Period have been distributed last November 3^rd. Parents, we need to work together for the future of your children.