Ms. Dean's Blog

REQUIRED SUMMER READING FOR RISING EIGHTH GRADERS

Greetings future eighth grader! You may have been bored one day during the summer and decided to check out the Blogs of your potential eighth grade teachers. Lucky for you, you stumbled across mine because if your seventh grader teacher forgot to tell you about your REQUIRED summer reading assignment, you can find out all you need to know about it here. Just click on the attachment below, and read it very carefully. I am going to give extra credit to students who actually bring the assignment in BEFORE the due date.

Have a great summer, and I'm really excited about meeting you at the start of the 2011-2012 school year.

Download Summer Reading Assignment

Ninth Grade Summer Reading

Please see the information below regarding the ninth grade summer reading assignment.

Our summer reading lists are on the North Cobb High School website.  Just to clarify a few issues:

      1.  The rising freshman who will be in the Internal Studies Magnet program received their reading list at the Magnet open house. 
      2.   The summer reading for college prep and honors classes is optional.  While we are encouraging summer reading, we are not requiring a written assignment.  We want students to enjoy reading.

Last Days of School

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: There will not be any bus rider changes the last two days of school and students will not be allowed to walk home without a note from their parents. 

Monday: Letter to Myself Download Letter to Myself. Be sure to store it in a safe place, and don't read it until you graduate from high school.

Tuesday: NCHS True/False Quiz; High school survey. STUDENTS WILL BE DISMISSED AT 12:30.

Wednesday: Finish high school survey; create letter to rising eighth graders. STUDENTS WILL BE DISMISSED AT 12:30.

Final Days of School

Monday: After completing today's journal Download Journal 10, the students played a Scrabble-themed warm-up game. We will do this every day this week leading up to Friday's Spelling Bee. Students were given the words to know list for the Spelling Bee. Download Spelling Bee Words to Know. The students then began analyzing movie reviews to identify charged words and similar formatting requirements. Download Movie review instructions

Tuesday: After completing journal entry #11 Download Journal 11, the students will begin drafting a movie review for Life is Beautiful. If time permits, we will share the student generated reviews and compare them to the actual reviews.

Wednesday: Today the students will complete the final journal entry and turn in their journals for a grade Download Journal 12. They will also review their drama notes Download Drama-1 and take a short drama quiz.

Thursday: Today after our Scrabble warm-up, the students will use 25 of the words for Friday's Spelling Bee to create an engaging story.

Friday: After the final Scrabble warm-up, a prize will be awarded to the person in each class who has the longest list of words. We will then have the Spelling Bee. Again, a prize will be awarded to the top speller in each class. If time permits, we will write letters to the rising eighth graders giving them words of advice about how to be successful in eighth grade.

Monday: Today the students will preview the first page of five different pieces of literature they will read in ninth grade. We will hold our annual yearbook signing during fifth and sixth period.

Tuesday: Today the students will write a letter to their future selves discussing the highs and lows of middle school. I encourage them to put the letter away for safe-keeping and not look at it again until after they graduate from high school.

Wednesday: On this last day of school the students will discuss high school myths. Using a North Cobb High School handbook and information shared by the North Cobb administration, the students will examine the "true and false" aspects of what lays ahead in their ninth grade year.

HAVE A SAFE SUMMER, EVERYONE. Thank you for making this year so special!

 

Drama Performances

Monday: The students responded to journal prompt #8 Download Journal 8 and rehearsed their scripts.

Tuesday: The students performed their scripts, which they wrote to follow the action of scene #49 from the drama they read. When all groups had performed, I showed them the actual scene from the drama, and we compared and contrasted their scenes to the actual scene.

Wednesday: Today, after responding to journal prompt #9 Download Journal 9, we will watch and discuss the final scene from the drama. We will also visit the book fair during the second half of class.

THURSDAY AND FRIDAY: The students will learn about Irena Sendler, a Polish nurse who smuggled almost 2,000 Jewish children out of the ghettos during WWII. They will read an excerpt from the attached link Irena Sendler: Life in a Jar, and then watch a few scenes from "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler."

Week 3 of Drama

MONDAY: Students will complete journal entry #6 Download Journal 6, and then they will be placed into small groups. These groups were formed based on the focus of the first draft of the script they wrote with their partners last week. The groups will discuss how to combine elements of their first drafts to create a final draft. Download Selecting Scripts to be Performed

TUESDAY-THURSDAY: Students will collaborate within their small groups to write and type the final draft of their scripts. Those who finish early will compare and contrast children of the Holocaust using the attached chart Download Children of the Holocaust and the following website Children of the Holocaust. On Thursday, any group that is completely done with their script will access an internet site Life After The Holocaust to answer questions Download Instructions for Life After the Holocaust and predict what will happen to Guido and Dora if they survive.

FRIDAY: Students will practice performing in front of an audience, and if time permits, they will begin rehearsing their scripts. Download Journal 7