1/31 Monday Homework and Notes

Hello Everyone!

Today in class we worked on the Conflict and Resolution page of your independent reading packet, as well as the Protagonist and Antagonist page.

Conflict

We discussed the meaning of conflict, as well as the five different types of conflict typically seen in literature. 

Conflict: The struggle between two opposing forces.

Types of Conflict

1. Man vs. Self (The problem is intrinsic. An issue the character has with himself )

2. Character vs. Character (An issue between two different characters)

3. Man vs. Society (A character has issues with an entire society or group. They are an outsider)

4. Man vs. Nature (The problem is due to factors of mother nature)

5. Man vs. Fate (The problem is larger than life and out of the man's control. Destiny or fate)

Protagonist and Antagonist

The Protagonist: The character we root for. The one who has the conflict. 

The Antagonist: The character who makes the protagonist struggle.

We then brainstormed character traits that are typically associated with protagonists and antagonists.

IF YOU WERE ABSENT:

For homework, you must compile your own list of words that could be used to describe a protagonist AND an antagonist. I want 10 words to describe each, written out neatly on lined paper.

If you have any questions, please contact me at NcowleyPMschools@gmail.com

Thanks!

- Ms. Cowley

P.S.- Check out what you all created in class today. The larger words are the ones that were reoccurring on your lists. Your work is on the web!

Antagonist Wordle:

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3071592/Antagonist

Protagonist Wordle: 

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3071660/Protagonist 

1/26 Thursday Snow No!

Hello My Favorite People!

I hope you all enjoyed your snow day! I know I did! There is nothing better than reading a good book and drinking hot chocolate on a snowy day.

Don't worry if you did not do your play yet, because tomorrow we will be taking care of all the ones that still need to be performed. If your group has not put on your play, be ready because tomorrow during class you will have the opportunity. Make sure you review your lines, cues, and performance skills before tomorrow so that you can get the best score possible!

Also, we will still work on our independent reading packets, so bring those in along with your books.

It's going to be a busy day, so be ready to work!

See you all tomorrow,
Ms. Cowley

1/26 Wednesday's Announcements

Hey Hey Hey!

Hope you're all feeling confident that you've all gotten 100% on today's test! And if you're not feeling confident, it would be wise to study your grammar regardless. You need to be constantly improving that grammar so that your writing samples are stronger and tidier.

Make sure that you bring your independent reading books and packets to class tomorrow.

Do not forget, those are due next week! So make sure you have been keeping up with your reading, and if you haven't - get to it!

Any questions or concerns, e-mail me at NcowleyPMschools@gmail.com by 9PM.

See you all tomorrow!
- Ms. C

1/25 Tuesday's Announcements

Hello Everyone!

I'm so sorry I wasn't in class today, I had to be at a meeting. In spite of my absence the test is still on for tomorrow. The test will be on: punctuation, verb tense, homophones and parts of speech. If you have any questions or concerns please e-mail me by 9pm tonight.

See you tomorrow!!
-Ms. Cowley

1/24 Monday's Homework and Announcements!

Hello Lovely People!

Hope you all studied for today's spelling and vocab quiz. By the looks of the grades thus far, it seems as though you all could have used a bit more study time.

If you're concerned about your quiz grade (and you should always be, but especially because the last day of the 2nd quarter is this coming Friday!) make sure to begin going over grammar work you have covered with either me or Mrs. Pickford this year because on Wednesday we have a grammar quiz. I repeat...

GRAMMAR QUIZ THIS WEDNESDAY!

On the quiz will be...

HOMOPHONES

VERB TENSE

PARTS OF SPEECH

and

PUNCTUATION!!!

Begin to study these like the little diligent students I know you all are. Bring questions to class and prepare to review all these tomorrow.

Also - the sheet I handed out after the test today will be collected for extra credit. 1 point added to your homework average. Some of you should really do this! The goal of that paper was to find the hidden objects but then use preposition words to describe where they are. Once you've used a preposition in a sentence however, you can no longer use that preposition to describe the location of the other objects.

And be prepared to make up any quizzes or projects you've missed this quarter. I have extra help tomorrow, so if any of you did not take your public speaking words quiz or the vocab/spelling quiz you will be doing it then.

See you all tomorrow!

- Ms. Cowley

1/21 Friday Notes and Homework

Hello Everyone!
       
Today we reviewed for our Courage Vocab and Spelling Quiz
that is on Monday 1/24.

The test will consist of spelling and questions that ask you to fill in the appropriate vocabulary word for the sentence provided.
For example:
"In order to become President of the United States, you must be ___________, and willing to work hard until you achieve your goal." (Answer: determined)

For those of you who may not have the words, here is the list.

COURAGE VOCABULARY

1. influence: to have an affect on

2. remarkable: extraordinary

3. daring: courageous

4. determined: never give up

5. passion: a powerful desire

6. moral: concerned with the judgement of right and wrong

7. open-minded: willingness to hear and/or accept new ideas

8. persevere: to continue even through tough times

9. noble: showing qualities of high moral character

10. dignity: being worthy of respect

11. ambition: strong desire to achieve something

12. bold: daring or fearless

Study, study, study! I want to see you all do great on this quiz! And if you have any questions, please e-mail me at NcowleyPMschools@gmail.com.

Also... don't forget to keep up with your independent reading! It's going to be a chilly weekend, so warm up with some hot cocoa and read a book! That's what I'll be doing :)

- Ms. Cowley

1/20 Thursday's Notes

Hello Everyone!

Today periods 1&4 learned about homophones, while 5, 7 & 8 learned about verb tense.

Periods 1 & 4

The first two classes has this as their Do Now:

Q- What is a homophone?
A - Homophones are words that sound alike, but have different meanings.

We then collectively made a list of homophones, and identified their meanings. If you are interested in having the the complete list of homophones we collected, e-mail me and I will send it as an attachment! Just remember to put your name and class period as the subject, and ask me for the homophone list.

Periods 5, 7-8

The Do Now was to identify what is verb tense and to list some differnt forms of verb tense.

Verb tense is the form of a verb that places the action in time. It tells us when the action occurred.
We identified that the verb tenses are the following:

 - Past: things that have already occurred, usually verbs that end in d or ed but not always.
 - Present - what is happening right now
 - Future - things that will happen. "I will go shopping. I shall buy 20 pairs of shoes!"
 - Present perfect tense - things that started in the past and is still continuing to occur. "I have eaten 87 cookies this week so far."
 - Past perfect tense - the before-before tense. "Before I ate your dinner, I ate my dinner first."

If you have any questions about any of this material, please e-mail me!
- Ms. Cowley

1/19/11 Wednesday's Homework and Notes

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen!

Today in class we continued working on our Martin Luther King Jr. response writing projects (if you have questions on the project, look at the post from 1/18 Tuesday). We did peer editing work on the 1st drafts of the MLK project and learned more about peer editing.

The Class Notes:

Do Now: What is peer editing and its purpose?
Peer Editing - Helping revise and edit a piece of writing that was written by another student (peer).

The purpose of peer editing:
- suggest ideas
- offer  corrections (grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure)
- compliment
- shape opinions
- gain inspiration for your own personal writing
- strengthen own writing skills

P-Q-P
Praise - Question - Polish

Praise
What is good about the writing?

Question
What did you not understand?

Polish
What specific suggestions for improvement can you make?

We discussed that it's important to make sure your suggestions/praise/questions are clear. Not vague! Elaborate on your thoughts and explain what you mean. Don't just say "your writing was good." Explain why it was good.

Homework : Using suggestions from the peer editing, write your final draft of your MLK creative writing response.

Continue to follow the reading calendar.

DO NOT FORGET
On Monday 1/24 you will have your Courage spelling and vocabulary quiz.

As always, if you have any questions or need any extra help e-mail me!
NcowleyPMschools@gmail.com

- Ms. Cowley

Tuesday 1/18/11 Homework and Notes

Hello Everyone!

Today in class we discussed different/creative ways of writing a response to Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "I Have a Dream."

Do Now: What are some creative ways to write a reaction or response to an idea?
Some of the ideas we compiled were:
- poetry
- newspaper article (editorial style)
- writing your own response speech
- a play or monologue
- your own opinion paragraph
- letter (or note)
- Song lyrics


Homework: Complete a first draft of your "I Have a Dream" response writing assignment. Your response can take the shape of any style, including the styles we discussed during the Do Now. It should be at least half a page long.

Make sure you are going beyond a summary of the speech, and are giving me YOUR response and YOUR reaction to the speech. I want to hear what you think of the speech and its message!

If you would like to see the speech again, you can find it by clicking the following links:

Here's a video from youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEMXaTktUfA&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1

OR

Here is the text from the speech.
http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html

If you have any questions about the assignment, e-mail me at NcowleyPMschools@gmail.com and put your name in the subject bar. I can't wait to see what you have all written!

- Ms. Cowley

A Quick Introduction...

To the Parents and Students of Mrs. Pickford’s 7^th Grade Class:

            I felt it was important to reach out to all of you and introduce myself. My name is Nina Cowley and I am going to be the leave replacement teacher for Mrs. Pickford’s 7^th grade classes during her pregnancy leave.

            I graduated from SUNY Stony Brook with a BA in English, focusing on secondary education. I have experience teaching high school English inclusion classes at Lindenhurst High School, as well as substitute teaching experience for the Half Hollow Hills School District.

I want all of you to rest assure in that I will maintain the same curriculum and tone of Mrs. Pickford’s class. I understand that she is a respected and creative teacher. I plan on keeping that energy and joy she brings to the classroom alive and thriving.

For some students transitioning between teachers can be a struggle. I hope that together we will be able to work through this quickly and easily. In order for all of us to stay on the same page, I have started a blog site where I will be posting homework and upcoming assignments for each class. You, as well as your child, will have access to this website. The address is ncowleypmschools.blogspot.com.

Also, if you have any questions or concerns (or would just like to say “Hello!”) please feel free to contact me at any time. My email is Ncowleypmschools@gmail.com.

           

                                                                                               

Very truly yours,

Ms. Nina Cowley