Short Story Assignment 12/12

Due tomorrow, Friday, 12/13

Type (12 pt font, double-spaced please) or write a short, fictional Christmas story (250-500 words; between half a page and a page).

In your story, please include the following:

A candy cane

Gloves

An alien

A refrigerator

Be creative! Please have this printed out by the time you get to L.A. class tomorrow.

Kidblog Entry Code

kidblog.org/MsJsClass-13

entry code: bhmu58

Class: Ms. J's Class

Someone Famous: The Royal Diaries

In Cleopatra VII, we see Cleopatra's story as told from her perspective. The book is written much like a journal.

Your assignment for the week is to take that concept and apply it to your own writing. You will be writing from the perspective of either Esther (here is a link to the beginning of the book of Esther, NIV: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Esther+1&version=NIV) or from the perspective of Daniel (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%201&version=NIV). Both of these individuals we learn about from God's word were very brave and faced many obstacles.  Please read through several chapters of the book you choose (Esther or Daniel) to understand his/her story. Then, imagine what he/she would've written in a journal.

Written on your KidBlog (we will learn how to use these in class today; I will post the correct link to the site later today), please include the following:

- Three entries (a date is not required, but you may include one if you'd like)
- At least two paragraphs per entry
- Use your journal entries to describe the dangers, problems, and adventures Esther/Daniel faced, and please include the solutions he/she used for these difficult times

Be creative. Take on the personality of Esther or Daniel. Write what you think they may have been thinking/feeling at the time. If you have any questions, leave a comment below. Your three blog entries are due in one week (by Tuesday, December 3rd). They do not needed to be printed as I can view them online. You will be graded on completeness, creativity, and grammar/spelling, as well as correct sentence and paragraph formation. Remember to use the first-person perspective ("I").

Have a WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING! I am thankful for all of you! <3

Cool Egypt Websites

Check these out:

http://www.nms.ac.uk/education/games_and_fun/egyptian_tomb_adventure.aspx

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/explore-ancient-egypt.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/games/mummy_maker/index_embed.shtml

Cleopatra Skits

Greetings, all.

Today you will be working in groups to write a short script (3 to 4 minutes) based on the pages given to your group. Be as imaginative as you can; as we discussed in class, Cleopatra VII is written in first-person, so we have so far been limited to Cleopatra's point of view. Let's see what some of the other characters might be experiencing by acting out what Cleopatra sees.

Today, your group will need to do the following:
1) Re-read your section together
2) Assign roles
3) Use the book and the web (for research on Egypt, if necessary for your skit) to write a script. Each group needs only two laptops open - one for writing the script (pick a quick typer! :) and one for research. You may rehearse your skit if you finish the script before class ends.

Tomorrow we will print our scripts at the beginning of class, rehearse for a short time, and then present our skits. Here are your groups, and the page numbers which you will be acting out. Please keep in mind that some of you will need to play opposite-gender roles:

6A
pgs. 3 & 4 (King, servant, cupbearer): Blake, Julia, Katelyn
pgs. 5-8 (Cleopatra, Tryphaena, maid, guard): Anna, Hufsa, Sarah, Andy
pgs. 11 - 13 (Tryphaena, caravan people, servants, Berenice, Cleopatra): Will, Hannah, Kathryn, Rachel, David, Elliott
pgs. 25 - 28 (Cleopatra, Neva, Olympus, Puzo): Sammy, Alex, Quinn, Kyle

6B
pgs. 34 - 37 (Cleopatra, Neva, Puzo, Pygmy): Blake, Trinity, Mya, Owen
pgs. 37;  - 39: (Cleopatra, Neva, 2 boys fishing): Caitlyn, Maggie, Patrick, Kevin
pgs. 45 - 47 (Cleopatra, Olympus, Theophilus): Antonio, Cherie, Brandon
pgs. 47 - 50: (Cleopatra, Neva, Lighthouse master): Keith, Aaliyah, Victoria

Looking forward to seeing you perform on Thursday! Be creative and please show your teammates patience and respect as you put your script together!

Decipher the Message

Sorry it's late, guys!

Hello all,

My apologies for the late post - I'm not sure what's going with my  Blogger app from home, but I'm at school today and it's working just fine. I think E.S.'s artwork sums it up (his take on "that's the way the cookie crumbles"):

:)

So we've wrapped up our first book and are going to be starting the next very soon. In the meantime, though, we're really going to be working on our writing skills and paragraph construction.

For class on Wednesday, we're going to be reconstructing paragraphs you've written as we discuss the importance of strong topic sentences and supporting details.

Please write a 5-sentence paragraph on the topic of your choosing:

1) Main idea/topic sentence
2) Supporting detail sentence
3) Supporting detail sentence
4) Supporting detail sentence
5) Closing or transition sentence

Then cut your paragraph into individual sentences ("deconstruct" your paragraph) and bring the 5 pieces to class with you Wednesday. See you then!

Weekend HW 10/4

Hello my little grammar geniuses.

Next week, before we leave for Blackrock, we will be concentrating on grammar since we won't have Vocab. In preparation for next week (we'll be going over pronouns and prepositions), please try your hand at this online game:

http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/gg.cgi?A1=m&A2=0&A3=0&AFUNCT=1&ALEVEL=1


The game actually defines the parts of speech for you. Please read through them and see if you can get the answers correct!

6A Wednesday

Hello all! I hope you have been enjoying our blackout poetry experiment. Here's an example to remind you from someone's blog:



Tonight, please finish your poem - you may use anything you have at home (please ask your parent's permission before you take anything and black it out!) or you can use the pages I gave you. Please bring your poem to class tomorrow.

P.S. - HELLO REDNAXELA!!!!!

Vocab Games Website

Howdy, y'all. Here is the link to the Vocabulary games site. Please use it for review. Just select the unit on which we're working from the menu. Also, I suggest that once you visit this site, you add it to your favorites in your browser:

http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/vocabulary/games.cfm?sp=student&level=A

Happy studying!

Bonjour!

Hello all. So...

This is our first Language Arts blog post! Woohoo! To show that you checked the blog, please wear a fake mustache to class tomorrow (you can hold it rather than tape it if you'd like).

See you then!