Final Study Guide

Hello all!

Here's a breakdown of what will be on your final. Your final will have three sections:

Section I - Theme
You will be given a very short story to read and will identify the theme/main idea. Support your decision with details from the story. This means not everyone will have the same answer.

Section II - Informational Text
You will read a short article and will answer a few short answer questions based on the article. For two of those questions, you will need to use the A.C.E. method in your answer - "Answer & Cite Evidence."

Section III - Grammar
You will need to correct five sentences in this section, and will separate the subjects and the predicates. The sentences may be missing punctuation, conjunctions, capitalization, or multiple things. Review subjects/predicates and all the grammar we've worked on with our reading checks throughout the year.

Book Project

Date with a Book

(Please remember that the book you choose should be age-appropriate and needs to be a work of fiction.)

Here are the details for your independent reading project, which is due on THURSDAY, MAY 18^th.

The Setting

Each of you will have a desk on which to display the following:

-          Your book

-          A summary of the five literary elements in your book

(These can be displayed in any way, as long as they are contained on your desk. You can place them on a book cover that you create, on a piece of paper next to your book, on a small sandwich board, on several notecards – however you wish.)

-          Any extras you’d like to include (creativity is part of your grade)

The Requirements

As discussed in class, you must present each of the literary elements as they are illustrated in your book. Please include:

-          A plot summary (again, present this how you wish – map, paragraph, however – but please make sure you use complete sentences)

-          The conflict (identify the type of conflict and explain, with a sentence or two, why you chose that conflict specficially)

-          The setting

-          The theme (please explain with a few sentences how the book illustrates the theme you chose)

-          Characterization (identify the protagonist, the antagonist, and one static character and one dynamic character. Explain why you chose the static/dynamic characters.)

The Date

You will have approximately five minutes to spend with about 7 or 8 books. During this time, you will read the summaries provided and will rate your interest in the book from 1 to 10. Students who “dress up” will receive extra credit.

Private Investigators

You guys did an AWESOME job during our making inferences lesson. I see some future detectives in here!!! Keep up the good work.

(lol)

And, on an unrelated note, here's a picture of two of our greatest detectives, simultaneously experiencing nose situations. 'Twas a fun day.

Discussion questions due tomorrow

Hello! Here are the questions that we started to answer in class today. Although most of you are finished, I've posted them here in case you forget your book today and need to complete them at home tonight. For some of these questions, there is no "right answer" - you will need to state your opinion and support your reasoning. I have modified some of the questions based on what we discussed in class. I am not looking for a specific length for each question (though most of them will need several sentences for an adequate answer). I am looking for the quality of your answer and the examples you provide from the text.

1. Name a couple pairs that seemed "imperfect" for each other, and explain how they were imperfect.
Now, name a few pairs that turned out to be the "perfect" match, and explain how they benefited from their relationships with their partners.

2. Turtle never reveals the truth about Sam Westing and the Westing Game to anyone - not even her husband, Theo. Why do you think she keeps this a secret? Do you think you would be able to keep such a big secret from your family and friends?

3. Why does Sam Westing come up with the Westing Game? (Hint: Think about that word we discussed today: "redemption.") Do you think it turns out the way he hoped?

4/ Which of the heirs did you find to be the most trustworthy? Which did you find to be the most suspicious? Explain.

Character Charts

Hi everyone. So sorry I couldn't access the blog on Friday to post an update about the character charts. There are certain characters for whom you will not need all of the boxes filled (2 - 3 will suffice). They are:

Barney Northrup

George Theodorakis

Julian R. Eastman

Dr. Sydney Sikes

E.J. Plum

Due to Terra Nova testing, your chart will now be due this Wednesday, April 5th.

Link to Book PDF

Thank you for sharing, Kamyl! Here's a link to a pdf for the text if you forget to bring your book home.

http://micms.org/raskin_1978_the_westing_game.pdf

A few new words... and snow plans!

Here are a few new words you'll see in Chapter 14 of The Westing Game:

familiarity - (in this context) - relaxed friendliness or intimacy between people
obsequious - extremely obedient or attentive

Don't forget to wear your pajamas inside-out tonight so we can all be snowed in like the tenants at Sunset Towers! Here's the vocab homework schedule for the next couple of days. Please complete the following and remember to study for your Unit 12 vocab test. We will still have our vocab quiz at the end of this week. As of right now, the only reading you will be doing at home is Chapter 14. Please see the homework section for the reading check questions you'll complete when we return.

Mon. - CTRW
Tues. - Syn/Ant
Wed. - CTS




bhphotovideo.com - image

The Westing Game

As we continue to read, start to picture the characters in your mind. When we turn our classroom into Detective Headquarters, we're going to need some sketches of each of our characters!



Click the link below for a little bio on the author:
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/authors/ellen-raskin/
(image from Amazon.com)

Parts of Speech Menu

Hello everyone! Please take some time this weekend to brainstorm/prepare for your parts of speech menu. Please refer to the handout I distributed yesterday for the details and requirements. We will be revisiting prepositions on Monday and talking about prepositional phrases all week so that you'll be fully prepared for the last part of speech required on the list. Remember to be creative and to go back through your project when you've finished to make sure you've highlighted all of the parts of speech in the appropriate color. You may use a plain sheet of paper or something designed graphically and printed, but please remember that specific colors must be used to underline the parts of speech (either print in color or go back and underline with colored markers). Please make sure your menu is neat and creative. If you want to go the extra mile, I suggest laminating your menu.

The due date for this project is Monday, February 13th. Have fun!!!

Practice with Identifying Prepositions

https://www.turtlediary.com/game/identify-prepositions-in-sentences.html

http://www.softschools.com/quiz_time/language_arts/preposition/theme156.html

Vocabulary Fashion Show

Hello friends! This Friday we will  be hosting our annual vocabulary fashion show!
Here's what you'll need to do:

1. Pick any vocab word from units 5 - 10.

2. Brainstorm ways to creatively represent your word (visually) using things you can wear. This can be a costume, props, specific clothes, etc.

3. On Friday after our unit test, everyone will have time to change. We will then present our fashion show on the red carpet. I will, of course, be interviewing all of our Vocabulary Models, and asking each of you about the unit from which your word came.

4. As a class, given the unit, we will guess your word. You will be graded for creativity and for effort in representing the meaning of your word.

Have fun - can't wait to see you on the red carpet Friday!
(img from youtube.com)

Bible Verses for Comparison Essay

Hello everyone! We are going to be working on writing a comparison essay to wrap up our reading of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Because this story can be read as an allegory, we will be comparing the life of Christ to Aslan's character/the story of Narnia. More detailed directions are to come, but here's the gist:

- We will be completing this essay in-class, over the course of about a week.

- This essay will contain 5 paragraphs:

1. Introduction/thesis
2. Body paragraph 1: Verse 1
3. Body paragraph 2: Verse 2
4. Body paragraph 3: Verse 3
5. Closing paragraph

- You will be choosing from the Bible verses listed below in order to compare Aslan's character/experience to Jesus' life. We will be discussing these verses in class today. You will pick your three verses today and begin to fill out a graphic organizer to help gather your thoughts. Keep your book with you this week so that you can refer back to evidence from the text. Remember that your textual evidence will include specific events in the plot which support your ideas.

Verses:

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Matthew 27: 50-51

⁵⁰ And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook [and] the rocks split.

Matthew 27: 52-53

⁵² and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and^[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Isaiah 53:9

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Isaiah 53:7

He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.

Isaiah 53:4-5

Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.

Hebrews 9:22

The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Narnian Tea!

Here are some photos from our amazing tea party. Thank you SO much to our parents who contribute food/dishes, came to help decorate and serve, and to the parents who organized this whole thing. Please remember to thank your family for their help!

Some of these are hilarious. My personal favorites are Potato's face as I was lurking with the camera, Gabby's candids, and Andy's look of confusion. :)

Citing Websites in APA Format

Hi everyone!

This week we're talking about how to create a bibliography. We will be using APA format. Today and tomorrow we will look at citations for websites. Next week we will discuss how to format citations for books and other publications.

Here is the standard APA format for a web citation for one of the most common sources we use - "information on a general page." This includes information found on websites such as History.com. The requirements for a citation from a more specific source, such as an online journal, are more complex, and we will revisit them later on this year. For now, let's focus on how to cite information from a general webpage.

Format:

Author, A. (date). Title of document [Format description]. Retrieved from http://URL

Notice that the citation includes 4 pieces of information:
Author, date, title, and web address.

Additionally, each line after the first line must be indented five spaces.

(The format description is only necessary when the format is something like a blog post, or some such publication that is different from a website run by an organization. When you get to high school, you may need to included something called a "retrieval date," but I will not require you to cite this during 6th grade.)

If the web article/information does not include an author, simply begin the citation with the title of the website.

If there is no date of publication, substitute (n.d.) in place of the date for "no date."

Here are some examples. Please note the citation I am going to include at the bottom of this post. It will reference the site from which the following information came:

Examples of Online References

Here’s an example (a blog post) in which we have all four necessary pieces of information (also see Manual example #76):

Freakonomics. (2010, October 29). E-ZPass is a life-saver (literally) [Blog post]. Retrieved from      http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/29/e-zpass-is-a-life-saver-literally/

Sometimes, however, one or more of these four pieces is missing, such as when there is no identifiable author or no date. 

Here’s an example where no author is identified in this online news article:

All 33 Chile miners freed in flawless rescue. (2010, October 13). Retrieved from              
     http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39625809/ns/world_news-americas/

And here’s an example for a webpage where no date is identified:

The College of William and Mary. (n.d.). College mission statement. Retrieved from   
     http://www.wm.edu/about/administration/provost/mission/index.php

Last note: Remember that only the first word and any proper nouns should be capitalized in the title. 

Citation:

Lee, C. (2010, November 18). How to cite something you found on a website in APA [Blog post].
     Retrieved from http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2010/11/how-to-cite-something-you-found-on-a-
     website-in-apa-style.html?_ga=1.158038906.1719588118.1483623716