Sunday night reminders

Dear students and parents,

Look, I hated Sunday nights, too. This is what I grew up fearing/loathing/dreading:

When that sound came on the TV, I knew my weekend was over. I also knew that I'd have to do all the dishes by myself because my parents would be sitting in front of the TV watching what looked to be the world's most boring program.

I'm not here to rain on your Sunday night of leisure and fun...I just want to remind you of a few things so that you get all of your points tomorrow.

You have three things due on Monday (period C) or Tuesday (period D):

1. The Words of Wisdom assignment if you haven't turned in in yet. If you don't have yours with you, it's on the right-hand side of this page under "handouts"--or just click on this link right here (clllllllllick!). Please make sure you follow the MLA formatting guidelines the best you can--I won't be crazy when I grade you on them, but you do need to try. It cannot be handwritten! I put a copy of the MLA guidelines (and how to set your computer up to do them) on the front of our Edline page, or you can get them in the handouts folder over on the right. ALL RIGHT, FINE, I'll link to them here, too. Click!

2. The "I Am" poem. You must use the colored paper I gave you. Check the Day Three entry down below for more reminders, or look over in the handouts folder for the assignment itself.

2. You will need your 1.5" binder and everything that goes in it when you walk through the door. If you are missing just one element (a pencil...the index cards...the dividers...), you will lose all five points. This is spelled out for you on the back of your procedure sheet (which I just linked to, but is also on Edline, and is also in the handouts folder). Please assemble it BEFORE class begins. We will write on the dividers in class--just have them in place and ready to go!

Have a great Sunday night. I hope your first week at Carmel wasn't too brutal, and that you'll come back tomorrow feeling confident and as if you belong...because you do! I look forward to seeing you!

Day Four

Friday, August 23:
Pd. C, D

Today we learned about the next active reading skills: schema. Please get notes from someone in class if you were absent. I assigned you an article to read and annotate using the sentence starters for both metacognition and schema. You can find the article in the "handouts for class" folder under "links" over on the right if you lost yours (or click here).  This is due on Monday for period C and on Tuesday for period D. The "I Am" poems are due on Monday as well.

Then we finished up the classroom policies and procedures by playing a review game and taking a quiz over what we learned. Have a great weekend!

Day Three

Wednesday August 21: Period C
Thursday August 22: Period D

Today we took a diagnostic grammar exam so I could see where you're at, skills-wise, with grammar. You come from very different grammar backgrounds, so it's important for me to know what your range is so I can accommodate all of you when I plan grammar instruction.

I gave your Words of Wisdom assignments back to you if they needed work with the formatting. Please don't take this personally--I just want to be sure you know how to properly use MLA style, as you will use it both here and in college! Turn the assignment in again on Monday. :)

The "I Am" poem is due on Monday, too. Remember:

• Write/print out only on one side
• No MLA heading for this--your name goes in the title
• Don't cut up your paper

Day Two

Tuesday August 20
Period C, D

First, we looked over the class procedure sheet a little more thoroughly (There's a link to it on our class Edline page if you lost your copy). Please sign (and have your parents sign) the parent/student agreement and bring it back to class ASAP.

Next we took notes on our first concept in the Active Reading unit: Metacognition. We did a few activities (nice salad construction!), and we'll do some more with this unit later in the week.

Finally, I went over the Words of Wisdom assignment again--just in case you had any questions. Again, this is due on Friday. A sample of an MLA formatted paper is on the front of our Edline page under "Content."

Day One

Monday August 19
Periods C, D

Hi everyone!

First, we had an introduction to the classroom, and you learned about some of my policies and procedures. You were assigned a few things to purchase for class, including a binder, a pencil pouch, and other necessary items. (See the procedure sheet for details!)

We talked about your first assignment: Words of Wisdom. This is due on Friday.