Day 3 - List 3 of vocabulary/spelling

List three is half as long as list #2 (my Thanksgiving present to you). Unfortunately the quiz will be the day after Thanksgiving... but you have two weekends before then.

ingenious, jaded, manipulate, pensive, practically, reiterate, renowned, tyrannize, vapid, venerate

HOMEWORK:
1. Highlight any errors you made in the pretest. Write the word correctly. Write its word shape. Write it with the difficult part exaggerated.

2. Using a dictionary, or an online dictionary - Write a definition AND a sentence for EVERY word.

Need a challenge?? – Instead of writing a definition, write the word origin (Ex.: Instead of using one word per sentence use several words in a sentence or paragraph.

Too much time checking incomplete homework

For today, students were supposed to have completed their definitions and sentences (because it's DAY 2) and a reflection about the article about Multiple Intelligences. There were too many incompletes for my liking. As a class we discussed whether giving several days to get homework done is making it harder for people to remember to finish things. The general consensus was that I (Ms. Gesner a.k.a. Emily) need to review due dates at the end of every class. I'll try to do that, provided that you (students) actually follow them.

HOMEWORK for TOMORROW (Thursday, DAY 3): Spelling and Vocabulary Quiz of List #2 words (*and* finish anything overdue)

Silent Reading - We're almost there.

Today's class was a silent reading period. We're almost at the point where *everyone* is reading, the whole time. Remember, if you're not enjoying reading something, read something else. But read, read, read. And no, I'm not going to be less strict about this in the future.

8-7 Discusses Multiple Intelligences

I arrived in class today with a recent online article about Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. It turns out that 8-7 already had some strong opinions on the topic.

So we began our first formal discussion - Does the theory hold water?

Apparently a project involving making a box had left a negative flavour in some students' mouthes. Once those feeling had been vented we started discussing the theory itself.
- Can a person evaluate his/her own intelligence?
- Are the categories used by Gardner too narrow? Too broad?
- Is this a useful tool to "Know Thyself"? (more of this below)
- Increase or decrease self-esteem?

Students have been asked to write a personal response to the article. Due next Day 2 (in the Composition notebook, please & thank you).

... "Know Thyself" goes back to Ancient Greece (γνῶθι σεαυτόν) and is said to have been inscribed above the Temple of Delphi (where Ancient Greeks went to hear prophesies (predictions about the future) uttered by the Oracle (a priestess) - The quote makes an appearance in The Matrix in a Latin translation temet nosce .

Sept 22 - To the Computer Lab we go

Today we visited the computer lab. Students should have:
1) Visited the 1420-PickUp folder to find today's assigned work
2) Created an "English" folder in their H: drive
3) Tidied up their H: drive (made a Grade 7 folder)
4) Used AskOxford.com search function to begin definitions for this week's Spelling/Vocab

... Ms Gesner sadly mourns the fact that dictionary.com has decided to clutter their site with advertising. www.wordreference.com has an interesting format for its English dictionary. Check it out and see what you prefer.

HOMEWORK for TODAY - I've returned your spelling & vocabulary assessments and Quiz 1 - Get them signed for tomorrow and you'll feel like a Smartie

8-7 Burns Brighter than Kerosene & Homework for Sept 21st

BLOG BOO BOO - I just noticed that I forget to correct one of my errors in the sample photo above. First person to tell me they found the error (and what the error is) will get a sweet treat!

Ms. Gesner has corrected the year's first spelling test. On the whole they were very well done! The four absent students will need to make arrangements to write it next Day 1 at 11:51am.

After the quiz we did Spelling/Vocab Pretest #2. The words are: yield, conceive, obviously, noticeable, glimpse, evident, deceive, perceive, cursory, obscure, existence, judgment, substantial, enable, relieveADVANCED: impede, thwart, inaugurate, authenticate, quandary

Homework for Tuesday Sept 22 - Highlight all of the words you spelled incorrectly. Write the each word correctly. Write the word shape (see handout). Write the word with incorrect letters exaggerated.
N.B., (nota bene - latin for 'note well' or 'pay attention to this') YOU NEED TO DO THE FOUR STEPS ABOVE FOR THE WORDS YOU SPELLED INCORRECTLY ONLY. If you've spelled it correctly, there's no need to worry too much about them (unless you think it was a lucky guess... If so I suggest doing the word shape and exaggerated spelling as above).

Spelling and Vocab homework

Monday Sept 21st we will have our first Spelling/Vocabulary Quiz.

8-7 Students - Make sure you've written a sentence or definition for the following words in your Spelling/Vocab notebook (This is Homework!)
absence, majority, unfortunate, session, discussion, experience, proceed, practical, preliminary, receipt, possess, restaurant, parallel, physician, kerosene, pneumonia

The quiz will involve a dictation of all of these words, followed by four short vocabulary questions where a) you will be given a definition and asked to find the word from the list b) write a sentence with two words.

BLOG HINT: The words you will have to write sentences with on Spelling Quiz #1 will both start with the letter P.

Curriculum Night Handout

... want to know what was handed out last night at Curriclum Night?? Here is the text of 8-7 English's ouline.

8-7 English Language Arts
(a.k.a. Core English)
2009-2010

Teacher: Ms. Emily Gesner

Overview: Students in the Extended French Programme receive six periods of English Language Arts per seven day cycle. As in previous grades, the English Curriculum is divided into four strands which are reported separately on the report card.

The four stands are:

Oral Communication, Reading, Writing & Media Literacy

In keeping with current research, as well as my personal philosophy of teaching, these four components are interwoven on a daily basis. Students will be encouraged to think critically about what they see, hear and experience and to develop the ability to express themselves clearly both orally and in writing. English classes this year will also provide opportunities for students to express themselves creatively in various media.


Classroom Routines and Expectations:

· All students are expected to arrive on time for class with all needed materials.
Students should have:

- 2 notebooks (Composition & Spelling/Vocab/Grammar) housed in a binder section labeled ‘English’
- loose-leaf paper
- pencils & pens
- a glue stick & scissors
- coloured pencils

· During class students are expected to work effectively both independently and in groups. Students are expected to do their best on all assignments and are responsible for listening carefully to all instructions and directions.
· Students are expected to follow the School Code of Conduct and TDSB Code of Online Conduct.
· Students are expected to take responsibility to get work in advance when they know they will be absent. After an unexpected absence students are expected to check the class blog, phone a friend and/or visit me to obtain (and complete!!) all missed work.

Homework: Homework will consist of class work, assignments, reviewing material for quizzes/tests and completing larger projects. Students are often given more than one night to complete homework – I hope this practice will greatly reduce incomplete homework due to extra-curricular commitments and conflicts with other subject areas.

Reading: Parents/guardians are also urged to encourage their child to read nightly. Parents can support their child in making sure that students have a variety of interesting and challenging reading materials. Discuss reading with your child, including what they read online, in magazines etc.

Editing support: When possible parents/guardians are encouraged to help their child revise their writing for grammar, spelling and organization (within reasonable limits). Completion of in-class writing will be used for a balanced assessment of students’ writing ability.

Spelling and vocabulary: For the first term (and perhaps beyond), students will have weekly word lists for spelling and vocabulary. More challenging words will be included for those students with superior skills. These lists will be assigned DAY 3, with a quiz the following DAY 3. If your student struggles with spelling I encourage parents and students to work on these words throughout the week.

Curriculum: The Ministry of Education expectations for Grade 8 English are attached on the following page and give a general idea of the emphasis of the Grade 8 programme. These expectations are outlined in greater detail on the Ministry of Education website (http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/).

In practice, curriculum will be planned thematically. Our first theme, which I dub “Me in Box” involves the students getting to know each other through narrative writing and the preparation of a time capsule or “Me in a Box” (tentatively due October 19th) . Students will be expected to read two novels of their choosing (with written component tentatively due Friday Oct 9th and Friday Nov 9th; with “creative portions” to be presented shortly after the written components).

Future themes will be chosen based on student academic needs and interest. Potential themes include

“Fear” (a popular unit exploring fear in literature, and in the psyche)
“Equity and Social Justice” (an exploration of issues of power and privilege)
“The Bard – Lite” (an introduction to Shakespeare)
“Sci-Fi & Fantasy” (futuristic literature)
“Comparing Media” (a unit comparing traditional & “new” media)
“Graphic Novels, Manga and More” (an idea I’m working on…)
Students & Parents - Do you have other ideas? Let me know.

Website/blog: http://winonamsgesner.blogspot.com/
This blog is a recent effort. It will feature a brief summary of what has been covered each day, due dates for up-coming homework, assignments and projects. Students and parents are encouraged to check the blog for work missed due to absences, as well as back-up copies of handouts, spelling & vocabulary words etc.

Contact Information:

e-mail: emily.gesner@tel.tdsb.on.ca

phone: (416) 393-1680


Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns as they arise.Also, if you have any talents in language arts, media or the creative arts I’m always keen for added expertise and enthusiasm.

Under Construction

Hello students and parents,
This site is the future home of Ms. Gesner's ENGLISH 8-7; and GRADE 7 COMPUTER STUDIES. I'm back at Winona after a year of travel and MEd studies - This blog is a work in progress