Saturday, March 26, 2011

Congratulations Young Author's Winners!

Congratulations to all the participants in this year's Young Author's Book Making Project. There were 57 books that were scored in the classroom competition.
This week there were two Young Author's Winners from each home room. These winners will compete in our school wide Young Author's competition.

Here are the 8th Grade Winners:

Students: Genre

Ariana: Poetry
Evelina: Poetry
Lejla: Poetry
Ines: Narrative
Raymond: Narrative
Brenda: Narrative

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Green Poetry for St. Paty's Day

Try your skill at reading and writing Limerick poems this week at our 7-8 Grade Swift Reading Night, Poetry Slam! Wednesday March 23rd 5:30-6:45pm

Lime green pants with a flashin’ shamrock hat
Who wants a pinch of luck or a friendly chat?
The spark of rays grow like a kaleidoscope,
I gaze at the sunlight and ponder some hopes
The clover pedals spread as I pluck a fresh chap.


There once was a lion named leon
Who ran into the wrong season
He flopped in the snow
That was up to his nose
And he never caught the doe he was seein’

Friday, March 18, 2011

To Gamble or Not to Gamble?

Some people believe that video gambling is like throwing your money away when you could spend it on something more valuable. In the opinion article, Repeal Video Gambling, Chicago Tribune writers support how state government is trying to repeal video gambling. The article shows video gambling affect society's well being and money problems. Click on this link to see the writer's opinion about video gambling. The author shows the way Illinois law makers are trying to protect consumers against predatory businesses. In the article it states, "(there are)terrible social costs of video gambling in other locales where it's legal". What do you think about video gambling, is it a problem for society, or does it have useful ways to solve our government's money problems?

Editing Assistant: Antrone

Friday, March 11, 2011

Extraordinary Young Authors


Young Author's Book Making Project is an opportunity to showcase our extraordinary talents as writers. Many students have developed new ideas to write about for their book this year. Some students are using a piece(s) of writing that they already drafted, and are creating revisions before they publish their work.
I'm excited to hear and read your fantastic book making projects.

It'd be fun to hear about your projects. You may choose to share about:
1. Your project title
2. A summary of your book project, or
3. Questions you have for your classmates/teachers about Young Author's.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Favorite scenes from Novels and Stories



In the novel Hunger Games I love the scene where Katniss stands up and takes the place of her sister, Prim.
"With one sweep of my arm I push her behind me. "I volunteer!", I
gasp. "I volunteer as tribute!"" page 22

This part makes me think about: Have you ever had to stand up for someone who needed protection? How did it make you feel? What response did you get from others?

The Boy Who Drew Cates is a Japanese folk tale. The boy finds out that his interest in drawing cats may someday make him a famous artist.
"He drew them because he could not really help it. He had what they call "the
genius of an artist""

This part of the story shows the boy starting to understand his interests. This week we did some fun and interesting beat box small group performances in music. I was wondering how does creating art, music, or acting make you feel?