December 7, 2014

GT Writing

Monday will be a review day for narrative and expository essays in preparation for the district benchmark for writing on December 9 (Tuesday) and 10 (Wednesday). Revising and editing questions will be asked.

Final Summary for the Book Report Novel

Some students need to step up to their reading of their novels to be able to submit the final summary.

Printed Book Report

Printed book report with a prescribed format and font will be due on December 12 (Friday).

Creative Writing

The four-stanza rhyming poem for Christmas is ongoing.

December 2, 2014

NOTICE:  Deadlines and important dates for December

Dec. 3, Wednesday   Progress report day   2:00-5:00 p.m.
             (A grade of 100 for those whose parents come)
Dec. 5 Friday  Final summary of novel due
Dec. 9-10 Tuesday-Wednesday  District benchmark for writing
Dec. 12 Friday Printed book report due

Narrative and expository essays are going to be on the test.

Creative Writing

Final product for fables are due this Wednesday.

November 19, 2014

Summary of the Book

                

On Friday, November 21, 2014, there will be an inspection of the summary of the book you chose to read for the book report. 

The elements of a narrative like title of the book, characters, setting,plot, conflict, etc. need to be included. There will be two (2)grades attached to this. 

The summary must at least be two pages long.

November 9, 2014

Revised notice: Monday, November 10,2014, is the last day for turning in late work whose grades will be included in the 2nd 6 weeks average.

Book Reports: We will have new procedures in checking the progress of the book report for the 3rd 6 weeks. This will be discussed in class.

Upcoming activities: This week of November 10-14, 2014, we will be going over the 2nd six weeks test in revising and editing. Most of all, we will practice writing the strategies for the expository essay we have studying during the past week.

Congratulations to the 7th grade writing students! We have gotten 96% passing on the STAAR based and formatted test you recently took. Our prospects for writing look bright!

November 6, 2014

NOTE: Today is the last day of testing for writing. Tomorrow is make-up day. All late work must be turned in by then. Personal journals and late book reports should be in by that time. I will be closing my grade book on Friday.

November 4, 2014

NOTICE

Second 6 weeks test for writing will be tomorrow and Thursday, November 5-6. It is REVISING and EDITING only with 30 questions.

Students have to write a summary of each story or passage on a separate piece of paper after they finish the test.

November 2, 2014

Second Six Weeks Test

Writing

NOTE: The schedule for the 2nd 6 Weeks test in writing will be on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014.

There will be thirty questions.

Review will be on Monday and Tuesday, November 3 and 4.

Book Reports

      There were some extremely well-written book reports. One was on Bless Me, Ultima. The student made a brilliant analysis of the elements of a novel. Her insights into the characters were penetrating. Kudos to you, Kaitlynn O!

Narrative Essay

       Seventh grade writing students, congratulations. Your narrative essays revealed maturity of thought and effective use of techniques. I'm happy with many of your pieces. Numerous students got 3's and 4's!

Expository Essay

       This coming week we will be writing an expository essay, employing the various strategies we discussed in class. Notable among these strategies are funnel, quotation, turnaround, and controlling idea in the introduction (FunQuotTurnC).

        For the body paragraph, we have reason, explanation, caution,anecdote,fact,example,opinion (RECAFEO).

        The conclusion has reflection,insight,opinion (RIA)

Second Six Weeks Test

      We will have a full blown revising and editing test on the week of November 3-7. I know we will have a hundred percent passing this time!

October 15, 2014

Riddles

No. 1

                 A painter had to paint 100 houses, and he had to number them. He wondered how many sixes he was going to paint.

Note: Don't use paper or pencil. Your fingers are acceptable.

No. 2

                 A rich caravan owner willed 17 of his camels to his 3 sons. To the first son, he wanted to give 1/2; to the second, 1/3; to the third, 1/9. Find out how many each one will receive without cutting some camels.

                 A wise and clever camel owner had a brilliant solution which satisfied the old rich man as well as his sons.

October 13, 2014

 

Narrative Essay

      We studied the narrative essay last week. Many of you did wonderfully after the revising. There were jumps in scores from a 2 to a 4! As E.B. White wrote, " There is no great writing, only great rewriting."

       If you follow the basic rule of narrative writing, which is, "Show. Don't tell." , you will have an effective story. To be able to apply it, you need to have strategies of making your writing irresistible.

Some strategies are 1) the use of dialogue, 2) the employment of active verbs, 3) the application of precise words, 4) reactions (thoughts and feelings), 5) quote, 6) sensory images, and 7) describing a character.

      The conclusion can end with a lesson, insight, or change in your attitudes.

Grammar

       We covered many rules about sentences like the structures of simple, compound, and complex sentences.

        Coordinating conjunctions for, and , nor, but, or, yet, so (FANBOYS), are used in compound sentences.

        Subordinating conjunctions although, as, after, while, when, unless, until, before, because,if, since (AAAWWUUBBIS) are used for complex sentences plus the relative pronouns who, whose,whom, which, what as well as the pronoun/conjunction that.

         There were comma rules involved.

 

September 22, 2014

Focus

         We have narrowed down our subject to a very specific topic, a key to focus in a personal narrative. 

Using Action and Dialogue

          To capture the attention of the readers, action and dialogue play a big role. They serve to SHOW what's happening in the story, not "tell".

Riddles for the Brain

#1  Add only one symbol to the Roman numeral nine and change it to an even number.

IX

             #2  " Forward I'm heavy, backward I'm not. What am I?"

Week of September 8-12, 2014

Prewriting

This week we covered one strategy for pre-writing called writing territories. In it we brainstormed possible topics that included ideas about ourselves, our roles on life, our interests, and our beliefs. We touched on  traveling, eating, reading, reincarnation, karma, and spirit in man!

Subjects and Predicates

Basic concepts like subjects and predicates were reviewed with an eye to making diagramming later on more understandable and efficient.

Sentences

     Our class activity focused on six concepts which were elicited by only ten questions! That was awesome!   Here were the concepts:

• Subjects and predicates
• Natural order of sentences  (subject-predicate)
• Inverted order (predicate-subject-predicate)
• Fragments
• Run-ons
• Comma splice

     We also found that favorite has now become a verb! You can now say," I have favorited you on Facebook!" When you type this word in the computer, the spellcheck tells you it's misspelled, but it's not. The computer has to keep up with the explosion of language!

The Writing Process

1. Why is writing a process?

2. What is the most important word that describes the writing process?

3. Explain your answer.

4. Describe the steps of the process in order.

Questions to Answer

1. Why are parts of speech essential in the English language?

2. What are the two most important parts of speech?

3. Why are they important?



Parts of Speech

Parts of Speech

           Parts of speech are the foundation, or building blocks, of any language. Without them, there would be no language at all.

           There are only eight of them in English, but the wonder of it is that when combined and arranged in different ways, they can tell an amazing story, inform us about a new invention, frighten us with horrific news, make us cry with a tragic event, or make us laugh with glee at a humorous situation. With mastery of their use, a writer can become a billionaire like J. K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter.

Levels of Behavior

( Lawrence Kohlberg’s Six Levels of Moral Development)

                  Level I           I don’t want to get in trouble.

                  Level II  I want a reward.

                  Level III  I want to please somebody.

                  Level IV. I want to follow the rules.

                  Level V. I am considerate of other people.

                  Level VI. I have a personal code of behavior and I follow it.

ACErs

                  1. Our mission: Be nice. Work hard.

                  2. Our motto: There are no shortcuts.

                  3. ACErs are honest.

                  4. ACErs show initiative.

                  5. ACErs take responsibility for their actions.

                  6. ACErs are aware of time and space.

                  7. ACErs are never afraid to ask questions.

                  8. ACErs understand the importance of presentation.

                  9. ACErs are organized.

                  10. ACErs are humble.

7^th Grade Writing

AC2E Middle School

Mr. Hilario A. Patino

School: 956-488-6024

Cell: 956-437-5064

Email: hpatino042@rgccisd.org

Planning periods available to meet: 9^th (2:50-3:35)

Syllabus                                                                                                                                                                               August  21, 2014

To the student:

                  You are about to study writing in seventh grade. It requires more understanding and mastery of the rules of English grammar as well as a high level of skillfulness in crafting pieces of writing which expresses deep and carefully thought-out ideas. Skillful writing does not come easily for most people. It involves a lot of work and persistence in doing it right. But once it happens, the rewards are great. It is like a mother who has given birth to an adorable child! Take heart. You are about to embark on an adventure!

Course Objectives

Primarily this course requires the students to write a multi-paragraph essay in the form of a personal narrative or an expository piece. Each of these has its own requirements which will be examined in detail in the course of each six weeks. Secondly, this subject demands from the students a consistent command of usage rules as well as conventions of the English language as applied in the essays that will categorize the learners on an accomplished level.

Course Overview

Among the main topics of this subject are the parts of speech, sentences, sentence structures, combination of sentences, punctuations, conventions; drafting essays with a clearly defined focus, appropriate organizational strategy, precise word choice and vivid images, use of simple, compound, complex sentences, internal and external coherence, and effective introductions and concluding paragraphs.

Teaching Strategies

This course will employ various methods that have been found effective in enabling students to learn and are supported by data as to their usefulness. Cooperative learning,lecture, Socratic questioning to elicit student responses and understanding, the use of depth and complexity in planning and implementing lessons, journal writing, oral presentations, recitations, role playing, mnemonics, acronyms, diagramming of sentences, thinking maps, open response questions, and rubric scoring will be utilized as part of classroom techniques of instruction.

Standards

Standards for this subject will follow the ones specified in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) which could be broken down to Readiness and Supporting Standards.

STAAR Exam and TEA Holistic Scoring Rubric

Writing will be tested in 7^th grade. Cognizant of this fact, the score levels of the state test called State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) for compositions are determined by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) through a holistic scoring rubric. The levels are as follows

Score Point 1	Very limited	Weak in many areas
Score Point 2	Basic	Somewhat weak in some areas
Score Point 3	Satisfactory	Sufficiently strong
Score Point 4	Accomplished	Consistently effective

The student points for the revising and editing sections of the STAAR are combined with the scores of the compositions through a specific formula whose total shows either a passing or failing score.

Grades

Grades will be computed according to two categories: class work  (75%) and tests (25%). Class work involves participation, recitation, assignments, homework, projects, journals, binders, writer’s notebook, book reports, and others. Tests entail quizzes, six weeks exams, and benchmarks.

Concluding  Reminder

All learning happens when the student applies what have been communicated to him/her. But what is even more important is when he/she uses the knowledge gained for his/her own betterment as well as that of his fellow human beings.

List of Materials

For

Mr. H. Patino’s Class

2014-2015

Two (2) composition notebooks

One (1)  one and a half inch (1 ½) three-ring binder

One  (1) pack of dividers with labels

Two (2) packs of lined papers

Two (2) packs of #2 pencil

One (1) pack of colored pencils

One (1) pack of markers

One (1) box of wipes (for 1^st period only)

One (1) box of Kleenex (for 2^nd period only)

Mr. Patino’s

List of Rules

         1. When talking to me, call me, “Sir” or “Mr. Patino” in a nice tone

              of voice.

         2. When talking to a peer or classmate, use a respectful tone of

              voice.

         3. Before entering my classroom, line up quietly along the wall

              outside my door. Never enter my room until told to do so.

         4. Enter my room quietly and walk straight to your desk. Start

              the work posted on the board.        

         5. Raise your hand quietly if you want to say something, ask a

                question, or ask permission to leave seat.   

         6. Always talk in turns. DON’T INTERRUPT.

         7. Do not leave your seat without permission.

         8. Do not leave the room without permission.

         9. You may bring a bottle of water to class but may not leave  

               the room to drink water during class.

         10. Do not use the restroom during class except in extreme

              emergencies.

         11. Respect others’ comments, opinions, and ideas.

         12. If you win, do not brag; if you lose, do not show anger.

         13. Cover your mouth when you sneeze, and say, “Excuse

                me.”

         14. Do not show disrespect with gestures.

         15. Always say thank you when given something.

         16. Always say please when asking for something.

         17. When you receive something, do not insult the gift

                or the giver. Instead show appreciation.

         18. Surprise others with random acts of kindness.

         19. When grading others’ papers, give only the correct grade.

         20. Follow along when we read together.

         21. Answer all written questions with a complete sentence.

         22. When homework is assigned, do not moan or complain,

                or else it will be doubled.

         23. When a substitute is present, all rules still apply.

         24. Be as organized as possible.

         25. Follow specific classroom protocols.

         26. Hold the door for people rather than letting it close on

                them.

         27. If anyone is bullying you, let me know.

         28. Stand up for what you believe in.

         29. Be positive and enjoy life wholesomely.

         30. No matter what the circumstances, be honest.

         31. Learn from your mistakes and move on.

         32. Carpe diem.

         33. Be the best person you can be.

Welcome, 7th graders to AC2E Middle School!

This year is exceptional in that more gifted teachers have chosen to be your mentors and cheerleaders for your continuing educational journey. Thank God for that!

During the first six weeks, we will be delving into the concepts of parts of speech, sentences, paragraphs and compositions. Two major types of essays will be the focus of our study and application: the personal narrative and the expository compositions. We will write these pieces in a deeper and more advanced level than what you may have learned previously. Grammar will go hand in hand as you compose these essays. There will be also book reports and projects. You will be actively engaged in all our activities with the idea that you drive your own learning. That is the only way you will truly learn, not for a day nor for a year, but for a lifetime.

I will do my best to make our learning fun, but at the same time rigorous. We will take as our class motto: Be nice and work hard.

Again, welcome to an invigorating year of writing!

Mr. H. Patino