March 23, 2015

STAAR POWER!!!!!

      

     Next week, March 30-31, 2015, is the time to show our STAAR Power! Our AC2E writing goal is 100% passing. We can do this!

                                                              

March 15, 2015

STAAR  Preparation for 7th Grade Writing

This week will be a more intensive period of review and polishing up on some skills that need to be honed. For example, on the dialogue rules, many students are a bit careless as to where to put the opening or closing quotation marks especially in a paragraph where the speaker's words are still continuing.

Consider this: " I love to go bowling when you are with me. Your company gives me so much fun," Tony declared.

Some students punctuate it this way: " I love to go bowling when you are with me. " Your company

gives me so much fun,"Tony declared.

The sentence after ...me is still part of the speaker's words, and he has not finished speaking. The open quotation  before "Your... is a mistake.

I am planning to give a mini-campus benchmark on revising and editing alone this coming Wednesday, March 18, if Mrs. Gonzalez permits, just to see again our progress in this area.

    

 

March 1, 2013

Continuing Comprehensive Revising and Editing Review

          Revising and editing review for STAAR continues. Students take charge of several problems and teach the class how to arrive at the correct answers. 

         

I vs. Me

           One objective which drew a lot of arguments among the students and teacher was the I vs. Me personal pronoun. So, a mini-lesson on that was conducted.

I vs Me

Mistakes made with the English pronouns I and me have been increasing exponentially for years. The difference is actually very simple – let me explain it to you.

I

I is the first person singular subject pronoun, which means that it refers to the person performing the action of a verb.

I want to go.

This is the one I like.

You and I need to get ready.

Tom and I are going to the movies.

Me

Me is an object pronoun, which means that it refers to the person that the action of a verb is being done to, or to whom a preposition refers.

David told me to leave.

He gave me ten dollars.

Between you and me, this is a bad idea.

She needs to talk to Joe or me.

The Bottom Line

This confusion usually occurs when you have I/me connected to another pronoun or name with "and" or "or." I believe that the confusion begins when someone says something like "John and me are ready" and that is corrected to "John and I are ready." The speaker then thinks, "Oh, the word ‘and’ means that I should always use I." This is not the case. "And" has nothing to do with it; the reason you say "John and I" in that sentence is that "John and I" are the subject. If they were the object, you’d use me: "He told John and me to get ready."

If you are not good with grammar concepts like subject and objects, there is still a very easy way to decide whether to use I or me: try out the sentence with just I or me (or if you need a plural, we or us – "we" is equivalent to "I" and "us" is equivalent to "me."):

He told Tom and (I or me?) to get ready.
He told I to get ready? NO
He told me to get ready? YES
Therefore, He told Tom and me to get ready.

If John and (I or me?) get married, we’ll have two kids.
If me get married? NO
If I get married? YES
Therefore, If John and I get married, we’ll have two kids.

Just between you and (I or me?), this is a bad idea.
Because "between" needs to be followed by a plural, we’ll use "we" and "us" to figure this out.
Just between we? NO
Just between us? YES
Just between you and me, this is a bad idea.

And whatever you do, please don’t use a subject pronoun and object pronoun together!

He and I – correct: "He and I are going to town."
Him and me – correct: "She told him and me the truth."
Him and I – WRONG
He and me – WRONG

Fifth Six Weeks

Writing Clinics

          Writing clinics will commence on February 23 up to March 27, 2015. In these classes, intensive review of grammar objectives will be undertaken. There is no room for slacking off. We are four class weeks away from the STAAR writing state exam. We target 100% passing. No child will be left behind!

February 18, 2015

District Benchmark 2 in Writing

Results

                  We had an encouraging outcome for the DB2 in writing: 99% passing with 17 students moving to advanced level (86% or higher)! Congratulations to AC2E 7th graders!

Writing Clinics

                     We will be implementing writing clinics for some students who still need more clinically focused instruction in both revising and editing as well as essay writing. They will be scheduled during 4th and 7th periods. Instead of electives, they will be attending these classes.

Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment

 (TELPAS)

                       The window for writing essays for TELPAS has opened. Students will be required to write the compositions being asked for. There will one academic sample from each core area (writing, reading, science, math, and history).

                        This activity will be announced this week or next week.

Book Report

                          This assignment was due last February 13. Many students have not turned it in yet. They have until Friday only, February 20, to submit it.

February 8, 2015

Narrative Essay Revisited

                    Last week, we reviewed the elements of a good narrative essay. We analyzed a narrative piece with a score of 4 and identified the effective strategies employed. With the use of these, your narratives will soar.

District Benchmark No. 2

                    Schedule of DBM2 for writing will be this week, February 10, Tuesday (Day 1) and February 11, Wednesday (Day 2). Be ready!

Revising and Editing Review

                    Tomorrow we will review as many revising and editing questions as we can. You will be given handouts for independent review at home.

Book Report

                    Book report deadline is February 13 - this Friday! Remember you should follow the format of the cover page and the contents. This report must be printed.

Creative Writing

                    Presentations of acrostic poems and fables will be this week. Many have finished the projects. The quality of most of them is excellent!

February 2,2015

Expository Essay Revisited

          After reading William Zinsser's "Simplicity", we launched another expository essay where we wrote the introduction and the conclusion first, applying the advice of Zinsser to simplify sentences and taking away clutter. It was a bit challenging at first, but most managed to get it right.

           Today we are going to finish the body paragraphs as much as we can.

Creative Writing

            Today we continue creating and finalizing our rhyming acrostic poem. Possibly some students will be able to present.