Spelling Bee! December 14

LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!

The 2011 CTA Junior High Spelling Bee will be held December 14, during 2nd and 3rd periods.

First prize: $20.00 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble
Runner up: $10.00 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble

Download the Spelling bee WORDLIST

Spelling Bee Rules and Procedures
1. Format: The spelling bee is conducted in rounds. Each speller remaining in the spelling bee at the start of a round spells one word in each round.

2. Word list: See the wordlists posted on Mr. Guinan and Ms. Sage's blogs.

3. Judges’ role: The judge will uphold the rules and determine whether or not words are spelled correctly. The judges will disqualify a speller (1) who refuses a request to start spelling; (2) who does not approach the microphone when it is time to receive the word;; (4) who engages in cheating or unsportsmanlike conduct; (5) who, in the process of retracing a spelling, alters the letters or sequence of letters from those first uttered; (6) who, in the process of spelling, utters unintelligible or nonsense sounds.

4. Speller’s role: The speller should pronounce the word before and after spelling. The speller should make an effort to utter each letter distinctly and with sufficient volume to be understood by the judge. The speller may ask the pronouncer to say the word again, define it, use it in a sentence, and/or provide an alternate pronunciation(s). The speller's turn will be concluded upon the second pronunciation of the word.

5. Misspelling: Upon incorrectly spelling a word, the speller immediately drops out of the competition, except as provided in Rule 6.

6. End-of-bee procedure:
If all spellers in a round misspell: If none of the spellers remaining in the spelling bee at the start of a round spells a word correctly during that round, all remain in the competition and a new round begins.
If only one speller in a round spells correctly: If only one speller spells correctly in a round, a new one-word round begins and the speller is given an opportunity to spell the next word on the list (anticipated championship word). If the speller succeeds in correctly spelling the anticipated championship word in this one-word round, the speller is declared the champion.
Example: In Round 12 there are four spellers. Spellers 6 and 21 misspell. Speller 30 spells correctly. Speller 42 misspells. So, Speller 30 is the only speller in the round to spell correctly. Speller 30 begins Round 13—a one-word round—and is offered the anticipated championship word. Speller 30 correctly spells the anticipated championship word and is declared champion. Example: Two spellers spell in Round 10. Speller 14 misspells. Speller 25 spells correctly. Speller 25 begins Round 11—a one-word round—and is offered the anticipated championship word. Speller 25 correctly spells the anticipated championship word and is declared champion. Example: Two spellers spell in Round 16. Speller 3 spells correctly. Speller 9 misspells. Speller 3 begins Round 17—a one-word round—and is offered the anticipated championship word. Speller 3 correctly spells the anticipated championship word and is declared champion.

VERY IMPORTANT: If a speller misspells the anticipated championship word in a one-word round: A new round begins with ALL the spellers who spelled (correctly and incorrectly) in the previous round. These spellers spell in their original order.
Example: In Round 8 there are three spellers. Speller 12 spells correctly and Spellers 23 and 37 misspell. Round 9—a one-word round—begins, and Speller 12 is offered the anticipated championship word. Speller 12 misspells the anticipated championship word. Round 10 begins and includes Spellers 12, 23, and 37. The rules prescribe that spellers 12, 23, and 37 spell in their original order; so Speller 12 gets the next word on the list even though Speller 12 misspelled the previous word on the list. Round 10 is not complete until all three spellers have spelled.



Download the Spelling Bee Wordlist

Week of October 3:

Monday and Tuesday: SSR! Students should have started their second book of the quarter. See the recommended titles for ideas in the Sustained Silent Reading tab.

Thursday: a quiz over Phrases, Clauses, and the 3 sentence types based on structure. The quiz will cover material pp. 148-164 in the UGB.

First Journal Collection

For Wednesday, September 28, please turn in your journal.

9 entries are due (10 by Friday, but we don't have school!).

Please turn in the Rubric with your journal.

Also, in Language Arts:

For Monday, September 26, complete pp 153-154 in the UGB

Light in the Forest, UGB

Keep reading in Light in the Forest. This week you can expect some in class reading and discussion of the book, on the following subjects:

1. How does True Son react to meeting his white family?

2. How did True Son come to live with the natives long ago?

3. (Chapter 10) In whose point of view is chapter 10 told? What does Harry Butler regret about his son?


For Wednesday: in the UGB complete pp 148-151.

EIGHTH GRADE SUMMER READING, 2011

Eighth Grade Summer Reading, Summer 2011

I hope you enjoyed Howard Fast's April Morning, the story of a young man who is conflicted about participating in the American Revolution.

The Assignment: A bildungsroman ("formation novel")is a story in which a character grows up, or "comes of age." Read the novel April Morning, then write an essay that discusses how Howard Fast's novel is a buldungsroman. Consider how the main character grows up, or comes of age. In your answer, you might discuss how the main character is developed in the beginning of the story and then describe how the events in the story transformed him.

magic story assignment

1. Plot:
A main character wants something important and specific.
She or he encounters an obstacle. (Thus, the thing all stories need: conflict). They must overcome the obstacle by means of magic or the supernatural.

2. Characterization – The development of characters in fiction
--DETAILS!!!: the physical characteristics or thing/items associated with character
(clothing, cars, residences, etc)
--actions: what they do
--desires: what they’d rather be doing

3. Setting – the writing reveals key and appropriate details of place.

4. Dialog – Must serve to characterize OR move the plot forward. No bootless yappery.
Direct: “Where are you going?” he asked.
Indirect: He asked where we were going.

5. Dramatic Irony: irony is defined as when the intended meaning is opposite the literal meaning. That is, when characters or plots twist in a way that you wouldn’t expect, yet at the same time seems proper, even inevitable.

6. Point of View: shall not be violated.

7. Theme: the underlying idea of the story.

8. Conventions are in order.

9. I’ve used colorful and effective figurative language, such as simile or metaphor.

10. I’ve turned in a typed DRAFT of the story by Friday , April 8.

Criss Cross Essay Question

9. In the end of the story, as Hector and Debbie sing, the narrator explains:

The song was old, but [singing] was such a new feeling . They sang it together, but their thoughts went off to different places, to different people. Maybe the wrong places, the wrong people. How did anyone know? Mistakes would have to be made. Maybe a lot of mistakes. It was okay. They can’t hear me, but I want to tell them it’s okay, they’re doing just fine.

Select any part of the passage, and explain how the ideas expressed relate to a theme of the novel.

Journals!

ON TUESDAY, we'll have a "go-'round," a reading of our excellent work. Then I will collect the journals, and asses 5 journal entries.

1. Instructions
2. Recommends
3. Horoscopes
4. A to Z
5. From the Ohio GRADUATION TEST: Think about your favorite season of the year. It may be your favorite because of the weather, or a memory associated with the season, or certain activities that take place during the season. Explain why this one season of the year is your favorite. Be sure to support your essay with specific examples and details. Write your response in the Answer Document . (18 points)


If you have others, such as "Wiki leaks, CTA"; or "The time I got in trouble" or "5 Haiku" etc, they may count toward your five.

Of course, if you have more, you will be awarded credit. SEE THE RUBRIC!

and not to discover I had not lived!

Henry David Thoreau

Read the following link, take notes, and be able to answer basic questions about the significance of Henry David Thoreau.

VERBALS QUIZ

VERBALS QUIZ during Social Studies on WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY:

Here is a REVIEW, for practice. Give it a shot and prepare for a review on Tuesday.

Wednesday during Language Arts is sustained silent reading. Be prepared to take the reading quiz, if you choose.