Epigraph assignment

Epigraph:  a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme.

Assignment:

1) Find an epigraph in a book (preferably one that you've read and are familiar with)

2) In your writer's notebook, write down the title and author of the book

3) Copy down the epigraph

4) Write a short explanation as to why you think that quote fits the theme of the book

* Due when I collect your writers' notebooks this Friday.

Parts of Speech Pre-Test

Find the Google Form for you class and complete the pre-test. You may not look up answers in your textbook or on the Internet. When you're finished, be sure to click submit.


8E

8F

8H

JK Rowling Quote Reflection

You recently reflected on the following quote from JK Rowling's 2008 Harvard commencement address.


"Some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default."

1. What I'd like you to do right now is go back to that reflection and re-read it.
2. Look for a sentence or phrase that contains the heartbeat, the pulse of what you wanted to say. This is your wish for the piece, what you wish it was most about.*
3. Using the comments feature in Google Drive, highlight that sentence and comment (by right clicking) and pointing out that "This is the heartbeat of my piece."
4. Share your document with a classmate. Have them read your paragraph. If they agree with your "heartbeat" then have them reply to the comment. If they think the heartbeat is somewhere else in the piece, have them highlight that sentence and comment by saying, "I actually think this is the heartbeat of the piece."

* This wording is taken directly from the book Inside Writing: How to Teach the Details of Craft by Donald H. Graves and Penny Kittle. 

Vocabulary Notes

Here's a link to the Google Slides file with the notes for how to complete your weekly vocabulary:

Vocabulary notes

In your writer's notebook...

• Write the date at the top of each entry 
• You do not need to know what you’re going to write about before you start writing - WRITING IS THINKING! 
• Write for the entire time - even if that means changing the topic
• The goal is to write about the topic, but if your mind wanders to something else, that’s OK
• Try to use the whole paper - if you can fit another entry the next day on the same page, do so 
• Silence that inner critic that tells you “This is not good” and JUST KEEP WRITING!
• Make sure to write the date for any days you are absent so you don't lose credit for that day.
  

Welcome Back!

Hello 8th graders!

Welcome back to school and welcome to my classroom blog. This will be a place where I will pose questions, post assignments, and share some of the awesome things we'll be doing in our classroom.

I'm looking forward to a great school year! 

List of mentor texts we've shared as a class

Part of your final essay for this class is to discuss the mentor texts that have helped you as a writer. Remember: mentor texts do not necessarily have to be ones we read together as a class. The only criteria I'm looking for a mentor text is a piece of writing that inspired you in your own writing.

Here are the texts we've shared as a class this year:

• The Story of Fish and Snail by Deborah Freedman
• A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
• "Brave" by Sara Bareilles
• "Everything Exists in the Word" by Pablo Neruda 
• "What I Believe" from Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
• Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan 
• El Deafo by Cece Bell 
• Tadpole's Promise by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Tony Ross
• "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar
• "Try" by Colbie Caillat 
• Battle Bunny by Mac Barnett and Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Matthew Myers
• Rex Wrecks It by Ben Clanton 
• Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales
• The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
• X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shibazz and Kekla Magoon
• What Do You Do with an Idea? by Kobi Yamada, illustrated by Mae Besom
• The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
• Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen
• I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
• This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
• "Hands" by Sarah Kay
• "Brother" by Sarah Kay
• "Like, You Know" by Taylor Mali
• "Knock, Knock" by Daniel Beaty
• "Josh Bell" from The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
• "This is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams and I'm Sorry, I Meant to Do It: False Apology Poems by Gail Carson Levine  

Speaking of Natalie Lloyd, today she revealed the cover of her new book coming out in March 2016, The Key to Extraordinary.