My Photo

December 2008

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
  1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31      

« April 2006 | Main | August 2006 »

May 24, 2006

Final Days

Please NOTE:  Students CANNOT bring book bags on the last day of school.

Here is what is happening the rest of our week:

Wed., 5/24 Locker clean out (students will NOT have use of their locker after today)
Thurs., 5/25  Awards Assembly; Yearbook signing
Fri., 5/26 Last day of school - students cannot bring book bags

All graded papers, portfolios, writer's notebooks were passed back TODAY!

Vacation Project

HOORAY!

The vacation project went well!  I must say that the students really understand how to write business letters.  The Unit Test was the last test from our curriculum this year, and while everyone DID NOT get A's on the test, I know they understand the parts of a business letter.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Final Exam

Today, the students took their LA FINAL EXAM.  Yesterday, we went over the (8) concepts that were on the test and completed MANY review pages in the workbook.  While some of the students complained about the amount of work, I am sure the REVIEW paid OFF.  The final was cumulative and covered all of the material we did this year.

Final Exam

Today, the students took their LA FINAL EXAM.  Yesterday, we went over the (8) concepts that were on the test and completed MANY review pages in the workbook.  While some of the students complained about the amount of work, I am sure the REVIEW paid OFF.  The final was cumulative and covered all of the material we did this year.

May 16, 2006

Business Letter Test

Students have a technical writing test on Monday, May 22nd.  Students will be tested on the following:

Parts of a business letter
Components of each part
Punctuation in a business letter
Types of business letters - request, compliment, complaint

Technical Writing

Today we worked on two types of business letters: COMPLAINT and COMPLIMENT. 

HOMEWORK
Complete the next two assignments for the "Vacation Get Away" Project.

Complaint letter and Compliment letter (and envelope)

Spelling Test

Students have a spelling test tomorrow on their COMPOUND words.

homemade, roommate, everyone, sometimes, runner-up, all-around, twenty-one, field trip, French fries, free throw, stomachache, racquetball, snowmobile, someone, newsstand, make-believe, full-length, son-in-law, rain forest, end zone

May 12, 2006

Letter Writing

Today, students handed in their REQUEST LETTERS and invitations for their "Bon Voyage" party.  We discussed the format for writing a COMPLAINT LETTER and COMPLIMENT LETTER.

The next TWO assignments on their PROJECT sheet are DUE WED., May 17th!
Here are sample letters and information to help you when writing your letters
:Download sample_complaint_letter.doc
Download sample_compliment_letter.doc
Download types_of_letters.doc

Here are some websites that will help students with their letters:
http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/writing/main/letter.htm
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/documents/bletter/pop2e.cfm
http://www.todaysteacher.com/TheGreatDepressionWebQuest/BusinessLetterFormat.htm

NOW THAT YOU KNOW HOW TO TYPE A BUSINESS LETTER, Check out this site: http://readwritethink.org/materials/letter_generator/

May 10, 2006

Vacation Fantasy Project

We are working on a TECHNICAL WRITING unit.  TECHNICAL WRITING is real world writing and reading that is all around us.  It includes manuals, pamphlets, instructions, schedules, handbooks, letters, emails, and invitations. 

Students have been exploring types of TECHNICAL WRITING and learning about BUSINESS LETTERS.  For the past few days, we have been working on the PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER and types of business letters (requests, complaints, compliments). 

TODAY, we worked on REQUEST letters in groups and composed sample request letters. 

PROJECT
Students will be planning and taking a "Virtual Vacation" to a place of their choice.  The will complete (7) TECHNICAL WRITING pieces for the project that will be due at various times.  A copy of the PROJECT OUTLINE is attached. Download vacation_tech_writing_project.doc

HOMEWORK

This Friday, students MUST COMPLETE the first two assignments for the project (REQUEST letter and INVITATION).  The REQUEST LETTER must be written to a travel agency requesting information for their vacation.  Students have several items that will help them construct the letter.  It should include their place, time of year, # of people traveling, # of days, transportation type, hotel, car rental if needed.  They need to make sure their BUSINESS letter is in the correct format.

May 05, 2006

Wed, 5/3 - Fri, 5/5

Wed., May 3rd
New spelling words: homemade, roommate, everyone, sometimes, runner-up,all-around, twenty-one, field trip, french fries, free throw, stomachache,racquetball, snowmobile, someone, newsstand, make-believe, full-length, son-in-law, rain forest, end zone.

Warm-Up - Spelling Book, page 83
Classwork - Copied KEY CONCEPTS on commas, 594-596
Grammar text, pages 594-597, Exercises 22, 23, 24
HOMEWORK - Workbook, pages 157-158

Thurs., May 4th
Warm-Up - Spelling Book, page 84
Classwork - Copied (3) KEY CONCEPTS on semi colons and colons (600-602)
Grammar text, pages 600-602, Ex. 31, 32
Workbook, pages 159-160

Fri., May 5Th
POP QUIZ - Grammar text, page 599, ex 25, 26, 27, 28
(2) Punctuation sheets