Workshop 7: Creatures of the Deep!

Wow! There are a ton of websites out there that teach and talk about deep sea exploration. Here are links to the top 3 that I found. Check them out!

http://www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/

http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12461

http://www.oceanfutures.org/default.asp

The Giver

Check out this Powerpoint Presentation about 'The Giver'...

http://www.authorstream.com/presentation/cooper-25802-giver-Pictures-Quiz-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-right-answer-as-Entertainment-ppt-powerpoint/

(be patient, it might take a minute or two to load)


When you finish looking at the Powerpoint, click on the links below to take the quizzes...

http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz100682b88fb8.html

http://www.quibblo.com/quiz/1y0mAu3/The-Giver

Read 180 Wrap-Up Survey

Please take a moment to fill out the survey that Scholastic has made regarding this past school year in Read 180. Click on the link below, it will take you straight to the survey...

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=wdFtPzrkm1biMXVEeypmEQ_3d_3d

Adventure

I read an article in the Los Angeles Times today. It was about a kid who will be sailing around the world. He will begin his journey right here in Southern California. Below is a link to his website and his blog. We can talk to him before his trip and once he leaves. If he is successful, he will be the youngest person to sail around the world solo.

http://www.zacsunderland.com/

The Giver

Learn about this man with an incredible memory! His memory capacity is similar to that of 'The Giver' in our current novel.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/05/07/miraculous.memory/index.html

Show me the Money!

In honor of the 'Show me the Money' topic CD I have given you the link to a real live counterfeit bust that my husband, Greg and his colleagues at the United States Secret Service did. It's pretty cool that they made it on the news.

http://video.knbc.com/player/?id=251038

http://www.knbc.com/news/16257807/detail.html

Busted!

Read this article! It is about the mom who pretended to be a teenager and managed to drive a teenage girl to suicide. I know that we are done with our technology workshop, I thought that you'd still find this intersting.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/15/internet.suicide.ap/index.html?iref=werecommend

Stranded in the Death Zone

Check out this article (and the photos) about the video story we saw on our rBook FLEX Anchor DVD. This is so tragic and makes you realize how fragile human life is. Also, we are able to see how tremendous an accomplishment it is to climb mountains like Everest.

http://classic.mountainzone.com/climbing/misc/gau/index-ie3.html

Children's Book Week

Celebrate 'Children's Book Week', May 12-18, 2008!

To honor this week, check out the link below. You can watch various book talks about books you've read. Also, consider watching a discussion about a book you haven't yet read, but might want to after you hear about it.

http://www.scholastic.com/librarians/ab/booktalks.htm?esp=Teachers/ib/20080507/eng/childrens_bk_wk_booktalks///balp/touttxtl

The 'Text' Generation

Check out this video from the NBC Nightly News. It explains the difference between how you talk to friends and how you talk & write at school.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24314152#24314152

Workshop 5: Persuasive Essay

Great job on the rough drafts of your essays so far everyone! Remember, you are trying to persuade me that the technology you are writing about is the WORST one for teens to be around and utilize.

Some ideas:

1. Rather than just writing about email, write about the entire internet.

2. Rather than just writing about cellphones, write about different forms of technology so that you can talk about cellphones plus iPods, video games and even T.V.

Check out the link below regarding writing a persuasive essay...

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/writing/conduct.asp?topic=Persuasive

Meet Alferd WIlliams...

Here is a video about Alferd Williams, the 70 year old 1st grader. As you remember, we read an article about him in class. I thought you might like to see this in order to better understand his story...

Click on the link below:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24214600#24214600

it may take a minute to load, be patient!

Check this out!

This is such an amazing thing for you to do. You have the power to save lives by playing this online game!

Click the link below...

http://www.freerice.com/

Open House!

This Thursday is Open House Night! Please remind your parents to attend this important evening. I look forward to showing off all the things you have accomplished this school year. We will make paper invitations on Wednesday for you to take home to your parent/guardian.

Mmmmmm!

Thanks for helping make the Ambrosia Salad in class. In honor of Cassie and her family we enjoyed this southern salad treat.

For those of you who enjoyed our recipe today, here it is...

1c. Marshmallows
1c. Shredded Coconut
1c. Sour Cream
1c. Chopped Pineapple (drained)
1c. Mandarin Oranges (a little drained)

Mix the ingredients together. Refrigerate overnight (for best results). This will make the salad less runny (the way it was in class).

Essay

Today we will begin working on an essay about our field trip. Your essay must include Facts & Opinions about our adventure. It will be 3 paragraphs long. Start thinking about all of the details that you can remember from our visit to Hollywood.

Field Trip!

Read 180 goes to College [Road Trip]!!

This was such a fun day. Let me know what you thought about our 'road trip' to Hollywood and the movie that we saw. Also, check out the photo album on my Frost webpage to see the pictures that I took.

Workshop 5: Wired For Trouble

As we launch our new workshop I want you to think carefully about all of the ways that you use and abuse technology in your daily life. What is something you can do to utilize technology better? What is something that you can do to utilize technology more safely? Please comment on this post by answering these two questions in two full complete sentences.

Spring Break

Have a safe, fun, relaxing and happy Spring Break! See you on Monday, March 24th. We will kick-off our new workshop, 'Wired for Trouble'. Also, don't forget about our big trip on Wednesday, March 26th! Hollywood...here we come!

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

Check out the links below that take you to some great websites. These sites give you a glimpse at what Cassie's life was like. Growing up during that era was very difficult for black and for poor people as well. Racism is sadly still alive today, however back then there were laws in many states that forced people to be unkind toward people of color.

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brown/photos.htm

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-sharecro.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/peopleevents/e_sharecrop.html

Road Trip!

I guess I should say 'Field Trip'! We are FINALLY going to take our annual Read 180 field trip. We will attend a showing of the new Disney movie "College Road Trip" at El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. The date of our big adventure is Wednesday, March 26. It is the week we return to school from Spring Break. I am asking that each student donate money to help us cover the ticket cost and our lunch cost. The bus is already taken care of. The donation amount requested is $15. This will cover the ticket, a hot dog, popcorn, candy and a drink. This is going to be such a fun activity and a memorable experience. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

This field trip ties into the California State University 'How To Get To College' initiative. This is a big focus for our 7th & 8th grade students. Please look at the link I have set up below. It takes you to the official "How To Get To College" website.

http://www.calstate.edu/college/students.shtml

Writing Assessment!

The Seventh Grade California English-Language Arts Writing Assessment will be held on Tuesday, March 4th. It will take place during 1st and 2nd period. Please be on time this school day! Make sure you go to bed early on Monday evening. Also, it is important to eat breakfast Tuesday morning (even if you normally don't). ALL of my 7th graders will meet me in the library at the beginning of 1st period. My 1st/2nd period 8th graders will report to Room 48 (Ms.Dinwiddie). My 8th graders from 3rd/4th period will have me just like every other day during 3rd/4th period. Good Luck! I know you'll do wonderfully on this essay!

Essay: Summarize

Here is some information to help you get through your essay in Workshop 4...

What Is Summarizing?

Summarizing is how we take larger selections of text and reduce them to their bare essentials: the gist, the key ideas, the main points that are worth noting and remembering. Webster's calls a summary the "general idea in brief form"; it's the distillation, condensation, or reduction of a larger work into its primary notions.

What Are We Doing When We Summarize?

We strip away the extra verbiage and extraneous examples. We focus on the heart of the matter. We try to find the key words and phrases that, when uttered later, still manage to capture the gist of what we've read. We are trying to capture the main ideas and the crucial details necessary for supporting them.

What Do I Want You To Do?

• pull out main ideas



• focus on key details



• use key words and phrases



• break down the larger ideas



• write only enough to get your ideas across



• take short but complete notes

The Skull Lady

Check out this story that just came out on CNN! It is about a woman who recreates the skin facial features of skeletons that are found.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/15/skull.lady/index.html

DNA Analysis

Deoxyribonuleic Acid, or DNA is what is used often times to identify who did or did not commit a crime. Each of us has our own DNA, no two people have the same DNA with the excption of identical twins or triplets. Check out the links I've posted below that take to a couple of cool websites that talk about DNA. In your opinion, is it a good thing that we now have the knowledge and ability to test the DNA of people?

http://www.genetics.gsk.com/kids/index_kids.htm

http://www.surfnetkids.com/dna.htm

Show this link to your parents...

http://www.mypreciouskid.com/ID-DNA-fingerprint-kit.html

R.I.P. Bob

We have read the second story in workshop 4. It is about the murder of Bob Dorotik. Below I attached some links to a couple of websites that talk in detail about the murder and the investigation and trial that occurred after. Check them out and let me know who you think is guilty. Is Jane really the murderer?

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/48hours/dorotik/vote2.html

http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/tv_programme/1272/Snapped_Jane_Dorotik.htm

Workshop 4: Crime Lab Science

Welcome to Workshop 4, I am so excited about 'Crime Lab Science'! I am a big fan of crime and mystery books and television shows. I know that we are going to have a great time with this workshop.
In this workshop we will learn how to summarize. This is an important skill for you to learn and know how to do.
Please comment on this posting by using ONE of our target words in a FULL, COMPLETE sentence...

Analysis

Evidence

Precise

Technique

Verify

Also, you can check out this link... http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20041215/Feature1.asp

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Keeping in mind one of the most influential people of the Twentieth Century, we will learn about Dr. King in class this week.

On a side note...I will be attending a Read 180 meeting for teachers downtown at U.S.C. I expect you to be on your best behavior during my absence. See you Thursday when I return!

Check out this Martin Luther King, Jr. link. It has information that will help you with the assignment you have in 'Small Group'.

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html

P.S. How excited are you to kick-off our new Workshop next week?!?!

The Pearl

We are currently reading John Steinbeck's 'The Pearl'. This story is similar to Rita Williams-Garcia's story 'Diamond Land' about Ayize. The stories can be compared to each other based on the two main characters (both young men) and their economic status (both poor). Each man is in search of a better life for himself and his family. Check out the link that I have posted, it explains all about pearls! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl#Creation_of_a_pearl

Meet the Author

In Workshop 3 we are introduced to author Rita Williams-Garcia. She has her own webpage that is talked about in the 'rBook' on page 85. I have set up a link to her webpage so that you can see it for yourself! http://www.ritawg.com/

Unfair Treatment

Tell me (in two complete sentences) about a time when you were treated unfairly. Remember, it can be an incident that happened here at school, at your home, in your neighborhood, or with one of your friends.

Sadness

So there is really no easy way to say this, but I need to let you all know my very sad news. My fabulous little dog Penny has died. I am still very upset about this and am trying to have a positive outlook for 2008. Greg and I were very attached to her since (as you already know) we don't have any kids yet. She was playing with her best friend 'Stella' (my parent's black labrador) a couple of days ago and things got a little too rough. We know that she died instantly and did not suffer. I guess if you have to die young when you're a dog, the best way to go is when you are playing. Please be kind and considerate enough to not ask me questions about Penelope since I know that I will be very much prone to crying about the whole situation over the next couple of weeks. Thank you for all of the love and support that you always give me! (Above is a picture of Penny and Stella playing at my parent's house last March.)

2008

Happy New Year
to you all!
I look forward to
accomplishing
many things in
our class in 2008.