Journal Prompt for Tuesday, Oct. 20th, 2015

Why do you think zombies are a current and popular trend right now in our world today?  Explain your answer and then give examples of "all things zombie" that you know.

I hope this is going to the correct blog.

Teach Like A Pirate!!!

After attending a professional day here at Leedey, where Dave Burgess, the pirate guy spoke, I've been inspired to teach and think "outside of the box!"  Some might say I'm being so crazy that I'm walking the plank!  Aaargh.  :). But I seriously think it's working, as my students are now more engaged and excited about class. Time will tell-- the state writing test is in 3 weeks, Feb. 25 & 26. Here's a look at my antics. Enjoy. https://animoto.com/play/8tI30KZUfTVDaTW9Y7K8Qg

 

 

 

Zombie Apocalypse Strikes Leedey!!!!

Run for your lives!!!!  The Zombie Apocalypse has struck in the lil' ole' town of Leedey!!  It is up to my 8th graders to save themselves and as many other survivors as possible!! 

First they will partner up and brainstorm all that they know about zombie so that they can create an evacuation plan and a survival guide.  Then after all of that planning, they will organize the key points that they want to stress in their 5 paragraph informative/explanatory essays.  We are also collaberating with Mr. McClendon's history class.  The 8th graders have been studying the 13 colonies with him.  He is going to encorporate some type of zombie survival lesson that encompasses what they've learned with the 13 colonies.  Finally the students will do a media presentation for the both of us, and they will be scored on it accordingly.  Sounds fun!!  But we've got to stay focused and stay alive to finish the task by Fall Break.  Wish us Luck!!!

	Kris Gore  Lesson Plans	Date=Oct. 6-15, 2014
	8th English	PASS
Monday	Finish all worksheets of the Zombie Apocalypse.  Must include pictures off internet to insert onto the survival guide pages.  Each student will be scored individually for his/her worksheet.  Due at beginning of class tomo.   When/If finished, begin actually writing the evacuation plan and survival guide:   **Evacuation Plan must be a Informative/Explanatory 5 paragraph essay w/ your 3 best ideas for evacuation as the body paragraphs.   **Survival Guide must be an Informative/Explanatory 5 paragraph essay using the 3 most important survival tips from pg. 8 of your hand-out as your body paragraph.    Each partner does one essay.  Must be hand-written, double spaced, with a creative cover sheet.   Essays will be graded and both partners will receive an avg. from the 2 essays. Essays due Wed.	W.1-3 LA.5.1&2
Tuesday	Work on Evacuation Plan & Survival Guide essays.   Also must create a zombie face of themselves using the zombie app on iPads.  They may want to use these picts in their media presentation.	W.1-3
Wednesday	Begin work on the Zombie Collaborative Media presentation for mine and Mr. McClendon’s class: Power Point; Prezi; Paper Flip Video; or Telagami.  Media presentations due Oct. 15th. Mr. Mac is giving the students our rubric/score sheet for how they will be scored for my class and his.  We will score them together next Wed.  Winning group will receive a packet pass for his class, while the runners-up will receive a Vocab pass for mine.	W.1-3 LA.5.1&2 VL.1-3
Thursday	Work on zombie media presentations and/or zombie picture app.	W.1-3 LA.5.1&2 VL.1-3
Friday	No School=Prof. Dev. Day

	Kris Gore  Lesson Plans	Date=Oct. 6-15, 2014
	8th English	PASS
Monday=Oct.13	Work on zombie media presentations	W.1-3 LA.5.1&2 VL.1-3
Tuesday=Oct.14	Work on zombie media presentations.	W.1-3 LA.5.1&2 VL.1-3
Wednesday=Oct. 15	Make final touches on zombie media presentations.     Present during Mr. McClendon’s hour, boys and girls.	W.1-3 LA.5.1&2 VL.1-3   OL.1&2
Thursday	No School=Fall Break
Friday	No School=Fall Break

 

Time Flying By.....

Busy--Busy---Busy!!!!  That's what happens when you're working, working, working!!!
Time is really flying by.  The 8th graders are delving into the Writing Process.  Next week will start working on the Dewey Co. Soil Conservation Essay.  We've been tweeting and blogging and writing!!  I hear that a Zombie Apocolypse is in the future....
 Here's the gameplan for the next 2 weeks.

Kris Gore  Lesson Plans	Date=Sept. , Sept. 22-26, 2014
8th English	PASS
Journal—Show from website on Prom. Board.   Assign Less. #4 Vocab. Due Friday.     Continue teaching pre-writing by using Buckle Down books M,T, W.   Begin Less. #9 Tip #6 p.123-128 “Planning/Pre-writing” in Buckle Down books.  Discuss and do Pract. Act. #4 p.124-128.	L.4 W.1-3   V.1.1-3 V.3.1-5         W.1-3
Journal—Show from website on Prom. Board.   Continue working on Buckle Down assignment.  Due at end of hr.  Hand in worksheets for me to grade.	L.4 W.1-3   W.1-3
Hand-out the Dewey Co. Essay info and go over the timeline due dates:   *Pre-writing due Thurs=9/25 *Rough Draft due Mon.=9/29 *First Typed Copy due Thurs.=10/2 *Bibliography due end of hour Fri=10/3 *Title Page due Mon. 10/6   Students will receive a grade on each due date.  None of these grades are droppable.	W.1-3
Continue working on Dewey Co. Essays.	W.1-3
Continue working on Dewey Co. Essays.	W.1-3

	Kris Gore  Lesson Plans	Date=Sept. 29- Oct. 3, 2014
	8th English	PASS
Monday	Continue working on Dewey Co. Soil Conservation Essay. Timeline of due dates as follows:   *Pre-writing due Thurs=9/25 *Rough Draft due Mon.=9/29 *First Typed Copy due Thurs.=10/2 *Bibliography due end of hour Fri=10/3 *Title Page due Mon. 10/6   Students will receive a grade on each due date.  None of these grades are droppable.	W.1-3
Tuesday	Continue working on Dewey Co. Soil Conservation Essay.	W.1-3
Wednesday	Continue working on Dewey Co. Soil Conservation Essay.	W.1-3
Thursday	Continue working on Dewey Co. Soil Conservation Essay.	W.1-3
Friday	No School=Prof. Dev. Day

 

Back in the Sadle Again......

Here we are....back at school!!!  Already week three and everyone is trying desperately to get back into the groove.  We have a new school website--same address--www.leedey.k12.ok.us--but a totally different look!!!  Plus each teacher has his/her own website w/in the school's website.  So all of my "cool stuff" will now be posted on my pages on the school website.  I'll probably only use this blog to chit chat and post my daily assignments, via my lesson plans.  Trying to embrace all of the new technology and keep my 8th grade students "plugged in!!"

GO BISON!!!!

Kris Gore  Lesson Plans

8th English  Sept.2-5

No School—Labor Day.

Take their Dr. Seuss Rhyme Tyme poems and copy them on their kid blogs.   Do a 3-2-1 over a Flikr video off of Apple TV.  Hand-in for grade.   Pass out Vocab wksheets from workbook.  Explain how to do.  Less. #1 due Friday.

List different animals from the rain forest (nouns as stuff) and then list creative action verbs ( what stuff does).  Then develop a paragraph from one of the rain forest animals. (We do)   Next have students come up with 2 nouns from their world and create action verbs, then develop a paragraph over one.  Challenge students to find active verbs.Nancy Lilly, co-director of the Greater New Orleans Writing Project, wanted her fourth and fifth grade students to breathe life into their nonfiction writing. She thought the student who wrote this paragraph could do better: The jaguar is the biggest and strongest cat in the rainforest. The jaguar's jaw is strong enough to crush a turtle's shell. Jaguars also have very powerful legs for leaping from branch to branch to chase prey. In a brainstorming session related to the students' study of the rain forest, the class supplied the following assistance to the writer: Stuff/Nouns : What Stuff Does/Verbs jaguar : leaps, pounces jaguar's : legs pump jaguar's : teeth crush jaguar's : mouth devours This was just the help the writer needed to create the following revised paragraph: As the sundisappears from the heart of the forest, the jaguar leaps through the underbrush, pumping its powerful legs. It spies a gharial gliding down the river. The jungle cat pounces, crushing the turtle with his teeth, devouring the reptile with pleasure. Students para due Thurs.

Read aloud some of the paragraphs.   Teach interesting words and use them in a different way.Encourage descriptive writing by focusing on the sounds of words. Begin to train their ears by asking them to make lists of wonderful sounding words. This is strictly a listening game.  Students shouldn't write lunch just because they're hungry.  When the collective list is assembled, asks students to make sentences from some of the words they've collected. They may use their own words, borrow from other contributors, add other words as necessary, and change word forms. Among the words on one student's list: tumble, detergent, sift, bubble, syllable, creep, erupt, and volcano. The student writes: A man loads his laundry into the tumbling washer, the detergent sifting through the bubbling water. The syllables creep through her teeth. The fog erupts like a volcano in the dust. Unexpected words can go together, creating amazing images. Have students write 5 sentences with unexpected, wonderful sounding words.

Grade Vocab wb. Less. #1 Give them a quiz over the words.  Make them write a paragraph using 5-10 list words.   3-2-1 over magazine article. Due Monday.

"The Diary of Anne Frank"

     On Monday, March 17th, we are starting the Unit over Anne Frank and the Holocaust.  For the next 3 weeks (approx.) I will be following the lesson plans from the link listed below, for the most part.  I will occassionally, though, encorporate some other additional info I've found on the Internet as well, and I will make those additions/changes a few days prior, letting the students know in advance.  I allow myself the freedom to do this bc sometimes, after evaluating the material being covered with the students ability to grasp the concepts being taught, I determine what, if any, adjustments to the Unit lesson plans need to occur.

	Kris Gore  Lesson Plans	Date=March 17-April 10, 2014
	8th English	Common Core
Monday	Begin the Unit over “The Diary of Anne Frank—the play” found in students Literature book p.   Follow the lesson plans on the link http://www.ncsu.edu/project/middletech/spotlight/ laurieint/franklesson/lessonplans.html for the next 3 weeks.	W.8.1-10 RL.8.1-10 SL.8.1-6 L.8.1-6
Tuesday	Follow the lesson plans on the link http://www.ncsu.edu/project/middletech/spotlight/ laurieint/franklesson/lessonplans.html for the next 3 weeks.	W.8.1-10 RL.8.1-10 SL.8.1-6 L.8.1-6
Wednesday	Follow the lesson plans on the link http://www.ncsu.edu/project/middletech/spotlight/ laurieint/franklesson/lessonplans.html for the next 3 weeks.	W.8.1-10 RL.8.1-10 SL.8.1-6 L.8.1-6
Thursday	No School
Friday	No School

 

 

Writing Test Over

Two weeks ago, my 8th grade students took the state mandated writing test. Mrs. Harrel administered the test and she said the students worked very diligently and put forth great effort during their alloted time. I am so happy to hear her say that!! I know, since Christmas Break, I have pushed them very hard with their writing skills. And for the most part, every day they responded and worked hard trying to encorporate the skills I was teaching. So, as a result, I'm rewarding the class and giving them a break. Last week we watched the movie "Miracle." This week we are watching "Hoosiers." Both great motivating sports movies about overcoming difficult odds and working hard to accomplish your dream. Next week though, it's back to the grindstone, as we begin my unit on "The Diary of Anne Frank." I do this to help Mrs. Holcomb prepare the students for their Reading test, coming up in April.

Writing Test Wednesday, Feb. 26th!!!!

Writing Test is this week--Feb. 26th--Wednesday!!!  I feel confident that the kids are prepared.  I hope it is an argumentative essay.  Here's the shake-down of this week.

Monday	Journal—Should students be allowed to grade their teachers?   Go over last yr’s papers and the rubric set from 4 yrs ago and show and discuss what makes a 4 paper in each of the separate categories
Tuesday	Journal—How do you think you will perform on the writing test tomo?  Explain.   Do the Review worksheet.  Hand-in at end of hr.  If finished before, read a library book.
Wednesday	Take the state mandated Writing Test.   Can start watching the movie, “Miracle,” if they finish with test and have my class.
Thursday	Watch the movie “Miracle.”
Friday	Watch the movie “Miracle.”

8 Days and Counting Before our Writing Test!!!

Next Wednesday, Feb. 26 is our state writing test for the 8th grade.  We are working hard this last week finishing up our bottled water vs. tap water argumentative essays.  The following is what we will be doing the rest of this week:

Monday	Journal—Are girls too mean to each other?  More so than boys?   Continue working on water argumentative essay.  Pro #2 and Con and Conclusion Paragraphs due at end of hr.
Tuesday	Journal—Is homework harmful or helpful?   Revise Essay by adding 3 similes/metaphors and changing @ least 5 words.   Partner up--Have students use the argumentative rubric to assess a score for their partner’s paper.  Must do 2 diff. people’s essays.
Wednesday	Journal—What age is appropriate for dating?   Go over last yr’s papers and and the rubric set from 4 yrs ago and show and discuss what makes a 4 paper in each of the separate categories.
Thursday	Journal—Is competition a good thing?   Take Vocab. Quiz #23—pick them up.  I will grade.   Continue with rubrics and set papers showing students how to score advanced and satisfactory.
Friday	No School—Proff. Dev. Day

Trying to Catch Up from Missed Snow Days.......

We missed a few days last week due to weather.  Then I was sick one day, and then gone to the doctor another day.  Man!!  I feel like we are behind the eight ball so to speak.  lol  :)
Here's what is planned for this week:

Monday	Journal—How do you feel about all of this cold, snowy weather?     Figure out what worksheets are finished and grade them.   Partner up--Have students use the argumentative rubric to assess a score for their partner’s paper.
Tuesday	Journal—Should 8th graders be allowed to take driver’s ed if they are aged 14?   Continue working on the rubric and assessment of partners essay and finish assessing score.  Due end of hr.
Wednesday	Journal—What age is appropriate for dating?   Begin bottled water vs. tap water argumentative essay.  Rafts and 3 stair step due at end of hr.
Thursday	Journal—Does boredom lead to trouble?   Continue working on water argumentative essay.  Intro paragraph and 1st Pro paragraph due at end of hr.
Friday	Take Vocab. Quiz #22—pick them up.  I will grade.   Continue working on water argumentative essay.  Pro #2 and Con and Conclusion Paragraphs due at end of hr.