Week of Dec. 12 – Dec. 16

Good morning, everyone.

     Well, the snow has just begun to fall here, and the predictions are pretty nasty for the whole day, so we will reserve judgement on whether or not there will be a snow day today. If there is, stay safe and off the roads as best you can, and then enjoy yourself and admire the beautiful winter scene in comfort. We aren't in charge of the weather, so we might as well make the best of it!

     Regardless of the snow day, this week will be about reviewing vocabulary and developing setting and character. Last week, students took their first vocabulary and spelling quiz, to mixed results, and you will all get the chance to retake it if necessary early this week. However, there will also be a few new words to learn, and a new quiz this coming Friday. So, if you did poorly, this is your opportunity to fix that mistake and study earlier and more often for the next one. We will be making a habit of having vocab quizzes this trimester, so pay attention and learn your words.

     Monday (or Tuesday, depending on the weather and our district's call!) students will get their vocab quizzes back and will have the opportunity to review their work and a chance to retake the quiz the following day. There will be only one retake given per student; after that, your grade is set. The new batch of words will also be provided, so start studying that night to prepare for Friday's quiz. Students will also review how setting works, and will dig into descriptive language by writing about physical objects in detail.

     The middle of the week will be devoted to honing setting by improving the language of student descriptions. Everyone will share their writing with another person in the class, and there will be conferencing on how to improve, followed by revision. By the end of the week, each student will submit his or her descriptive writing to be considered and graded; all five senses must be applied in the work for full credit.

          Wednesday will be a reading or writing day in class; students will either work on their settings or read from their books. Thursday will be a strictly reading day, so students should make sure their settings are complete before then, or prepare to write furiously on Friday to finish.

     On Friday, students will take their vocab quiz, write a Week in Review, and make final edits to their settings as needed. Beyond that, it will be more time to read. After all, there will be less than a week remaining before vacation!

     After school this week, Yearbook Club meets Tuesday and Chess Club on Wednesday; to my knowledge, all eighth grade games are away.

     Stay safe, stay warm, and keep in touch with any questions! Report cards went out on Friday, so if there is any lingering confusion about grades, now is a good time to ask.

Regards,
Mr. DeMaris

Week of Dec. 5 – Dec. 9

Welcome to Trimester Two!

     It has been a busy first trimester, but it is done at last! Grades are being calculated and posted by teachers at this very moment, and report cards will go home by the end of the week. Trimester One report cards will include, for Language Arts, persuasive writing, grammar, presentation, and timeliness scores. Before you know it, we will be on vacation again, and then it will be a new year. But that is getting a bit ahead of things, so let's focus on the present.

     This week in Barclay Language Arts, students will take the SRI (Standard Reading Inventory) to check on how their reading comprehension has improved since the start of the year. In the coming trimester, we will be focusing on that exact subject, so this will be a handy score to compare to the end of the trimester. Students will have all class on Monday to complete this, and may finish it on their own time at home. This must be completed by Wednesday so we can compare progress by Friday's in-class student-teacher conference about it.

     On Monday, before taking the SRI, students will get five vocabulary words for the week, which they will be expected to spell and match with a definition and part of speech on Friday.

     On Tuesday, students will dive into scene descriptions, examining one moment from their novels and identifying all the descriptive words from them. Proper reading comprehension means depth of understanding, so recognizing how authors describe a setting is key to success. Students will work on this in groups or individually, and will turn in their work by the end of class.

     On Wednesday, which is a two-hour delay start for students, they will engage in a similar activity regarding a character from their novel; this time, the descriptions may come from anywhere in the text, not just one scene. This is a more student-driven assignment, and so will be done in pairs or individually. Students must be prepared to present their characterizations to the class verbally (without a computer) on Thursday.

     On Thursday, students present their characterization to the class and attend to the characterizations by their peers. Any remaining time will be used to review the concepts of characterization and setting.

     On Friday, students will take a quick vocabulary quiz, write a Week in Review, focusing on how much they understand about setting and characterization, and will be brought up to talk about their reading comprehension one at a time as they write. Any remaining time in the period will be spent reading.

     After school this week, our boys play at home against Lincoln at 4:45 on Monday, and the girls play at home against Windham at the same time on Thursday. The Newspaper Club meets Tuesday afternoon immediately following school, and Chess Club meets on Wednesday.

     Get in touch with any questions or concerns, and welcome to Trimester Two!

Sincerely,
Mr. DeMaris

Week of Nov. 14 – Nov. 18

Good afternoon!

     This week is off to a great start; students were focused and attentive for the most part, and the weather was beautiful outside. This is also a pretty straightforward week, with only one aberration in the middle.

     Academically, all four classes are starting formal work with narratives; Gold, Green, and White classes began today with Elements of Literature definitions, while Blue class brainstormed what they knew about World War I, sharing it with the class. Every class will transition soon into story-based analysis over chosen books, with Blue class focusing on World War I literature that ties into Social Studies class.

     The rest of this week will be dedicated to choosing which book students will read in class; there are four options available, and students will be spending class time reading them, discussing them, and responding to them to develop their literary analysis skills. With rare exceptions, books will be kept in the classroom.

     Wednesday is a late arrival day, but other than that the weekly schedule seems normal. Next week, remember, is Thanksgiving, so we only have two days of school.

Regards,
Mr. DeMaris

Week in Preview — September 21

Hello Everyone,

     This week should finally be cool and comfortable upstairs; we will have a high of 75 at most all week, if you believe the weather man. So far as schoolwork is concerned, in Language Arts we will go into a little more detail about conflict, point of view, irony, and characterization, and then start in on the book project itself.

1. On Monday, students will analyze an interpersonal conflict between characters in their stories, and explain how their points of view impact said conflict.
2. On Tuesday, students will differentiate between different types of irony in a story. They are provided with "Mammon and the Archer" by O. Henry as an example of a story that contains all three types of irony.
3. On Wednesday, students will address all three types of conflict again, this time in more detail, as relates to "Mammon and the Archer."
4. On Thursday, students will review their answers, officially declare their project book, and begin connecting it to the ten Elements of Literature.
5. On Friday, students will write a Week in Review and continue their Elements of Literature book project.

     Remember that Chess Club is after school on Wednesdays, and Yearbook will meet again on Tuesday and Thursday of next week (September 29 and October 1).

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Week in Preview — September 14

Hello Everyone,

     I hope you all had a good weekend. I had to replace a corroded brake line in my car and rotate some tires, but it was a good weekend overall. This week, September 14–18, starts comfortably, but we will be back up into the 80s from Tuesday on.

     This week, we will continue our development of the elements of literature, which we started with theme last week. You will work in groups and individually on terms and application of the concepts.

1. On Monday, students will discuss terms and definitions in class, including application of concepts with a story of their choice.
2. On Tuesday, students will provide and work with examples of setting, characterization, point of view, and conflict.
3. On Wednesday, students will provide and work with examples of mood, irony, foreshadowing, and plot.
4. On Thursday, students will provide and work with examples of symbolism and theme.
5. On Friday, students will recap the concepts and write a Week in Review.

     Remember that Tuesday is Picture Day here at Bonny Eagle Middle School, and Open House has been rescheduled for Tuesday evening from 6:30 to 7:30. Students also have their first dance on Friday from 6:30 to 8:30.

     Finally, Yearbook Club meets Tuesday afternoon from 2:20 to 4:00 in Room 83 (my room), and Chess Club meets Wednesday afternoon from 2:20 to 4:00 in Room 98 (Mr. O'Searcoid's room, in Clan MacCallum).

     Have a good week!

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

A Story

Hello Everyone,

     Inspired by the twist ending to "The Cremation of Sam McGee," Marie wrote a little story of her own!

Once there were three bears—a little bear, a medium bear, and a big bear. One day they went out to shop. Then as they left, a little girl broke into their house and sat on their beds. The big bed was tooooo big. The medium bed was too big also. But the little bed was perfect.

So she stole the little bed.

The End


Thank you, Marie!

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

This Week in Preview

    This week's standard is L.8.1:  "Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking."

    Our focus is on parts A and B:

"Explain the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences."

"Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice."

     This week's story selection is "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service (1907). A link to a reading by Johnny Cash is included below.

Monday——Make a list!

Quickly review last week’s skills as needed, introduce the story selection and Words of the Week, and take a skills prequiz. The Words of the Week are the words you must be able to spell, identify parts of speech for, and define by Thursday. This week, they are:

brawn (n.)

grisly (adj.)

hearken (v.)

homely (adj.)

scowl (n.) and (v.)

Once we cover these items, students may read "The Cremation of Sam McGee," this week's story selection. It is a poem by Robert W. Service about an unfortunate southerner who travels north in search of gold.

Tuesday——Time for work!

Cover skills and story selection for the week. Students who demonstrated proficiency in the skills on the content prequiz may sit in the back of the room today and read the story selection as a group, then answer questions about it collectively. The majority of students will take notes on the skills and practice their use individually and as a class.

This week, we discuss verbals and verb voice.

Wednesday——Write!

This is writing day in Language Arts. Answer a series of questions about the story selection. The Wednesday Write will always relate to both the skills and the story selection. For full credit, use and identify a gerund, a participle, an infinitive, and active and passive voice in your answers. You may write a short story with a surprise ending for more credit.

Thursday——Think it over!

In the first ten minutes of class, take the Thursday Think, a quiz on the Words of the Week; use it to spell, identify part of speech for, and define each word. After that, review the Wednesday Write as a class. In the remaining time, review verbals and verb voice in preparation for the Friday Finish.

Friday——Finish!

First, complete the Friday Finish, a review or quiz on the week’s skills and the story selection. Then, write a letter to Mr. DeMaris about your week; this Week in Review letter is only graded on completion, not on grammar or spelling.* Once complete, you may Review and Improve any missing or inadequate work. If you have none, you may read or write quietly or help a classmate with his or her work.

Each week is graded as follows:

Ten         (10) points apply to the     …    …    Wednesday Write.

Fifteen     (15) points apply to the     …    …    Thursday Think.

Twenty     (20) points apply to the     …    …    Friday Finish.

Five         (5) points apply to the     …    …    Week in Review letter.

This is a total of fifty (50) points per week. Extra assignments may be added or adjusted as negotiated by individual students and the teacher.


Sincerely, 


Mr. DeMaris

*——Mr. DeMaris always encourages proper spelling and grammar, though—— so try!

The Week in Preview

Hello All,

     This week we will review classroom rules and policies, and then jump into a new weekly schedule as identified below.

     This week's standard is L.8.2:  "Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing."

     This week's story selection is "The Last Leaf" by O. Henry.

Monday——Make a list!

Take the content prequiz, quickly review last week’s skills as needed, and introduce the Words of the Week. These are the words you must be able to spell, identify parts of speech for, and define by Thursday. Then, introduce the skills and story selection.

Tuesday——Time for work!

Cover skills and story selection for the week. Students who demonstrated proficiency in the skills on the content prequiz may sit in the back of the room today and begin reading the story selection as a group. The majority of students will take notes on the skills and practice their use individually and as a class.

Wednesday——Write!

This is writing day in Language Arts. Spend all class writing about the current material and story. The assignment may be an essay, a series of questions, a poem, a story, or any combination of the above, depending on the week. The Wednesday Write will always relate to both the skills and the story selection.

Thursday——Think it over!

In the first ten minutes of class, take the Thursday Think, a quiz on the Words of the Week; use it to spell, identify part of speech for, and define each word. After that, review the Wednesday Write in groups or, sometimes, as a class.

Friday——Finish!

First, complete the Friday Finish, a review or quiz on the week’s skills and the story selection. Then, write a letter to Mr. DeMaris about your week; this Week in Review letter is only graded on completion, not on grammar or spelling.* Once complete, you may Review and Improve any missing or inadequate work. If you have none, you may read or write quietly or help a classmate with his or her work.

Each week is graded as follows:

Ten         (10) points apply to the     …    …    Wednesday Write.

Fifteen     (15) points apply to the     …    …    Thursday Think.

Twenty     (20) points apply to the     …    …    Friday Finish.

Five         (5) points apply to the     …    …    Week in Review letter.

This is a total of fifty (50) points per week. Extra assignments may be added or adjusted as negotiated by individual students and the teacher.


Sincerely,



Mr. DeMaris
*——Mr. DeMaris always encourages proper spelling and grammar, though—— so try!