Vote on Yearbook Covers

Hello Students,

     It's time to vote on yearbook covers!  Click on this link to go to the page so you can vote; you must be logged in with your Bonny Eagle email address.

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo

Hello All,

     The clever Sam L. found this treasure and shared it earlier today.  I give you perhaps the most ridiculous grammatically correct sentence you have ever seen.  Enjoy!

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
  
     You read that correctly; your eyes are not deceiving you.  That sentence is grammatically correct in every way, shape, and form.  Allow me to explain.

A buffalo is a bison, that large and shaggy plains animal that has been hunted to near extinction and now largely lives in small, privately controlled herds.

Buffalo is a city in New York.

To buffalo means to push or bully into something, as in, "He buffaloed me into doing my homework, even though I thought it was a terrible idea."

     Now, break the sentence into its individual parts.  The first two words, "Buffalo buffalo," mean buffalo from Buffalo, or bison from the city.  The second two words are the same.  The fifth word is the verb.  So, the first half of the sentence says, "City bison that city bison bully."

     Congratulations, we just wrote the subject of the sentence.

     Moving on to the predicate, we have three words:  buffalo, Buffalo, and buffalo.  The first word is the verb.  Those city bison that have been bullied by other city bison are starting to perpetuate the hatred and insecurity.  What do they do?  They buffalo!  Finally, we need to figure out the identities of their victims.  They are more Buffalo buffalo!  The vicious cycle is complete.  City bison that other city bison bully bully yet other city bison.

     Those poor, sad Buffalo buffalo.

     Thanks Sam!

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Writing

Hello Everyone,

     Some days, I feel like this is how students treat the writing process.

That's awesome, so long as that "write" writing happens after all this.

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

P.S. - That was a pun!  Punny, right?

Quarter One is Closed!

Hello Everyone!

     Quarter One is officially done.  I will have your grade posted by early next week, and report cards will come out shortly after that.  Thank you all for your hard work this quarter; we will build from it during Quarter Two for better skills and stronger enthusiasm.  You are all fantastic.

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

The Personal Narrative

Hello Everyone!

     Tomorrow your personal narrative is due; you have had weeks to complete this, and I am looking forward to reading your final results.  For your convenience, I have attached the rubric I will use for this assignment; you can check your work against it before handing it in!

     Click here to access the rubric for the project.  This is a 100-point assignment, remember, so do well!

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Quiz on Sentence Completion and Style

Hello Everyone!

     Today you take your sentence completion and style quiz.  Click this link to take the quiz online; it is entirely multiple choice, and you have thirty minutes to complete it.

Yours Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

You have one more quiz for this unit!

Hello Everyone!

     On Tuesday, October 14, you will have your last quiz of the unit.  This quiz will be entirely multiple choice, and is designed to see if you can identify the difference between fragment, complete, and run-on sentences, as well as the difference between simple, complex, compound, and compound-complex sentences.  You will have the option to take it on the computer or on paper.

     Also, don't forget that Monday is Columbus Day, and you have no school.  Enjoy your three-day weekend, and be sure to study for the quiz!  If you can't remember the terms or the differences between them, look up assignment 02-12 or this handy review sheet.  Click this link for a completed review sheet for the quiz.

Yours Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris