English with Ms. Hurley-Coughlin
Welcome to English class!
Currently students are polishing their editing and revising skills, working on 28 unique skills. Each student has differentiated their learning and will be working only on the skills they need at centers. Our entire team goal is to become advanced editors of our writing!
We also begin to explore the world of persuasion. The complete unit is attached below. Please refer to this if you are absent. We will learn how to craft a persuasive argument and practice writing the five paragraph persuasive essay.
The study of English will enhance students' development as independent, powerful and courageous writers, readers, speakers, thinkers, and listeners. Expect to investigate literacies beyond the printed page including blogs, podcasts, interactive websites, and more.
Students engage in the writing process with emphasis on narrative writing, informative writing, persuasion, poetry, and response to literature. Students identify allusions to Greek mythology and William Shakespeare in literature and the world. The skills of spelling, grammar, and usage are integrated into the study of writing. Literature study each year includes one novel and one Shakespearean play. There are many novels to choose from such as: Al Capone Does My Shirts, Red Kayak, Tears of a Tiger, Touching Spirit Bear, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and several community themed novels including Lord of the Flies. The two Shakespearean plays that students' may read are A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing. Students play an active role in their learning as they participate in reader's theater, collaborate with their peers, integrate technology into the classroom, and make connections to their own lives.
 Creating a Works Cited Page | downloads: 265 | type: doc | size: 39 kB |
| Spelling | |
 Spelling Book to Study | downloads: 106 | type: pdf | size: 5 MB |
Use this booklet to study words for the upcoming spelling bee. Words are divided into languages from around the world that have been integrated into English. Watch out for great spelling tricks! |
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| Persuasion | |
| Persuasion Unit Presentations | downloads: 2 | type: pdf | size: 4 MB |
Please refer to this .pdf if you need to check notes due to absence or to check your own notetaking skills. We will explore persuasion throughout January. |
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Important Links
Links to Use Daily
Wiki Access http://hurleycoughlin.pbwiki.com/
Powerschools http://powerschool.nwr7.org/public/
English Blog http://hurleycoughlin.blogspot.com
Blue Ribbon Testing http://students.blueribbontesting.com
Spelling Help http://www.myspellit.com
Create a Works Cited http://www.easybib.com
Visual Thesaurus http://nwr7ms.visualthesaurus.com
The Write Source www.thewritesource.com/
Links to use to study Greek Mythology
Greek Mythology Arcade
http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/interactive/arcade.htm
Other Greek Mythology Games
http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210200/ancient_greece/online_activities.htm
http://www.webexhibits.org/greekgods
Links to use with the poetry unit
Over 500 Poetry Forms http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/menu.shtml
The Poetry Memorizer http://www.northernsites.com/poetry_memorizer/
Writing Funny Poem Forms http://www.poetryteachers.com/poetclass/poetclass.html
Funny Poems http://www.gigglepoetry.com/
Funny Poems http://www.poetry4kids.com/
37 Ways to Write Poems http://www.poemofquotes.com/articles/ways-to-write-poetry.php
Other Poetic Forms http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Write-Poetry/
Links to use with the Shakespeare unit
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Mickey Mouse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMIAGXDyN-s&feature=related
Spelling Tips
This year students continue to engage in weekly word studies. Students will study five words each week. Two of the words will come from their own writing from essays, stories, and poetry from their other subjects. Words may also come from their writing portfolios. Students will also study words grouped by origin.
Currently, students are studying the most commonly misspelled words. Eighth grade students studied words with Greek roots as we delved into Greek mythology. Next, students will be focusing on challenge words from www.myspellit.com. Students will recognize many word stems from reading class. Early in the week, students will take a pre-test on these words. Students may choose words from this word list to use on their personalized spelling list. All of these words may be found at http://www.myspellit.com. Another website that has a helpful list of hard to spell words is http://marvin.cs.uidaho.edu/~heckendo/misspell.html.
See the spelling booklet attached above if you would like to expand your studying.
Creating a Works Cited Page
One skill that we constantly strive to perfect is the creation of a works cited page with research papers. In class, I have classroom copies of exactly how to do this and how it should look for student use. There are many resources online. Please check out the following:
The following website will give you a step by step guide to creating your works cited page. Everytime you use a source (book, website, lecture notes etc.)that is not your own, you must cite where you get the information. The following link helps you find the information you need. There are paper copies available in the classroom. Feel free to print a copy for yourself to use at home. http://gatornet.chapin.edu/~library/MSBibGuide.pdf
You can also use www.easybib.com/ This website allows you to plug in the information and the program then creates a complete work cited page for you.
Another website that is available for you to use is http://www.interaction-design.org/citation-maker/