Twenty-Sixth Class Period: Introduction to the LLA Library

Mrs. Anjejo, LLA's 7-12 librarian, gave introductory lecture to students reviewing the Dewey Decimal System and the three major types of sources in the LLA 7-12 Library: books, periodicals, Internet databases. Comparing the need for a call number for a book to the need for an address to locate an unfamiliar house, she emphasized the importance of using the online catalog, writing down the call number of a chosen book, and then finding it on the shelf.

Mr. Stone explained the details for completing the research topic "bubble sheet," emphasizing the limitations of search engines by comparing them to the literal-mindedness of Kindergartners and first-graders. Students are to complete the sheet which requires search term variations.

Students need to find a minimum of ten sources for their research paper. At least one of the sources, must be a book.

Homework: Locate at least one source and bring the source/a printout/photocopy to class.

Twenty-Fifth Class Period: Chapter 1 Vocabulary Quiz

Students completed the Chapter 1 vocabulary quiz and began working on Chapter 2. Mr. Stone corrected Chapter 1 and went over the pronunciation of the words in Chapter 2.

Homework: Finish Chapter 2 of Vocabulary Energizers.

Note: Class will meet in the library for the first three periods of next week.

Twenty-Fourth Class Period: Writing Revealing Sentences

Students submitted the final draft of their description of a political cartoon.

Mr. Stone used a handout from eHow to explain who write "revealing" sentences to show the meaning of a vocabulary word. He advocated the tip from the site using the five W's: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. He noted how the example from the site failed to include all these; thus, the sentence did not fully reveal the vocabulary word's meaning.

Students had time to work on Chapter 1 of Vocabulary Engergizers and to make any final adjustments to their description papers before submitting them.

Homework: Finish Chapter 1 of Vocabulary Engerigzers.

Twenty-Third Class Period: Peer Edit of Political Cartoon Description

Using a peer-editing check sheet, students edited a classmate's description of a political cartoon.

NOTE: Mr. Stone has changed his mind. He does NOT want to receive the final draft of the political cartoon description as an actual e-mail. He DOES WANT the political cartoon description submitted in MLA format. Students should take what would have been the subject line of their e-mail and make it the paper's title. (Remember a good title typically includes the subject and the viewpoint.)

Students should keep the salutation, body, and closing as would be done in a letter/e-mail. They should be careful to make sure that the entire paper is double-spaced.

MLA Bibliographic Form for a Cartoon

Cartoonist's last name, First name. "Title of Cartoon If Present." Cartoon. Name of Newspaper. Day of Month Month Year: Section and Page Number. Print.

Sample:

Sutton, Ward. "Why Wait 'til November?" Cartoon. Village Voice. 7 July 2009: A6. Print.

Students were to pick up the three research handouts from the round table at the back of the classroom and read them.

Homework: Complete final draft of the description of a poltical cartoon and bring all drafts and peer critiques with you to class.

Twenty-Second Class Period: Third Quarter Book Report Peer Edit

Mr. Stone shared a humorous anecdote about the literalness of children as a devotional thought and lead into considering the importance of making sure our words are well-chosen and clear for our readers.

Students used a peer-editing check sheet to assist them in editing a classmate's book report.

Homework: Make final revisions to your third quarter book report. Bring the final draft of your book report to class tomorrow. Make sure you also bring the revised draft of your political cartoon that you should have completed last week to class tomorrow for a peer edit.

Students should be bringing their copy of Diana Hacker's Pocket Style Manual (5th edition) to class every day until further notice.

Chapter 1 of the Vocabulary Energizer book is due at the beginning of the last class period of this week (Thursday/Friday depending on your period).

Twenty-First Class Period: Peer Critique of 3rd Qtr Book Report

Mr. Stone checked for the completion of the students eight prewriting journal entries for the third-quarter book report. He also checked for the completion of a typed rough-draft of the book review. Students needed to have a minimum of seven paragraphs in their review.

Students completed a peer critique of a partner's paper in class.

Students began working on Chapter 1 of the Vocabulary Engergizers book. Their test will be the last period of this class next week (either Thursday/Friday).

Homework: Complete a revised draft of the book report. Bring also the revised draft of your description e-mail to class and your copy of A Pocket Style Manual, Fifth Edition, by Diana Hacker.

Twentieth Class Period: More Prewriting Time

Students had class time to finish the prewriting for their third quarter book report. They had an opportunity to review their graded second quarter book report. They received a copy of the book report peer critique sheet and an MLA style sheet.

Homework: Complete a typed rough-draft of the book report including an introduction, one-to-two paragraphs of plot summary, three-to-five paragraphs of analysis, a conclusion, and a work cited page.

Nineteenth Class Period: Third Quarter Book Report Prewriting

Students were given class time to work on the prewriting for their third-quarter book report.

Homework: Continue working on prewriting in journal.

Eighteenth Class Period: Note Taking & Housekeeping

Mr. Stone reviewed some common format information for note-taking and had students copy notes on description from the board.

Students received their third-quarter grade reports. Students passed back papers and had the opportunity to verify the accuracy of their grade report.

Mr. Stone checked for the completion of the students' peer critique and revised draft of their e-mail describing a political cartoon for an imaginary visually-impaired friend.

If students have finished reading their third quarter book report book, then they have no homework over the long weekend. If any have not finished reading his/her book, then he/she should finish reading it before class on Tuesday.

Seventeenth Class Period: Description Peer Critique

Mr. Stone reviewed the three most common description techniques: naming, detailing, and comparing. He also gave notes on the difference between objective and subjective description, types of sensory details, and guidelines for description.

Students peer-critiqued a classmate's describing-a-political-cartoon-to-an-imaginary-visually-impaired-friend paper (See the link-list "Description" to the right for a link to the peer critique sheet.

Homework: Complete revisions of the describing-a-political-cartoon-to-an-imaginary-visually-impaired-friend paper. Bring revised draft to class tomorrow.