Weekly Assignments

• Tests will be announced weekly as the curriculum units progress.  Check back frequently for updates.

• Million Word Project #4 is due on or before May 7.  Check the Term 2 Handouts page for more information.   This project will be a test grade this term.

• All students must take an Accelerated Reader test this semester for a test grade.  Students should print out their results and bring the sheet to me on or before May 7, 2010.  The test should be on the book read for MWP 4.

Homework assignments and tests for the week of:

May 10, 2010

• MCT2 Testing Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Students need to go to bed early, sleep well, eat breakfast, and have confidence in themselves.  We have been working all year toward this goal and we are ready! I am proud of my students.

• For extra practice go to www.usatestprep.com

May 3, 2010

1. Million Word Projects due Friday! This is a test grade. See Handouts page for more info.

2. Students must take their AR tests by Friday.  Also, in order to qualify for the pizza party, students must have at least 50 points in AR and must have kept up with their Million Word Project logs to be turned in to me on Friday.

3. Spelling homework for week 7 is due Thursday.  Students must use each word correctly in a sentence.

April 5, 2010

1. Students are taking a practice MCT2 test on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

2. Spelling homework is due on Thursday, students are to use each of the words from week three correctly in a sentence.

3. Poetry booklets are due on Friday for a test grade.  See Term 4 handouts page for more information.

March 22, 2010

1. Unit 1 Test is Friday.  Students should study their poetry notes, spelling words, adjective notes, and vocabulary.

2. Spelling homework for weeks 1 and 2 is due Thursday.

3. Students were given an adjective worksheet in class on Tuesday.  This is homework due on Wednesday.

4. Students should continue to work on their poetry booklets, these are due on April 9, 2010 for a test grade.

March 15, 2010

1. Students were given Spelling list for Term 4.  Students should write the words for weeks 1 and 2 three times each and then use each word correctly in a sentence.  This is due next Thursday for an activity grade.

2. Students are to fill out their MWP logs with their new books.  The logs are due back, signed by parents, Friday, March 19.

3. Students will begin working on a poetry booklet this week.  See Term 4 handout page for more information.

March 1, 2010

1. On Thursday, students will have Unit 3 Test.  See below for the skills that will be tested for Unit 3.

2. Unit 3: Spelling Weeks 5 and 6; Conjunctions (coordinating, correlative, subordinating, and conjunctive adverbs); Tears of a Tiger, vocabulary and study guide; literary terms including irony, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, idiom, and personification; emphatic verb form; types of sentences including complex, compound, compound-complex, simple, fragments, and run-ons; Word Cell list 3.

3. Students are expected to study every night this week.

4. Million Word Project 3 is due on Friday for a test grade.

5. Students are expected to take an AR quiz on Tears of a Tiger, Tears of a Tiger vocabulary, and their MWP books.

6. Students are also expected to complete both sentence structure units assigned on www.myskillstutor.com by Wednesday, March 11.

7. CTAs are scheduled for next week, see Biloxi Guaranteed Curriculum for more information.

8. The MCT writing assessment is on Tuesday, March 10, 2010.  Click here for sample essays and more information.

February 8, 2010

1. Final draft of narrative essay is due Wednesday, at the beginning of class.  8th period only has until Friday because 8th period didn't get their rough drafts back until Monday.

2. Students need to remember to make all changes notated on their rough drafts.  This assignment is a test grade.

3. Re-teaching is after school on Thursday for Unit 2 Test.  If students can't stay on Thursday they may stay on Friday with Ms. Chesman or next Thursday with me again because of the short week.

4. Students should retest on the following day after reteaching.

5. On Thursday students will have the laptops to continue working on www.myskillstutor.com Any assignments not finished in class should be finished for homework.

February 1, 2010

1. Monday: Test on Tears of a Tiger

2. Tuesday: Review pronouns, read Tears of a Tiger.  Progress reports for English only went home.  Any student with a "D" or an "F" was expected to have his/her progress report signed.

3. Students were also told that they have until Friday, February 5, at 3 p.m. to complete any of the www.myskillstutor.com activities they haven't yet completed in the Noun/Pronoun section.  Also, students are allowed to redo any of those six activities for a better grade as long as they do so by Friday at 3 p.m.

4. Wednesday: Review for tomorrow's test on Pronoun Unit and Tears of a Tiger

5. Thursday- Today's test is cumulative and will contain items previously tested as well as questions re: Pronoun Unit, Tears of a Tiger, vocabulary from week 3 of the novel, and spelling from weeks 3 and 4.

6. Friday- Students will receive their edited narrative essays back in class.  We will review how to revise these essays and students will begin the revision process.  Final drafts of this essay are due back next Wednesday.  The final draft must be handwritten and must contain all revisions requested on original draft.  Both drafts will be turned in together with the final draft stapled on top.  This is for a test grade.

January 25, 2010

1. This week students will be reviewing the pronoun unit in the grammar book beginning on page 372.

2. We will continue reading Tears of a Tiger.  This week's goal is to read to page 105.

3. Tuesday night's homework is to complete the appositive worksheet given out in class on Tuesday.  This is due Wednesday.

4. On Wednesday the class will have the laptop cart and will continue working assignments on www.myskillstutor.com See Useful Links page for instructions regarding this website.  Students need to have completed the first three exercises in the Pronoun/Noun unit by Friday.

5. Students will then begin working on the Writing unit in MySkillsTutor.  Students may complete these assignments as many times as they like, the more they practice, the better they will do.  I will accept the highest grade made for each of the graded assignments they complete.

6. On Thursday students will begin revising their narrative essays in class.  Due date for final draft to be announced. The final draft of this essay will count as a test grade.

7. On Friday students will take a test on the pages read thus far in Tears of a Tiger, the vocabulary from the 2nd and 3rd weeks of Tears of a Tiger, and prefixes.

January 19, 2010

1. Unit Test 1 is Wednesday.

2. The first draft of the 5 paragraph narrative essay is due at the beginning of class on Thursday.  Students began this essay in class last Friday.  See Term 3 Handout page for the powerpoint I showed the class prior to beginning this assignment. 

3. Million Word Project Logs need to be filled out and turned back in with parent's signature by Friday, January, 22.

January 11, 2010

1. Any student who hasn't yet turned in a signed Million Word Project letter should do so before Friday, January 15.

2. Unit 1 Test will be next Wednesday, January 20.  Students will be tested on the noun unit we began last week, any pages read in Tears of a Tiger, vocabulary, and spelling.  See Term 3 handout page for any important handouts.

3. Homework TBA.

December 7, 2009

1. Spelling Homework 8 due Thursday.

2. Million Word Project due Friday (TEST GRADE!)

3. Daily assignments will also be given this week and any assignments not finished in class are expected to be finished for homework.

November 30, 2009

1. Spelling homework 7 due Thursday, Spelling Test 7 on Thursday.

2. Creative Writing Assignment/Research Projects due Tuesday.  See below for more details or see the Term 2 Handouts page.

3. Test on "The Black Cat" will be Friday and will also consist of "The Black Cat" vocabulary as well as questions regarding subject-verb agreement and indefinite pronouns.  See p. 385 in the grammar book for more information regarding indefinite pronouns.

4. Re-teaching for last week's test will be after school on Tuesday, December 1.

5. Million Word Project 2 is due next Friday and is a test grade. Students are expected to be working on this assignment at home on a daily basis.

November 16, 2009

• Re-teaching for Verb Test 2 will be Tuesday after school until 3:30.

1. Spelling Test 6 will be on Thursday; spelling homework 6 due on Thursday as usual.

2. Word Cell List 2 due for all classes by Wednesday, November 18.

3. On Wednesday, students will go to the library to begin a project that coincides with this week's reading of "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe.  Students will choose between two project choices to be completed with or without a partner.  The project is due on or before Tuesday, December 1.  See Term 2 Handouts page for the handouts.

4. There will be a test on Friday on Perfect Tenses and Edgar Allan Poe's life.  See Term 2 page for handouts and rubrics.

November 9, 2009

Happy Veteran's Day on Wednesday.

1. Spelling homework 5 due Thursday. Spelling Test 5 Thursday.

2. Verb Test 2 Wednesday. 

3. Journals due Wednesday.

4. Root Cell List 2 is homework on Thursday.

November 2, 2009

1. Spelling homework 4 due Thursday.  Spelling Test 4 on Thursday.

2. "The Landlady" test is Tuesday.  Re-teaching for this test will be after school on Tuesday, November 10, until 3:30 p.m., if necessary.

3. "I Am Thankful" Poem due Friday.

4. Verb Test 2 will either be next Tuesday, November 11, depending on how far we get this week with the verb unit.  Check back for more details later this week.

5. All other homework to be announced.

Monday, October 26, 2009

1. Spelling homework is due on Thursday.  See above for new procedure for spelling homework.  Spelling Test 3 is on Thursday.

2. Students will go to the computer lab to work on their projects for "The Landlady."  This project is due on Friday.  See the Term 2 Handout page for more information.

3. Vocabulary Test on Friday for "The Landlady."  See Term 2 Handouts page for the words and definitions.

4. Test on "The Landlady" will be one day next week.  Check back next Monday for the date.

Monday, October 19, 2009

1. Spelling homework is due on Thursday.  See above for new procedure for spelling homework.  Spelling Test 2 is on Thursday.

2. Verb Test 1 is on Tuesday.  Re-teaching for this test will be Thursday after school until 3:30.

3. Journals are due on Tuesday. 

4. Million Word Project logs are due signed by parents on Wednesday.

5. Those students who turned their "Letter to a Nut" writing assignment in on time are allowed to revise their first drafts and turn in 2nd and final drafts (stapled on top of the original draft) by Friday of this week for a better grade.

6. All other homework to be announced.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

1. "Letter to a Nut" due date has been extended to Friday, October 16.  This will be a grade for Term 2.

2. Spelling Homework is due on Thursday.

3. Spelling Test 1 for Term 2 will also be on Thursday.

4. Finish USATestprep diagnostic quiz at home if you didn't have time to finish it in class on Friday.

5. Million Word Project book number two must be decided on by Monday, October 19.  Students must bring the book in for approval on Monday.  Once I have approved the book students need to fill out their Million Word Project log and then parents need to sign illustrating their knowledge of the project and of the book students are reading.

6. The MWP log must be turned back in to me by Wednesday of next week for an activity grade.

7. All other homework to be announced.

Monday, October 5- Thursday, October 8

1. Letter to a nut due on Wednesday.

2. There are no spelling words this week.

3. Term tests are Wednesday and Thursday.  Study!

Monday, September 28- Friday, October 2, 2009

• Don't forget that Million Word Project number 1 is due this week: Friday, October 2, 2009.

• There are no spelling words this week or next.  Concentrate on your Million Word Project this week and your 9 weeks exam next week.

• The due date of the final draft of the friendly letter has been extended to Tuesday, September 29.  Don't forget that you need to staple the final draft to the top of your rough draft.

• Re-teaching for last week's test on Grammar Mechanics will be Tuesday or Thursday after school until 3:30 p.m.

1. Monday's homework is to finish the friendly letter final draft and study for tomorrow's test on "Examination Day."

2. Every other day this week for homework students should concentrate on their Million Word Project.

3. On Wednesday, students will go to the computer lab for a new writing assignment.  This week's writing assignment involves writing a formal business letter to a nut.  Check this page again on Wednesday for more information.

4. On Friday, students will have a second test on grammar and mechanics and should use their grammar book to practice problem areas.

Monday, September 21- Friday, September 25, 2009

• Don't forget that the second and final draft of your friendly letter is due on Monday, September 28!

1. Monday's homework is to finish the review exercises in the grammar book: numbers 1-13 on page 328.  Students should follow the directions given in the book.  This is due when students get to class Tuesday.

2. Tuesday's homework is to finish the worksheet given in class.  This is due when students get to class on Wednesday.  This will also help students review for Wednesday's test on grammar and mechanics.

3. Students will have a test on Wednesday on grammar and mechanics.  This test will consist of capitalization questions, punctuation usage questions, and questions about the types of sentences.

4. Wednesday night's homework is to finish Spelling Homework 7 and study Spelling Words 7 for Thursday's Spelling Test.

5. Students should also be finishing up with their first Million Word Project book.  Million Word Project number one is due on or before next Friday, October 2.

Monday, September 14 - Friday, September 18, 2009

• Re-teaching for "All Summer in a Day" test will be after school on Tuesday until 3:30.

1. See above for spelling homework assignment.

2. Friendly Letter is due on Tuesday, September 15, 2009. 

3. Study your spelling words all week.

4. Read your Million Word Project book.  Those students who are finished with their books need to go ahead and decide on a project and turn it in.  Come after school, before school, or during lunch for help.

5. Email to Mrs. Taggart must be sent by Friday.  The email should follow the format of the handout given in class.  The email should be written in formal language and should be at least 150 words.

Tuesday, September 8 - Friday, September 11

• Don't forget, re-teaching for the "Zoo" test is Thursday after school.  The re-test will be Friday during Power Hour.

1. See above for spelling assignment.

2. Friendly letter due Tuesday, September 15, 2009, before the tardy bell rings at the beginning of class.  We will begin this together in the computer lab on Wednesday.  Students will write a letter from Margot's perspective in "All Summer in a Day."  The letter should have all of the components of a friendly letter and should be at least 250 words.  See the friendly letter generator on Term 1 Handouts page.

3. The above letter should be typed in size 12 Times New Roman font.

4. On Friday there will be a test on "All Summer in a Day."  We will review this all week and students may see the link on Term 1 Handouts page to re-read the story if/when necessary.

5. Vocabulary check worksheet due on Friday.  Vocabulary words are from "All Summer in a Day."  Students should have written these words and definitions in their journals.  Handout given in class on Thursday.

6. Other assignments to be announced.