Eighth Grade English
“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
--Anton Chekhov
--Anton Chekhov
March 5, 2018
8A ELA--Students continued work on modifiers, adjectives and adverbs, and this week, and students started the layout of their article for The Bulldog Bark. On Monday, the first draft of students’ speeches are due. They will take next week to revise, edit and begin practice of the delivery of their speeches; the week of March 19 students will deliver their speeches for final grading.
8B ELA--Students continued work on modifiers, adjectives and adverbs, and this week, and students made revisions of their article for The Bulldog Bark. On Monday, the first draft of students’ speeches are due. They will take next week to revise, edit and begin practice of the delivery of their speeches; the week of March 19 students will deliver their speeches for final grading.
February 16, 2018
8A ELA--Students took the comprehensive exam on verbs on Tuesday. Students also began work on their next article for The Bulldog Bark which is due on Tuesday, February 27. Their written draft of their speech is due on Monday, March 5.
8B ELA--Students took the comprehensive exam on verbs on Tuesday. Students also began work on their next article for The Bulldog Bark which is due on Tuesday, February 27. Their written draft of their speech is due on Monday, March 5.
February 9, 2018
8A ELA--Students received a study guide for a test on verbs. This test is scheduled for Tuesday, February 14. Students should continue working their speech. Next week, progress will be checked on their first draft of the speech. Also, next week students will begin work on the next edition of The Bulldog Bark
8B ELA--Students received a study guide for a test on verbs. This test is scheduled for Tuesday, February 14. Students should continue working their speech. Next week, progress will be checked on their first draft of the speech. Also, next week students will begin work on the next edition of The Bulldog Bark.
January 26, 2018
8A ELA--Students continued their study of verbs and were introduced to this year’s School Speech contest theme.: “Inventions that have improved the quality of life.” Students were shown a video of an International Toastmasters champion and how his speaking style is something to emulate. Students began researching topics and began thinking how they want to approach this year’s theme. A list of due dates will be handed out next week to give students an idea of how they need to approach this assignment
8B ELA--Students continued their study of verbs and were introduced to this year’s School Speech contest theme.: “Inventions that have improved the quality of life.” Students were shown a video of an International Toastmasters champion and how his speaking style is something to emulate. Students began researching topics and began thinking how they want to approach this year’s theme. A list of due dates will be handed out next week to give students an idea of how they need to approach this assignment. Students also completed their second formal debates.
November 3, 2017
Students performed several Tennis Debates this week. They are different than the formal debates and not a debate about tennis, but they are debates where two teams “serve” arguments to a member of the opposing team, and that member must return the serve with a well-worded refutation. Students were given ten minutes to prepare with their team, and formulate arguments and refutations. It was excellent practice for students to devise reasoning supported by evidence; it also gave students practice creating rebuttal arguments with a limited amount of time. Next week we will work on another debate and conclude our review of nouns. On Friday, third hour ELA did not have class because of High Interest Day, and the sixth hour class spent time in the computer lab publishing poems and six-word memoirs.
October 27, 2017
Students researched, wrote and practiced with their debate teams this week. The sixth hour class performed their debate on Wednesday, and the third hour class debated on Thursday and Friday. The results were outstanding. Students stated their assertions and refutations with confidence and style. They also enjoyed the experience and want to perform more debates. It’s an excellent way to practice writing argumentative pieces as well as practicing public speaking skills. The sixth hour class also had time to practice a Tennis Debate. This is not a debate about tennis, but it is a debate where two teams “serve” arguments to a member of the opposing team, and that member must return the serve with a well-worded refutation. Next week we will work on another debate and conclude our review of nouns.
October 20, 2017
Students began learning about the Middle School Debate Program. They watched a video of an actual debate and discussed the components that make up a formal debate. Students then discussed possible topics for their debates. The third hour class was separated into four teams and decided on the two following topics: “Middle school students at Washington-Caldwell should be allowed to take their backpacks to each class” and “Middle school students at Washington-Caldwell should be allowed to use their cell phones at lunch, recess and during study hall.” The sixth hour class was separated into two teams who will debate “Middle school students need a longer lunch period and recess.” It was interesting that students all chose topics that affect their lives directly. Students began planning their strategies and researching arguments.
October 13, 2017
Students spent the week reviewing for our first test on the sentence, different types of sentences, conjunctions, varying use of sentences, and correctly punctuating the different types of sentences. The test was administered on Friday. Students also wrote tritinas this week. A trtina is a three stanza poem utilizing three words used in different types of end rhyme. The difficulty in writing a tritina is to not just repeat the same information in each of the stanzas. Students also concentrated on using interesting verbs and adjectives in the tritinas. While in the computer lab, students printed display copies of their trinitas and other poems they have written this year to display in the hallway.
September 29, 2017
Students finished editing The Bulldog Bark. It will be delivered to students on Monday afternoon. Students did well with the editing process; it was a lot of work. Students also began writing in a daily journal this week. This journal allows students to practice the punctuation and grammar they learn each day. For example, students have been practicing the use of the semicolon and the correct conventional use of numbers in their entries.
September 22, 2017
Students have finished reading a biography of Edgar Allan Poe and will take a quiz on six vocabulary words we found in the biography on Tuesday. On Monday students have MAP testing. Students also received a list of vocabulary words from “The Tell-tale Heart,” and they will be tested on these words in the next several weeks. Students again had an opportunity to read independently as individual reading assessments were completed last week. Also, on Tuesday, students will begining analyzing “The Tell-tale Heart.” On Friday, students were treated to an unusual poem by Edgar Allan Poe entitled “The Flame.” Ask your son or daughter about it.
May 8, 2017
Students performed the final edits on The Bulldog Bark, and began assembling and delivering the paper. Sixth hour students continued learning the correct usage of pronouns, while the third hour students created more Burma Shave signs.
March 17, 2017
Students delivered their speeches for a grade and to determine the three finalists who will compete next week Wednesday in the Gym. The third hour class helped prepare for the Academic Bowl, and the sixth hour class performed some impromptu speeches. Students also worked on their news article, which is due Monday. Their parody news article is due the following Monday.
March 3, 2017
Work continues on speeches. Students are fine-tuning and starting to work on their deliveries. Please encourage your son or daughter to practice their delivery at home. We will have time in class to work on them, and will be giving them in class for a grade beginning the week of March 13. Students also selected topics for the next edition of The Bulldog Bark; students also selected topics for a parody edition of the newspaper to be published in April.
February 3, 2017
Students took the verbs test; some students who attended WASBF will need to take the test on Monday. The third edition of The Bulldog Bark was completed and distributed this week. Students also took the midyear MAP test. Work on speeches was pushed to next week.
January 27, 2017
Students continued to edit articles for The Bulldog Bark, wrapped up a unit on verbs, and worked on their speeches for this year’s School Speech Contest. Some students had a chance to work on creative writing. The verbs test will be next week Wednesday, February 1.
January 20, 2017
Students continued to edit articles for The Bulldog Bark, wrapped up a unit on verbs, worked on creating a new literary magazine called No Color Needed, and continued to work on their speeches. The work on the speech contest is still in the very beginning stages. Some students also prepared their pieces for judging in the Southern Lakes Anthology contest.
January 13, 2017
This week students laid out news articles for the third edition of The Bulldog Bark. Next week students will edit articles and hopefully publish the following week. Students were also introduced to this year’s School Speech Contest. This year’s topic---“What does it mean to be a hero?”---fits in nicely with our superhero theme for this school year. Students are now thinking of original ideas to make their speech outstanding. Students also finished up reviewing verbs this week.
Janaury 6, 2017
This week students turned in pieces for the Southern Lakes Anthology judging. A panel of teachers will select twenty-four pieces from third through eighth grade to go on to final judging on January 24. Students also reviewed transitive and intransitive verbs and direct and indirect objects. Students began work on the third edition of The Bulldog Bark. Students will be laying out their articles next week and the paper should be on newsstands by the end of January. Students also worked on letters to their pen pals in Jamaica.
December 16, 2016
Students continued study of verbs. They were introduced to the perfect and progressive tenses. Students were able to view photos of Jamaican students reading their pen pal letters written just last week. There were also photos of the Jamaican students writing letters to our eighth graders. Mandy Fox will hand delivering the letters when she and her husband return form their humanitarian trip from the island. Students also worked on their pieces for the Southern Lakes Anthology. The SLA is a yearly writing and art contest in which students will have an opportunity to have their writing published.
December 9, 2016
Students continued their review and study of verbs. They were interested to hear of some of the irregular verbs that people often use incorrectly like the principle parts of swim, drink, cost, lie and lay. Students wrote letters to Santa to help Macy’s donate money to the Make-A-Wish foundation and helped younger kids with roller-skating for Mr. Collins. Students also had time to work on their pieces for the Southern Lakes Anthology competition.
December 2, 2016
Students finished and distributed the second copy of The Bulldog Bark and worked on their essay for reading. They also had time to edit and print their essays. Students also began reviewing and learning new information about verbs.
November 11, 2016
Students continued to write and edit their second newspaper article for the next edition of The Bulldog Bark. Students also began researching for their first debates. Topics for the debates include a tax on sugary foods, positive effects of video games, and the harmful effects of homework. Students also reviewed infinitives learned about the most famous split infinitive in popular culture from Star Trek.
November 4, 2016
Students continued to work on their news articles for the second edition of The Bulldog Bark. The next issue is due for publication of November 15. Students also learned about conjunctive adjectives, the correct use of amount and number and the correct use of less and fewer. Students also had time to write in writer’s workshop.
October 28, 2016
Students began working on their second news articles for The Bulldog Bark, published poetry to display in the hall, shared writing they have been working on, and had time to write independently. The eighth grade students also started working on a new publication, No Color Needed, a literary and art magazine that will publish the writing and art of students from Washington-Caldwell.
October 21, 2016
Students learned the correct usage of the hyphen and dash, learned about the collective noun, reviewed the compound noun, started work on the next edition of The Bulldog Bark, and also worked within writer’s workshop writing both poetry and prose.
October 14, 2016
The Bulldog Bark has been published! Students wrote and laid out the articles, took photographs, edited the pieces, collated the papers and delivered them to students. Students also worked on writing and publishing poetry.
October 7, 2016
Students were finally able to get into the Innovation Center to finish laying out their first news articles for The Bulldog Bark. They also had the opportunity to edit the articles together to learn from each other. Hopefully we will be publishing the finalized paper net week. Students also learned to use semicolons and colons, wrote free verse poems about themselves, and had time to write in writer’s workshop.
September 30, 2016
Students were unable to use the computer lab this week because of MAP testing, so they could not work on the layout of their news articles. For the first time ever eighth grade students will be presenting PBIS information to the rest of the school at seven different stations. Students gathered information, developed scripts and practiced their presentations throughout the week. The third hour students learned the use of the colon and semicolon this week as well. Next week we will finish laying out The Bulldog Bark and begin final editing. The sixth hour class will learn the use of colons and semicolons and both classes will learn to use appositives.
September 23, 2016
The Bulldog Bark is closer to being published. Some students have begun laying out their articles in Publisher. This was delayed with the Wi-Fi problems we have had. Students also wrote some poetry, including a free-verse poem about themselves. Students continue to write in writer’s workshop. Many students have written some very creative pieces.
September 16, 2016
The Bulldog Bark is closer to being published. Some students have begun laying out their articles in Publisher. This was delayed with the Wi-Fi problems we have had. Students also wrote some poetry, including a free-verse poem about themselves. Students continue to write in writer’s workshop. Many students have written some very creative pieces.
September 9, 2016
Students have begun working on the first edition of The Bulldog Bark. Each student has a topic and has submitted questions to sources for information. We are looking at a publication date of October 7, possibly earlier. Students have also been practicing parts of speech by playing the sentence game. Students have spent time thinking how they can change the world by improving the school and thus improving our community.
March 11, 2016
Second and Sixth Hour—This week was busy with practicing the delivery of speeches for the speech contest. Students will give their speeches starting on Monday, March 14 for their grades and to determine the three eighth grade finalists. The finalists will speak on Wednesday, March 23 for three judges in the gym. These judges will determine the top three speakers form fifth through eighth grade, and the top two speakers will speak at the regional speech contest. Students also continued their study of adverbs.
February 26, 2016
Students will continue reviewing and learning modifiers, specifically adjectives this week. Adverbs will be addressed after adjectives.
Students will begin revising their speeches and practicing their delivery. They will deliver their speeches for a final grade the week of March 14.
February 12, 2016
Second and Sixth Hour—Second hour students took the verbs test on Friday and sixth hour students will take the test on Monday. Students have begun an investigation of the modifiers, adjectives and adjectives. Students will edit The Bulldog Bark this week in preparation for publication. Written drafts of speeches are due February 29. Students will begin practicing the delivery of their speeches that week. Any practice they can do at home will help them when they deliver their speeches for their grade in March. Students will also work on an argumentative speech to coincide with informational reading they will do in reading class.
January 28, 2016
Second and Sixth Hour—We are nearing the end of our verbs study with transitive/intransitive verbs, direct and indirect verbs, predicate nouns and adjectives, and a closer look at tricky verbs like lie and lay. Also, students will need to continue to work on writing their speeches. A complete first draft of the speech needs to be completed by Friday February 12. Students have also begun work on the fourth edition of The Bulldog Bark. Additionally, students will begin work on another argumentative essay. We will begin discussing topic options and a new rubric that will be used to assess their essays.January 16, 2016
Students participated in two debates this past week. Two teams argued the resolution that “Middle school students should be able to use cell phones during school hours.” And two more teams argued this resolution: “The death penalty should be an option in Wisconsin for capital crimes.” Students performed very well in these debates. Debates are an excellent forum for students to prepare arguments and deliver either preposition or opposition speeches. Students must also be able to think on their feet to ask questions that arise during the debate and answer questions from opponents.
Students are also continuing their journey with verbs. This week we reviewed the principle parts of verb: present participle, past tense, and past participle. Students also learned the perfect tenses of verbs. Along with verbs, students edited the third edition of The Bulldog Bark and distributed it to students. Next week students will continue argumentative writing with another essay and with further debates.
ELA Sixth Hour
Students continued their journey with verbs. This week we reviewed the principle parts of verb: present participle, past tense, and past participle. Students learned the principle parts of regular and irregular verbs. Students also learned the perfect tenses of verbs.
Along with verbs, students edited the third edition of The Bulldog Bark and distributed it to students. Next week students will continue argumentative writing with another essay and with further debates.
In eighth grade English class students will write a great deal. This writing will consist of daily writing via journals and blogs, news writing for our school newspaper, essays (persuasive, informative, and compare and contrast), memoirs, speeches, and every opportunity we have to express ourselves with the written word.
One of our goals this year for eighth grade English is to publish an edition of The Bulldog Bark each month. This is a heady goal, but this an important avenue to communicate the happenings here at Washington-Caldwell.
8A ELA--Students continued work on modifiers, adjectives and adverbs, and this week, and students started the layout of their article for The Bulldog Bark. On Monday, the first draft of students’ speeches are due. They will take next week to revise, edit and begin practice of the delivery of their speeches; the week of March 19 students will deliver their speeches for final grading.
8B ELA--Students continued work on modifiers, adjectives and adverbs, and this week, and students made revisions of their article for The Bulldog Bark. On Monday, the first draft of students’ speeches are due. They will take next week to revise, edit and begin practice of the delivery of their speeches; the week of March 19 students will deliver their speeches for final grading.
February 16, 2018
8A ELA--Students took the comprehensive exam on verbs on Tuesday. Students also began work on their next article for The Bulldog Bark which is due on Tuesday, February 27. Their written draft of their speech is due on Monday, March 5.
8B ELA--Students took the comprehensive exam on verbs on Tuesday. Students also began work on their next article for The Bulldog Bark which is due on Tuesday, February 27. Their written draft of their speech is due on Monday, March 5.
February 9, 2018
8A ELA--Students received a study guide for a test on verbs. This test is scheduled for Tuesday, February 14. Students should continue working their speech. Next week, progress will be checked on their first draft of the speech. Also, next week students will begin work on the next edition of The Bulldog Bark
8B ELA--Students received a study guide for a test on verbs. This test is scheduled for Tuesday, February 14. Students should continue working their speech. Next week, progress will be checked on their first draft of the speech. Also, next week students will begin work on the next edition of The Bulldog Bark.
January 26, 2018
8A ELA--Students continued their study of verbs and were introduced to this year’s School Speech contest theme.: “Inventions that have improved the quality of life.” Students were shown a video of an International Toastmasters champion and how his speaking style is something to emulate. Students began researching topics and began thinking how they want to approach this year’s theme. A list of due dates will be handed out next week to give students an idea of how they need to approach this assignment
8B ELA--Students continued their study of verbs and were introduced to this year’s School Speech contest theme.: “Inventions that have improved the quality of life.” Students were shown a video of an International Toastmasters champion and how his speaking style is something to emulate. Students began researching topics and began thinking how they want to approach this year’s theme. A list of due dates will be handed out next week to give students an idea of how they need to approach this assignment. Students also completed their second formal debates.
November 3, 2017
Students performed several Tennis Debates this week. They are different than the formal debates and not a debate about tennis, but they are debates where two teams “serve” arguments to a member of the opposing team, and that member must return the serve with a well-worded refutation. Students were given ten minutes to prepare with their team, and formulate arguments and refutations. It was excellent practice for students to devise reasoning supported by evidence; it also gave students practice creating rebuttal arguments with a limited amount of time. Next week we will work on another debate and conclude our review of nouns. On Friday, third hour ELA did not have class because of High Interest Day, and the sixth hour class spent time in the computer lab publishing poems and six-word memoirs.
October 27, 2017
Students researched, wrote and practiced with their debate teams this week. The sixth hour class performed their debate on Wednesday, and the third hour class debated on Thursday and Friday. The results were outstanding. Students stated their assertions and refutations with confidence and style. They also enjoyed the experience and want to perform more debates. It’s an excellent way to practice writing argumentative pieces as well as practicing public speaking skills. The sixth hour class also had time to practice a Tennis Debate. This is not a debate about tennis, but it is a debate where two teams “serve” arguments to a member of the opposing team, and that member must return the serve with a well-worded refutation. Next week we will work on another debate and conclude our review of nouns.
October 20, 2017
Students began learning about the Middle School Debate Program. They watched a video of an actual debate and discussed the components that make up a formal debate. Students then discussed possible topics for their debates. The third hour class was separated into four teams and decided on the two following topics: “Middle school students at Washington-Caldwell should be allowed to take their backpacks to each class” and “Middle school students at Washington-Caldwell should be allowed to use their cell phones at lunch, recess and during study hall.” The sixth hour class was separated into two teams who will debate “Middle school students need a longer lunch period and recess.” It was interesting that students all chose topics that affect their lives directly. Students began planning their strategies and researching arguments.
October 13, 2017
Students spent the week reviewing for our first test on the sentence, different types of sentences, conjunctions, varying use of sentences, and correctly punctuating the different types of sentences. The test was administered on Friday. Students also wrote tritinas this week. A trtina is a three stanza poem utilizing three words used in different types of end rhyme. The difficulty in writing a tritina is to not just repeat the same information in each of the stanzas. Students also concentrated on using interesting verbs and adjectives in the tritinas. While in the computer lab, students printed display copies of their trinitas and other poems they have written this year to display in the hallway.
September 29, 2017
Students finished editing The Bulldog Bark. It will be delivered to students on Monday afternoon. Students did well with the editing process; it was a lot of work. Students also began writing in a daily journal this week. This journal allows students to practice the punctuation and grammar they learn each day. For example, students have been practicing the use of the semicolon and the correct conventional use of numbers in their entries.
September 22, 2017
Students have finished reading a biography of Edgar Allan Poe and will take a quiz on six vocabulary words we found in the biography on Tuesday. On Monday students have MAP testing. Students also received a list of vocabulary words from “The Tell-tale Heart,” and they will be tested on these words in the next several weeks. Students again had an opportunity to read independently as individual reading assessments were completed last week. Also, on Tuesday, students will begining analyzing “The Tell-tale Heart.” On Friday, students were treated to an unusual poem by Edgar Allan Poe entitled “The Flame.” Ask your son or daughter about it.
May 8, 2017
Students performed the final edits on The Bulldog Bark, and began assembling and delivering the paper. Sixth hour students continued learning the correct usage of pronouns, while the third hour students created more Burma Shave signs.
March 17, 2017
Students delivered their speeches for a grade and to determine the three finalists who will compete next week Wednesday in the Gym. The third hour class helped prepare for the Academic Bowl, and the sixth hour class performed some impromptu speeches. Students also worked on their news article, which is due Monday. Their parody news article is due the following Monday.
March 3, 2017
Work continues on speeches. Students are fine-tuning and starting to work on their deliveries. Please encourage your son or daughter to practice their delivery at home. We will have time in class to work on them, and will be giving them in class for a grade beginning the week of March 13. Students also selected topics for the next edition of The Bulldog Bark; students also selected topics for a parody edition of the newspaper to be published in April.
February 3, 2017
Students took the verbs test; some students who attended WASBF will need to take the test on Monday. The third edition of The Bulldog Bark was completed and distributed this week. Students also took the midyear MAP test. Work on speeches was pushed to next week.
January 27, 2017
Students continued to edit articles for The Bulldog Bark, wrapped up a unit on verbs, and worked on their speeches for this year’s School Speech Contest. Some students had a chance to work on creative writing. The verbs test will be next week Wednesday, February 1.
January 20, 2017
Students continued to edit articles for The Bulldog Bark, wrapped up a unit on verbs, worked on creating a new literary magazine called No Color Needed, and continued to work on their speeches. The work on the speech contest is still in the very beginning stages. Some students also prepared their pieces for judging in the Southern Lakes Anthology contest.
January 13, 2017
This week students laid out news articles for the third edition of The Bulldog Bark. Next week students will edit articles and hopefully publish the following week. Students were also introduced to this year’s School Speech Contest. This year’s topic---“What does it mean to be a hero?”---fits in nicely with our superhero theme for this school year. Students are now thinking of original ideas to make their speech outstanding. Students also finished up reviewing verbs this week.
Janaury 6, 2017
This week students turned in pieces for the Southern Lakes Anthology judging. A panel of teachers will select twenty-four pieces from third through eighth grade to go on to final judging on January 24. Students also reviewed transitive and intransitive verbs and direct and indirect objects. Students began work on the third edition of The Bulldog Bark. Students will be laying out their articles next week and the paper should be on newsstands by the end of January. Students also worked on letters to their pen pals in Jamaica.
December 16, 2016
Students continued study of verbs. They were introduced to the perfect and progressive tenses. Students were able to view photos of Jamaican students reading their pen pal letters written just last week. There were also photos of the Jamaican students writing letters to our eighth graders. Mandy Fox will hand delivering the letters when she and her husband return form their humanitarian trip from the island. Students also worked on their pieces for the Southern Lakes Anthology. The SLA is a yearly writing and art contest in which students will have an opportunity to have their writing published.
December 9, 2016
Students continued their review and study of verbs. They were interested to hear of some of the irregular verbs that people often use incorrectly like the principle parts of swim, drink, cost, lie and lay. Students wrote letters to Santa to help Macy’s donate money to the Make-A-Wish foundation and helped younger kids with roller-skating for Mr. Collins. Students also had time to work on their pieces for the Southern Lakes Anthology competition.
December 2, 2016
Students finished and distributed the second copy of The Bulldog Bark and worked on their essay for reading. They also had time to edit and print their essays. Students also began reviewing and learning new information about verbs.
November 11, 2016
Students continued to write and edit their second newspaper article for the next edition of The Bulldog Bark. Students also began researching for their first debates. Topics for the debates include a tax on sugary foods, positive effects of video games, and the harmful effects of homework. Students also reviewed infinitives learned about the most famous split infinitive in popular culture from Star Trek.
November 4, 2016
Students continued to work on their news articles for the second edition of The Bulldog Bark. The next issue is due for publication of November 15. Students also learned about conjunctive adjectives, the correct use of amount and number and the correct use of less and fewer. Students also had time to write in writer’s workshop.
October 28, 2016
Students began working on their second news articles for The Bulldog Bark, published poetry to display in the hall, shared writing they have been working on, and had time to write independently. The eighth grade students also started working on a new publication, No Color Needed, a literary and art magazine that will publish the writing and art of students from Washington-Caldwell.
October 21, 2016
Students learned the correct usage of the hyphen and dash, learned about the collective noun, reviewed the compound noun, started work on the next edition of The Bulldog Bark, and also worked within writer’s workshop writing both poetry and prose.
October 14, 2016
The Bulldog Bark has been published! Students wrote and laid out the articles, took photographs, edited the pieces, collated the papers and delivered them to students. Students also worked on writing and publishing poetry.
October 7, 2016
Students were finally able to get into the Innovation Center to finish laying out their first news articles for The Bulldog Bark. They also had the opportunity to edit the articles together to learn from each other. Hopefully we will be publishing the finalized paper net week. Students also learned to use semicolons and colons, wrote free verse poems about themselves, and had time to write in writer’s workshop.
September 30, 2016
Students were unable to use the computer lab this week because of MAP testing, so they could not work on the layout of their news articles. For the first time ever eighth grade students will be presenting PBIS information to the rest of the school at seven different stations. Students gathered information, developed scripts and practiced their presentations throughout the week. The third hour students learned the use of the colon and semicolon this week as well. Next week we will finish laying out The Bulldog Bark and begin final editing. The sixth hour class will learn the use of colons and semicolons and both classes will learn to use appositives.
September 23, 2016
The Bulldog Bark is closer to being published. Some students have begun laying out their articles in Publisher. This was delayed with the Wi-Fi problems we have had. Students also wrote some poetry, including a free-verse poem about themselves. Students continue to write in writer’s workshop. Many students have written some very creative pieces.
September 16, 2016
The Bulldog Bark is closer to being published. Some students have begun laying out their articles in Publisher. This was delayed with the Wi-Fi problems we have had. Students also wrote some poetry, including a free-verse poem about themselves. Students continue to write in writer’s workshop. Many students have written some very creative pieces.
September 9, 2016
Students have begun working on the first edition of The Bulldog Bark. Each student has a topic and has submitted questions to sources for information. We are looking at a publication date of October 7, possibly earlier. Students have also been practicing parts of speech by playing the sentence game. Students have spent time thinking how they can change the world by improving the school and thus improving our community.
March 11, 2016
Second and Sixth Hour—This week was busy with practicing the delivery of speeches for the speech contest. Students will give their speeches starting on Monday, March 14 for their grades and to determine the three eighth grade finalists. The finalists will speak on Wednesday, March 23 for three judges in the gym. These judges will determine the top three speakers form fifth through eighth grade, and the top two speakers will speak at the regional speech contest. Students also continued their study of adverbs.
February 26, 2016
Students will continue reviewing and learning modifiers, specifically adjectives this week. Adverbs will be addressed after adjectives.
Students will begin revising their speeches and practicing their delivery. They will deliver their speeches for a final grade the week of March 14.
February 12, 2016
Second and Sixth Hour—Second hour students took the verbs test on Friday and sixth hour students will take the test on Monday. Students have begun an investigation of the modifiers, adjectives and adjectives. Students will edit The Bulldog Bark this week in preparation for publication. Written drafts of speeches are due February 29. Students will begin practicing the delivery of their speeches that week. Any practice they can do at home will help them when they deliver their speeches for their grade in March. Students will also work on an argumentative speech to coincide with informational reading they will do in reading class.
January 28, 2016
Second and Sixth Hour—We are nearing the end of our verbs study with transitive/intransitive verbs, direct and indirect verbs, predicate nouns and adjectives, and a closer look at tricky verbs like lie and lay. Also, students will need to continue to work on writing their speeches. A complete first draft of the speech needs to be completed by Friday February 12. Students have also begun work on the fourth edition of The Bulldog Bark. Additionally, students will begin work on another argumentative essay. We will begin discussing topic options and a new rubric that will be used to assess their essays.January 16, 2016
Students participated in two debates this past week. Two teams argued the resolution that “Middle school students should be able to use cell phones during school hours.” And two more teams argued this resolution: “The death penalty should be an option in Wisconsin for capital crimes.” Students performed very well in these debates. Debates are an excellent forum for students to prepare arguments and deliver either preposition or opposition speeches. Students must also be able to think on their feet to ask questions that arise during the debate and answer questions from opponents.
Students are also continuing their journey with verbs. This week we reviewed the principle parts of verb: present participle, past tense, and past participle. Students also learned the perfect tenses of verbs. Along with verbs, students edited the third edition of The Bulldog Bark and distributed it to students. Next week students will continue argumentative writing with another essay and with further debates.
ELA Sixth Hour
Students continued their journey with verbs. This week we reviewed the principle parts of verb: present participle, past tense, and past participle. Students learned the principle parts of regular and irregular verbs. Students also learned the perfect tenses of verbs.
Along with verbs, students edited the third edition of The Bulldog Bark and distributed it to students. Next week students will continue argumentative writing with another essay and with further debates.
In eighth grade English class students will write a great deal. This writing will consist of daily writing via journals and blogs, news writing for our school newspaper, essays (persuasive, informative, and compare and contrast), memoirs, speeches, and every opportunity we have to express ourselves with the written word.
One of our goals this year for eighth grade English is to publish an edition of The Bulldog Bark each month. This is a heady goal, but this an important avenue to communicate the happenings here at Washington-Caldwell.