week of November 23

During the short week of November 23, the 8th grade reading classes will be finishing The Outsiders. We will be reviewing for the final test on Monday and the test will be on Tuesday. We will also be picking out our next book report book.

I hope everyone has something to be thankful for! Have a wonderful extended weekend!!!

week of November 16

In reading class the 8th graders will be finishing The Outsiders. As usual, it has been enjoyed by all the students and they have been to excited to read it everyday. After we take the final test, we will be watching the movie.

In language arts we are continuing to write persuasive essays. We have taken the students through each part of the writing process. Today we worked on the first body paragraph and we will continure with the second and third body paragraphs and conclusion early in the week. The rough draft will be due on Wednesday.

week of November 9

This week in language arts we will begin writing our third essay of the year, a persuasive essay. This essay follows the same format as the expository essay (Character Sketch). It does not require any research because the students write about something they are already familiar with.

Also, the polished draft of the Character Sketch is due Tuesday, November 10. This is worth 10 points. Students need both their graded final draft and polished draft to earn the 10 points.

In reading we are continuing to read The Outsiders. We will taking a quiz on Chapters 6-8. Students will be quizzed on vocabulary and comprehension of the novel.

In RtI, we will be focusing on context clues. We will be doing an activity with vocabulary from The Outsiders which will help them on Tuesday's quiz.

week of November 2

The 8th graders have finished the second essay of the year, the expository, so we will be taking a short break form writing to focus on grammar. Today we began subject/verb agreement and will continue in that content area for the majority of next week. We will be taking the quiz on Thursday.

In reading class we have finished half of The Outsiders. The students have really enjoyed reading this novel which has been a favorite for many years. We will continue to read every day and our next quiz we be early in the week of November 9.

In language arts we finished our first essay which was a narrative and will already begin the next essay, expository writing. Beginning Monday, we will discuss the format for a expository essay and explain the important components of a well written essay. We will take a "step-by-step" approach, focusing on one component each day.

In reading we will be continuing to read The Outsiders in class and will be taking our first accelerated reader test on Monday.

Explore retakes will be taken Monday!

Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated next week. The students will take part in an assembly Tuesday morning which focuses on peer pressure, the dangers of drugs and alcohol, and bullying.

EXPLORE Test

The Explore Test will be given on Wednesday, October 14 during first through fourth period. Downers South High School uses this test to help place students in the correct class their freshman year. It is very important to do as well as you can on this test. Get plenty of sleep on Tuesday night and eat a good, healthy breakfast in the morning. Remember to bring a calculator and #2 pencils (preferably not mechanical) to your first period class.

Enjoy the three day weekend!!!

Verbs in LA

The 8th grade students will be reviewing verbs in Language Arts class.
1. Action and Linking Verbs
2. Helping verbs and Verb phrases
3. Verb Tenses
4. Regular and Irregular Verbs

There will be a quiz on Friday.