Mrs. Zana’s Class

This book was surprisingly good. The author (Rick Riordan) shoves myth and modern in a blender on the high setting. It is the fantastic quest of a sixth grade boy who is half man and half god. The author reveals who his father (the god) is in chapter eight, so look for clues. (they are everywhere!) Young Percy Jackson sets off to stop a war among the gods and has to travel to the Underworld to speak with Hades. He fights many ferocious monsters from Greek mythology such as, The Minotaur, Medusa, and of course the well known Cerberus; the three headed guard dog of the Underworld. You wouldn’t ever guess where Olympus would be… on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building (not that many floors) And as for the Underworld? D.O.A. (Dead. Or. Alive.) recording studios in Los Angeles, California. But there is a major twist… So, overall I’d give this book a four out of five. The only reason it was not five out of five is because some things were a bit too obvious.

This was a great weekend for books. I took home 2 new books we got for free with the Scholastic book order. The 1st was “Indigo’s Star” by Hillary McKay. I love this author, and not just because of her first name. She has a wonderful tone; she loves her characters, but she knows that they are kind of wacky. It’s as though she’s smiling as she writes about them. This is her 2nd or 3rd book about the same family. The parents, who live separately, are both artists. The mom is very disorganized, spends all her time painting in a shed, and never manages to cook or even grocery shop. But, she’s very loving. The 4 kids are each unique. The 8 yr. old girl beats up the bullies who bother her 12 yr old brother! Highly recommended.

I’ve just started the 2nd book . It’s the 1st in a series. It’s a modern story about Greek mythology. The main character, Percy Jackson, is half god and half mortal, and a normal 12 yr old. You guys are going to LOVE this book. The 1st chapter is entitled, “I accidentally vaporize my pre-algebra teacher” Chapter 15 is, “A God buys us cheeseburgers.” My 7th grade son couldn’t put it down. His name is Michael. His review follows in the next post.

Tonight I finally corrected an assignment that was posted on the blog. I don’t know why I delayed; it was so simple to toggle back and forth between the blog and my electronic gradebook. Much easier than lugging home 70 notebooks, having to find the right page, and trying to read everyone’s handwriting.

I’ve noticed that the chatting has stopped. Have they found another site, somewhere that I can’t access?? My original intent was not to comment on the chat post, but I kept getting asked questions.

I think kids are reading stuff or using the blog to access information without posting comments. Anyone agree or disagree?

There’s so much content here by now that you have to search for some stuff. At the beginning I didn’t realize that would happen. There’s a way to let them be notified if someone posts a comment; we should figure that out. I would also like to know how to add comments to pages, not just posts.

This is a random list of ideas. Feel free to develop your own. Add any of your additional ideas or any questions to the comments below. See me if you will need supplies or photocopying. Remember, your idea must teach the class the concept and be entertaining. You don’t get to give boring multiple choice tests. That’s my job. That’s why I’m the teacher:) When you grow up, finish college, and get a credential, you can give bubble tests and write on giant Postit notes too. What fun awaits you! For example:

1. Mrs. Zana’s tone in this post is. . .
a. threatening
b. sad
c. humorous
d. complicated

Extra credit to the first person who answers correctly.

And now for the ideas. . .

iMovie
PowerPoint
Jeopardy Game
T.V. spoof (American Idol, Simpsons, etc)
Interview with “Celebrity”
wordsearch
crossword puzzle
comic book (not as easy to do as it sounds)
poster
slide show using digital pictures
song lyrics you create to familiar melody and teach class
play
puppet show
T.V. game show
bingo
memory game
go fish game
board game (you’ll need to photocopy it so the whole class can play)
watercolor painting
stop motion animation
your own review blog
fly swatter game
family feud game
treasure hunt
scavenger hunt (not sure how to make this educational - you figure it out)
learn ball
trash ball
game with prizes you supply (Mrs. Zana likes those little Hershey krisp bars)

Here are the groups and topics we decided on Wednesday. See the Ideas post for suggestions for how you will present your topic.

1. Punctuation: Comma fan boys or semi- colon, colon in business letter: hr 36: Charlie, Maria B. Rosio

2. Indefinite pronouns (singular or plural) hr 36: Abby, Vicken, Ammie, Max

3. Perfect tenses: Hr 36: Patrick, Emmanuel

* 4. Transition words: hr 36: Manuel, Kevin G., Yaneth

* 5. Testing vocabulary from posters: hr 36: Jacky G. Karen G.

General testing advice
6. From the quarterly assessments: hr 36: Kim, Mursal, Sandra, Stephanie.
7. From the 56 released questions: hr 36: Wendy, Jaslen
8. From the orange booklet: hr 36: Dominic, Angel

* 9. 22 questions from Monday: Hr 36: Alex, Angela, Rigo

CST vocabulary from blog
10. Week 1 quiz:
11. Week 2 quiz hr 36: Nandi, Paola, Evelyn
12. Week 3 quiz hr 36: Wilber, Mikle, Kevin M.
13. Week 4 quiz:
14. Left over words hr 36: Oscar, Binyam, Diego, Nelson

Here are the groups and topics we chose on Wednesday. See the Ideas post for suggestions for how your group can present their topic.

1. Punctuation: Comma fan boys or semi- colon, colon in business letter: April, Eileen, Clariza

2. Indefinite pronouns (singular or plural) Jackie R., Stephanie, Michael G., Kevin F

3. Perfect tenses: Catherine, Natalia

* 4. Transition words: Maya, Karen L. Lily

* 5. Testing vocabulary from posters: Ashley, Veronica, Nancy,

General testing advice
6. From the quarterly assessments: Christian A., Steven C.
7. From the 56 released questions: Juan, Antonio, Jonathan, Steve B.
8. From the orange booklet: Dat, Abissai, Christian T., Daniel

* 9. 22 questions from Monday: group 1: Mary, Maria F., Mike J. Valerie
group 2: Ronnie, Joseph, Osvaldo

CST vocabulary from blog
10. Week 1 quiz: Ingrid, Cindy N.
11. Week 2 quiz: Ingrid, Cindy N.
12. Week 3 quiz
13. Week 4 quiz: Nancy D., Angelica
14. Left over words

Period 1 and 2 only: finish going over orange booklet, questions 1-62

Both Classes:
Go to the new links I’ve posted that are grammar activities. These are:

Analogy Game
Analogy Of The Day
Analogy Quiz
Past Perfect Quiz
Present Perfect Quiz
Semicolon VS Comma Quiz
Semicolon VS Comma Quiz II

Try all of them; don’t waste your time doing the same easy ones over and over.

Go to Study Island and do the following quizzes:
punctuation
poetry
literary devices
revise writing
text organization

I have logins for everyone, if you have forgotten yours. Stay tuned for up to date info on the Study Island free computer giveaway.

We will also be starting a fun CST review group activity and doing a Reader’s Theatre of “The Odyssey”.

You can read this comic at the website listed under useful sites.

Read a REALLY strange book called “The Seventh Beggar”. The author was trying to write in a different format, and it didn’t come off all that well. The first half of the book was one story about a 17 year old kid who gets obsessed with an author and mystic from 300 years ago. The second half was little folk tales, thoughts about the kid from everybody else’s point of view, and a whole different story about the kid’s nephew that takes place 18 years later. Oh, and in the middle of the book the author includes the series of mystical tales written 300 years ago that the first boy was obsessed with. Sounds confusing? It was. I’m sure it was a great book, but above my level for fun, relaxing weekend reading. Looking at Amazon.com, I see that people either loved or hated the book, but everyone agreed it wasn’t easy.

1. Write your reading reflection for this week. Get a book if you need something new to read.

2. Copy this week’s 14 vocabulary words from the California Standards Test Vocabulary page. Note that the quiz will be in a different format this week. You will need to be able to give definitions or examples of the words.

3. Go to any of the Useful Sites listed that you haven’t been to yet (note the nice usage of the present perfect here). If you go to Mr. Kashman’s site, please comment on his “Roll Call” post.

4. When everyone is done with #1 and #2, we will do a group activity with more CST vocabulary. Yes, I know you love the CST vocabulary. And, to make it even more fun. . . it’s in a multiple choice format! Will the fun ever end?

5. Reader’s Theatre play, “Theseus and the Minotaur.”