Mrs. Zana’s Class

Work on the following tasks. Please leave me a comment here to let me know how far your class got, and how the days went.

1. “History Alive!” Chapter 27. Do the preview activity in your Interactive Notebook. Read the chapter and complete the reading notes. Do the processing activity in your Interactive Notebook.

2. In your old grammar book, complete pages 146, 147 (NOT including the writing application), 151, 371. You do not need to write the entire sentences, but do include the helping verb on pages 146-147 (has, have, had, will have) and the indefinite pronouns on page 371.

3. Work on your Silly Questions comments (see the California Silly Test post for instructions).

4. If you finish, 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

5. If you do all of that, go to Study Island and do the following quizzes:
punctuation
poetry
literary devices
revise writing
text organization

It’s an all new CST and you’re going to write the questions! Using this week’s vocabulary words, or any of the words listed on the CST vocabulary page, your job is to write silly questions. Your questions must use the vocabulary correctly and have only one correct answer. They need to be multiple choice, with four possible answer choices. Here’s a sample:

1. Read the passage below and answer the question that follows.

Mr. Kashman needs to choose something for his lunch. The pizza looks cold and greasy. The apples are bruised and shrivled. The salad has a dirty napkin in between its leaves. The warm coffee cake smells of sugar and cinnamon.

What is the best food for Mr. Kashman to choose?
a. the pizza
b. the apple
c. the salad
d. the cake

I used two vocabulary words in the sample above. Do you see them?

You may work with a group of up to four members or by yourself. You need to use all of this week’s vocabulary (so you may want to divide up the task). You can use more than one vocabulary word per question (I actually recommend it). I suggest you type your answers in word and then paste them into one big comment.

The blog has become a part of our class by now, no longer a novelty.

We completed the poetry analysis project all on the blog (students analyzed song lyrics from songs they suggested and I selected). I was able to critique their responses in real time or from home, but sometimes it got to be overwhelming; too many comments and not enough time. I liked that all the groups could see the work of other groups on the same song or other songs.

I’m noticing that if something is on the blog I have less of a tendency to quickly grade it. Unlike a pile of papers, I can’t see it growing and getting out of hand; it’s nicely hidden away in cyber land.

Mr. Kashman has started a blog. Like our teaching, it is a separate “room”, but the same cast of characters. It is his blog, so it has a different feel to it. Two real communities, collaborating.

I’m getting frustrated with the chronological order of postings on the blog. Things disappear as they get old. Like last month’s lessons, the posts float off into the archives. I didn’t realize when I started this how things get buried. And by this point, there’s so much content that no one is going to look at the old stuff.

How’s your vacation going? Anyone doing anything special? (Besides sleeping late and watching too much t.v.) Seen any movies? Gone shopping? Got together with friends or family? Any plans for Easter? Keep in touch with your friends here.

I FINALLY finished “The Life of Pi” Please congratulate me. It was a much more difficult book than I usually read, but I’m glad I stuck with it. In the end, I think it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I felt like one of you guys coming up with excuses for not reading. It was the kind of book that I would have liked to have read in college and discussed in class where the professor could have explained all the stuff I didn’t understand to me. If anyone wants to try it, you can borrow it. About 1/2 way through it becomes a survival story and gets pretty exciting. The beginning is a lot about Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. That’s the confusing part.

Now I’m reading “The Mozart Season” It’s from our class library and is about a 12 year old girl who is practicing the violin for a big contest. Those of you in strings would probably identify with it.

Let me know what you’re reading this vacation.

Above: Enjoying the dinner
Last night Ashley, Wilber, their families, Mr. Carmona, Mr. Kashman, and I were guests of the Masonic Home Lodge in Van Nuys. After a delicious dinner there was an awards ceremony. Ten students from five local public schools were honored. Each teacher got to give a speech and present their winning students. Then, the students received a $200 savings bond and a framed certificate. It was a very moving evening. Most of the Masons were elderly men and seeing how proud they were of my students made me realize yet again how very special you guys are. We could have picked another 68 winners easily! But, let me remind all of you, when we chose our winners you voted as well. Ashley and Wilber represent the best in all of you.

Wilber receives his award                         Two proud teachers

Welcome to our class. We’re very proud of all of our students. Please go over your child’s grades and corrected work folder. If they feel like they could improve, help them come up with “smart goals”; goals that they can measure and that are achieveable. Take a look at the work on our walls and the work in this blog. Please feel free to add your comments to our blog, the kids would love your feedback.