Across Generations: The Grandparent Biography Rubric

Across Generations: The Grandparent Biography Rubric

Please find the rubric at the link below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uqSPYd0nF4n-2AmmrhnKXOH-J2qDxKgn38phCuqMfSg/edit?usp=sharing


Review it tonight before printing your paper.

How to Write a Dedication Page in a Book

When writing a dedication page, think about the people who were the most influential when the book was being written.  Dedicating a book to a very special person is certainly a way that you can show your appreciation, and feelings for them.

• A dedication page in a book precedes the main body of the book.
•  On the dedication page, the author names the person for whom the book was written.
• Dedications can be just two words, such as For Mom or several paragraphs.  It can be as short as ""Dedicated to..."" or can be a page long. It depends on what you would like to say.

• It is a permanent gesture, and will be a keepsake that a person can hold for life.
• Your own heart felt words, written by you for an individual or a group if you like, will always be appreciated and cherished.
• If possible, you may want to add a short story that tells why you would like to dedicate a book to that person, and how they inspired you."

Steps:

1.    Make a list of who helped you or inspired you in writing the book. Include close family and friends, editors and fellow writers. Also include historical figures, if applicable. Jot down a few notes about the role each person played.
2.  Decide how many people you want to thank.
3.  Determine the style of dedication you want to write. A dedication can be a short chapter explaining how the idea for the book came about and how various people helped along the way, or it can be as short and simple as "To my ma."

4.  Read some dedications by your favorite authors. Take notes on how they begin their works.

5.  Write a short dedication and a long one. Decide which expresses your feelings better.
6.  Consider adding a quote. A statement that summarizes what you are trying to do with your book can add power to your dedication.

http://www.ehow.com/video_4872305_write-dedication-book.html

M-Step Testing

What's M-Step?

Students have been assessed using the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) for decades.   These assessments were taken using paper and  pencil and provided limited feedback to students.  The Michigan Department of Education now has a new assessment.  M-Step is an online test which provides faster results.  

The format of the test includes multiple choice, short answer, a class activity to support a performance task.  

Both eighth graders as well as seventh graders will be assessed in English Language Arts and Math.

See schedule below:  

8th grade -          April 15th Computer Adaptive

                           April 21st Classroom Activity

                           April 22nd Performance Task

                           April 23rd Performance Task

7th grade -         May 4th  Computer Adaptive

                          May 5th Classroom Activity

                          May 6th Performance Task

                          May 7th Performance Task 

8th Grade Speech Analysis Rubric

Speech Analysis Rubric

1. Annotate the Text
1. Evidence of thinking and understanding (responses, questions, opinions, etc.)
2. Identify speaker’s use of logos, ethos, and/or pathos
3. Identify rhetorical elements used by the speaker _____/50 pts

2. Written Response (Essay)
1. Background
1. Consider the context and audience of the speech
2. Why was the speech given? _____/15 pts
2. Big Ideas
1. What themes/big ideas were presented?
2. Summarize the main points from the speech _____/15 pts
3. Rhetorical Devices
1. Identify and explain rhetorical strategies used
2. Was the speaker’s use of rhetoric effective? _____/20 pts

TOTAL_____/100 pts

Powerful Words that Changed the World: Analyzing Speeches

Powerful Words that Changed the World

Analyzing Speeches

1.  Select a speech to analyze.  See the list of choices.  Please note that some famous but “overdone” speeches were deliberately not included.  

2.  Analyze the speech.  Look at the language, the rhetorical devices, and the content.  Annotate the text to show evidence of thinking and understanding.

3.  Write an essay about the writer’s effectiveness considering the context in which and the audience to which it was delivered.  

Essays should identify and explain the rhetorical strategies that the author used.  What made the speech so remarkable?   How did the speech impact the audience and/or history?  Why are the words so venerated today?  Finally how has the speech changed your thinking of the world?  

When analyzing the speech, it is critical to know about the events that led up to the speech, so it may be necessary to include pertinent details.  However, it is not useful to delineate, for example the specific events of the entire Revolutionary War that preceded George Washington’s Inaugural Speech.  

Attach a copy of the speech with annotations to the essay.  

7th Grade Activist Unit of Study: People Who Have Fought for a Change

7th Grade Activist Unit of Study

People Who Have Fought for Change

Seventh graders will have an opportunity to discover a person can have toward making the world a better place.  Over the course of the last two weeks, students have been practicing how to pull out key ideas and details from nonfiction reading.  They are also learning how to summarize what they read as well as note taking.  To demonstrate their understanding, students will choose an activist, from the past or today, to research.  They will identify and analyze the contributions of their activist.  Once the reading and research is completed, students will present the information in a multimedia format.   They have several formats to choose from: Prezi, Glogster, Piktochart, or Easel.ly.  Most students are experts using Easel.ly as they used it in computer class. Using one of these formats will allow for the creation of an interactive visual platform in which users create a "poster or web page" containing a multimedia elements including text, audio, video, images, graphics, drawings, and data.

See tentative schedule:

Pick activist Tuesday, March 17

Research and note take Tuesday, March 17, 18, 19, and 20 

Prepare Technology Display (use Prezi, Glogster, Piktochart, or Easel.ly)  March 23, 24, 25
Activist Presentation March 31 

Notes (from packet) are worth 100 pts.
Multimedia Creation and Presentation are worth 100 pts.

If your child needs additional time, please note that the IMC is open daily after school until 4:00. 

8th Grade Grandparent Memory

Please share and  submit your draft of grandparent memory number (2,3,or 4) depending on what you have done to this link.