Discover what you are not; choose what you want to become!
Things to know for week 1 ( sept 7 and 9)
Reading list: Remember your summer reading was Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick and The Giver by Lois Lowry. You should be reading or have read these books. We will talk about them in class and you will be responsible for a literature response for both of them. We will also be working with a poem the first couple of days, WHAT I AM NOT. Then we will create our own about what we might want to become. It will be worth a grade so I expect your best effort.
Two HUGE RULES for this year:
1. BE AN ACTIVE LISTENER! If someone is speaking, let them know by your response that you are listening.
A. Look at them
B. Be still until they are finished speaking.
This means folks who are in the classroom, or speaking to you through the speaker, or in church or anywhere in the building.
2. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS! If you have listened you should know what is required of you. IF you have a specific question, ask it, but listen enough to have a specific question. ( not, "I don't get it", more like," what page was that?" )
Much time this year will be devoted to independent and group work. This will give you some choice as to what you would like to investigate. Be sure to have something you want to read. Always have something to read this year. It can be a magazine, a newspaper or a novel, but every class will begin with reading.
Probable books to be read throughout the year:
Killer Angels by Michael Sheera, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
Good luck this year. You want to finish the year feeling like you've accomplished something so you and your folks can be proud and satisfied at the graduation!
Science work begins Monday. We will be doing some simple things like measuring and designing stategies, but we will be studying Earth Science this year. That is:Matter, Geology, Oceanography, Meteorology, and Astronomy. Be prepared for class if you are asked to bring materials.
Homework:
Read your books.