Monday, October 31, 2011

Chilling Tales for Halloween

Here are a few short scary stories to inspire the horror stories being created in Ms. Short's Creative Writing classes:






Happy Halloween and Start of the Second Marking Period


Ms. Short and Ms. Aspden would like to wish their students a happy Halloween. In addition, today is the first day of the second marking period. Students that did not do their best in the first marking period are reminded that today they can get a fresh start and do a better job this marking period. For those that did their best during the first marking period, Ms. Short and Ms. Aspden encourage them to keep up the good work!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

HW Smith in the News


Click on the link below to learn more about the CCAMP program and the students at HW Smith that are involved with it.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/10/new_mentoring_program_gives_sy.html

Blog Question Homework - Due by Midnight on November 6th

Every two weeks, students are required to write an editorial. These writing assignments are usually created by Mrs. Birnkrant and help students practice a variety of skills including problem solving, sequencing, exploring cause and effect, comparing and contrasting, and more.


What are two editorials that you would like to write? Explain your two ideas clearly! Please be sure to write your name with your entry.

Continuing Four Perfect Pebbles

Students are continuing to read the memoir, Four Perfect Pebbles. By the end of the week, students should have finished reading through the end of chapter six. Since we only have a class set of books, students that are absent or behind in their reading should come in during lunch to catch up.

Students of the Week

Congratulations to the following hardworking students who earned the distinction of Student of the Week for October 24th to October 28th:

Period One - Tre'Zure J.
Period Two - Tim W.
Period Three - Tawakal R.
Period Five - Yasin K.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Students of the Week

Congratulations to the Students of the Week for 10/17-10/21:


Period One - Najalik T.


Period Two - Falastin A.


Period Three - Johnny D.


Period Five - Jereline W.

Holocaust Research Project

Students have spent the last two days researching various topics surrounding the Holocaust. On Monday, students will creative informative posters and rehearse for oral presentations on Tuesday. Students have been researching one of the following topics and are attempting to answer the related questions:

Hitler Youth:
Who created Hitler Youth?
What was the purpose of Hitler Youth?
Who joined Hitler Youth? Why did they join?
What kinds of things did Hitler Youth do?
How did Hitler Youth affect WWII and the Holocaust?

Propaganda:
Who created the propaganda?
What purpose did it serve?
Who did it target?
How did it help the Nazi party?

Nuremberg Laws:
What were the Nuremberg Laws?
Who did they affect?
What did they prohibit?
What did they force people to do?
Who were they good for?
Who were they bad for?
What are some examples of laws that were included?
Why did the Nazi party create them and how did they help the Nazi party?

Life in the Ghettos:
What were the ghettos? What are some examples of ghettos?
Who lived there?
What were conditions like?
What purpose did they serve for the Nazi party?

Jewish Resistance:
How did Jewish people resist the Nazis?
How did non-Jews resist?
What happened in the Warsaw Ghetto?
What other examples are there of resistance?

Kindertransport:
What was the kindertransport?
Who went on it?
Where did these children go?
How many children were there?

Nuremberg Trials:
What were they?
How did they get their name?
Who was involved?
What was the outcome?
Why were they held?

Westerbork Transit Camp:
What was a transit camp?
What was it used for?
Where did people go after the transit camps?
How did they get there?
What were conditions like?
What were some other examples of transit camps?
What do we know specifically about Westerbork?

Thursday, October 20, 2011

The Events of the Holocaust

Studying the Holocaust

Students are beginning a Holocaust unit which will have them researching the historical aspects of the time period as reading a memoir called Four Perfect Pebbles. Students can get more information about the book and its authors at:

http://www.fourperfectpebbles.com/

Belated Congratulations

Congratulations to last week's Students of the Week:

Period One - Kamara F.
Period Two - Sarah B.
Period Three - Ramesh B.
Period Five - Kea'mar J.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Comparative Characterization Essay

Students read the stories, "Born Worker" by Gary Soto and an excerpt from Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. This week students will take their knowledge of the protagonists in these stories to write a comparative essay. Students have two graphic organizers to aid them in this task. Students are reminded that their essay should be FIVE paragraphs and should include:

- introductory paragraph with a hook and clear thesis statement
- a body paragraph that clearly describes Jose from "Born Worker"
- a body paragraph that clearly describes Tom from Tom Sawyer
- a body paragraph that clearly points out the similarities OR differences between Tom and Jose
- a concluding paragraph that rewords the thesis and points out the major findings

Monday, October 10, 2011

Vocabulary Quiz All-Stars

Congrats to the following students that earned an "A" on last week's vocabulary quiz:
Abshiro A.
December A.
Joshua B.
Marissa B.
Sarah B.
Xavier B.
Amina B.
Chantelle B.
Corey B.
Rochelle B.
Jazmine C.
Kapri D.
Sophia D.
Sierra D.
Natale D.
Kiana F.
Ema F.
Asha H.
Shabbak H.
Fatuma H.
Faizan H.
Kodie H.
Kea'mar J.
Quinn L.
Richie L.
Michael M.
Damin M.
Janaja M.
Jaylen M.
Javiyun M.
Philicia N.
Matthew O.
Arianna P.
Eannette P.
Yoan R.
Jahziel S.
Leeban S.
Miranda S.
Katrina T.
Kayla T.
Claude T.
Cason W.
Jereline W.
Katie W.
Tim W.
Lanaya W.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

College Information


As seventh graders, our class wrote letters of inquiry to colleges across the country and even abroad. Students were excited to receive letters and other items back from the colleges to which they wrote. Here are a few pics showing a sample of what was sent back to the students.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Students of the Week

Congratulations to the Students of the Week for October 3rd to October 7th, 2011:

Period One - Tozziek S.
Period Two - Joseph G.
Period Three - Wa Hi D.
Period Five - Corey B.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Writing a Thesis Statement

In class beginning Friday, our class will be writing a comparative characterization essay. Every essay needs to have a thesis statement or controlling idea. Unfortunately, students often have a difficult time creating thesis statements. To make this process easier, please watch the video below: