Anti-Smoking Presentation

Thanks to our Say Yes site coordinator, all eighth grade students will have the opportunity to participate in an interactive presentation about smoking in their ELA class on Wednesday, February 29th. In addition to learning about the health risks of smoking, students will also learn about advertisements used to target their age groups and ways to avoid such marketing.

Students of the Week

Congratulations to the Students of the Week for February 13th to February 17th:

Period One - Vishma B.
Period Two - Natale D.
Period Three - December A.
Period Five - Jamal H.

Preparing for the NYS ELA Exam

Beginning next Monday, students will begin preparing for May's NYS ELA exam. Students will spend the week reviewing strategies for all three parts of the exam and will put those strategies into practice by completing a practice exam. Most importantly, students will utilize the rubrics for short and extended responses in order to create successful and complete answers.

Earn a Homework Pass

Students can earn a homework pass by answering the question below on our class blog:

Test preparation is a necessary part of preparing for May's New York State ELA exam. How could we make that test prep more fun?

25-Book Assignment

Students are reminded that they can earn credit for reading seven (yes, seven) books by simply reading two related books during the third marking period.

• Students need to select two books with a related theme or some other element that ties them together (written by the same author, same topic, etc.).
• Students then need to complete a summary activity for each book.
• Finally, students need to complete a DETAILED Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two books.
• All projects are due by March 30th at 3 PM.
  

February Break

Ms. Short would like to wish all of her students a restful and safe February break!

Take Home Poetry Exam

In lieu of a traditional exam on the topic of poetry, students were given a take home poetry exam yesterday. The exam covers the vocabulary related to the topic, an analysis of a poem by Langston Hughes, general questions regarding how to analyze poetry and what differentiates poetry from other writing, and the creation of an original poem. Students must turn in their exam by 2:05 PM on Friday, February 17th.