Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood

Period 3 – After many years, the children of Christopher Robin and Eeyore reunite. – Caroline

Period 4 – Meat my world famous adopted brother, Donkey. If you ever want Shrek’s autograph, ask him! – Ian

Since there is no school Wednesday, I’ll give you some tips for finding pictures for this week’s vocabulary homework:

When looking for pictures, DO NOT simply enter the word in the search bar. This may help you find a picture, but it won’t be a meaningful one. Instead, think of a scenario or situation that fits the word.

For example, when I found this picture for endear, I thought someone might endear themselves to a person by giving them flowers. I searched for “man giving woman flowers.” I had a lot more effective pictures to choose from than if I just searched for “endear.”

Caption contest is up, and I plan to announce the winners Thursday.

Please take advantage of this time to DEAR. Very soon we’ll talk about what you need to be doing with reading and AR this year. (If you don’t know what AR is, don’t worry… yet.)

Since you just learned about blogs, I suggest you play with your themes. Try and find one that fits your personality. The first person to comment with my theme can have a free point! I’ll give your group a point for every person who has changed from the default theme, too! So generous!

Any questions at all, ask in the comments. I’ll answer.

bliss

compassion

dismay

ecstatic

endear

exasperate

forlorn

somber

sullen

wretched

Your homework this week is to come up with a synonym and antonym for each word, find a picture of your own that represents each word’s meaning (we’ll explain in class how to do this effectively.), and use each word in a sentence that shows meaning. We’ll discuss on Thursday.

As always VIRL in the comments.

Here is some practice work due Monday that will help you with the Ideas and Organization traits. Type these up (no need to print them out), and we will discuss on Monday.

IDEAS

1. Last Vacation Paragraph
Write a paragraph about your last vacation. Use personal details. Try to include at least two sensory details, two reflective details, and two memory details.

Remember:

Sensory details come from your five senses – sight, hearing, smell/taste, touch.
All night I listened to the waves crashing against the rocky shore.

Reflective details come from the writer’s thoughts and feelings.
I was so scared that I didn’t dare even take a breath.

Memory details come from the writer’s experience and knowledge.
I knew my little brother would go crazy if we were stuck at an airport for twenty-eight hours.

2. Assessing Pieces of Writing for Ideas
Read the three short pieces from the packet. Use the rubric to give each piece a score 1-5. Be prepared with evidence to support the score you have given. (Here’s the packet in case you lost/forgot the one you received in class.)

ORGANIZATION

1. Writing Good Hooks
Choose one story topic and one essay topic. Come up with five good hooks and three bad hooks for the story topic and essay topic you chose. This site may be helpful.

Story topics
- a story about a soccer player who scores the winning goal
- a story about a princess who wants to be a peasant girl
- a story about a country where chocolate rain falls from the sky
- a story where robot and humans fight over control of the universe
- a story where dogs suddenly gain the ability to speak

Essay topics
- an essay about traffic in Shanghai
- an essay persuading people to use Electro brand laundry detergent
- an essay comparing sharks and dolphins
-  a how-to essay on personalizing your Mac
- a newspaper article on the Super Bowl

2. Fill in the transitions
Read the passage below from Jack’s Little Black Book by Jack Gantos. In this scene, Jack is taking a test and has a broken pencil. The strict Mr. Ploof will not allow him to start over or even use a pencil sharpener because the rules say he “must keep going.” See if you can fill in the blanks. If you need help, take a look at these transitions.

I didn’t have a pencil sharpener _____ I began to gnaw at the wood around the lead, spitting out the pulp, _____ I exposed the blunt end. I felt even more like a white laboratory rat, _____ I pulled myself together and raced through the test. _____ it didn’t seem too difficult or take very long _____ I got off to a rough start. (p. 16).

If you have any questions, post them in the comments, and I will answer them ASAP!

Just a reminder that we will have our first vocabulary quiz tomorrow!

You should be prepared to:
-put the correct words in a sentence
-change the form of the word as needed
-spell the word correctly
-write a sentence of your won that contains two words
-use context clues to show that you know the meaning of the two words in your sentence

Always check the calendar for important class events.

Period 3 – Person in the box: I don’t get paid enough for this -_- – Caitlin

Period 4 – Magician: Hey kids, don’t try this at home. On second thought, try it on the people you hate. – Jing En

Today we worked through the writing process to produce a cinquain.

Period 3
School
Joyful, exhilarating
Learning, studying, progressing
Finding out about yourself
Education

Period 4
School
Useless, Corrupted
Time-consuming, mind-controlling, brain-washing
Evil, endless black hole
Torture

Tonight, use your new Mac to create a published version of the one you wrote in class. Print it out, hand it in, and we’ll display them in the room.

Remember, only one entry per person. Take your time and come up with your best idea.

chic – adjective - The fashion model looked very chic in the latest fashions.

debonair – adjective – James Bond always looks debonair in his expensive, tailored suits.

disheveled – adjective – Wearing a disheveled outfit to a job interview is usually a guarantee that you won’t get the job.

dowdy – adjective – The old woman’s clothes were so dowdy that I assumed they came from some cobweb-filled attic.

drab – adjective – Drab, olive-green material is often used by the army.

garb – noun – When the astronaut retired he had to turn in his space suit, helmet, and any other garb he had acquired over the years.

ostentatious – adjective – Even though Tony was worth millions, he was not ostentatious; he never showed off his wealth.

rumple – verb – Leaving your clothes all over your room can rumple them and create tons of wrinkles.

unsightly – adjective – Use bleach to remove unsightly stains from white shirts.

veneer – noun – Although it looked nice, the desk was just cheap material covered with a fancy veneer.

Don’t forget that you can post any vocabulary words you find in real life (VIRL) in the comments section for a group point.