Hey! We finally changed the images to our email links! yeah! Yay! Yayah!
Last updated May 22, 2008: Another great year is over. Yes, we admit there were times we didn't associate the word "great" with this past year, but, now that we think about it...it was truly fantastic. Thanks to all students for making it so, and all parents for your help along the way.
It's Independent Study Time! (here's a stupendously decorated cake! and a silhouetted dancer or two!)
Week Thirty-Six: May 19 - This is The End, my only friend, The End
And a few more pictures from our Independent Study Presentations...
Check out these pictures from our recent Mock Trial Experience
Monday, 5/19:
More Independent Study Presentations
Tuesday, 5/20:
A break from Independent Study to go to Cliff's and examine the physics of amusement parks and the economic profit margin on soft drinks in highly inelastic markets...or something like that.
Wednesday, 5/21:
More Independent Study Presentations
Thursday, 5/22:
A 1/2-day of who knows what....then a rush and a push and the land of vacation is ours!
Friday, 5/23:
Why are you looking at this? School's out....for (wait for it....) summer.
A Room 114 Photo/Info Gallery
Here are a bunch of pictures from our recent in-class mock trials of 2/08
Here are a bunch of photos from our January '08 ISP presentations...enjoy!
Some pictures from our August 2007 "Harrison Bergeron" assignment for 7th Graders
Photos from our Mock Trial Extravaganza from 2007
SOME of the pictures we took from early February 2007 "Famous Dead People" Independent Study Extravaganza.
Pictures from our January Debates of 2007, featuring student debaters and student topics...
Pictures from our 2006-2007 Independent Study Projects, and a few masks from our mask assignment for Barker's "Thief of Always".
Here's a webpage of photos from our "Once Upon A Time" Seminar of Fall 2006, featuring pics from our theatrical presentation of various "Cinderella" stories from around the world.
You can find the winning entries in our 2006 Bulwer-Lytton Bad Prose Writing Contest (names withdrawn) here.
Soon to have our 2007 competition, here are pictures from the award ceremony for the 22nd Annual (2006) Bulwer-Lytton Bad Prose Writing Contest!
For those interested, here is the 2006-2007 class webpage
And for those with even stranger interests, here is the 2005-2006 webpage
Important Documents
Book Reports:
Alternative Book Report/Review Information (includes 7th/8th Grade examples of quality Book Reviews)
Independent Study Project Descriptions:
7th Grade Independent Study Issue Research Paper
7th Grade Independent Study Creative Person
8th Grade Independent Study Position Paper
8th Grade "Famous Dead People" Paper
8th Grade "Famous Dead People" Success Checklists ("Cheat Codes")
Evaluation forms
7th Grade Issue Paper/Presentation
7th Grade Creative Script/Presentation
8th Grade Position Paper/Presentation
8th Grade "Famous Dead People" Evaluation Forms
Bibliographic Information:
Bibliographic "Template" for your IS Research Papers
How to properly fill out those "Source Cards" and "Fact Cards".
Other documents:
List of Seminar Topics for 2006-2007
List of Seminar Topics for 2005-2006
Previously on "Humanities"...
Here are a bunch of pictures from our recent in-class mock trials of 2/08
And below are a few pictures from our Book Reports of 2/25
Week Thirty-Five: May 12 - 16
Check out these pictures from our recent Mock Trial Experience
Monday, 5/12:
7th Graders: More "Inherit the Wind"
8th Graders: Final day of "Macbeth"
Tuesday, 5/13:
7th Graders: More Wind Inheriting
8th Graders: Final Exam on "Macbeth"
Wednesday, 5/14:
7th Graders: We judge this Semester's Film Contest
8th Graders: We also judge the Film Contest
Thursday, 5/15:
Everyone: Day One of our Final Independent Study Presentations
Friday, 5/16:
Everyone: Day Two of our Final Independent Study Presentations
Week Thirty-Four: May 5 - 9
Check out these pictures from our recent Mock Trial Experience
Monday, 5/5:
7th Graders: We start finishing the year with the reading of a famous play: "Inherit the Wind".
8th Graders: We finish the year with a reading of another kinda famous play from this guy named Shakespeare: "Macbeth"
Tuesday, 5/6:
7th Graders: More Wind Inheriting
8th Graders: Continued work on "Macbeth"
Wednesday, 5/7:
7th Graders: Wind, Inheriting and You
8th Graders: We murder the old King and find out who is the new King in "Macbeth"
Thursday, 5/8:
7th Graders: How much Wind can you Inherit?
8th Graders: Macbeth widens the circle of dead "opponents" in "Macbeth".
Friday, 5/9:
7th Graders: Outside speeches by our Speech/Debate team.
8th Graders: Speeches and soliloquies, as we hear from Speech/Debate folks and our good, but evil, friend "Macbeth"
Week Thirty-Three: April 28 - May 2
Mock Trial Week (email us for your son/daughter's trial time/location)
Monday, 4/28:
A day of practicing for an upcoming trial, or for some lucky volunteers....our first actual "trial".
Tuesday, 4/29:
Two more trials...practice and teeth bruxing.
Wednesday, 4/30:
Two more trials...even more practice for some classes, and viewing of a film for those already done.
Thursday, 5/1:
Our last day of trials...we'll have covered about 21 miles walking back and forth to UNM Law School by this point. Other students who are done will hear a guest speaker on the subject of the trial.
Friday, 4/25:
A small group debrief on the whole process. What just happened?
Week Thirty-Two: April 21 - 25
Mock Trial Preparation Week II: "Isn't it true.....?"
Monday, 4/21:
Attorneys and Witnesses get together to finalize direct examination questions and predict cross-examination grilling.
Tuesday, 4/22:
Attorneys from the law firm of Keleher & McLeod come to visit (thanks visitors!) and help us with things like objections and such.
Wednesday, 4/23:
A discussion on the subject of this year's trial: domestic violence. Also, further practice, and more practice.
Thursday, 4/24:
We start mock trial run-through with some mock-mock practice, mock, practice trials. Opening statements will be analyzed in detail.
Friday, 4/25:
Last minute preparations (for some) as we get ready for seven (count 'em, seven) trials next week.
Week Thirty-One: April 14 - 18
The new mock trial is here! The new mock trial is here!!!
Monday, 4/14:
We read the case in class, silently.
Tuesday, 4/15:
Teams get together and strategize how best to win, and who should play each role.
Wednesday, 4/16:
We break into attorney/witness teams and get training in both.
Thursday, 4/17:
A visit from the AHS Mock Trial team and a chance to learn secrets of the trade from them.
Friday, 4/18:
More preparation for our mock trial experience. Interviews between attorneys and witnesses to develop direct examination questions.
Week Thirty: April 7 - 11
Note: Next week we start our Mock Trial Shindig...just so you know.
Monday, 4/7:
We begin a week-long, fun-filled, something with a hyphen look at the 20th Century via Seminar.
Tuesday, 4/8:
Research to put together a series of "televised" segments informing others about events from various points in the 20th Century.
Wednesday, 4/9:
Continued research on the 20th Century.
Thursday, 4/10:
We begin our two-day presentations on news, views and other stuff about the 20th Century.
Friday, 4/11:
Day Two of our presentations on the 20th Century.
Week Twenty-Nine: March 31 - April 4
Book Reports are due for both 7th and 8th Graders this Friday, April 4th.
Alternative Book Report/Review Information (includes 7th/8th Grade examples of quality Book Reviews)
Monday, 3/31:
7th Graders: Animal Farm
8th Graders: Fast Food Nation
Tuesday, 4/1:
7th Graders: Animal Farm
8th Graders: Fast Food Nation
Wednesday, 4/2:
7th Graders: We finish watching the 1954 Cold War Propoganda version of "Animal Farm", then start a really difficult test over the book and its many meanings.
8th Graders: A chapter on Slaughterhouses segues into a look at e. coli in Fast Food Nation.
Thursday, 4/3:
7th Graders: We finish our test over Animal Farm.
8th Graders: We move on to fake tastes and smells via chemistry in Fast Food Nation.
Friday, 4/4:
Book Reports are due for both 7th and 8th Graders. It's our last one of the year, so the grading will be tightened to reflect the need for sparkling analysis and creative projectivity (newly invented word).
Week Twenty-Eight: March 17 - 21
8th Graders: Remember we have a "Halls of Jefferson" assignment due Tuesday, March 18th
Monday, 3/17:
7th Graders: Animal Farm
8th Graders: We finish Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, talk a bit about it and generally have a good time.
Tuesday, 3/18:
7th Graders: Animal Farm
8th Graders: Today is the day to present our "Halls of Jefferson" assignments. Many videos, skits, photographs, short stories and jokes will be displayed
Wednesday, 3/19:
7th Graders: Animal Farm
8th Graders: We move from Sherman Alexie and school experiences to Eric Schlosser and slaughterhouse experiences. Today we start a quick read of portions from Fast Food Nation.
Thursday, 3/20:
7th Graders: Animal Farm
8th Graders: A viewing of films from our most recent Film Class contest. The theme was "drink umbrellas and Steve Kaestner". Mr. Kaestner is a great Science teacher here at Jefferson who is not only great at teaching but at taking a joke.
Friday, 3/21:
Spring Break is Good. It's Friday. An excellent combination. Enjoy your break!!
Week Twenty-Seven: March 10 - 14
8th Graders: Remember we have a "Halls of Jefferson" assignment due next Tuesday, March 18th.
Monday, 3/10:
Back to normal with reading of two books, Animal Farm and more Sherman Alexie
Tuesday, 3/11:
Back to normal continues with more reading
Wednesday, 3/12:
We take a break from reading to go over our 3rd Independent Study Project details. Do you have a project, an expert and a "Point A" in mind?
Thursday, 3/13:
We continue reading in a very normal manner.
Friday, 3/14:
We break our "normal" reading to get ready for our upcoming "Halls of Jefferson" assignment. Or we read. Either one.
Week Twenty-Six: March 3 - 7 (Testing Week #2...Shhhhh....no drawing, again!)
Note: Re-do book reviews are due on Friday, March 7th. Really.
Monday, 3/3:
We get ready for testing by pretending it isn't starting back up tomorrow. By the way, here's a copy of the assignment tied to our 8th Grade reading of Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary.....
Tuesday, 3/4:
Testing: Jeffersion Held Hostage, Day 4
Wednesday, 3/5:
Testing: Jefferson Held Hostage, Day 5 (starring Bruce Willis)
Thursday, 3/6:
Testting: Jefferson Held Hostage, Day 6 (starring Adam Sandler in "Happy It's Over Gilmore")
Friday, 3/7:
The school year resumes in that dazed way common to a shared experience like testing.
Week Twenty-Five: February 25 - 29 (Testing Week...Shhhhh....no drawing!)
Monday, 2/25:
Book Reports are due today.
Tuesday, 2/26:
First Day of Testing
Wednesday, 2/27:
Second Day of Testing
Thursday, 2/28:
Third Day of Testing and last one for this week. Boredom has a new name...and it's: SBA.
Friday, 2/29:
We get back to some regular edumucation.
By the way, it's a Film Class thing, but here's an example of how to do a top-notch "Foreign Film Watching Review" due in Film Class this Friday, the 29th
Week Twenty-Four: February 18 - 22
Two documents to look at for our in-class mock trial experience:
1. The actual case (State of New Mexico v. Chris Jenkins) (.pdf)
2. Our in-house attorney "cheat sheet" entitled "So You Want To Be a Mock Trial Lawyer?"
Here's a picture or two (or more) from our trials on the morning of Febraury 20th (where were you on the morning of February 20th?)
Monday, 2/18:
No school as we celebrate the fact that we have "Presidents" and not "Vicious Military Dictators" in the United States.
Tuesday, 2/19:
Our last day of practice before mock-mock (and yes that's a word, in our opinion anyway) madness starts tomorrow.
Wednesday, 2/20:
Trial #1 featuring those students ready to show us how it's done. Ask your son/daughter for day/time of their own mock-mock trial.
Thursday, 2/21:
Trials #2 and #3 finish up our mock-mock trial extravaganza. Much objectionifying will occur, as well as significant expertification.
Friday, 2/22:
A small group debrief of the mock-mock trial experience. Also, students have a one-page, double-spaced obituary due today.
Week Twenty-Four: February 11 - 15
Monday, 2/11:
We introduce the topic of "assisted suicide" with a description of terms and concepts associated with the issue. The topic is the subject of our in-class mock trial: The State of New Mexico v. Chris Jenkins (.pdf).
Tuesday, 2/12:
Our annual introduction to mock trials, a demonstration of "Do-Bee and Don't-Bee" attorney/witness best/worst practices. Then we start some preparation for trials.
Wednesday, 2/13:
We take a break from mock trials and get back to some writing/literature.
Thursday, 2/14:
Intense practice to prepare for our mock trial cases next week.
Friday, 2/15:
Continued practice to prepare for our mock trial cases next week.
Week Twenty-Three: February 4 - 8
On Friday the 7th Graders have a deadline for a writing assignment of their own.
Monday, 2/4:
7th Graders: Finish up Independent Study Presentations
8th Graders: A Weekly Focus is due electronically and hard-copy. We'll be editing and submitting finals in class.
Tuesday, 2/5:
7th Graders: Edgar Allen Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" and another story. We also get a new writing assignment, described here.
8th Graders: We return after some days off with Sherman Alexie's new book An Absolutely True....
Wednesday, 2/6:
7th Graders: We read Vonnegut's short-story "Who Am I This Time?"
8th Graders: More Sherman Alexie
Thursday, 2/7:
7th Graders: Independent Reading
8th Graders: More Sherman Alexie
Friday, 2/8:
7th Graders: Rough drafts are due today for our writing assignment and we will be editing them in-class.
8th Graders: Even more Sherman Alexie
Week Twenty-Two: January 28 - February 1
The good news is that we have a jam-packed list of folks presenting Independent Study work. The bad news is that we'd love to link to our schedule, but can't for privacy reasons. Ask your son/daughter for information.
8th Graders: Note that our "surroundings" Weekly Focus draft is due now on Monday, 2/4/08 because of the snow day.
Monday, 1/28:
Day One of "IS Presents"
Tuesday, 1/29:
A snow day messed with our plans a bit....
Wednesday, 1/30:
Day Two of "IS Presents"
Thursday, 1/31:
Day Three of "IS Presents"
Friday, 2/1:
Day Four of "IS Presents"....7th Period will have a day of differing in-class work.
Week Twenty-One: January 21 - 25
The big deadline this week is that final versions of Independent Study papers are due on Friday, the 25th. Students received returned draft
Monday, 1/21:
No school as we celebrate the birthday (albeit a bit belated) of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Tuesday, 1/22:
A guest speaker will appear to discuss Sherman Alexie and Native American issues. We'll also be returning Independent Study papers and going over edits of them.
Wednesday, 1/23:
A day of independent reading in class (our only one of the 9 weeks).
Thursday, 1/24:
7th Grade: A short-story of some repute.
8th Grade: We begin reading Sherman Alexie's An Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Friday, 1/25:
Final papers due for Independent Study!!!!!
More reading in class.
Week Twenty: January 14 - 18
The big news this week is the rough draft deadline on Wednesday for our Independent Study Projects. Here are a few helpful documents for success on this project.
7th Grade Independent Study Issue Research Paper
7th Grade Independent Study Creative Person
8th Grade "Famous Dead People" Paper
Bibliographic "Template" for your IS Research Papers/Scripts (if you have questions about a source type not listed on the "template" throw us an email or do the best approximation you can.
Monday, 1/14:
We switch gears on an international level as we move into Seminar and an exploration of "International Cuisines".
Tuesday, 1/15:
Seminar groups work together to plan an exotic culinary feast scheduled for Thursday/Friday
Wednesday, 1/16:
7th/8th Graders: It's Rough Draft Submission Day!!!! An international holiday of multi-page papers & scripts sprinkled with bibliographies, sweat and tears.
Thursday, 1/17:
Day One of International Cuisine presentations. Food choices (and music) from Syria, Ireland, Phillipines and other locales.
Friday, 1/18:
Day Two of "International Cuisines"
Week Nineteen: January 7 - 11 (Start of Side B)
Monday, 1/7:
Aforementioned "In-Service" meetings. Exactly what does the term "in-service" mean and how was it chosen to define what teachers do on days like this? Oh, these eternal, unanswerable questions.
Tuesday, 1/8:
7th/8th Grade: We kick off our term as film judges, viewing the fine, fine films made by our Film Class last Semester. Expect lots of boys in wigs, swords, hip music and legomation.
Wednesday, 1/9:
7th/8th Grade: It's our last "Data Check" of the year. 7th Graders need to have 45 total note cards, and 8th Graders 60. It's a harsh reminder that we're back to school now.
Thursday, 1/10:
7th/8th Grade: We give more help with Independent Study as we transition from note cards to a rough draft. Rough drafts are due next Wednesday, the 16th.
Friday, 1/11:
7th Graders: A short story about some very interesting things.
8th Graders: We'll be reading/listening to a piece by Sherman Alexie about his dad and Jimi Hendrix.
Week Eighteen: December 17 - 21 (End of Side A)
Monday, 12/17:
7th Grade: SSR and various stuff getting us back into a Literature State of Mind.
8th Grade: We start watching Gregory Peck and crew in (with a fabulous script by Horton Foote) "To Kill A Mockingbird"
Tuesday, 12/18:
7th/8th Grade: Note Card check #2...students know the drill by now (7th Graders: 15 cards; 8th Graders: 20)
Wednesday, 12/19:
7th Grade: We see Francis Ford Coppola's "The Outsiders"
8th Grade: It's To Kill A Mockingbird Playhouse Day! Bring on the Atticus Finch sock-puppets!
Thursday, 12/20:
7th Grade: More "Outsiders"
8th Grade: We return to Mary Badham (as "Scout") and others in "To Kill A Mockingbird", with music by a young Elmer Bernstein.
Friday, 12/21:
7th Grade: We wrap up "The Outsiders"
8th Grade: Scout and Jem walk through the woods with Scout in a full-sized (and beyond) ham costume in "To Kill A Mockingbird". Then we walk through the woods to our own homes for a two-week break.
Week Seventeen: December 10 - 14
8th Graders: You have Another To Kill A Mockingbird Status Report due this Friday. Here is an example.
Due this week: Besides our in-class debates, students are responsible for a 10-question interview of an adult in their lives on the subject of genocide. That is due on Friday, the 14th.
Monday, 12/10:
Continued work on our in-class debates on issues surrounding attempts to stop the killing in Darfur, Sudan.
Tuesday, 12/11:
We take a break from Debates to get our Independent Study notecards done (8th: 20 cards/7th: 15 cards) for our 2nd Independent Study Project.
Wednesday, 12/12:
Debates on the subject of a unilateral intervention in Darfur. Parents, come on by if you're interested in seeing your son/daughter in action.
Thursday, 12/13:
Debates on boycotting the Beijing Olympics next summer.
Friday, 12/14:
We have our small group discussions on our Genocide Seminar. 8th Graders also need to turn in another To Kill A Mockingbird
Week Sixteen: December 3 - 7
8th Graders: You have To Kill A Mockingbird Status Reports due this Friday and next. Here is an example.
Reminder: 8th Grade To Kill A Mockingbird Playhouse assignment will be performed on December 17th.
Monday, 12/3:
We start a two-week seminar on Genocide with a short outline of some genocides that have taken place since 1945, including Guatemala, Cambodia, Rwanda and the Darfur region of the Sudan. Here's a copy of our Seminar "Ticket".
Tuesday, 12/4:
We split into two groups to learn about different psychological influences and conditions that make genocides more possible. This includes the showing of the famous Milgram "Obedience" experiment (you know the one where the guy has to shock the actor guy with the wrong answers? Remember?)
Wednesday, 12/5:
We take a break from our study of genocide to have our first formal deadline for the 2nd Independent Study Project. 7th Graders need to bring six written "focusing questions" about their topic/person. 8th Graders need to have six facts they know and six things they want to study about their "famous dead person".
Thursday, 12/6:
Another day of activities designed to educate students on the psychological components that lead to genocide.
Friday, 12/7:
We distribute preparation packets to debating groups as we prepare for next week's in-class debates on subjects surrounding the genocide in the Sudan. Should the U.S. boycott the Beijing Olympics? Should the U.S. unilaterally invade the Sudan?
Week Fifteen: November 26 - 30
Reminder: 2nd Quarter Book Reviews are due this Thursday, the 29th.
Reminder, the Second: Not to get ahead of ourselves....but here's a note to our 8th Graders: To Kill A Mockingbird Playhouse assignment will be due before you know it, actually December 17th.
Monday, 11/26:
7th Grade: We start a new short story
8th Grade: We end of innocence of Part I of To Kill A Mockingbird and switch to the racial situation in the 1950s Deep South with "The Murder of Emmett Till".
Tuesday, 11/27:
7th Grade: "Hearing Flower"
8th Grade: We discuss influences on Harper Lee...unfortunate influences including the Holocaust and the trial of the "Scottsboro Boys". We'll also take a look at a model for our weekly TKAM Status Reports due on Friday 12/7 and 12/14.
Wednesday, 11/28:
7th Grade: Introduction of Independent Study.
8th Grade: A short introduction of "Famous Dead People", then a showing of Alain Resnais' "Night and Fog" as preparation for our Holocaust-related speakers this Friday.
Thursday, 11/29:
7th/8th Graders: Book Reports are due, both review and project.
Friday, 11/30:
7th/8th Graders: We hear from two speakers today. One is a Holocaust survivor. Another, in the afternoon, is a German citizen who took a quite different path during the time of World War II.
Week Fourteen: November 19 - 23
Reminder: 2nd Quarter Book Reviews are due November 29th.
Reminder, the Second: Not to get ahead of ourselves....but here's a note to our 8th Graders: To Kill A Mockingbird Playhouse assignment will be due before you know it, actually December 17th.
Monday, 11/19:
7th Grade: We finish The Outsiders
8th Grade: We switch from the wistful Alabama memories of Harper Lee to a riveting build-up to a court case in To Kill A Mockingbird
Tuesday, 11/20:
7th Grade: Independent Student Reading
8th Grade: We go into Thanksgiving break reading from smack-dab in the middle of To Kill A Mockingbird
Wednesday, 11/21- Friday, 11/23:
Thanksgiving Break. Enjoy the harvest, but leave some cranberry sauce for me. And read a book, for criminy sake.
Week Thirteen: November 12 - 16
Reminder: 2nd Quarter Book Reviews are due November 29th.
Reminder, the Second: Not to get ahead of ourselves....but here's a note to our 8th Graders: To Kill A Mockingbird Playhouse assignment will be due before you know it, actually December 17th.
Monday, 11/12:
7th Grade: The body count rises in The Outsiders
8th Grade: More adventures in Maycomb with To Kill A Mockingbird
Tuesday, 11/13:
7th Grade: The Outsiders
8th Grade: We get to our second in-class vocabulary assignment, covering several fantastic chapters of To Kill A Mockingbird
Wednesday, 11/14:
7th Grade: More The Outsiders
8th Grade: More To Kill A Mockingbird
Thursday, 11/15:
7th Grade: A due date! Students need to have a written review of The Outsiders turned in today
8th Grade: Back to To Kill A Mockingbird
Friday, 11/16:
7th Grade: More The Outsiders
8th Grade: Our Ultra-cool and snazzy Vocbulary Quiz on several chapters of To Kill A Mockingbird. Be sure to look tomorrow or so for the final list of vocabulary words on the quiz.
Week Twelve: November 5 - 9
Monday, 11/5:
A series of truly earth-shattering teacher in-service topics that will blow the minds of anyone who witnesses them. In other words, no school today.
Tuesday, 11/6:
7th Grade: The Outsiders
8th Grade: We get back to reading To Kill A Mockingbird. We also introduce our "playhouse" assignment for the book, a production undertaken by those students wishing to not take the Final Exam on the book.
Wednesday, 11/7:
7th Grade: More The Outsiders
8th Grade: Once every nine weeks we have a day to catch up on our personal reading (for book reports and other purposes). Today is that day. It's also the day Band students go to Hummingbird Music Camp. Hmmm....could there be a correlation between these two events?
Thursday, 11/8:
7th Grade: S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders.
8th Grade: Back to To Kill A Mockingbird.
Friday, 11/9:
7th Grade: Continued Outsiders.
8th Grade: More To Kill A Mockingbird
Week Eleven: October 29 - November 2
Here is a link to two respectable, but slightly different online dictionaries. The Merriam-Webster is great, especially if you already know some big words. Dictionary.com is basically a compendium of online dictionaries, and includes definitions for those who don't know quite so many big words. Either is fine for the 11.2.07 Vocabulary assignment.
Monday, 10/29:
The very last day of Independent Study Presentations. A true gauntlet of researchomania is at an end.
Tuesday, 10/30:
7th Grade: Even more Independent Study, and/or some Independent Reading for 1st Period.
8th Grade: We start thoughts and reading of To Kill A Mockingbird, the only known novel by Harper Lee.
Wednesday, 11/1:
7th Grade: We begin to read a book by a very young Oklahoman, The Outsiders.
8th Grade: We continue to introduce ourselves to Scout Finch, her brother Jem and this dad guy named Atticus.
Thursday, 11/2:
7th Grade: S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders.
8th Grade: We keep finding out about Maycomb, Alabama, Scout's slightly unreliable narration and that school might have been even worse in 1930s America than it is now.
Friday, 11/3:
7th Grade: Continued Outsiders.
8th Grade: A word dreaded by many students and loved by many writers....vocabulary. A rare in-class assignment involving words. Students are to find 12 unknown words in Chapters 2 - 5 of To Kill A Mockingbird, find definitions, find three synonyms, and put the word into a sentence (extra credit for humerous, yet appropriate sentences). There will be a quiz on these and other vocabulary words in the not-so-distant future.
Week Ten: October 22 - 26
I.S. Presentations are this week, and here are our evaluation forms (Wow! Seven Grades!)
Evaluation forms
7th Grade Issue Paper/Presentation
7th Grade Creative Script/Presentation
8th Grade Position Paper/Presentation
Monday, 10/22:
Day One of Independent Study Presentations. Students, be sure to know your scheduled time to present.
Tuesday, 10/23:
Day Two of Independent Study Presentations
Wednesday, 10/24:
We take a break from presentations to have parent/teacher conferences. Parents, we'd love to see you.
Thursday, 10/25:
Back to our Independent Study Presentations.
Friday, 10/26:
And our last day of Independent Study Presentations. Unless we don't finish, in which case...well let's see what happens.
Week Nine: October 15 - 19
Note: We're keeping our Independent Study Project documents close to our hearts and close to the top of this page. Students, be sure to follow instructions on how to do your bibliography right. Remember, I.S. Final Papers are due next Monday, the 22nd of October
Bibliographic "Template" for your IS Research Papers
Are you a 7th Grader who needs to do an "Abstract"? Here are two examples that may be of help.
Also, remember that I.S. Presentations are next week, October 22 - 26
Here are the evaluation forms for I.S. (Wow! Seven Grades!)
Evaluation forms
7th Grade Issue Paper/Presentation
7th Grade Creative Script/Presentation
8th Grade Position Paper/Presentation
Monday, 10/15:
Here's that day we missed. We feel bad about it. Just to let you know, both 7th and 8th Graders turned in Rough Drafts and we had peer editing and submission for teacher edits. We were busy...so busy that we didn't...well you get the idea.
Tuesday, 10/16:
7th Graders: A Day of Independent Reading and finding out when Ind. Study Presentations are for each student.
8th Graders: An example PowerPoint to help provide guidance on how students might make more effective presentations on their Position Paper Independent Study Projects. For those interested, the actual demo presentation performed in class is here.
Wednesday, 10/17:
We return to Dream/Psychic Dueling Seminar.
Thursday, 10/18:
More Dreams and the Psychics that inhabit them. There's also an assignment of some sort to do.
Friday, 10/19:
The last day of Psychics Are Us, Maybe and Dreams, What Are They Good For.... Judd & Key will be returning Ind. Study rough drafts for weekend revision.
Week Nine: October 8 - 12
Note: We're keeping our Independent Study Project documents close to our hearts and close to the top of this page. Students, be sure to follow instructions on how to do your bibliography right. Remember, I.S. rough drafts and bibliographies are due next Monday, the 15th.
Bibliographic "Template" for your IS Research Papers
Are you a 7th Grader who needs to do an "Abstract"? Here are two examples that may be of help.
Monday, 10/8:
No school in order to watch balloons or do whatever.
Tuesday, 10/9:
We begin our duelling dual Seminars on Dreams & Psychic Phenomena. We're trying two simultaneous seminars in order to double students choices and make our lives a little more challenging. Today, a series of guest speakers on the topic.
Wednesday, 10/10:
Day two of Psychic Phenomena and Dreams. But you knew that already. Remember, you had a dream about it.
Thursday, 10/11:
Day Three of Seminars on Dreams and Psychic stuff.
Friday, 10/12:
Another day of Dream Journals and Uri Geller...it's our combo Dream/Psychic Seminar
Week Eight: October 1 - 5
Note: We're keeping our Independent Study Project documents close to our hearts and close to the top of this page. Students, be sure to follow instructions on how to do source and fact cards correctly.
How to properly fill out those "Source Cards" and "Fact Cards"
Bibliographic "Template" for your IS Research Papers
While we are at it....book reports/reviews are due this Thursday, October 4th. Here are the assignment details for book reports.
Monday, 10/1:
7th Graders: A short story about the social periphery of the school milieu with "Phat Acceptance".
8th Graders: We continue our "road trip" short stories with "The Ledge" by Lawrence Sargent Hall.
Tuesday, 10/2:
7th Graders: More "Phat Acceptance" in class.
8th Graders: We get down and funky with a remedial guide in getting an "Expert" for Independent Study.
Wednesday, 10/3:
Independent Study Day: 20 more note cards for 8th Graders; 15 more cards for 7th Graders. It's the 3rd and last data check, an important milestone in the ultra-important Independent Study process.
Thursday, 10/4:
7th & 8th Graders: Book Reports are due! Both projects and reviews. We'll start presentations of both today in class.
Friday, 10/5:
7th & 8th Graders: We continue, if necessary, oral presentations to go along with our Book Reports.
Week Seven: September 24 - 28
Note: We're keeping our Independent Study Project documents close to our hearts and close to the top of this page. Students, be sure to follow instructions on how to do source and fact cards correctly.
How to properly fill out those "Source Cards" and "Fact Cards"
Bibliographic "Template" for your IS Research Papers
While we are at it....book reports/reviews are due next Thursday, October 4th. Here are the assignment details for book reports.
Monday, 9/24:
Our final day of Debate Seminar I. Over the two days of sessions, we'll have a total of 20 debates on roughly 12 different topics.
Tuesday, 9/25:
Both 7th & 8th Graders: We break down the game film from our debate sessions and see how we can use them to debate better in the future, study more effectively in all classes and apply debate to our daily lives.
Wednesday, 9/26:
Independent Study Day: 20 more note cards for 8th Graders; 15 more cards for 7th Graders.
Thursday, 9/27:
7th Graders: In-class reading, bring your own book.
8th Graders: We return Weekly Focus papers from way back when, read out some good ones and get to a Flannery O'Connor short story about a philosophical Misfit and a talkative Grandmother.
Friday, 9/28:
7th Graders: In-class reading, returning Thief of Always work and discussion of upcoming book reports.
8th Graders: Our once-per-nine-week independent reading day. Remember, you have a Book Report due next Thursday, October 4th.
Week Six: September 17 - 21
Monday, 9/17:
We start our first Debate Seminar of the year, introducing students to debate, Room 114 style, and going over some guidelines.
Tuesday, 9/18:
The oft-discussed and infamous Tuesday "In-Service". No school but plenty of laughs for teachers.
Wednesday, 9/19:
We break from debates to handle our Independent Study responsibilties for this week: 15 note cards for 7th graders and 20 cards for 8th graders.
Thursday, 9/20:
A full day of preparation for our debate seminar. Working together, 7th and 8th grade teams will put together arguments on a large variety of topics from dogs v. cats, to death penalty v. abolition of the death penalty.
Friday, 9/21:
Our first day of debates in classrooms 114 and 124. Parents, if you get a chance to drop by ask your child/student when they are having their debate session. Here's a list of all our debate topics. Here's the Ballot we will use to score debates.
Week Five: September 10 - 14
Monday, 9/10:
7th Graders: Continued study of Thief of Always
8th Graders: We return our latest round of Weekly Focus papers, and go over some ways to improve them in the future. Remember that our Weekly Focus #3 is due on Thursday.
Tuesday, 9/4:
7th Graders: We take a break from Clive Barker to study a tale of 9/11 and its aftermath with "Hum".
8th Graders: We look at the work of essayist Sarah Vowell and her "Music Lessons" via audio and text.
Wednesday, 9/5:
Both 7th and 8th: Our first Independent Study deadline. Student need to have identified a topic/person to explore, and come up with six "focusing questions" to guide their research.
Thursday, 9/6:
7th Graders: We offer a chance for students to either read The Thief of Always or a selection of their own.
8th Graders: Weekly Focus #3 is due. We will do the now familiar "draft at beginning, final by the end" structure to finish this work.
Friday, 9/7:
7th Graders: The Thief of Always masks are due today! We'll review Barker's book, especially as his first in the "child fiction" genre.
8th Graders: We'll bring in the 7th graders as well and do some debate preparation for next week. Here's an evaluation/pointer sheet we will be using today.
Week Four: September 3 - 7
Monday, 9/3:
That Labor Day thing.
Tuesday, 9/4:
7th Graders: The Thief of Always
8th Graders: We review our written work from way back in Week Two when we wrote for audience. We'll read some of the best work, talk about some details and return papers. Then we'll talk about the next two "foci". The assignment for the next two weeks (Weekly Foci #2/#3 can be found here).
Wednesday, 9/5:
Both 7th and 8th: Introduction to the various types of Independent Study Projects for this nine weeks (or so). Specifically, 7th Graders can choose a 7th Grade Independent Study Issue Research Paper or a 7th Grade Independent Study Creative Person project. 8th Graders will undertake a 8th Grade Independent Study Position Paper. One question that comes up these days with research is what to do with "Wikipedia". We'll talk about that, including the growing list of "Neutral Point of View" (NPOV) disputed pages. It's a complicated, but interesting aspect of finding stuff on the Internet.
Thursday, 9/6:
7th Graders: The Thief of Always. We'll also go over our Alternative Book Reports.
8th Graders: Reading/research and ideas on our debate Seminar preparation
Friday, 9/7:
7th Graders: The Thief of Always
Week Three: August 27 - 31
Note: Here are the winning entries in this year's Bulwer-Lytton Bad Writing Contest.
Monday, 8/27:
We break into Seminar, our first of the year. Today we will discuss what Seminar is, and brainstorm topics for this year's Seminars. The "ticket" for the Sem can be seen here.
Tuesday, 8/28:
Preparation for our Seminar this week: fairy tales and their role in providing theatrical opportunities while also demonstrating a valuable life lesson (esp. for bears, witches and Goldilocks)
Wednesday, 8/29:
Our first presentation day of fairy tales told with a Room 114 twist.
Thursday, 8/30:
Another day of fairy tale presentations and their meaning.
Friday, 8/31:
Our first Seminar discussion of the year, an examination of what all this fairy tale stuff means. Tickets (homework) are due today as well.
Week Two: August 20 - 24
Monday, 8/20:
7th Graders: We'll introduce our first book of the year...Clive Barker's Thief of Always.
8th Graders: A series of readings on the subject of writing for audience, and distribution of our first assignment..which is, fittingly enough, "writing for audience".
Tuesday, 8/21:
7th Graders: More Thief of Always.
8th Graders: A discussion pertaining to our upcoming debate seminar, debates in general and the name of several countries in Africa.
Wednesday, 8/22:
All Students: Deadline for Bulwer-Lytton entries. We'll read entries aloud in class, tweak where necessary and have some laughs.
Thursday, 8/23:
7th Graders: More Thief of Always.
8th Graders: Draft submission of our first writing assignment for the year, with drafts due at the beginning of class and final version due at the end.
Friday, 8/24:
All Students: Reading of the winners in our 23rd Annual Bulwer-Lytton Bad Writing Contest...oh, the melba toast will be flying I can tell ya. We'll have pictures of the winners up before too long (maybe Monday/Tuesday of next week?)
8th Graders: Remember, today is the deadline for our Library Card/Book-on-CD assignment.
Week One: August 13 - 17
Monday, 8/13:
No school as teachers prepare tasty educational treats in the comfort of their own classrooms.
Tuesday, 8/14:
Introduction to life in Room 114, its quirks & eccentricities. 8th Graders will be filling out a "mini dossier" about themselves.
Wednesday, 8/15:
7th Graders: An introductory story, "Harrison Bergeron" by the late, great Kurt Vonnegut.
8th Graders: Going over 8th Grade Rules and Writing Guidelines. And the reading of a few examples from previous years. We'll also look at getting City o' Albuquerque library cards, checking out books, and, specifically, checking out a Book on CD/online and giving that a whirl.
Thursday, 8/16:
7th Graders: An exercise in "handicaps" and "augmentations" in response to "Harrison Bergeron".
8th Graders: Readings and an assignment pertaining to our first "weekly focus" on writing to audience.
Friday, 8/17:
All Students: The 23rd Introduction to the 23rd Annual Room 114 Version (contest rules here) of the Bulwer-Lytton International Bad Prose Writing Competition. You can
find the winning entries in our 2006 Bulwer-Lytton Bad Prose Writing Contest (names withdrawn) here.
And here are the winning entries in our 2005 Contest (a stellar year for well-done bad writing, methinks)
8th Grader Note: What about this "A List Book" Thing? In case you're wondering, here are two links to list o' great books, each of which is (almost) automatically considered an "A List Book":
At the same time, the pesky tendency of writers to write new books makes lists such as those above inherently incomplete. So we add books to the "List" as we hear about them and their "A List" qualities. Lastly, there is a bit of wiggle room when it comes to an "A List" designation. We individualize based on the past reading history of a student. For instance, a student who has been reading R.L. Stine since the 2nd grade might have their newfangled choice of Stephen King's "The Stand" counted as "A List". An 8th grader who read Homer's "The Odyssey" over the summer in Ancient Greek probably isn't going to have Stephen King count as "A List". And, of course, there are exceptions to all rules and exceptions to those exceptions. Students/parents are highly encouraged to email Scot Key with questions on this subject.