The Outsiders

For the past two weeks we have continued to study the novel, The Outsiders. I have been impressed by the student engagement during class discussions. It seems that they have really been enjoying the themes of the novel. We had a quiz on chapter 3 last Friday after taking time to present our "Tuff" presentations.  For most students the quiz was a positive mark for them, but for those who did not receive a level 3, I encourage them to ensure they are re-reading the chapters and completing assignments with attention to detail.

   This week we looked at Chapter 4 from a different perspective. We have introduced the idea of literature circles. Students in groups of 3 took on one of the possible roles in a literature circle and created a poster to represent their answers. They presented their answers to the class. Ask your child which role they took on this week. Next week, they will try a new role while we look at Chapter 5. My intention is to familiarize them with the roles before they have to take on one of them individually.

   Here are the examples of some of the student work.

  Students can expect another quiz after we read chapter 6.

 The students all seemed to really enjoy the Winter Activity Day!

Have a great weekend!

Greasers!

On Monday we spent time reviewing the chapter questions that were assigned as homework. I was glad to see that most students had completed the questions and were ready to move on to the next chapter.

      We will be reading the novel in class together, but if a student misses class, they are expected to catch up with the reading on their own time. Here are the links for Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 being read out loud incase that would be helpful.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

     On Monday I also introduced an assignment entitled, "Tuff".  The word "Tuff" is explained by our narrator, Ponyboy in chapter 1. The students are being asked to create a collage or slide show about what they consider to be "Tuff".  These will be presented on Monday next week. If students are completing this assignment online, they are asked to share it with me as a google doc OR send it to me by email before Monday's class. Really looking forward to being educated on what is "Tuff" to 12 year olds these days!

KATIE!

     We have had the pleasure of having a grade 11 GPP student with us over the semester. Her name is Katie. On Wednesday she ran Grammar Jeopardy with our class and they seemed to really enjoy the game! Thanks Katie!

Friday, I was away and the students were asked to complete a character study based on Johnny Cade. They also received a vocabulary sheet. I would expect that both of these sheets as well as the Chapter 2 questions are complete for a homework check on Monday. All sheets should all be  their duotangs. 

REMEMBER FOR NEXT WEEK!!!

1. "Tuff" assignment due on Monday morning. Presentations taking place during our first block together. 
2. Chapter 2 questions to be completed by Monday
3. Johnny Cade worksheet will be part of my overall portfolio check in
4. Vocabulary definitions will be included in a Chapter 1-3 quiz taking place in the near future. Please ensure worksheet is completed with effort!

7/8 Activity Day sheets due this week!!

Happy New Year! In our grade 7 English class 2015 started with a look back to the 1960's. The students and I listened to the Beatles, talked about the civil rights movement and looked at different images from the decade of the setting for our new novel study, The Outsiders.

We have started our new novel this week, The Outsiders.

Will is ready to share his knowledge of the novel!

Who, what, where, when, why???

Images sparked interesting discussions.

We read the first chapter of the book as a class and started a personal portfolio for this unit. The students have been assigned three tasks over the weekend:

1. Complete any unfinished worksheets from class 

         ie. pre-reading sheets

2. Chapter 1 questions

3. Start character chart and review the descriptions of each character described in chapter 1.

Ask your child about some of the slang words that we have come across in the novel already. 

Have a great weekend!

NEXT WEEK

All of the 7/8 classes will be sent home permission forms for a Winter activity day at the end of the month. The 7/8 staff has been working hard to plan a fun day for the students!