Welcome back from what I hope was a fun, restful weekend! This week I recorded students reading our vocabulary words. The audio is a little off - I'm not sure what happened there...the acoustics in my classroom must be awful, but they did a great job. Be on the lookout for our Lions' Team Podcast - coming soon!

This week's vocabulary words are:

Felicitous- adj. happy or delightful
Malevolence- n. ill will or evil intentions
Odious- adj. deserving hate or contempt
Pertinacity- n. stubborn persistence or act of refusing to yield on an opinion or belief
Scrupulous- adj. very principled, very careful and conscientious

Tonight's meaningful sentences should be meaningful and contain at least one adverb. An adverb modifieds a verb, and adjective, or another adverb.

This week we will work towards finishing the play "The Diary of Anne Frank" and get started on our Baby Research Project. You six research questions are due Friday. We'll work on them together Thursday and Friday.

Many of you are beginning to think about extra credit opportunities. Here's your first. Leave me a comment here using at least three of the vocabulary words we;ve studied so far. You must use them IN CONTEXT. In other words, use them as if you were having a conversation with me. If your words are used correctly, I will add 5 points to your meaningful sentence grade for this week.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave only your first name and last initial!!!

Howdy! Welcome to my first podcast for 2006 - 2007! Each week I'll have our 5 new vocabulary words, their parts of speech, and their definitions in a podcast like this. I'll also include a few words about what to expect for the week, and sometimes I'll throw in a few words from you guys...

This week's (August 28 - Sept 1) are:

Allusion- n. implied or indirect reference.
Anomalous- adj. out of place, abnormal.
Chimera- n. a fantasy; a horrible creature of the imagination.
Debauchery- n. lack of integrity or honesty; moral corruption.
Expedient- adj. appropriate for a purpose but not necessarily moral, right, or just.

Your meaningful sentences should have their adjectives highlighted!!

Remember: Come to Grammar Workshop if you're still not "getting it."

Meaningful sentences are due when you WALK IN THE DOOR on Tuesday!!

Have a fabulous week (Three day weekend alert!! Three day weekend alert!! Woo hoo!!!)

Subscribing to my podcast through iTunes is easy! Click on the link on the right, or search iTunes for "Podcasting with Mrs. S" and then subscribe!

(To hear audio, click the green arrow below.)

Today I'm trying to remember how to do this!

Hey guys!

Let me first apologize for the poor audio quality of this podcast - I was recording while driving!

I'm sorry I could not be at school this week to finish up "Much Ado," but my grandfather passed away and I am in California attending his funeral. I will be back Thursday!

I will be checking several things upon my return:
1. Post-Reading Act IV
2. Post-Reading Act V
3. Dogberryisms
4. Responses
5. Memorizations!!! (Have you been practicing?)

Today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday) you'll have an opportunity to listen to the play while you read along.

Thursday we'll watch the movie together - I think you'll really like it!

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to post them here, or on the Discussion Board. I'll do my best to check them all while I'm gone.

See you Thursday!

Ohmigosh can you believe that we've only got three weeks left? I don't know whether to say I hope it goes fast or that I hope it goes slow! Ok so yeah I hope it goes fast, but I will miss you guys, for like a whole week, at least!

Just kidding!

Some dates to know: Your end-of-the-year project is due Thursday, May 4! Remember that you need to turn in your:

1. Six questions
2. Research
3. Notecards (25 - 40)
4. Outline
5. Rough draft(s)
6. Final draft

This week's meaningful sentences should be meaningful and imperative. These should be easy for you because you guys have people bossing you around all the time, I'm sure!

Don't forget to get your copy of the Folger's Edition of "Much Ado About Nothing" soon!

If you haven't left advice for those poor unsuspecting 8th-graders-to-be on the message board yet, click on the link on the right side of the page and just do it!

Well, today you should be working feverishly at typing up the final draft of your research paper. Remember that it should be 12 point font, Times New Roman, and double-spaced. Be sure to do a word count to be sure that you're going to meet the minimum expectations. That's 500 words for regular classes, and 750 for Pre-AP. Remember also to type up your bibliography. You should have a resource paper there with you in the lab to help you.

If you have all SIX parts of your research paper ready to turn in on Monday, go ahead and turn it in on Monday - it's a great way to earn some bonus points! The official due date is Thursday, May 4.

Several of you are looking to earn extra credit right now, and I really do want to give that opportunity to those of you who are willing to work for it. This opportunity is simple. Visit the KMS Word Nerds Discussion board (see link at right - do you remember your login and password?) and contribute some advice to next year's eighth grade. There are already a few pearls of wisdom there, so read them first to get an idea of what I'm looking for.

I'm so excited about starting Shakespeare next week! Is it hard? Yes. Can you read it? Yes. Will you understand it? Yes, if you pay attention.

Enjoy your weekend!
TTFN - Mrs. S

Huck's not really diggin' the Widow Douglas and all her finery. And he has to go to church, too! And bathe! Oh, the humanity!

It's a good thing Tom's looking out for his best interest, though, right? How can a guy be a respectable robber if he doesn't bathe?

There is certain satisfaction in finishing a good book. I enjoyed ol' Tom Sawyer much more than I expected, and I reckon I'll go on and read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, too. How else am I gonna get this hickified voice out of my system?

Test tomorrow guys! Reach back into the recesses of your mind and consider this about The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: plot, setting, conflict, resolution, and theme...

Shakespeare's up next! Woo hoo!

Ding dong, Injun Joe is dead! But poor Tom & Huck are a little beat down by the fact they never found that dadgum gold....or did they?

Poor Injun Joe.

Did he get what he deserved? Not so much, I think.

Whew! I was worried there for a bit that Tom & Becky were goners!