Good morning.

I hope everyone had some outdoor fun this weekend--it was beautiful!

There is a problem occurring on homework and it needs to stop.  

It looks like some of you are going to websites for answers 

then copying word-for-word into homework assignments.  

I'm confident in saying this as I have NEVER heard any of you use the word "whilst" in a sentence but I'm sure a history website would use it in a sentence.  

Also, in the process of cutting and pasting, some of you repeat the words you've already typed.  

So, going forward, don't spend all kinds of time "researching" the answers--that's not necessary.  Read the material I give you, think about it, then tell me what you've learned from the reading and thinking--Google is NOT necessary.  Plus, I'm seeing the people who are thinking about what they've read and writing ideas in their own words are scoring better.  

8ELA

-Last week we read chapters 3 and 4 of I am David.  I invited you to send me your "big ideas" for the chapters which I would then use to generate a set of pink questions.  Please find the Chapter 3/4 Summary Pink Questions below.

1.  David chooses a god and prays and "talks" to God several times in these two chapters.  Think about why people pray.  Think about a time you prayed.  Write a paragraph on the power of prayer.
2.  David encounters Carlo and gets beaten by him.  Think about David's life experience and the beating he received from Carlo.  Write a paragraph explaining why David chose not to fight back.
3.  David helps out in several instances in these chapters.  Write a paragraph explaining why David "put himself out there"--why does he put his safety and freedom at risk for strangers?
4.  David enters the house of the Levana del 'Varchi family and has many new experiences.  Think about David's life experience; think about the differences between a home and a shelter.  Write a paragraph on the power of having a home.

-I'm not collecting them tomorrow; instead, I want to collect your rough drafts instead.  Write up the body of the paragraph (no intro or close), point form is okay, and send it to me by lunchtime tomorrow and I'll take a look at it, give you feedback, and return it to you later in the day (maybe after dinner).  You can then add the intro/close and make revisions.  Final drafts will be due Thursday.  If you send me what looks like a final draft tomorrow, I will still only give you feedback on the body of the paragraph.
-Because we aren't in the classroom to have discussions, feel free to bounce your ideas off your group mates--they've read the same material as you and you've discussed the book with them.  Your group mates or other classmates may help you see new perspectives on the chapters.
-I am still marking your I am David chapter 1/2 pink questions and have noticed some problems.  Many of you didn't include TAG and some of you used quotation marks around the book title when it should have been an underline or italics.  Some of you didn't cite text; you must prove your opinion so the obvious way to do that is to pull the words right from the text, use quotation marks and give me the page number!  I would like to see more of you use transition phrases (secondly, another reason is...); those cues to let the reader know there is a shift in topic.  There were some great titles:  Soapy Symbolism, A Bar of Soap? or Something Bigger than That, The Strength of Freedom--they are original and give the reader a hint as to the paragraph's topic.  I think we can do better than David's Journey, David's Strengths AND yes, I am David.
-I'd like to see you finish your ideas.  For instance, a student will state an idea or opinion (good) then find a quote from the book to support it (good) but then that's it (not so good).  You need to explain how the quote supports your idea/opinion.  This can be done in two sentences--it's not a three sentence task.
-For today's pink questions, they are "big ideas"; this means that they could apply to other books and real life--they are about your thoughts on common themes in life and not just in books.  Feel free to support an idea with your personal life experience to support your idea; however, limit your personal experience/view to one idea and examples from the book for the other two ideas.

8SS

-Last class we learned about the birth of Islam.  The following students need to send me their homework today:  8M-Roman, Emily, Kristine, Samuel, Dwayne, Marvic, Sesinna, Aiden, Naod and 8B-Athaniel, Theodore, Josh, Allyssa, Nina, Eric, Sherah-Mae, Matteo, Nevaeh.

7SS

-Last class we learned about alternatives to democracy and the magazine article made you think about this in regards to the global pandemic.  The following students need to send me their homework today:  Kailee, Riley, Feven, Catherine, AJ, Julie, Owen, Luciana, Deion, Auriel, Khrystle.