Me Taco!

This is how one 8th grader described himself in a poem. :)  Students in grade 8 were asked to compare themselves to amusement park rides, kitchen appliances, animals, foods, colors, writing tools, natural disasters and anything else they could think of in order to create a metaphor poem.  The poems are fantastic and really help to get to know another person. It is often hard to tell personal facts about yourself, but if you tell me that you are like a volcano erupting with anger, I can tell how you are feeling at times when you get mad. Here is PA's poem.  Enjoy!
                                  

                  Me Taco

            I am a crunchy supreme taco

I fill up overtime with attitude

My shell is extremely brittle

It could snap at any moment

I begin to forget some things when piled too high

Every so often, I topple onto my side in leisure

I am organized by being divided into sections

I can be silent as a mouse and motionless when needed

I am decorated and well-balanced with variety

All Good Things Come to an End

Well campers, it is time for Grammar Camp to fold up its blankets, turf, vines, cushions, and camp chairs.  I hope you had as much fun as I did!  Hang on to your camp brochures with all of your notes on sentence structure, punctuation and parts of speech.  These tips will definiitely come in handy as a reference in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead! As October approaches, we will have desks and chairs again so you will have some support for your back as you write all of those essays! What was your favorite part of camp?  Was it the s'mores, the feather game, Schoolhouse Rock songs? A favorite lesson on a topic that you didn't know before? Leave a comment so I will know what to include next year when camp time rolls around again for the next group of grammar campers!  Here are a few memories from camp. . .

Take great notes!

Read, discuss, write!                  

S'more makers! Thanks :)

Campers love s'mores!

A delicious treat for Monica!

S'mores? Yum!

Grammar Camp Going Strong!

Grammar campers are busy learning punctuation these days specifically the semicolon and the apostrophe. The biggest news is that if you see the word "it's" with an apostrophe, it always means "it is." This seems to be a tricky word! The grammar game for the week is Preposition Feathers.  It is so much fun to blow a feather all over!  When I yell out a command like, "Blow the feather above your head," students yell out the preposition in the command like, "above!" Then we all follow the command and feathers fly! Try this at home for a real stress reliever. Next lesson: 12 rules of commas.

A Thought-provoking Question

What makes a question thought provoking?  The answer: a question that is not easily answered by a yes/no/simple answer. Middle School students were asked to write three thought-provoking questions after reading books selected for each grade level over the summer. We are getting ready to have a shared inquiry circle of discussion using these questions.  I bet we have some questions that require much deep thinking.

Welcome to Grammar Camp!

Just when you thought summer was over, here comes an invitation to Grammar Camp! MS students will soon be off to camp during Language A (English) classes. Clipboards, brochures, and sleeping bags are provided for your sitting and note-taking pleasure. Grammar Camp will get your school year off to a successful start as you learn the basics of sentence structure, parts of speech and punctuation. Be the brain of your neighborhood as you learn the twelve secret rules of commas and how to begin sentences in various new, fun ways. Become the pro of prepositional phrases and the master of subject/verb agreement. Come prepared for making smores, scavenger hunts for adjectives and scary stories by the campfire. You will wish Grammar Camp never had to end!

Welcome to Grammar Camp! I am ready to talk grammar with you. :) Mrs. Huber

Turn and talk to your neighbor. What is a predicate?

What vivid adjectives did you come up with?

Rest time at Grammar Camp. . .

Come on in and sit on the grass. :)

KZOO Radio Live!

On Monday, April 16, at 5:30 p.m., Allison Farr in grade 7 and Zena Simpkins in grade 8 appeared live on radio KZOO from its studio inside Shirokyia at the Ala Moana Mall.  They were interviewed because they are both Grand Prize winners in the Japan Airlines Haiku contest.  As their proud teacher, I also got to be interviewed! We had so much fun talking on the radio and being videotaped at the same time.  It was interesting and a bit intimidating to have people standing outside the glass walls of the station looking at us and smiling as we answered questions and told about our Haiku writing experiences.  Allison and Zena read their poems aloud and did such an expert job of representing all of us at LJA! Advice: It pays to write Haiku!

Environments and Decisions

The setting has a lot to do with how a character reacts to a problem or a situation.  Seventh grade students are currently reading books in small literature circles where the environment has a major affect on how the characters act. All of the books that students chose to read occurred during the Middle Ages among teens of all walks of life. The stories make us think about how much our environments affect us and how we choose to handle a problem or a situation we may find ourselves in.  Pick up a book today - maybe one of the ones we are reading in class!