A Night on the Town

Twenty nine middle school students spent a Friday night watching a production of Schoolhouse Rock at the Venice Theater. Accompanied by six parents, Mrs. Gunther, and Mrs. Donofrio, the students met for pizza and a fierce air hockey tournament, then walked to the theater, and finished the evening off with some ice cream. Everyone left humming the words words to “Conjunction Junction”, “We the People”, and “Sufferin’ for Suffrage”.

What is your favorite Schoolhouse Rock video? Why do you like it?

Schoolhouse Rock at Venice Theater on PhotoPeach

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Medieval Murder Mystery

Hey Kids!

I thought you might be interested in this news story about the supposed burial site of King Richard III.   I found it today on the Yahoo news page.  The article is interesting for us for four reasons:

  1. it involves a Medieval king, Richard III,
  2. who was the subject of one of Shakespeare‘s history plays,
  3. as well as the modern novel, Sent, by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

The 7th and 8th graders began Haddix’s series The Missing last summer by reading Found.    Quite a few continued with Sent.

Book 2 of The Missing series

Book 2 of The Missing series

The fourth reason the article is interesting is because it contains a grammatical error, specifically a spelling error.  Can you find it?

This year I am planning a bulletin board called The Grammar Slammer.  Here, we will confine grammatical errors until such time as the class can bail them out.  Be on the lookout for any grammatical errors on public display.  We will put them in the Grammar Slammer, and as the arresting officer, you will earn extra credit.

Why do you think more grammatical errors are being found on public display nowadays than in the past?

What do you think of the article?  Would you ever like to be an archeologist?

 

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A Diagram Race

Middle school students divide into teams to diagram a sentence. After putting one line and one word on the board, they hand off the marker to someone else on their team. The first team to finish with a correctly diagrammed sentence wins. We write their time on the board and compare it to the teams of the other middle school grades. In this race, the 7th and 8th grades tied, diagramming their sentences in 1:37 (one minute and 37 seconds). The winners get Smarties candies!

Do you know how to diagram a sentence?

Time yourself.  How long does it take you to diagram the following sentence?  Correct answer will be given on Monday.

Mrs. Donofrio gave me the book, Elijah of Buxton, and I put it into my backpack.

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