Book Reviews

What is the best book you've ever read? I want to know about it! Explain why I should read your book in a convincing book review. Let's get started:

First, read some book reviews. This one is a review of the book Wonder. Here is another one of the book Maximum Ride by James Patterson. Notice the description of the book. Whether it is long or short, it does NOT give away the ending. That would be a spoiler. Don't be a spoiler!

1. Write your book review in a word processing program and copy and paste it into the comments below.
2. Click below on "Comments"
3. Copy and paste your Book Review in the “Comment” section. Edit well – check your grammar, sentence structure, spelling, and capitalization. 
4. To get credit for you book review, you need to choose "Comment as" and choose "Name/URL." You need to write in your first name and last initial and class period for "name" and leave "URL" blank.
5. Click PREVIEW to review your book review. When satisfied

Meaningful and well-edited book reviews will be published. Those in need of polishing will be sent back for revision. This is for a grade and worth 28 points!!

Here are some guidelines for your book review. Read carefully and prepare your thoughtful book review!

1.Write at least 3-4 sentences about the plot

• What was the story about?
• Who were the main characters?
• What did the main characters do in the story?
• Did the main characters run into any problems?
• Did the main characters have any adventures?
• Who was your favorite character? Why?

2. Your purpose

• Did you like the book? Should other people read it? Why?
• What was your favorite part of the book? Give details (but don't be a spoiler!) and examples.
• Do you have a least favorite part of the book?
• What opinions might other readers have?

3. Recommended audience

• Would you recommend this book?
• Who should read this book? Be clear what kind of reader would like this book.
• For example, "If you really don't like reading, this is the book for you" or "Any kid who likes being scared silly should read this book."

Check out the rubric here to be sure your review will get the grade you want!

Our Deeds are our Monuments

This week we have been discussing our Monument Projects, which strive to answer the question: "How am I inspired?"
In order to answer this question, students are challenged to learn more about an inspiring person who shares their passions. Students are choosing all variety of inspiring individuals, from Leonardo Da Vinci to Selena.
Students will be researching, outlining, and writing essays about their inspiring person and then creating a mini-monument to honor his or her accomplishments.

 

Parent signatures are expected on these cover sheets by Monday/Tuesday next week (Oct. 21/22) and students have been encouraged to talk to their parents about the project.

Due dates are as follows:

Outline due Oct. 28-29

Rough Draft due Oct. 30

Final Draft due Nov. 6

Mini-Monument due Nov. 6



Meet Nathaniel

Nathaniel is a little boy born with Treacher Collins Syndrome. Click on his name below to see a short video about his life. Nathaniel

Our Caring Community

As we continue to read Wonder, we are thinking more about what kind of people the characters are. We will continue along this line of thought and start to consider what kind of people we want to be.
Click the CHOOSE KIND button to learn more about Wonder and what you can do to be a part of the Kindness Revolution!

Our Community

Once again my students have done me proud. Below is the Community Charter they helped forge. We will sign it next week and it will be the law of the land.

 

Sad news UPDATE: The students of Mrs. Heartt's Language Arts have lost the right to eat in class! Unfortunately, Mrs. Heartt had to clean up a granola bar wrapper and the consequence is that nobody may eat in class henceforth. It was a fun couple of weeks!

A WONDERful Start to Our Year

Yesterday we started reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio. What a perfect way to help set the tone of our class, and to share a literary experience that will give us vocabulary for all those awkward middle school issues. We only have enough copies to read in class together, but I'm getting a new shipment of books (THANK YOU DonorsChoose donors!!) so I can check them out to students to take home too-- hopefully by next week.
Click here to see pictures that relate to the story. The teacher who made this website was smart! If you're not sure what a genie in a lamp is, it shows a picture. If you are unclear about the "Doogie" reference, there's a little explanation. Pretty smart!

Staggering Statistics

"Why do we have to read EVERY night?" My students often ask me why they are required to read independently every single day of the week (including Saturday and Sunday!) and here's why:

Now, pick out a book in your reading range and get reading!!!

Become a Highly Effective Teen!

Who am I?

 

I am your constant companion.  I am

your greatest helper or heaviest burden.

I will push you onward or drag you down

to failure.  I am completely at your command.

Half the things you do you might just as

well turn over to me and I will be able to do

them quickly and correctly.

                                                                                       

I am easily managed – you must merely

be firm with me.  Show me exactly how you

want something done and after a few

lessons I will do it automatically.  I am the

servant of all great individuals and, alas, of

all failures, as well.  Those who are great, I

have made great.  Those who are failures,

I have made failures.

 

I am not a machine, though I work

with all the precision of a machine plus

the intelligence of a human.  You may run

me for a profit or run me for ruin – it

makes no difference to me.

 

Take me, train me, be firm with me,

and I will place the world at your feet.  Be

easy with me and I will destroy you.

 

Who am I?

Accept the Summer Reading Challenge!

Have you spent your summer days reading? There are staggering statistics that show that kids who read during the summer are stronger readers, writers, and thinkers all year long. Accept the HMS Summer Reading Challenge and be your best!

The Outsiders

My favorite unit of the year is always when we read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. This year is no different. Given how much time we have left, we have to charge through and read a chapter every class if we want to finish the book, which we do!

During our Outsiders unit, we are keeping journals and practicing our collegiate discussion skills. Discussing a book in a mature and respectful way is a life skill I want all my students to have.

Upcoming dates to remember:
May 9: Finish reading chapter 5
May 13: Outsiders Relay - in class
May 16: Finish reading chapter 11
May 17: 3rd period goes to Alcatraz!
May 20: Finish ch. 12 in class
May 22: Dress up like a greaser or a soc!
May 28: End of year Benchmark III
May 30: Giants Game!
May 31: Yearbook release party! $3 - must pre-order yearbook to attend
June 5: Last day of school!

Get inspired to dress like a greaser or a soc! Check out my "Outsiders Photo Album" tab to see my former students dressed up on this fun day.

Informational Text Unit





We have been working on evaluating and analyzing informational text. This includes consumer, workplace, and public documents. We enjoyed a "Nutrition Nuance Detective activity, where students analyzed food labels on various snacks and then got to enjoy them.

ust before spring break, my students were given the opportunity to choose a non-fiction book and encouraged to read it because a book report project would be coming soon!

Students chose all sorts of books, from informational to autobiographical memoirs. They were told to finish their books during spring break and be ready to report on it when they got back.

Now students are working on Non-Fiction Book Projects, which are due next week, April 17, but extra credit is available to students who turn theirs in before April 15. There will be a short amount of time in class allowed to complete the project, so students must work on their projects at home.
Students are encouraged to bring their project and materials for a workday tomorrow, April 11!

To see the assignment and project organizer, click here.

A Fresh Start

Somehow, we have made our way into the 3rd Trimester! With the District and State Writing Assessments behind us, we are pushing hard to be ready for the California State Tests that will start at the end of April.

Grammar-O-Rama is happening in Mrs. Heartt's Language Arts! We are finishing up our RED packets, due on Monday, March 18th. We are making a little foldable on Parts of Speech and enjoying some School House Rock videos to go along with it. There will be a grammar quiz next week, so be sure to study your foldable once it is finished!

Here are a few School House Rock videos for your viewing enjoyment:

Verbs

Adverbs

And best of all... Conjunctions!

The Powers of Persuasion

With the District Writing Assessment rapidly approaching, we have been working on practicing our persuasive writing techniques. Not only do we have a graphic organizer that pretty much guarantees a "proficient" paper, but we have also been working on making sure we have effective examples and evidence.

On Monday, 2/25 students will be quizzed on the graphic organizer to make sure they remember all parts of the essay. Also, you need to come into class with your practice Writing Assessment (about changing the school day to a 10am to 5pm schedule) finished and ready to evaluate.

For your viewing pleasure, here is a little YouTube video about how to organize and essay:

Wednesday, 2/27 is the day of the actual assessment! I am sure all of you will do an excellent job!

Fakebook: A Novel Idea

Despite the many bugs and mishaps, students in Mrs. Heartt's Language Arts have made beautiful Fakebook pages for the characters in their books.

From 1st period:
Adrianna's page about Massie Block from The Clique books
Laura's page about Claudia Cristina Cortez from books of the same name
Larsen's page about Robert Langdon from The DaVinci Code
Jasmine's page about Anna from In the Cards
Hailey's page about Cazarrina Divetri from The Glassmaker's Daughter
Cameron's page about Will Treaty from Ranger's Apprentice
Emily's page about Darren Shan from Cirque du Freak
Diana's page about Violet Baudelaire from The Series of Unfortunate Events
Yulissa's page about Jenny Greenley from Teen Idol
Xochitl's page about Auden West from Along for the Ride
Ingrid's page about Massie Block from The Clique books

From 5th period:
Merrick's page about Haytham Kenway from Assassin's Creed: Forsaken
Brianna's page about Massie Block from The Clique books
Caden's page about Gregor the Overlander from the book of the same name
Julia's page about President Coriolanus Snow from The Hunger Games
Ryan's page about Artemis Fowl from the books of the same name
William's page about Tintin from the book series of the same name
Alex's page about Eddy Okubo from The Eyes of the Emperor
Veronica's page about Claire Lyons from The Clique series

If your page is not listed here and you sent me the link, the link didn't work. Please send me the link again!

I really enjoyed reading everyone's interpretations of their characters. Thanks for putting so much effort into this project.
I will also be hanging the "hard copy" projects this week, so we can all enjoy their creativity in our classroom.
Great work!

Character Analysis with Fakebook!

Happy new year! We welcomed 2013 with a BANG! Not only did we write thank-you notes and make grammar review foldables, we also started talking about our Character Analysis project: Facebook pages for characters in our independent reading books. (see assignment here).

What is Fakebook? It is an online educational tool to create a fake Facebook page for a historical figure or fictional character. Click here to get to Fakebook. From here, you can start your own Fakebook page by clicking "Click Here To Enter Name." Be sure to save your work and create a password. When your Fakebook page is complete, you will turn in the url address for your page as well as your password to prove it was YOU who created it!

Check out the Fakebook page I created for the character Tiger Lily, from the book of the same name.


You can also create a hard copy of a Facebook page using the template I handed out in class. It is page 1-2 of the linked pdf.

The Fakebook assignment will be due on January 17th, so go forth and make it happen! Happy Fakebooking!