3/28 Thursday

All that stands between you guys and Spring Break is numbers 1-7

1. Warm-Up-Enjoy some Free Rice.

2. Conflict Review-Let's see how well we know our conflicts!

3. Create-a-conflict-I want you guys to pick one of the conflict types and write a 10 sentence short story using your conflict. This should go in your Norman's Stuff.

4. Bronx Masquerade-Here we go.....

5. Bronx Review-Now that we have finished Bronx, you guys are going to write a review! Let me know what you thought about the book (good or bad.) Be sure to provide lots of details. Your review should be at least 15 sentences. I want you to list favorite and least favorite characters. I want to know what questions you had after the book ended. I want to know what you might have done differently if you had written the book. Dig deep!

6. Social Studies Warm-Up-Answer the following question:

" What are some ways that America may have been impacted by the French Revolution?"

7. James Monroe-Watch this video. You should take notes, because when you are finished you are going to create 5 EOG style questions about the information contained in the video. Your questions should go in your Mr. Norman's Stuff doc. 

Exit Ticket-Copy and paste the following questions into your Norman's stuff doc. Now answer the questions. Think about what we have talked about this week and remember to dig deep.

     1. List and explain 3 impacts the French Revolution had on the world.

     2. Why did France sell Louisiana to the United States? Explain your answer.

     3. Explain in detail the role of Simon Bolivar in Latin American Independence.

     4. What was so significant about the Monroe Doctrine? Explain your answer.

3/27 Wednesday

1. Warm-Up-Answer the following "would you rathers"

Would you rather time travel to the past or to the future?

Would you rather always lose or never play?

2. Vocab Review-Take a few minutes to review for your quiz.

3. Vocabulary Quiz- Here is the link for your quiz.

4. Conflict Review

5. Rewording Questions-We are going to work on our rewording skills!

6. Bronx Masquerade-Will today be the day we finish?

7. Independent Reading-Grab your book, your class notebook and get busy! In your notebook you will be doing 7 Pop-Up Questions.

8. Book Journal-In your book journal doc. answer the following question

What are some of the conflicts found in your book? List the conflicts and provide examples from your book.

9. Warm-Up-Answer the following question-

How do you think other kings felt when they learned about the French Revolution? Why do you think they felt this way? Be sure to explain.

10. Simon Bolivar Videos-Watch the 2 videos on Simon Bolivar. Like you did with the Toussaint web pages, you are to evaluate and rate them. Explain what you liked and did not like about the videos.

3/26 Tuesday

1. Warm-Up- Creative Writing

Look at the following picture. Write a quick short story about the picture. Be creative and try to include some of your weekly vocabulary words.

 

2. Weekly Vocabulary-Keep studying those words! Your quiz is tomorrow!

3. Conflict-Much like we did with theme, you guys are going to visit the following links, watch the videos, and take notes. You are looking for information which can help you identify the different types of conflict.
Your links are here, here , and here. Below is your video...








4. Bronx Masquerade-We are getting closer and closer to the end!

5. Bronx Sequels-Take this time to work on your Bronx sequels. Remember...5 characters, 6 sentences for each character. Also, BE CREATIVE!

6. Social Studies Warm-Up-Answer the following question:

What impact do you think the French Revolution may have had on the rest of the world?

7. Impacts of the French Revolution-Today we will look further at the impacts the French Revolution had on France and the rest of the world.

8. Website Evaluation-You are going to be reviewing and evaluating 4 websites containing information on my main man Toussaint. The links are here, here,  here, and here. When you have visited all four sites, go to your Norman's Stuff doc and rank the websites in order of most to least favorite. Provide reasons you feel the way you do.

9. Dossier-Take a few minutes and work on your dossiers.

3/25 Monday

1. Warm-Up-Answer the following question-

"What was the last thing that you did that you will NEVER forget. What made it so memorable? Be sure to provide details"

2. Weekly Vocabulary-Take a few minutes to get familiar with this week's Vocabulary Words.

3. Weekly Vocabulary Discussion

4. Bronx Masquerade-Time to get back to our book!

5. Weekly Homework-For our weekly homework, you are going to write another letter, but instead of writing to Nikki Grimes, you will be writing to one of her characters. Pick a Bronx character and write them a letter. You need to introduce yourself, tell them about your school, and ask them 5 questions related to the book.

6. Weekly Assignment-Mr. Norman loves him some sequels. We are getting closer and closer to the end of Bronx Masquerade. I would like to know what happens to these characters after the book ends. That is where you guys come in. You are to pick 5 characters from the book and write a short (at least 6 sentences) story about what happens to these characters after the book. Make sure you pick a character you know a lot about and make sure that your stories are CREATIVE!

7. Independent Reading-Grab your book and get reading. You will be doing alphabet reading in your class notebook.

8. Book Journal-Answer the following prompt in your book journal-
In your book, who is your favorite character? Who is your least favorite? Provide good reasons why you feel the way you do.

9. Social Studies Warm-Up-Answer the following question-

What do you think will happen in France after the French Revolution? Provide reasons.

10. Weekly Assignment-You will be creating a dossier (I will define) using one of the four most important people from our unit. This link has more details.

3/22 Friday

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


1. Free Rice-Free Rice Friday!

2. News Article- Read the following article. Share your thoughts in your Norman's Stuff doc. Was it interesting? Was it boring? Be sure to provide details.

3. Weekly Projects-Weekly Projects are due NOW!

4. Theme-We are going to take a few minutes to review the subject of theme. This would be a good time to look over your notes. You can also look at my Theme Slide Presentation.

5. Bronx Masquerade

6. Independent Reading-Grab your books and get reading!

7. Book Journal-Answer the following question-

What is the theme of your book? Why do you think so? Provide details. If you have just started your book or are reading a non-fiction one,  write about the theme from the last book you read. 

3/21 Thursday

1. Warm-Up- In your Mr. Norman's Stuff doc, answer the following "would you rathers?" Be sure to provide details and reasons.

Live in a city or live in the country?

 

Have flight or invisibility as a superpower?

 

 

2. After you finish your warm-up, you may quietly work on your weekly projects.

 

3. Theme Review-I want you guys to share your findings with me.

 

4. Theme Discussion-We will discuss together as a class the ins and outs of Theme.

 

5. Theme Activity-You guys will begin working on a Theme identification worksheet.

 

6. Bronx Masquerade-Let's relax and enjoy some reading.

3/19 Tuesday

1. Warm-up-Creative Writing

Look at the following picture. Write a quick short story about the picture. Be creative and try to include some of your weekly vocabulary words.

 

 

2. Weekly Vocabulary-Take a few minutes to review your weekly vocabulary words. You can also take some time to work on your 3-2-1's.

3. Weekly Project-You will be creating a book cover for your independent reading book. This should be creative and colorful. It should contain what you consider to be the most important elements of your book. It should NOT look like the cover your book already has. On the back of your cover, write a short essay explaining why you chose the images you did.

4. Poetry- One last assignment for our poetry lesson.

5. Theme-You are going to be learning all about the subject of theme in literature. Here are the steps for your assignment. Read all of the steps before starting.
     1. Watch the following video






2. Go to the following links:
         Here
         Here
         Here
3. As you are watching the video and viewing your links you need to be taking notes. Using
your notes, the video, and the links you are to create a list with what you think are the
7 best ways to find a story's theme. Make sure you explain why you picked your list.

6. Bronx Masquerade-Let's read!

 

 

 

3/18 Monday

1. Warm-Up-Answer the following warm-up question

Do you think that working on your poetry has helped you in your ability to express yourself? If so explain. If no explain.

2. Weekly Vocabulary-Here is the link to your weekly vocabulary words. Take a few minutes and get to know your words.

3. Weekly Vocabulary Project-This week you will be doing a 3-2-1 Project with your weekly vocabulary words.

4. Bronx Masquerade-Although I will never be able to top the awesomeness of Blake, Meg and Nolin rapping, I will nonetheless try. 

5. Poetry-Take a few minutes to review my poetry slides and the poetry terms.

6. Independent Reading-Grab your book and read! In your Class Notebook you will be doing 3 Page Webs.

7. Book Journal-My favorite time to read is right before I go to bed. Do you have a favorite reading time? If so, tell me why you like  this time.

3/15 Friday

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!

Now let's celebrate by doing some work!

1. Warm-Up-Free Rice Friday! Switch it up today and try some different subjects (might I recommend Literature?)


2. Friday Question- In your Mr. Norman's Stuff doc, answer the following question



After you have finished your answer, take some time to work on your Vocabulary Crossword Puzzle.

3. Mr. Norman's Crossword-Now you guys will take some time and complete a vocabulary crossword created by Mr. Norman.

4. Poetry Review-Let's take a walk down memory lane and review what we learned this week about poetry.

5. Poetry Assignment-Take the next few minutes and work on your poetry. After you finish, Mr. Norman has a surprise for you!

6. Read Aloud-Today we are going to do things a little different with our Bronx Masquerade reading
(I hope it works!)

7. Independent Reading-Kick back and enjoy your books! We will be doing Alphabet Reading in our Class Notebooks.

8. Book Journal-Write a short review of your book. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Tell me why! Be sure to provide details from the book.

3/14 Thursday

1. Warm-Up Creative Writing- Respond to the following writing prompt. 

Would you rather?

 

Be the president or a king?

 

Write a bestselling novel, or hit a homerun in the World Series?

 

Go to Alaska or Hawaii?
 

 

2. Poetry Vocabulary-Here is a list of words important to poetry. Take a few minutes to look over the list. Try to think of examples for each of the terms.

3. Read Aloud-BRONX TIME!!!!!
 

3/13 Wednesday

1. Warm-Up-Respond to the following quotes:

What do you think the following quotes mean? What was the speaker talking about? Why do you think so?

“Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”

“Choose the positive. You have choice, you are master of your attitude, choose the positive, the constructive. Optimism is a faith that leads to success.”

2. Weekly Homework Discussion

3. Poetry KWL-You guys should already be familiar with KWL charts. Well, now you are going to create a Poetry KWL. For the K, you will be writing everything you already know about poetry. Use the W to write about what you want to learn about poetry. Finally, you will write everything that you learn about poetry in the L section of your chart.

The following Slide Presentation can help you with your chart.



4. Reading Scores Chart -- Please double check that you have shared your Reading Scores Chart with both Mr. Philipps and Mr. Norman.  

Make sure you have renamed it appropriately (number-full name-title).  The title should be Reading Scores Chart.

5. Read Aloud-Let's all relax and visit the kids from Bronx Masquerade.

6. Independent Reading-It's time to grab your book and do some independent reading. In your Class Journal Notebook you will be doing 8 Pop-Up Questions.

7. Book Journal-After your independent reading, answer the following question in your book journal.

What is one word you use to describe what you read in your book today. Be sure to give your reasons for selecting your word.

3/12 Tuesday

1. Warm-Up Creative Writing-Respond to the following prompt:

Look at the following picture. Write a quick short story based on the picture. As always, be creative and try to use your weekly vocabulary words.

2. Weekly Vocabulary Project-Take the next few minutes to work on your Crossword Project.

3. Weekly Homework-Have you ever wondered exactly what was on an author's mind when they were writing a book? This week's Homework Assignment will be to write a letter to Nikki Grimes, author of Bronx Masquerade. In your letter, you are to ask Mrs Grimes 5 questions about her book. These questions can be about the characters, the setting or whatever. Your letter should be properly formatted and contain no grammatical errors.

4. Read Aloud-Bronx Masquerade time! Relax and enjoy.

5. Poetry Breakdown-We will practice breaking down poems. First as a class, and then in groups.

6. Weekly Assignment-???????????

3/11 Monday

1. Warm-Up-Using your summarization and reviewing skills, answer the following prompt-

In your Mr. Norman's Stuff doc, summarize last week's classes. Be sure to provide good details. Also, I want you to review Mr. Norman's performance. What was good? What was bad? What would you change?

2. Weekly Vocabualry- Take a few minutes to look over your Weekly Vocabulary. For a change, I picked all the words from Bronx Masquerade!

3. Weekly Vocabulary Project-For your Weekly Vocabualry Assignment, you are to use all 15 of your vocab. words to create a Crossword Puzzle.

4. Read Aloud-It's time to sit back and enjoy some Bronx Masquerade, brought to you courtesy of Mr. Norman.

5. Informational Text Close Reading-Today we are going to apply our close reading skills to a passage of informational text.

6. Independent Reading- Grab your book, get comfortable (or as my son says, "compable") and do some independent reading.

3/8 Friday

1. Warm-Up-Free Rice...Free Rice....Free Rice

2. Friday Question- In your Mr. Norman's Stuff doc, answer the following question





3. Weekly Project-Take some time to finish your Movie Review. If you are finished, take some time making it better!

4. Read Aloud-Stop what you are doing and get comfortable....it's time for Bronx Masquerade!

5. Character Chart-Take a few minutes to update your Character Chart.

6. Get a JOB!-In the past couple of days, you have learned a lot about informational text, now it's time to create your own. Go to the following link, look around, and await further instruction.

7. Independent Reading-Clear your heads and relax. It's time to read independently. We will chose as a class our Class Journal activity.

8. Book Journal-In your book journal, answer the following question.

"Would you like to trade places with your book's main character? If yes explain why. If no explain why."

3/7 Thursday

1. Warm-Up-Follow the link to the folllowing story.  

http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3757883

What are your thoughts? Do you think we need another state? Provide details!

2. Weekly Vocabulary-Now that you have finished your warm-up, take a few minutes to review your weekly vocabulary words. You can also work on your 5x5x5 vocabulary project.

3. Weekly Vocabulary Quiz-Alright, it's time! Follow the link for your quiz and good luck!

https://testmoz.com/129505

4. 5x5x5-Now that that unpleasantness is over, work on your vocabulary project.

5. Warm-up-Prediction time! In a new Google doc titled Mr. Norman's Stuff answer the following prompt

Judging  by what we have learned so far, what do you think might happen next in the French Revolution? What happens to the king? What happens to the 3rd Estate? Provide details and reasons....

3/6 Wednesday

1. Quote-Respond to the following quote. What do you think it means? Provide details.

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.” 

― Dr. Seuss

3/5 Tuesday

1. Create-a-story-Let's flex those creative writing muscles again by looking at this awesome picture and answering the prompt.

What is going on here? Be more creative than "Two kittens are fighting". Why are they fighting, who wins, does this fight resolve any deep seeded issues between the two? I want to know!

Write a short (4-5 sentences) story inspired by the picture. Remember, give lots of DETAILS!

2. Weekly Vocabulary-Take some time to look over your Weekly Vocabulary There will be a quiz on Thursday and your 5x5x5 is due on Friday. 

3. Rewording Questions-Using the questions from yesterday's Active Notes worksheet, we are going to keep practicing question rewording.

4. Read Aloud-It's that time! Relax and enjoy some Bronx Masquerade! 5. Informational Text Introduction-Today you will be introduced to the "wonderful" world of informational text. Here is a definition- Text designed to convey factual information, rather than tell or advance a narrative. Informational text may employ techniques such as lists, comparing/contrasting, or demonstrating cause/effect, and may be accompanied by graphs or charts. Most textbooks consist of primarily informational text. What does that mean? Let's discuss...... 6. Informational Text Example-Now that you have a better handle of informational text, read the following... Details Release Date: May 04, 2012; Rated: PG-13; Genre:Action/Adventure; With: Robert Downey Jr.,Chris Evans,Chris Hemsworth,Scarlett Johansson andMark Ruffalo; Distributor:Walt Disney Pictures The best thing about The Avengers, a multi-tentpole blockbuster that gathers half a dozen Marvel superheroes and unfurls them on a baddie from another planet, is that it also unleashes them on each other. Simply put: These freaks of goodness may be a team, but they don't like one another very much. The six have been assembled by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), director of the peacekeeping alliance S.H.I.E.L.D., to defeat Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor's megalomaniac adoptive brother, who arrives through a wormhole and steals the Tesseract — a cosmic cube that throws off ice-blue electromagnetic vapors like the best special effect of 1986. Loki, with stringy long hair, black eyeballs, and a ghostly pallor (he looks like Marilyn Manson playing Richard III), plans to destroy the world through ultimate war. Earth's defenders are Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), the ninja twirler Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson, with not enough to do), and the crossbow ace Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner, saturnine cool). They catch Loki and lock him up in a barely penetrable glass booth, and the film then basically counts down to the alien attack that Loki calls forth. The first half hour is murk, with too much gobbledygook on the Tesseract (a talisman that could save our environment and yada yada). But once our heroes cram into a flying command station, it's Five Angry Supermen (and one superwoman). This isn't a case of more being less. The four who've already fronted their own Marvel films look all the sharper as supporting studs jockeying for primacy. The magnetically stolid Captain America emerges as the team leader, Iron Man is the nattering narcissist, and Thor is the alien outsider who's more intent on saving his planet than on rescuing Earth. As for the Hulk, the smartest thing the filmmakers did was to get Mark Ruffalo to play Bruce Banner as a man so sensitive that he's at war, every moment, with himself. (The film finally solves the Hulk problem: He's a lot more fun in small doses.) The second smartest thing they did was to allow Tom Hiddleston to let it rip as Loki. He's close to a generic villain, but Hiddleston invests his ravings and evil smile with a sleek mystery and power that suggests he may be an actor of the stature of Gary Oldman. In terms of storytelling, The Avengers is for the most part a highly functional, banged-together vehicle that runs on synthetic franchise fuel. Yet the grand finale of CGI action, set in the streets of New York, is — in every sense — smashing. True, it wouldn't be out of place in a Michael Bay movie, but no Transformer was ever as transfixing as this leaping, flying, pummeling superteam. It makes you eager to see what they'll do next, now that they've defeated a threat even bigger than their egos.B+ 7. Weekly Project-Now it's your turn to create some informational text. Using The Avengers movie review as an example, you are to write your very own movie review. You are to pick a movie you have recently seen and review it. This does not have to be a positive review. If you saw a movie that you absolutely hated, then by all means review it! Make sure your review includes: 1. Movie information (actors, director, genre, etc...) 2. Brief summary of the movie (at least 4 sentences) 3. Your review (at least 5 sentences)-This should not only include whether or not you liked the movie but also the reasons why. 8. Homework-You are to do some Independent Reading at home and then create 5 Summary Sketches. These will be due on Friday. 9. Warm-Up-Quietly read and think about the following prompt. You do not need to write down your answers, but you will need to have some if called on. List and explain three causes for the French Revolution.  10. Weekly Project-It's time for you guys to show the power of the press! You are to create a newspaper front page about the French Revolution. It must include: 1. Title of Newspaper 2. Date and price 3. title of article 4. Story (at least 10 sentences) 5. Opinion article (at least 8 sentences) You may use the internet and the class slides for research. This will be due on Friday March 8th, 2013 French Revolution Slides

3/4 Monday

1. Warm-up-BOOOOO!!!! The weekend is over....

As sad as that is remember another one is just 5 days away. Ok, in your Mr. Norman's stuff doc, tell me about something interesting you did over the weekend. Give good details and explain why you thought it was interesting.


2. Weekly Vocabulary-It's that time again, time for our Weekly Vocabulary! Take a few minutes getting to know your words better. After you have finished, we will discuss the words as a class.


3. Weekly Vocabulary Project-This week we will be using our new vocabulary words to complete a 5x5x5 project. First, pick 5 of the 10 words. Next, write your 5 words and their defintions 5 times. When finished, create a paragraph with at least 5 sentences that use the 5 vocabulary words you picked. Make sure you use each word correctly. Make sure to underline the vocabulary words in your created paragraph. This assignment will be due on Friday.

4. Finish the Story-First off, yes I did steal this from Mr. Philipps, but I just think that it is a great idea! I will give one sentence. Using that sentence as a starting point, you are to create a short story! Make it exciting, make it intense, make it unforgettable, but most of all, just make it!

I realized that time was running short, and I only had a few moments before everything would change forever!

5. Active Notes-Practice your active notes skills on the handout.

6. Independent Reading-Sit back, relax, and enjoy your book. In your class notebooks we will be doing Page Webs.

7 Book Journal-Like we did for Bronx Masquerade, pick one character from your independent reading book that you most identify with. Give 2 reasons why you feel this way.

1. Free Rice-Start your morning off with a bang! Play some Free Rice, learn some new words, and help out the hungry!
http://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1482


Free Rice



2. In your Mr. Norman doc, answer the following question-

"What are your big plans for the weekend? Give me some good details!"









3. Character-We will continue to discuss the literary element of character. Once we finish, you will be creating a Wordle using two characters from Bronx Masquerade and traits to describe them.



4. Summarizing-We will briefly go over the class summaries from our worksheet.




5. Read aloud-Let's take a few minutes to read Bronx Masquerade. Relax and enjoy!


6. Vocabulary-We will briefly go over your words and then you will turn in your 3-2-1's.






7. Independent Reading-Alright, it's time to just chill and do some independent reading. In your class notebooks you should be doing Pop-Up Questions. I will let you know how many you are required.