Mistake

I edited my last entry about grading guidelines and checklists. This is why I'm not a math teacher.

Book Talk example

In my last post, I reminded all of you of the importance of turning in your book talks. I also published a grading checklist to guide you in your reading your writing. The following is an example of a book talk that would earn the full 40 points in this class:

Title: Reluctantly Alice

Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Information about the author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor experienced several embarrassing moments in seventh grade. Alice’s adventures in this book are based on some of the author’s experiences.

Summary: Alice McKinley has one goal for her seventh grade year: she wants everyone to like her. Unfortunately, she runs into several problems that make this goal difficult to achieve. Her main conflict has to do with Denise Whitlock, a big, ugly eighth grader who’s always bullying Alice. Denise teases Alice for having a dead mother and laughs if Alice falls down in gym class. One day, Denise and her friends corner Alice and try to make her sing the school song. Alice doesn’t want to because she has a terrible voice, and the eighth graders threaten to dunk her head in a stopped-up toilet. Alice’s brother Lester stops by the school and rescues her just in time, but after that, Denise’s bullying gets even worse. Eventually, Alice figures out how to solve the problem. For an English class project, Alice picks Denise to be her partner, knowing that Denise will have to be nice to her in order to get a good grade. At first, Denise ignores Alice and refuses to answer her questions. After the girls meet a couple of times, Denise starts to be nicer to Alice, and they finish their project and get a good grade on it. They even find out they have something in common: neither one feels completely comfortable within her family. Alice loves her father and brother but misses her mother, and Denise is the youngest of six kids and feels unwanted and unloved by her parents. Alice and Denise solve their conflict and act nice to each other from now on.

This is the main conflict of the book, but Alice experiences other problems as well. She and her ex-boyfriend Patrick accidentally embarrass their history teacher and work on a special project for class to make it up to him. The school newspaper prints an interview with Alice, and she gets into a fight with both of her best friends, Pamela and Elizabeth, after they feel jealous of the attention Alice is getting. She arranges a date between her father and her pretty English teacher, Miss Summers, without telling either adult what’s going on. They wind up liking each other, but Alice’s father tells her not to interfere with his love life anymore. Alice also tries to help her brother decide which of his two girlfriends he likes best; this conflict remains unsolved, and it looks like Lester will have to juggle between Marilyn and Crystal for several Alice books to come.

Connections: I made a text-to-self connection when Alice and her friends found out that the seventh graders would have to sing the school song on Seventh Grade Sing Day. Alice and Elizabeth were horrified by the idea, but Pamela thought it would be nice to sing in front of a crowd because she has a good voice. If that happened to me today, I would probably react the same way that Pamela did.

Recommendations: I recommend this book to girls between ten and thirteen; the subplot about Lester and his girlfriends is inappropriate for anyone younger than ten, and girls older than thirteen would find it babyish. I think some boys might enjoy the book too; they might think Lester and Patrick are funny. This book is the third in the Alice series, so if people want to read it, they should read the first two books beforehand: The Agony of Alice and Alice in Rapture, Sort Of.

Sourcebooks and Book Talks

Just a quick reminder that Book Talk #1 for eighth graders are due tomorrow and Sourcebook checks begin tomorrow for ALL students. If you do not have a Sourcebook by the time I collect them to grade, you will receive a 0 on the assignment. Please take this very seriously, as Sourcebooks and Book Talks are 40% of the grade in this class.

To put it another way, if you have a 0 average for Sourcebook checks and Book Talks, the highest grade you can achieve in my class is a 60. A passing grade is a 65. You will not pass this class without working in your Sourcebook or turning in Book Talks.

Here is the grading checklist I use for book talks:
The title and author are included - 5 points

The information about the author explains how the author’s life influences the text - 5 points

The summary covers the beginning, middle, and end of the book, discusses the main conflict and how it’s resolved, and briefly describes any subplots.
(In the case of non-fiction, the summary should mention the most important things the reader learned from the book). - 10 points

There is a text-to-self, text-to-text, or text-to-world connection to a specific incident in the book using details from the book - 1o points

There is an explanation of whether or not the book should be recommended to other readers. The recommendation focuses on a particular audience of readers. - 1o points

This is how the Sourcebook will be graded:
The Table of Contents is accurate and up-to-date
- 5 points

Every entry is clearly marked with a title and page number
- 5 points

Every entry begins on a new page
- 5 points

Every entry has complete, original work from the student
- 25 points

Good luck!

Homework & due date reminder

This is a reminder for all students and parents. This is the homework that is past due:

- An ELA contract signed by the student AND the parent/guardian (5 points)
- Five summer reading responses (5 points each/25 points in total)
- The first weekly reading log (20 points)
- The My Goals Essay, all three drafts (25 points)

Here are the due dates for upcoming assignments:

9/19/08, Friday - The second weekly reading log (2o points)
9/22/08, Monday, 382 & 383 - Test prep packet #1 (10 points)
9/22/08, Monday, 361 - Book Talk #1 (40 points)

Rubrics and guidelines for these assignments will be posted shortly.

- Ms. Basile

Introduction

My name is Ms. Basile and I teach sixth and eighth grade at Isaac Bildersee Middle School in the Academy of Global, American, and Community Connections. On this blog, I will post information about upcoming assignments and class projects, field trips, celebrations of student achievement. I plan to update this blog several times a week to keep students and parents informed about what is going on in the classroom.

I'm excited to start school tomorrow. I hope everyone else is, too!