Happy Monday. Thanks all of you for sending and/or sharing with me on google drive. Please keep doing until I get google classroom up and running--soon. Daily and *weekly (by grade) assignments below. (This is a long one so keep scrolling!)

Today's writing prompt, from The Writer's Toolbox:

Begin or end a short story with the following:
"You could make a living doing that kind of thing." I suppose I could, but I had never thought about it, until then. 

A bit of grammar:
Adverbs vs. Adjectives

Use adverbs with action verbs and adjectives with linking verbs.
Action: swim, run, jump , scream, write, sleep eat. She skates (action) gracefully. He sings (action) well. 
He leaves (action) quickly. She yells (action) loudly.
Linking verbs describe the subject. The most common is to be and all its forms: was, will be, have been, will have been, etc. Notice the subject is being described but isn't actually doing any type of action.
Tori is (linking) tired. David was (linking) thirsty. Eliza and Kate are (linking) tall. 
Kacey and Tucker will be (linking) hungry. 
Some words can be linking or action verbs, depending on how they are used. 
Chris appears (linking, the subject is being described) happy. The airplane appears (action) suddenly out of the fog. Marcella feels (linking-the subject is being described) tired. The vet feels (action) the cat's tummy carefully. 
A trick -- substitute the word seems and notice how it sounds. Say it out loud!
Find the mistakes in the following and correct -- like a mugshot:
1. The dog smells badly.
2. Of the three boys, Mike runs faster.
3. You sure can eat a lot of ice cream at one sitting.
4. This is a real pretty dress. 
5. Kate is much less unintelligent than Sue. 
6. Apples turn badly if you let them sit out for too long.
7. This bottle of Coke is emptier than that one.

Correct answers can be accessed at this link.


And for the week of March 30--

*7th Graders for the week of March 30--

Movie versions of The Call of the Wild
A true-to-the book version was done in 1976 and you can rent it through Amazon prime and through iTunes to rent, $3.99. The newer one is supposed to be released this week, but so far it costs more than the older one, at $14.99. Might wait a bit and the price will probably go down. Whatever one you choose, if either, do a book/movie comparison chart and then write a few paragraphs about how they do compare. Make sure to saw which you think is better, the book or the movie, and make clear which movie you saw.

Did you read White Fang by Jack London, or another work? If so, tell me what you thought of it. I will post a few questions about that novel tomorrow.
Any work you have done, please share with me on your google drive, or send to me directly. Soon we will have google classroom up and running and maybe a live meeting. Wait for it!

National Poetry Month begins on Wednesday, April 1. In anticipation of that-

Exploring the genre of poetry--Read the introduction on pgs. 704-705. Then read the poems that appear on pages 706 through 738. Try to figure out the meaning of each poem. Write its title and poet’s name, and one sentence on what you think the meaning is. Complete the following related work: p. 712, questions 1 through 6; p. 721, questions 1 through 5; p. 722, questions 1 through 6. 

*8th-Graders for the week of March 30--

If you read Flowers for Algernon last week, here is a link to the movie version online,  via You Tube. I think it's free. As always, it would be best if you read the teleplay, the story, first, (last week's reading)  that is in your textbook,  pgs. 180-210. Did you also get a look at the questions on p. 210.? Good to check those as well.

After you have seen the movie, try to write a comparison, book/movie, noting the character similarities and changes, plot, etc. Then, write a review, not unlike the best of the ones you saw your last week at school before our break. Send to me what you write. Be sure to do this in essay style.

Exploring historical events through drama and literature.

This assignment on The Diary of Anne Frank is somewhat related to today, but very much steep in world history. (Some of you read it for your biography. ) But all of us are having to stay home with our families and trying to do the best we can in a sometimes crowded and certainly unique situation.

This is the true story, the history of a 13-year-old Jewish girl in Holland during World War II who had to go into hiding from the Nazis. Read the introduction (on. Pgs 696 through 699. ) Make absolutely sure to read the introduction so that you understand the historical context.  In addition, there is a very useful introduction of the time and the diary here. Check that out BEFORE you read. There is a lot to take in.

  Then read the play, The Diary of Anne Frank (based on her actual diary), which starts on p. 700 through p. 778. Try to respond to all the questions on p. 778. For vocabulary and grammar development, complete the grammar and vocabulary work on p. 780. 
There is a guided reading along with the play that you can find here. This link also offers some vocabulary words to pay attention to. There are some terrific exercises to do when you are finished. Go to the postreading worksheet tab, or any of the others you find interesting.

With this work, find any movie version of The Diary of Anne Frank (there are several.) Watch it and then write a reflection on the movie. Write which had more impact on you, reading or watching?

This would be a great movie to watch with family.

Write if you thought the characters/actors were as you pictured the people you read about.  If you have the actual book The Diary of Anne Frank, or can find it online, or borrow it (download it) from the library, it would be great to read that as well. It is often an 8th grade recommended reading.  Audio version #1here and #2 here.
It may be a little cumbersome to read electronically, but here is her diary, online. You might be able to download on Kindle through the library or Amazon or on a different device through Google books.