Some info for while I am away...

Hey 7th graders!

In less than 24 hours, I'm off to New York for my wedding! I'm pretty excited (if you can't tell)!

I will miss 5 lessons and I expect you all to treat your substitute with kindness and respect. Please remember to pick your book report book (you should have done this by now anyway) and bring it with you to lessons. Please bring your What's Up? 7 books with you to lessons as well.

You should continue to work on your essays as they are due on October, 20 - a day that is fast approaching.

The homework I handed out today - the complex sentences assignment - is due on Friday, October 10.

Have a nice weekend and see you soon!

Carmen :)

400 SEK!

Hey 7th graders!

Just wanted to let you know that I think it is pretty cool that we have now raised 400 SEK for the Literacy and Outreach Program for Kenya!

If we keep up this good work, we should have no trouble reaching our goal of 1800 SEK (250 USD) by Christmas. 

Have a nice day!

Carmen :)

Grading Criteria and Homework

Hey 7th graders!

The grammar homework you received today is due on Friday, September 26, 2014. Please do not forget!

Here is a copy of the grading criteria for the essay in case you lose the paper I handed out today:

A

• The student almost always (nästan alltid) uses proper capitalization
• The student almost always (nästan alltid) conjugates verbs correctly (subject-verb agreement)
•  The student almost always (nästan alltid) expresses him/herself in a clear and organized way.
• The student almost always (nästan alltid) spells correctly
• The student informs the reader with only facts and not opinions

 C

• The student sometimes (ibland) uses proper capitalization.
• The student sometimes (ibland) conjugates verbs correctly (subject-verb agreement)
• The student sometimes (ibland) expresses him/herself in a clear and organized way.
• The student sometimes (ibland) spells correctly
• The student usually (vanligtvis) informs the reader with only facts and not opinions

 E

• The student rarely (sällan) uses proper capitalization.
• The student rarely (sällan) conjugates verbs correctly (subject-verb agreement)
• The student rarely (sällan) expresses him/herself in a clear and organized way.
• The student rarely (sällan) spells correctly
• The student rarely (sällan) informs the reader with only facts and not opinions

 F

• The student did not try!!

Homework Reminder

Hey 7th graders!

Please don't forget to bring your homework on Friday: tidsprepositioner and the answer to "what makes a person a good leader?"

Have a nice evening and next few days!

Carmen :)

Essays

Hey 7th graders!

I'm glad we got a chance to work in the computer lab today and I hope I answered all your questions about the essay test (uppsats/hemmaprov). If you still have questions, email me or see me after class.

You will have another chance to work on your essays in the computer lab while I am in New York. I will remind my substitute (vikarie) to remind you to bring your USBs on that day. 

Have a nice day and see you all tomorrow!

Carmen :)

Rhetoric

Hey 7th graders,

Thank you for contributing to such an interesting discussion today! Just to summarize what we learned about speeches and rhetoric:

A speech (tal) is an act (handling): one person connects with an audience through the spoken word (det talade ordet). The spoken word can be very powerful - it can persuade (övertala), inform (meddela, upplysa) and motivate (motivera). The ancient Greeks considered persuasive, informative and motivational speeches to all be a part of the art known as rhetoric (retorik, talarkonst). Rhetoric has been central to the different education systems that developed in Europe over the course of the last several thousand years. This is because it is important to know how to persuade, inform and motivate people when participating in public life (samhällsarbete) - especially in a democracy.

Rhetoric can be used for good (Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech) and "bad" (when used by dictators like Adolf Hitler). 

When giving a speech, the speaker can use one or more of the following rhetorical strategies (retoriska strategier):

• Logos: the use of reason (förnuft) or logic (logik) to convince the audience that what the speaker has to say is important.
• Ethos: the use of morality (moral) and ethics (etik) to convince the audience that what the speaker has to say is important.
• Pathos: the use of emotions (känslor) to convince the audience that what the speaker has to say is important.

All of this information is important to keep in mind as we work on writing informative essays. Later in the year, you will also give mini-speeches and this information about rhetoric can help your speeches be more effective!

Have a nice weekend! Don't forget to do your homework!

Carmen :)

Literacy and Outreach Program for Kenya

Hey 7th graders!

We decided to hold our first bake sale for the Literacy and Outreach Program for Kenya. If you would like to read more about what the money we donate will help out with, check out the link below:

http://donationgift.org/Donate_Gift_Literacy_Outreach_Kenya.html

We agreed that those of you who want to participate will bring your baked goodies next Tuesday morning (16/9) to English class and then I will take them and sell them in the staff lounge. We can talk about this in more detail on Friday, however. 

I think it is wonderful that you all seem so willing to help out with this project. It shows your maturity and sense of responsibility. Always remember:

Don't forget to bring your homework to class on Friday!

See you in a few days!

Carmen :)

Happy International Literacy Day!

Hey 7th graders!

Thank you for sharing your ideas about the importance of literacy today. I also think it is pretty cool that you got excited about doing a bake sale to raise money for a literacy project in another country; I will do some research and we can pick a specific literacy project later in the week.

If you would like to learn more about International Literacy Day, here is a link to UNESCO's website:

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/literacy-day/

And here is a video about a literacy project in Senegal for you to watch if you're interested:

See you tomorrow!

Carmen :)

Homework due Friday, September 12

Hey 7th graders,

Your homework for next week is due on Friday, September 12. You have two things to do: 

• Write a short response to the question about Facebook; state your opinion and use details to express your point of view. 
• Complete the "have, has, had" worksheet.

Have a nice weekend! See you Monday!

Carmen :) 

Take Home Exam Information

Take Home Exam: 5 Paragraph Essay

Your first exam (första prov) is a 5 paragraph essay (en uppsats med 5 paragraf/stycken). You may write about one of the following topics (tema):

• “The Dangers of Global Warming”
•  “The Benefits of Reading”
• “The Importance of Rainforests”

 Your 5 paragraph essay is an informative essay (informativ uppsats). This means you will write about facts (faktum) and not opinions (åsikter). This means you will share a lot of examples (exempel) and information, but you will not share your personal feelings (personliga känslor).

I have given you an example of a 5 paragraph essay as well as an example of a 5 paragraph essay outline. Your final essay (uppsatsen du lämnar in till mig) should have the same format (form) as the example essay I have given you. Your final essay only needs to be 1 page, but you can write more if you want.

• You must show me your outline by Monday, October 6
• Your final essay is due on Monday, October 20

Here are some phrases you should use in your writing:

• For example (till exempel)
• This shows (det visar)
• For instance (till exempel)       
• Most important (viktigast)
• First (för det första)                       
• Furthermor (dessutom)
• Second (för det andra)                   
• To conclude (slutligen)
• Finally (slutligen)                                              
• All in all (allt som allt)

When I grade (betygsätta) your essay, I will be looking at your use of grammar, your organization and your use of vocabulary (ordförråd). Most important, however, is that you only write about facts and not opinions (viktigast är att du skriver bara om faktum och inte om åsikter).

**It is extremely important (jätteviktigt) that you write everything using your own words. I will be able to tell if you have copied somebody else’s work and this will negatively impact your grade (att fuska och kopiera någon annans arbete ska påverka ditt betyg på ett negativt sätt). If you need help or have questions, you can always email me or talk to me in class.

Good Luck!

Carmen J

Book Report Information

Hey 7th graders!

This is a reminder (påminnelse) that I have to approve (gödkänna) the books you write your book reports on. Now that I have a better idea of your various (olika) English levels, I want to make sure that you do not pick books that are too easy (jag vill inte att ni väljer böcker som är för lätta). So start thinking about this now; in the next few weeks, you will need to tell me which books you have chosen (ni måste berätta vilka böcker ni väljer i dem kommande veckorna).

Have a nice evening!

Carmen :)