Animal Farm Quiz #1

Welcome back 7th graders!

I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable Christmas break! 

This term, you will need to look at the blog every week because this is where I will be posting the vocabulary words for each Animal Farm vocabulary quiz. I will not be handing out the vocabulary words on paper in class. So... CHECK THE BLOG! And if you lose or forget  the blog's address... THEN ASK!

Animal Farm Vocabulary Quiz #1

Quiz #1 will take place on Friday, January 16, 2015. You will need to spell and define the following words:

ensconce - att förskansa
benevolent - välvillig; generös
conceal - att hemlighålla (dölja) eller att gömma
first-rate - förstklassig
dainty - söt eller nätt
contentedly - nöjd
acquire - att få eller erhålla
laborious - arbetsam
capable - skicklig eller kunnig
abundance - rikedom eller myckenhet
dignity - värdighet
abolish - att avskaffa
tyranny - tyranni
rebellion - uppresning
comrade - kamrat
vanish - att försvinna
tremendous - oerhörd
delightful - behaglig eller förtjusande
nestle - att kura ihop sig
hurriedly - hastigt

Study up! And let me know if you have questions!

Carmen :)

Tests and Grades

Hey 7th graders,

Just want to let you know that you will get your tests and grades on Monday, December 15. We will also start a movie that day and I will bring some Christmas treats. 

Have a great weekend!

Carmen :)

Generation Like

Hey 7th graders,

For those of you who found Generation Like interesting, here is a link to the documentary online:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/generation-like/

See you tomorrow in class! Don't forget to bring your homework and don't forget to keep studying for the test!

Carmen :)

Prepositions: IN, ON, AT

Hey 7th graders,

Here is a helpful little chart about prepositions of time and place (location) for you to look at as you prepare for your test! Hope you're all having a nice weekend!

Carmen 

The Elements of Poetry

Poetry is not just an intellectual activity; poetry is about feeling. Poetry is not just meant to be read; poetry is also meant to be responded to. Responding to a poem means getting emotionally involved with the poem. This is how you uncover what the poem means to you. Poetry reading, then, is a subjective emotional experience. There is no right or wrong way to read and interpret a poem. There are, however, tools that literary scholars use to analyze poems in order to find their deeper meaning. These are the same tools that poets use to convey the poem's deeper meaning. These tools are called the elements of poetry and you will learn more about them below.

Mood: The feeling a poem creates for the reader

Metaphor: An implied comparison between two objects or ideas

Tone: The attitude a poet takes towards his or her subject

Alliteration: The repetition of the beginning consonant in two or more words near one another in the line of a poem

Refrain: The repetition of one or more phrases or lines, usually at the end of each stanza (similar to the chorus in a song)

Rhyme Scheme: The pattern in which the end rhyme occurs

Simile: A direct comparison between two objects or ideas that uses the words "like" or "as"

Stanza: Lines in a poem grouped together as a set

Personification: Giving human traits or characteristics to animals or inanimate objects

Imagery: Representation of the five senses: sight, taste, touch, sound and smell. Creates mental images about a poem's subject.

Assonance: The repetition of a vowel sound in two or more words in a line of poetry.

Reflecting on Malala

Hey 7th graders,

I hope you found today's lesson on Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai inspiring. Thank you for taking the time to fill out my survey about Malala - I am excited to read what you have written as students always provide teachers with fresh perspectives and interesting ideas.

If you would like to learn more about Malala, you can read about her here:

http://www.malala-yousafzai.com/

Have a nice evening! See you bright and early tomorrow morning!

Carmen :)

English Idioms

Hey 7th graders,

Your English idioms homework is due on Friday, November 21. Here is a little more information about idioms in case they pique your interest:

An idiom is a word or phrase that has a different meaning than would usually be found in a dictionary. This is because idioms have figurative and not literal meanings. For example, if I say that Clara is feeling blue, I don't mean that she is blue or that she is touching the color blue; I mean that Clara is feeling sad, maybe even depressed.

Different languages have different idioms - in English, for example, it is estimated that there are about 25,000 idioms. Being able to use idioms correctly is a sign that your competency in a given language is very high.

So try to remember the idioms from the homework packet! And make use of them when you can (but make sure to use them correctly).

Have a nice weekend!

Carmen :)