Extra Credit Due TODAY

Don't forget the extra credit book review is due today. Make sure it is a REVIEW and not a REPORT. There are plenty of links available. A book review should include what you thought about the book and how it was written. A good book review will never give away the ending or important plot twists.

After you submit your review, make sure you bring your book to school so I can ask you a few questions about. This will help confirm that you've read the book.

If you haven't started it, don't try to plagiarize. This makes me very upset! Anyone who has been caught plagiarizing this year will have their names put on a warning list for the high school English teachers.

Extra Credit - Book Review

For up to 40 extra credit points (equivalent to 40 points on a standardized test) you can read a book and write a review of it.

What to do:

• Choose a book appropriate for your reading level. Bring it in to school and I will approve it.
  
• After completing the book, write a two page (double spaced, font 12) book review

How to write a book review:

Writing a book review is actually similar to writing a restaurant review. It's not a 'book report' where you just say who is who and what happens in the book. You must actually evaluate the book and form an opinion on how good it was, just like with the restaurant. Here are some helpful links to get you started

How to Write a Book Review

Interactive Online Book Review Tool - by Scholastic

How to Write a Book Report (to compare)

Book Reviews written by Middle Schoolers

Please do not even THINK about plagiarizing. Academic dishonesty is very disappointing and will certainly be reported to the office.

If you're having trouble finding a good book, look on Listmania! sites like this one

Best Middle School Books

English news

• We will finish the Monster collages on Monday, so bring any finishing touches, pictures, headlines, glue, scissors, etc. that you need
  
• Reading quiz through page 159 on Monday
• Email me any LATE proposals about the prison system in Pakistan, I don't want to give so many zeros as this counts for an assessment
  
• In other news, check out the following article on BBC
  

Pakistan moves to drop media restrictions

Hopefully that means this blog won't be blocked any more!

Blog is Unblocked!

Hey everyone! The blog is unblocked for now so here's the latest announcements:

• Journals due on Monday April 7th - Each class should have six entries. Make sure you spend time and thought on your journal entries
  
• Prison Proposals (group project) due on Friday April 11th
  
• Read to page 159 by Friday - you should always be ready for a reading quiz
  
• 8S - you need to get reading. Your quiz results were very bad! 8A was somewhat better, but there were still some of you who haven't read. Remember all your grades for this quarter are coming from what we do based on Monster
  

Don't forget the book and the journal

Reminder - Make sure to buy the book Monster and get your journal ASAP.

Reading quiz pages 1-46 will be on Friday.

Spring Break

Have a great Spring Break!

Please bring a journal with you when you come back next week. It should be smaller than a Scarsdale notebook (copy book) and something that you can easily carry with you. We will be using it for our literature journal as we read Monster.

Also, remember to bring 500 rupees for the book on Monday March 24th.

*Thanks to Anoushe & Ushna - My husband and I tried the Arizona Grill last night and it was great! He had the French Onion Steak and I had the beef Chimichanga. Mmmmm. We had to get our fill of beef before crossing the border.

Quiz Results

Today's quiz may have seemed easy, but there were 44 mistakes to correct. Here's the class averages for the quiz (out of 44 marks, compared to a test out of 100 marks).

Grade 8A - 85%

Grade 8S - 80%

Let's see which class gets the higher average on Friday's test.

Grade 8S - please do WB+ page 106 if you have not completed it.

Grades Due Friday March 14th

Reminder:

Compare & Contrast Essay Final - due Weds March 12th

All late work - due Weds March 12th

Standardized Test - Friday March 14th

Punctuation Quiz - TOMORROW March 7th

Late work will not be accepted as I will not have time to grade it before the spring break. As I must turn in all the marks on Friday at 12:40pm, I can not be reading your papers at the last minute. Do not miss the standardized test on friday! If you know you will be absent for reasons due to travel, etc. please ask your parents to come make an application to Ms. Lualdi so you can take the test on Thursday March 13th.

Quiz on Friday

Reminder that there is a quiz on FRIDAY on punctuation and capitalization. You should know Unit 9 Section 1-4.

Demonstration Speech

Don't forget Grade 8:

• Rough Draft of Speech Outline due tomorrow (saturday Feb 23rd)
  
• Final Speech Outline due Monday Feb 25th along with Speech Presentation
  
• You must use at least one prop for your demonstration
• Time limit is five minutes
  
• Practice at home so you can avoid fidgeting, fillers, talking too fast, etc