Dear Eighth Grade Parents and Students,
THANK YOU to all the members of PAC who hosted a great Valentine’s Day lunch for our faculty and staff of ECDS, last Monday, February 13. Everything was delicious and decoratively displayed! THANK YOU also for the lovely plant and the Starbucks card. What perfect treats! I truly appreciate your generosity, love, and time. 🙂
THANK YOU to all our parents who made Valentine’s Day so special for everyone at ECDS, last Tuesday. Our students had a BLAST! It was a very festive day. 🙂
THANK YOU to Matthew Lombardi for the very tasty cupcake. It was YUM! 🙂
THANK YOU to Kelly Bruce, Janet Lombardi, Yolanda Messmann, Erika Stephens, Scott Sumwalt, and Anna Pierpan Tatro, who were our drivers and chaperones, on our field trip to the Oceanview Mines, in Pala, last Thursday. We appreciate your time and dedication. MANY THANKS! It was a great field trip and our students enjoyed digging and finding many precious stones! 🙂
Last week in literature, my Eighth Graders continued to read about Odysseus, as he attempted to travel home to Ithaca. They read about Calypso, the goddess, and how she kept Odysseus a prisoner on her island for seven years. Luckily, Athene intervened with Zeus on his behalf, and Hermes was sent to Calypso, who was ordered to release Odysseus. He built a raft for his departure into the unknown.
My Eighth Graders started their writing project, “Write The Constitution in your own words.” Two days a week will be assigned to this project during the writing portion of my class, and two days a week will be given to writing their “Novellas.” Last week, we focused on the following:four types of points of view, and the difference between tone and mood in literature. We also reviewed the meaning of the three C’s ~ Characters, Conflict, and Caveat.
I am happy to report that my Eighth Graders scored in the A/B+ range on the Literary Terms Test, on Friday. Well done, Eighth Graders!
On Friday, we met with Joel York again, on Skype. He addressed the following: The three What if’s; the three C’s ~ Character, Conflict, and Caveat; and the importance of writing good characters. It was a very interesting session! Next week, he will discuss writing a protagonist and an antagonist.
This coming week in literature, my Eighth Graders will continue to read The Odyssey, and follow Odysseus on his adventures and delays, as he journeys home to his beloved family. In addition to this, they will continue to write The Constitution, in their own words, and they will work on their “Novellas.” This week in class, we will focus on how to write an interesting protagonist and an antagonist, and how to create a believable conflict between them.
Last week in Drama Class, we blocked Scenes 11 and 12 of Shakespeare’s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This week, we will block Scene 13, which is the hardest scene to block, as it is the play within the play.
The homework for this week is as follows:
- Study for the spelling/vocabulary test of Lesson 10 in Wordly Wise.
- Study the spelling of the next SAT words and definitions.
- Complete all the exercises in Lesson 10 of Wordly Wise.
- Work on the development of your protagonist and antagonist. Rewrite your three What if’s, for Joel.
Reminder:
- Presidents’ Day is on Monday, February 20, therefore, no school. Enjoy your day of rest! 🙂
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader. ~ John Quincy Adams
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a grand week ahead.
Sincerely,
Miss Susan 🙂
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