Hello O. L. Smith Community,

Students were given a progress report today as well as all of their work for the last week and a half of the card marking. I am not requiring students have their reports signed, however, many students have missing work this card marking.

The two most common missing assignments are the “1st Person/3rd Person Paragraphs” and “Correction Stations.”

The “1st Person/3rd Person Paragraphs” asked students to write a paragraph in first person point of view about an argumentative topic. For the purposes of the make-up, students can write if they think they should be allowed to chew gum in class. Once they have completed the first person point of view paragraph, they must rewrite the exact same paragraph using a formal, third person point of view.

The “Correction Stations” were having students rewrite sentences from an example 8th grade argumentative essay so they are grammatically and formally correct. The link to the assignment is here.

Aside from these assignments, students need to come see me for their make-up spelling tests during lunch.

All missing work for the first three weeks must be done and turned in by Friday, 2/26, or it becomes a zero.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Megan Timpf

Hello O. L. Smith Community,

The spelling words for this week are…

WEEK 4 Suffixes: ant, ent, ance, ence

1. convenient

2. sergeant

3. pleasant

4. appearance

5. independence

6. temperament

7. attendance

8. existence

9. experiment

10. permanence

Also, students have an argumentative essay due on Friday, 2/26. I have included an argumentative essay peer edit assignment below. It is not required, however, it will aid in students making sure they have included all required content of the argumentative essay. The checklist does not include grammar points, such as citations and using third person point of view.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, etc., please feel free to contact me.

Megan Timpf

Hello O. L. Smith Community,

Students received two assignments on Google Classroom this week and were asked to hand write a rough draft of their argumentative essay. Although students were given three days on the computer this week (two for first hour) to complete these tasks, many students did not complete their online assignments.

The first assignment, reflection questions about how their topic relates to themselves, will lock students out at midnight tonight, Friday February 19th.

The second assignment, the outline, will close at midnight on Sunday.

The final assignment, the rough draft, must be turned finished by Monday, 2/22. If it is not finished, students will be unable to complete the editing task prepared for Monday.

Please encourage your students to finish these assignments. The final version of their argumentative essay will be due on Friday, February 26th.

If students need are struggling with a certain part of the essay, I have included a series of examples paragraphs and a sentence-by-sentence breakdown of what each paragraph includes. Please note, there should be TWO claims, although I just listed one as an example.

Example Argumentative Essay Paragraphs

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Megan Timpf

Hello O. L. Smith Community,

Later this card marking, we will be learning about plays. In order to aid in that endeavor, I am offering an extra credit opportunity. Students can attend Edsel Ford High School to see their dramatic production of “Dancing in Lughnasa” this weekend! The details are of the show are located here.

Once students see the show, they must do one of three things:

1. Complete a plot diagram
2. Write a 7-10 sentence summary
3. Write a 7-10 sentence paragraph about a lesson learned from the show and write two-three events form the show that prove we learned that lesson

Students must turn in the assignment, with the ticket and program stapled to it, in to me by the end of next week, 2/26, to receive the extra credit.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Megan Timpf

Hello O. L. Smith Community,

This week, students focused on learning how to revise informal language to reflect the formal language which should be used when writing essays. Students were given an example eighth grade essay and asked to rewrite the sentences using formal language. The assignment is attached below for your viewing.

Formal Writing Stations

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Megan Timpf

Hello O. L. Smith Community,

We have begun Spelling Week 2! This week, our focus is on homophones, or words that sound the same but have different meanings. Our words are listed below:

1. hear
2. here
3. know
4. no
5. principal
6. principle
7. threw
8. through
9. your
10. you’re
11. they’re
12. their
13. there

Please help your child learn these words and the correct ways we use them when writing.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me,

Megan Timpf

Hello O. L. Smith Community,

As your student may have told you, each week during the fourth cardmarking, students will be having a spelling test. I felt these spelling tests would be beneficial based primarily on their last three major writing assignments, in which some students had extreme difficulty when it came to spelling. Many students were upset because they felt spelling tests were for elementary students and did not believe they could benefit.

After Week 1, the average spelling test grade was approximately 7.6/10 words correct, which is a 76%. I believe this speaks to the necessity of these spelling tests as well as the importance of students taking them seriously.

I encourage you to talk with your students about their spelling words each week and help them to study. For the rest of the cardmarking, I will make sure I post the words on my blog so you have access to them, even if your students does not bring them home.

If we work together, I truly believe that each student can be successful when it comes to spelling, even when they are handwriting without a spell checker available.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me,

Megan Timpf

Hello O. L. Smith Community,

I am very excited to begin our second semester with your child! So many of them have already come to me, excited about what they will be covering this semester.

To begin, students will be writing a non-fiction argumentative essay. We have already written an argumentative essay based on a fictional text, however, it is important to apply those skills to real-life issues.

To prepare for writing these essays, we will be reviewing the parts of an argumentative essay this week and discussing the formal structure they require.

On Friday, I will be asking students about what they would like to write about. I will compile a list of the most common 15 questions students would like to research. It would be phenomenal if you would discuss potential topics with your students. If you need some help, I have included some questions students have previously asked:

1. Does technology make us more alone?
2. Should college athletes get paid?
3. Is it helpful or harmful to give students participation trophies? Why or why not?

If you have any questions, comment, or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Megan Timpf

Hello O. L. Smith Community,

We are celebrating the end of our semester with a movie! Students will be watching “The Outsiders” on Wednesday and Thursday this week to celebrate a semester of hard work.

Students are aware that in order to watch the movie, they must not have any missing assignments. They are more than welcome to get a pass and come see me during Advisory, before school, or during lunch to receive make-up work. Due to a meeting after school on Wednesday, I will be available after school only until 3:10.

“The Outsiders” test will be on Friday of this week. Students were given this information today.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact me.

Megan Timpf

Hello O. L. Smith Community,

I have given students progress reports with their grade and highlighted all missing work. Students are encouraged to email me for the make-up assignments over the weekend.

This is a reminder that “Growing Up Timelines” are due next Monday, 1/25. Remember, you will not be allowed to watch the movie if you have any missing work and the card marking ends next Friday, 1/29. Make sure you get your timeline in!

Growing Up Timeline Assignment Sheet

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Ms. Timpf