Koolteecha's Virtual Classroom

…and that’s just what’s on the schedule for MONDAY, believe it or not.  This week we’re hitting technology HARD, starting with receiving a Gaggle email address.  Some of you may have some experience with Gaggle already, which is awesome!  In short, Gaggle is safe email for students.  I will use your Gaggle email to send you reminders about upcoming assignments, files, and links that you’ll use in class.  There’s also a teacher-student chat area that we’ll utilize for online discussions and study sessions.  I am SO excited!  The first step is to login to Gaggle.  Before you do anything else, though, please watch this how-to video:

Click here for directions on logging in to Gaggle!

Once you’ve been able to log in and see your inbox, you’ll notice three lovely emails waiting for you!  The first one I’d like you to look at is the one about Classmarker.com.  This is where I’ll occasionally send you to take quizzes.   You’ll need to change your username and password to match your Gaggle username and password as well as enter your new Gaggle email address into your account before taking your Grammar test.  Click the link for directions:

Classmarker.com instructions

Now…no, you’re not done yet!  The last step is to login to our class Ning, which is a fabulous learning network we’ll be using this year. It’s a lot of fun, and a really great way to communicate about what’s going on in class.  Again, click the link below for a quick tutorial:

How to join the class Ning

Whew!  Now besides all of that wonderful techie stuff, we’re still working on short story analysis.  PreAPeeps had their first Inner/Outer Circle Discussion last week, and it was…well, a work in progress.  Not too bad for the first time!  It’ll get better over time.  This week we’ll read “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, which is always a great conversation starter.  I can’t wait to see what you guys think about it!

The first few days of this week will be spent dicussing TONE in literature.  Tone is hard, and unfortunately, you’ll be addressing tone ALL through high school, so I’ll spend only an introductory amount of time on it.  I will say this:  TONE is all about DICTION – word choice.  The author conveys his/her TONE by the words he/she chooses.  When I ask you to give me tone, I’ll also be asking for some words from the text that support your ideas.  A great piece to look at for TONE is “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms” by Ray Brabury.   What a great story – I’m sure that you’ll get to the end of the story and really be able to feel how the author feels – which is his TONE. 

By Friday, we’ll be reading “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs…hey, it’s close enough to Halloween to get the chills, right?  This cautionary tale puts that song by the Pussycat Dolls in a whole new light.  “Be careful what you wish for ’cause you just might get it…”

Oh yes, and then there’s that little thing we call VOCABULARY.. Isn’t is great?  You have a hefty quiz coming up on Friday – 25 words, and yes – you’ll need to know them all!  Consider this a practice for your Six Weeks Vocabulary TEST, which will be next week.  The content is the same, but the stakes are higher…

I found a nifty place for you to do a little studyin’…check it out:

 Fall Vocabulary – Fifth Six Weeks

I dare to beat my high school on Space Race!

TTFN,

Mrs. S

Filed under: Language Arts Classes, Pre-AP Language Arts Classes and