Adventures in EnglArt

I’m so glad to get your comments. I hope that you are enjoying your holiday break. I have some great news….I got a new car! I am excited for Christmas to spend time with my family and especially to sleeping in the rest of my holiday break. I have not gotten to the grading yet, but I will, don’t worry.

Daniel, if you are bored, write some Writer’s Notebook entries. A good idea I have found for writing is to make lists. I like to make lists of things I like or things that make me happy or things to do in the next year or books to read, stuff like that. Hope that helps a little bit.

English: We colored and wrote Christmas cards for teachers.

Art: Cookie color wheels!

Today was the last day of school before Christmas vacation. I know all of you are going to miss English class so much and will anxiously await the arrival of the new year and the restart of school. I just want you to know that it will be ok. Just be patient, only two weeks, you will survive. Haha! I just want to say…have a very happy holiday, whichever holiday you celebrate and an amazing New Year’s! I have a suggestion for some of you for a New Year’s resolution….1. Turn in all English assignments. You know who you are. I hope you enjoy your time off and look forward to seeing you next year to finish this fantastic school year. I brought home a lot of stuff to grade so I will post when I get it updated on the gradebook.

P.S. Have a safe move Kaitlyn! I wish you the best at your new school!

Yay! There’s a comment! Thanks Keith!

Today was National Wear a Plunger on Your Head Day.

Yes, that is really the holiday today. Check holidaysforeveryday.com if you don’t believe me. It’s a bit past my bedtime but I felt bad about going to sleep without updating the awesome class blog. So, here I am, at almost 11pm, eating pizza and typing. You should all appreciate this. One more day until Christmas vacation. I think it was nearly impossible to get anyone to pay attention today. Nobody is excited for a two week break or anything, are they? I have not updated grades as far as late and makeup assignments go. I will get them totally caught up over the break. So, do not stress. Check the grades over the break and everything will be straightened out. New assignments are recorded but late and makeup assignments are not. Please be patient, I will post on here when I have the grades done. I love the idea of this new blog, this new form of communication. I’m excited that I will be able to post over the break and keep you guys updated even when we are not in school.   

English: Today was an interesting day and everyone ended up in a different place. So if you were absent, please come talk to me or comment on here or email me at mhenry@graniteschools.org and I will let you know what you need to do. Reminder: Please turn in your Writer’s Notebooks for half credit if you have not already.

Art: Today we made Christmas cards for teachers. Tomorrow we are making frosting color wheels to finish up our unit on Color. Turn in your Color Scheme Painting and your Color Wheel. I will grade them over the break.

Please leave a comment and let me know that you found the website and it’s working ok. I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks! You guys rock! Oh, P.S. I think I found us a fridge door!

Today is National Cookie Cutter Day.

English: Today was a very busy day. 1. I read a role play that illustrated a situation that worked better when the people involved had good persuasive skills. 2. fill out the My Opinion paper. In the first box, write a declaration about this topic: Do dogs or cats make better house pets? Write one reason in each of the next three boxes that tell why dogs or cats make better house pets. In the box under each reason, write down three explanations or details about your reason. 3. We had a class debate on this topic. 4. Read the article, “In Defense of Cats.” Fill out the Persuasive Essay Organizer (on the back of My Opinion) about the article.

***I would like to thank 4th and 5th period for being very civilized, respectful participants in the class debate. Also, thank you to the brave students who read in front of the class in the role play. In all classes, we did not quite finish the Persuasive Essay Organizer. I will give you some time at the beginning of class tomorrow to finish your Organizer. You can still turn in your Writer’s Notebook for half credit, which I HIGHLY recommend doing. Sad news, our class friend and debate moderator, Oodles, is no longer an active participant in class. Unfortunately, he could not handle today’s vigorous debate and has popped. Filling in for Oodles is the stuffed elephant, Ears.

Art: Today was the last day to work on your color scheme paintings. If you were finished with the color scheme painting, you need to show it to me to be graded. If you wore primary colors today, you received extra credit. Tomorrow wear a secondary color for extra credit.

Today is National Chocolate Covered Anything Day.

Welcome to my new class website! Or class web blog I should say. I think this one will be much easier to find and navigate than my old website. I will do my best, time permitting, to post every day. I will post daily activities and message here. If you have any questions about a post, you may comment on the blog but please make sure to keep your comments appropriate and respectful. Also, do not post anonymously, if you are not willing to admit to it, don’t post it. I would like this to be an open and public channel of communication for us. And hopefully, kind of fun as well.

We are currently in the second quarter of the school year. Mid terms were last week. Christmas break starts this Friday. We do not come back to school until Jan. 5. In English we are spending this week on writing and persuasive essay skills. We are still working on the color unit in Art.

English: Today we were in the computer lab working on the writing site My Access. Please log in to My Access and complete the “Department Store Dilemma” prompt. Print and submit this prompt. When you have finished, complete the “Favorite Book” prompt. Print and submit this prompt. If you have not turned in your Influential Person essay from Friday, turn it in for half credit today.

Art: Continue working on your color scheme painting. Complete the monochromatic and neutral squares last. When you are finished with the painting, start on your holiday collage. Tomorrow is Primary Day. Wear a red, blue or yellow shirt and I will give you extra credit.

Today’s Question: What do you want to learn in English class?