HOLT tests

Today, I started both classes on the HOLT in-coming tests. According to the directions, I was allowed to break the test up into three parts. Most of the reading/comprehension was done today. After both classes were done, I had them write me a "Dear Mr. H" letter and tell me a little about themselves. This gave me a chance to see what their writing was like. After reading them, I was able to see what areas needed special attention, such as punctuation and sentence development.

With the 9th graders, I wrote commonly misused homonyms, like to, too, and two, and asked them to explain the difference between them and how each one is used. We did 6 sets of words. We then went over the use of apostrophes. Towards the end of the class period, I had them form a circle with their desks and told them to come inside and lean on the tops. As the odd man out, I stood in the center and said, "I need a friend who wears blue pants." Everyone has to move and change to a different desk. The odd student out does the same thing and so forth. My intent was to get the students comfortable speaking in front of an audience because the class will have to do a speech in the future. I was impressed that some of the quieter students wanted to participate.

With the 8th graders, I started going over the elements of a novel. I started with plot, conflict, climax, and resolution. In addition to the Holt Language Arts textbook, I used the movie The Wizard of Oz as an example because, like a novel, this movie has clear examples of the above. As we were discussing these elements, one of the girls (there's only two students right now) pulled out a sheet of paper and started taking notes. The other girl followed her lead. I will reiterate what we went over tomorrow because Miss Reese asked what I was going to do when more students came in. So I might be going over the above a few more times, but add other elements as well, such as setting, characters, subplots, etc.