Too Young To Drive?

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Students,

This week's blog commentary will be submitted to our blog comments below AND your new TeenBiz3000 accounts!  For this week's blog commentary you must do the following:

1.  Log in to your TeenBiz3000 account using your assigned username and password: http://www.teenbiz3000.com/ 

2.  Select your class (Tr. Lacey and class name - do not choose Spanish version).

Click on your "mailbox" on the lefthand side of the screen and open the message from me, "Teacher Boland."

3.  Read the assigned article, "Too Young To Drive?"

4.  Click on the "Thought Question" at the top of the article and read and respond to the prompt.  Click on the "Include in your answer" button to make sure you are following all directions (it is, after all, the theme of the week!).

5.  Submit your "Thought Question" response to TeenBiz3000 and in the blog comments below (just like last week).  As always, make sure to reread and edit for CUPS (capitalization, usage, punctuation and spelling).

This week's blog prompt/TeenBiz3000 "Thought Question":

Should lawmakers raise the minimum legal driving age to 17 or 18?  Respond to the poll on the blog's sidebar and in your commentary below.  Write a letter to lawmakers expressing your views on this issue. Be sure to include facts that support your opinion.  Support your answer with details from the article, as well as ideas of your own.  If you can, connect your thoughts on the issue to the events in Sharon Draper's Tears of a Tiger.  Would raising the legal driving age prevent tragic accidents like the one involving Andy and his friends?

Due date (posted to the blog and TeenBiz300): Tuesday 4PM

Let's Roll!

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Students,

Welcome to our class blog 7 Speaks!  For our first entry of the year, in honor of the Book Fair this week (don't forget to visit on Thursday from 1:00-1:30), I'd like you to discuss your identity as a reader, and reading in general, by responding to at least three (3) of the prompts below.  As you compose your first commentary, remember to keep our commenting guidelines in mind.  The purpose of our class blog is to start a discussion, so try to read and respond (at least once) to your peers' posts as well.  Your commentary is due on Friday and should be at least two MEATY paragraphs in length.

Keep in mind that we cannot indent our paragraphs in our commentaries, so make sure to skip a line between paragraphs instead.

Have fun, good luck, let's blog!

• Do you remember when you first learned to read?  How old were you?  Who taught you?  Describe your earliest reading memory.
• What was your favorite book, or who was your favorite author, as a child?  Did you ever return to one book again and again?  Do you still enjoy this book/author today as a 7th grader?
• Who is your favorite literary character?  What do you love about this character/What makes them your favorite?
• What is the definition of a good book for you?
• Describe the book you are currently reading.  Include the title and author and tell us about it without giving away any spoilers.  Who would you recommend this book to? (Let's share some titles and get reading!)
• Have you read The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins?  What are your thoughts on this book being made into a movie?  Do you think the film version will do the book justice?  Why or why not?
• What other film versions of books have you seen and loved (or hated)?

Seven Speaks...Final Thoughts For Next Year's Seventh Grade

Students,

What a year we've had!  Among other things, you have written 25 blog posts - quite an accomplishment!  Now, for blog #26: your final post of the year.  Your last blog assignment is to leave words of wisdom, advice, and general parting reflections on your seventh grade experience for next year's rising class.  Your thoughts will be the first thing my new students read next year when I introduce them to the blog.   

Here are some guidelines to keep in mind for your final commentary:

**Think in terms of things you would have liked to have known before entering seventh grade. **

• What valuable lessons did you learn along the way that you can pass on to others?
• What are “the essentials” that every seventh grader should know?

Topics of discussions can be related to academics, stress, adjustment from sixth grade, clubs and extracurricular activities, time management, homework, assessments and projects, reading logs and 100 Book Challenge, friendships, Heifer, Take Flight, etc.

**As always, please use complete sentences and proofread for CUPS before posting.  Compose your commentary in a google doc to make sure you do not lose your work and have ample room to edit!

If you discuss particular classes and teachers, please do so with respect, humor, and goodwill.  If your commentary is not respectful, I will not post it.

I've enjoyed getting to know each and every one of you this year.  Reading your writing on this blog, as well as your formal essays and assignments, was often the best part of my week. 

Come visit me next year.  You know where to find me.  And have a wonderful summer.  I hope it includes an adventure, or two, and as many good books as you can get your hands on!

Reflections on Heifer International

Last week the 7th grade visited Heifer International's Overlook Farm.  Led by a knowledgeable and enthusiastic group of education and farm volunteers, students learned about Heifer's mission to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth through games, discussion, work on the farm, and global problem-solving simulations.  Assigned to country groups by lottery, students also learned how to light and cook over an open fire, barter for food in a market, and work together to solve critical incidents based on real-life problems that individuals in each assigned country can face.  As a teacher I was incredibly proud to see so many of our students step outside of their comfort zones and work together to meet these fun, but also challenging situations, head on with (mostly) positive attitudes and patience.

Students, for this week's blog post please respond to the following questions about your Heifer experience in 2-3 paragraphs.  As always, please make sure that your paragraphs and sentences are complete (use TAGGS!) and descriptive - please write more than one sentence.  Use the following questions to guide your commentary:

• What country were you assigned to in the global village?  How did the quality of life compare to the standard of living in the country you were assigned?  Remember, quality of life refers to individuals' levels of happiness and fulfillment, while standard of living refers to the resources available like food, shelter, and general physical comforts.  As we discussed at Heifer, an individual's standard of living might be fairly low, for example, while at the same time their quality of life and overall happiness could be generally high. 
• What surprised or impressed you about your overnight in the global village?
• What is one highlight from the experience that you will always remember? 
  
• What is one thing you learned during our group discussions or activities about fighting hunger and poverty?
• What is one thing you can do to contribute to Heifer's mission to fight hunger and poverty in your school or community?

These are a few of our favorite...READS!

 Alice, A Mad Tea Party by Su Blackwell

Check out more book art here!

It's been a while since we've reflected on our independent reading!

For this week's blog post, please think back to an independent reading book you have read this year that you think is deserving of a spot on the New York Times best seller list.  The next step: pretend that you are a young adult book critic and tell us (your readers - and your editor) about the book you have chosen and why you think it should be on the list for teens.  Please be wary of giving away any plot twists and turns; ideally, these are books that your classmates will want to read.

In your commentary, please make sure to include the following elements:

• Title of book and author's full name (spelled correctly!)
• Describe the characters. Is the main character developed well? What is it about the character that you like so much?
• The setting: When and where does the story take place and how does it affect the characters?
• What is the main conflict or problem of the plot? Did it keep you reading? Were you not able to put the book down? Why?
• What is it about this book that you like so much and think it should be a must read for teens?

Remember, you are selling this book as one of the best young adult literature books.  Why should your editor include it on the bestseller list; better yet, why should your classmates pick it up off the shelf?

Convince us if you can...

**Quality Commentaries are 2-3 fully developed paragraphs in length.  They have been composed in a google doc and proofread for CUPS before posting!

Surfaces serve their own purposes...

A stereotype is an oversimplified, but widely held view of what a whole group of people is like, or a characteristic that they have.
Because it is a view that is so simplified, and can often often hurtful, stereotyping can lead to assumptions, as well as bias. Bias is a preconceived opinion that is not based on actual experience or is based on limited experience.

For this week's blog prompt, please respond to the following questions on the topic of stereotypes.  As always, answer each question in complete sentences, and in separate paragraphs (skip a line to show new paragraphs).  This week's post calls on you to REVIEW, WATCH, READ, and CONNECT.  Please do all three thoroughly, and answer all parts of each question for full credit! 

**As always, don't forget to compose in a google document and proofread for CUPS before posting!

1.  Review our reading so far in American Born Chinese.  Find and describe an incident that Jin goes through that illustrates a form of stereotyping.

2.  Watch the video, "I Have To Deal With Stereotypes" below and react to the following questions.

• Give examples of the Asian stereotypes that bother and amuse Kevin.  
• What evidence does Kevin offer that combats these stereotypes?

3.  Read the Wikipedia entry on East Asian Stereotypes (click here) and respond to the following questions:

• Describe and react to at least two of the stereotypes described.  What is the stereotype and what does it make you feel, think, wonder...?).

4.  Bonus Question:  Have you ever had to deal with stereotypes?  If so, describe the stereotypes you have faced, and perhaps, combated.