Hello there, favorite students!!!

It's approaching winter break, and I know you are excited for the festive vacation - looking forward to plenty of free time to snuggle in front of the fire and READ or maybe do a new puzzle. Maybe some of you are celebrating holidays and will see family and friends and maybe get a present or two . . . I hope you have fun.

I was so thrilled to read the posts sent by some of you - I almost started CRYING I was so happy to hear from you!!! So I have some notes back:
Gretta - I'm glad you liked The Golden Compass books - I'm definitely going to try the others in the series. The first one went quite well.
Ben H - I'm so glad you tuned in for homework and found me! Thanks for your kind wishes!
Phebe - Hi back. I miss your sarcastic antics.
Prudence - Thanks for being so encouraging. I hope your family has a nice holiday.
DAN - Thank you SOOOOOOOOO much for the post! I miss you and your class like crazy. I hope that I'll be able to come in to visit soon. How is your book going? I haven't been doing nearly as much reading as I'd like to be. It's a little distracting here. . . Anyway, you are a champ! I hope you have a merry Christmas, and I'd love to hear from you again soon!

For anyone who wants to hear my reading history, I just finished the most recent IT Girl book - Reckless. It was great, but . . . some of the characters are starting to seem a little too much like Gossip Girls characters . . . Easy is a little to Nate-like and Tinsley is too Blair and Heath is WAY too Chuck. See what you think. I read the David Sedaris book Holidays on Ice which was very short and VERY funny - in a very inappropriate way. One story was about a tv producer talking to a Kentucky congregation in their church on Christmas - might make you laugh until you wet your pants. Another one was about totally selfish families competing to appear the most generous in the land - very dark but very funny. Now I'm reading The Kite Runner. It's wonderful so far; I can't believe I haven't read it before. I, as always, have an enormous stack of books beside my bed.

If you'd like a Hannah update, she appears to be in remission right now which is good news; her doctor says: "Do a happy dance." Hopefully, she will be going in for a bone marrow transplant on 12/27. She'll have 9 days of really hard chemo, and then the doctors will harvest bone marrow from her sister Olivia and transfuse it to Hannah. It's scary, but we're all hoping for the best.

I miss school and you guys so much! You might not believe this, but it's hard to be away from school, from you, from home. We're going to have our Christmas up in the hospital. We have plans to decorate our tree (a huge fake one that I got at the thrift shop) and decorate gingerbread cookies and maybe even leave the hospital to go out for dinner (if Hannah's allowed). I'm sure it will be fun - just different from what we're used to.

Have a great vacation!

Love, Ms. Wallace

Update on Your Responsibilities:

SELFLESS ACTS, DO THEM! Remember, it's selfLESS, not selfISH......doing something that benefits you is NOT what I'm looking for! Spread your love elsewhere!

WRITING PIECES:

HONORS:
Congratulations on turning in your second writing pieces of the quarter, YAY! If you didn't, i better have them in hand by Friday OR ELSE!!!!

This leaves only the Catcher in the Rye paper, which will be due on the 8 of January. The book has to be finished then so we can move onto bigger and better things. I may push the paper to the 10 if we need to cover more information in class, but the reason for the due date being the 8 is if a couple of you forget, I can get them the 10th.


COLLEGE I:
You've already turned in your first writing pieces, give yourselves a pat on the back. Your next piece is due on the 3 or 4 of JANUARY, depending on when we have class. Please have them all typed up and looking pretty for me. If you would like to e-mail them to me, that's perfectly acceptable. Go to the MVRHS website, click on FACULTY and look under S for SIMISON, you can find me there!

Regent Street (Above)

Picadilly Circus (Below)

PATTERNS OF ORGANIZATION:
Class notes from 18-20 December
If you missed class or just didn't take notes like a good student........voila!

PATTERNS OF ORGANIZATION

There are several ways to organize your writing. Not every pattern will work for every writer or for every piece of writing. It is important to organize the writing in an order that is interesting, but more importantly it must be logical. In other words, it has to make sense to the reader. Everything must fit together, much like the pieces of a puzzle.


Chronological Order
Chronological order is the order in which the events occurred, from first to last. This is the easiest pattern to write and to follow.

Cause and Effect Order
In this type of order, the cause (or reason) is usually discussed first. This then leads to a discussion of the effect (or result.)

Problem to Solution Order
In this type of order, the problem is presented first. Details about the problem, including its cause, follows. Next, a suggested solution will be discussed, including details that support the solution.

Spatial Order
takes the reader from one spot the next, as if the reader were looking at something. It is very descriptive.

Climactic Order
takes the reader from the least important idea to the most important idea. The ideas build in importance, holding the reader's attention. The best is saved for the last.

Reverse Climactic Order
the most important idea is stated first and the least important idea is stated last. This method is used most often in newspaper articles. This way if the reader does not finish the article he/she will still know the most important details. This method grabs the reader's attention in the beginning, but it does not work very will in holding the reader's attention clear to the end.

Process Order
a sequence of actions is described. It instructs the reader on how to do something. It is basically a set of directions. Owner's manuals and cookbooks are organized in this pattern.

Classification Order
the main idea is broken down into smaller areas or classifications. Each classification is then discussed.

Comparison/Contrast Order point by point/ block
This type of order is again based on comparison (the similarities) and contrast (the differences.) Instead of being divided into parts, however, both sides of each point are discussed together.

Methods of Characterization!! Horaay!
See the cartoon to the left? Get it? Making SPIRITS bright? I know you're laughing. Ok, onto the methods!

1. Speech
What a character says and how they say it...very important.

2. Thoughts
What's going on inside a character's head? A lot probably!

3. Actions
What a character does can teach a reader, and other characters, a lot about them.

4. Reactions
How other characters respond to events.

5. Relationships The saying goes.........you can tell a lot about a person by who their friends are! Relationships reveal LOADS about a character!

6. Direct Description This is where the writer comes right out and tells you about the character!

OK WALLACE BALLACE, I (MISS S) JUST FOUND ALL OF THESE COMMENTS AND THOUGHT IT WOULD BE GREAT TO POST THEM SO YOU CAN READ THEM ALL AT ONCE! THEY'VE BEEN COMING OVER THE PAST MONTH!!! MISS YOU LOVE YOU!

Gretta said...

I LOVE the Golden Compass + series

:)

A loving student said...

Hey Ms. Wallace! Glad to hear all is going well. HOPE YOU"RE BACK SOON! We miss you! (not that Ms. S isn't FANTASTIC). well, I came on looking for the vocab 10 list and found your blogs...very funny and cute! haha anyway, see ya later Ms. Wallace. Tell everyone your class says HI! WE LOVE YOU!



Hey its Ben H. I came here to find about homework and stumbled upon your wonderful blog. Ill keep looking for the homework. I hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope your daughter has a quick recovery and best wishes to you all.
Ben



Hey miss walace it's Prudence ... I just wanted to say hi and see how you were doing. I dought if you'll see this before I see you but it's the thought that counts. How is Hannah doing? My mom had leukimia when I was little it was a long period of being confused and upset but she pulled through it just as I'm sure Hannah will do! I wish you guys luck and tell Hannah I hope she feels better!!!
~Prudence


Hey Miss Walace ... I just wanted to say hi and see how you were doing. I dought if you'll see this before I see you but it's the thought that counts. How is Hannah? When I was little my mother had leukimia it was a long period of being confused and upset but she pulled through and I'm sure Hannah will do the same... I wish your family luck. Tell Hannah I hope she feels better!
~Prudence


I MISS YOUUUU! its just phebe popping in to see how youre doing...figured you needed a comment....hope to see you soon!


hi ms wallace its dan i miss you very much as well as danny and christian. We need and want you back but ms s is okay, she is acting just as you would and teaching us all the wonderful things neccesary. How is your reading going, are you getting your daily books in? it is good i found a way to get a hold of you and i hope that you write me back. and good luck to you and your daughter and have a very merry christmas! sincerely Dan Ferry

OKEY DOKEY, HERE'S VOCABULARY 13



BELLICOSE-adj- war-like, quarrelsome
The bellicose 6th graders kept on hitting eachother and calling eachother names during recess.

ABJURE-v- to renounce; to avoid or shun
It might be a good idea to adjure your peers when they make bad decisions

INGRATIATE-v- to get on someone's good side, to make oneself acceptable
If you want to get a good grade, you may want to ingratiate your teacher by bringing her a valentine.

JUDICIOUS-adj- wise, careful, showing good judgement
The judicious student always looked before crossing the street, didn't drive after midnight, and never did drugs.

LEVITY-n- lightness, lack of seriousness
The professor shouwed such levity with his lecture that the students were unable to take it seriously.

CORROSIVE-adj- acidlike, eating away gradually; bitterly sarcastic
The corrosive liquid destroyed the marble countertop.
The corrosive comments hurt the girls feelings so much that she went home after school and cried.

PARIAH-n- an outcast
Social pariahs, although they are often quiet and keep to themselves, can often be some of the smartest students.

STENTORIAN-adj- extremely loud
Every class has a stentorian student, you know, the one who doesn't shut up and will stop at nothing to be heard.

OBVIATE-v- to anticipate and prevent
Vaccinations can obviate the dangers of childhood diseases.
RETROGRESS-v- to move backward, to return to an earlier condition

Students who don't study or do their homework often retrogress instead of making progress

additional words for honors.........

BROWBEAT-v- to bully, to intimidate
If you want to browbeat on of your friends, you could say mean things, treat them poorly, or even spit on them

BRAZEN-adj- insolent, rude
The brazen secretary repeatedly rebuffed all questions the patients had and eventually ignored them altogether.

JUBILATION-n- rejoicing, celebration
The end of year jubilation included silly string, cleaning out of lockers, and LOTS of candy.

REPREHENSIBLE-adj- deserving blame
The student who burned all copies of The Catcher in the Rye was reprehensible and was punished appropriately.

WAGGISH-adj- mischievous
The waggish student was always sllipping in and out of class with a sly grin on his face.

EXTRA CREDIT:
RACONTEUR

SPASMODIC

PRATFALL

Greetings from Children's Hospital! Nothing much new to report here, but I wanted to say hello. How's school? How's reading? Writing?

I know I told you about the last book I was reading - it was Parched by Heather King. It was pretty good, but by the end, it got a little bit more religious. Hmmmm, that's not quite it. It's just the author started to feel more spiritual maybe and she talked less about other things. I recommend it, though. Interesting to get into the mind of this woman.

Now I'm reading Michael Crichton - State of Fear. I am really enjoying it - it is so quick to read even though it's 600+ pages. It's about environmental issues - global warming/climate change. It provides a lot of scientific information, and a lot of that information flies in the face of everything you may have heard in the media about global warming. I don't know what to believe! Which is good . . . I like when books really make me think, especially about issues that are important and I feel a bit ignorant about them.

Have you done your selfless acts yet? I'm still working on mine. I think I have an idea, though. It's going to be a little bit hard to do, because it requires me to swallow my pride and give up a revenge fantasy and really forgive someone I've been holding a grudge against for a long time. . . Wish me luck. Good luck to you, too.

I hope you are all doing well. I miss you. I'll keep in touch.

VOCABULARY 12


CIRCUMSPECT-ADJ- careful, cautious
HISTRIONIC-ADJ- over-acting, melodramatic, theatrical
DEBILITATE-V- to weaken, to sap the strength of
GESTICULATE-V- to make gestures, especially when speaking
DISMANTLE-V- to take apart
BUCOLIC-ADJ- pastoral, rural, rustic
ENERVATE-V- to weaken or destroy the strength of
EVANESCENT-ADJ- fleeting, gradually disappearing
DIDACTIC-ADJ- instructive, meant to teach
GARNER-V- to collect

and all you honors students can add on the following:

SQUANDER-V- to waster, to use extravagantly
PANDEMIC-ADJ- epidemic over a large region
GRUELING-ADJ- exhausting, difficult
BELLIGERENT-ADJ- war-like, ready to fight
LURID-ADJ- shocking and sensational; glowing through flames

x-tra credit: this differs from class to class depending on which words we assigned

PYE-DOG (MAY ALSO BE SPELLED PI-DOG)
PURULENCE
LIGER
DOGGO
BELLESLETTRES

ANYONE WHO WANTS TO POST THE DEFINITIONS OF EXTRA CREDIT WORDS MAY DO SO.

Hello, 10th grade English people! Hope you are all doing well - feeling mighty grateful after you amassed that collection of thankful lists. Doesn't it brighten your day to remember you have SOMETHING to be grateful about even when it's shivery and dark and snaining (snowing and raining) and your piggy bank is empty and your boyfriend is chasing some other girl and your mom threw out your Global Studies project and your brother stole your hat and you have wicked bedhead and . . . You've got to hang on to the positive. Right?!?@?@?@?@?@ I'm trying.

I'm reading an excellent book called Parched by Heather . . . Thomas? Maybe. I'll double check the last name. Anyway, it's a memoir of an alcoholic in the making - and goes on to reveal how she made it. It reveals a lot of telling stuff about her family - not how they hung out in bars and beat her but how they had sort of a famly philosophy, a family ethos, which contributed to her drinking. I like that so far, she's not a blamer - she's not saying her mom was so horrible that she turned to the drink. She's accepting of her circumstances and her own weakness. She does cite the Bible at the start of many chapters which worried me at first - was this going to be a FOUND-GOD kind of memoir, but it's not. It's real and not depressing and not too easy; Excellent.

I'm in the hospital now with Hannah. She's pretty miserable. All her hair has fallen out except a pink fringe around her face - kind of a pink tinged lion look. She has enjoyed hearing from many of you on her care page. You guys are so nice. Hannah had a spinal tap and a bone marrow aspiration and chemotherapy injected in her spinal fluid last Friday, and she's still not recovered from the subsequent painful headaches and nausea. Her sisters came up today - Olivia was getting checked out for her bone marrow donation which should be coming up soon. We got all the information about it. It's kinda overwhelming - even when Hannah finally leaves the hospital, we'll have to be here daily for check ins and checkups. When she finally gets home, She's going to be pretty isolated for 6 months or more. Wow.

I miss school. I miss you. I'm sorry I haven't seen you. It's just not going to be possible for a while. I know Ms. S is working her brains out. Be kind. She has a lot to teach you. Remember, she has studied under the master. (ME!)

Dan Ferry and Danny Thomas - how are those Philip Craig books coming? Are you almost finished?
Antone - How's the Rusty Nail? Gruesome enough? Hey - do you still want some carpentry work? I'm pretty desperate. Tell Ms. S. if you do, and then we can arrange to get my front steps fixed. Thanks!

Max - Thanks for writing to Hannah! Aja and Shelby, too! I know there are more of you, but I can't remember this second!

Prudence - way to go with finding cool word pool words!

I'll keep blogging!

Ok Chicklets, here's the deal with assignments:
Grateful Lists are due on 4 or 5 of December, depending on what day you have class. They were assigned three weeks ago and you are expected to have them in hand when you get to class. There has been a reminder on the board for the last three weeks so NO EXCUSES!

WRITING PIECES:
Congratulations Honors Classes on turning in your first writing pieces of the quarter, YAY!
Your other due dates are as follows:
15 DECEMBER
5 JANUARY

COLLEGE I:
You have writing pieces due on......
TUESDAY 12 DECEMBER or WEDNESDAY 13 DECEMBER
3 or 4 of JANUARY!!!!!

SMILEY FACE TRICKS! :o)

Smiley-Face Tricks

1~ MAGIC 3—Lists, examples, adjectivs......three examples in a series can create a rhythm, or add support for a point, they add emphasis and a poetic, musical quiality for listeners/readers :

In those woods, I spent hours LISTENING to the wind rustle the leaves, CLIMBING trees and spying on nesting birds, and GIVING the occasional wild growl to scare away any pink-flowered girls who might be riding their bikes too closely to my secret entrance.

2~REPETITION FOR EFFECT—Writers often repeat specially chosen words or phrases to make a point, to stress certain ideas for the reader........repeat a symbol, sentence starter, important word for importance. This is not because you can't think of another work, repetition for effect is always conscious!

The veranda is your only shelter AWAY FROM the sister in bed asleep, AWAY FROM the brother who plays in the tree house in the field, AWAY FROM your chores that await you.

3~ SPECIFIC DETAILS FOR EFFECT—Instead of general, vague descriptions, specific sensory details help the reader visualize the person, place, thing, or idea—uh, you know, a SHOW as opposed to tell! Add vivid and specific information to your writing to clarify anf create word pictures. thundered instead of noise, cadillac instead of car.....you get the point.

It’s one of those experiences where you want to CALL A RADIO STATION and tell your problems to SOME GUY WHO CALLS HIMSELF DR. MYKE but who isn’t more of a doctor than your pet hamster is, one of those experiences where you want to READ A SAPPY HARLEQUIN NOVEL and LISTEN TO BARRY MANILOWE with a BOX OF BONBONS AS YOUR BEST FRIEND, one of those experiences where you wouldn’t be surprised if someone came up to you and asked EXACTLY WHAT TIME YESTERDAY YOU WERE BORN. Yeah, one of those.


4~ FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE—Non-literal comparisons such as similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, symbolism, irony, alliteration, assosance etc —add “spice” to writing and can help paint a more vivid picture for the reader:

~SIMILIES~ comepare using like or as...stiff AS a board

~METAPHORS~ compares without using like or as... her face is an opsn book

~HYERBOLE~ an extreme exaggeration... so hungry i could eat a horse

~ONOMATOPOEIA~ a word that sounds like what it means... BAM! BOOM! ZAP! CRUNCH!

~ALLITERATION~ repetition of beginning consonant sound...peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers...gives noise and music to the piece of writing

~ASSONANCE~ related to alliteration, the dark side of it, repetition of vowel sound in neighboring words...rain in spain....but it doesn't have to rhyme...hEat of the mEan girls' argument is a near rhyme

The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses on its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. (Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting)

5~ FULL-CIRCLE ENDING - When you include an image at the beginning of a piece of writing and then mentioning it again at the end, it gives your piece a sense of closure.

6~ HYPHENATED MODIFIERS— When you connect two adjectives or adverbs together with a hyphen to describe a noun, it lends an air of originality and sophistication to your writing. Sometimes a new way of saying something can make all the difference; hyphenated modifiers, or single-thought adjectives, often cause the reader to “sit up and take notice.” They add originality and more flavor to writing and allow you to invent words:

She’s got this chestnut hair with reddish-orange highlights, parted in the middle, past her shoulders, and straight as a preacher. She’s got big green eyes that all guys admire and all girls envy, and this I’m-so-beautiful-and-I-know-it body; you know, like every other super model.

7~ EXPANDED MOMENT—Instead of “speeding” past a moment, writers often emphasize it by “expanding” the actions, developing it fully to make your reader take notice. Taking a moment you would ordinarily speed past and stretch it out intentionally. This makes writing BETTER, not longer!

But no, I had to go to school. And, as I said before, I had to listen to my math teacher preach about numbers and letters and parallelograms. I was tired of hearing her lecture about a=b divided by x. I glared at the small black hands on the clock, silently threatening them to go faster. But they didn’t listen, and I caught myself wishing I were in a swimsuit again, mindlessly nudging white sand that married pale-blue water, flipping the soft stiff pages of Camus’ The Stranger… I don’t belong in some dumb math class. I belong on the beach where the wind whips wheat-colored strands of hair into my eyes and where I thickly slurp virgin Pina Coladas all day. I want to grip a straw not a mechanical pencil that will try unsuccessfully to write the answers to meaningless questions.

8~ HUMOR—Professional writers know the value of laughter; even subtle humor can help turn a “boring” paper into one that can raise someone’s spirits. Whenever possible and appropriate, inject a little humor to keep your reader awake. Remind the rader that reading is fun!

And you—yes, you, Justin!—were the guilty party who, after I took off my shoes to enjoy the hot pavement in early spring, put a frog in them. Of course, I didn’t look at the shoes when I put them back on; it was the squish that gave your prank away.

HONORS AND COLLEGE I VOCABULARY 11 for Week of 4-8 December!
Sentences due Wednesday or Thursday and Quiz is Thursday or Friday!!


ingenuous-adj- innocent; sincere

altruistic-adj- selfless

arduous-adj- difficult, hard

venal-adj- open to bribery or corruption

capricious-adj- changeable, whimsical

sycophant-n- flatterer, suck-up

vacuous-adj- stupid or inane, devoid of meaning

ungainly-adj- awkward, clumsy

quell-v- to suppress or quiet by force

strident-adj- loud, harsh, doscordant, grating



additional words for honors:


cherubic-adj- angelic, innocent

meddlesome-adj- interfering

reprisal-n- retaliation

ebullient-adj- enthusiastic

dogged-adj- stubborn and perservering

COLLEGE II VOCABULARY 6

HERETIC-N- someone who goes against a church

LAUDABLE-ADJ- praiseworthy

PROPENSITY-N- tendency, inclination

INDEFATIGABLE-ADJ- tireless

IMPARTIAL-ADJ- fair

PRAGMATIC-ADJ- practical

PERUSE-V- to study, to look over carefully

OVERT-ADJ- obvious

MITIGATE-V- to relieve, to make less intenst

IRRELEVANT-ADJ- not realted, not important