SHOJ - English Language Arts

Thanks to Mrs. O'Dowd for organizing a great speaker this morning. The testimony of these two veterans tied right into what the 7th graders are reading. I loved this quote. Inspirational! "The secret is kindness and love. You learn that behind barbed wire and you don’t forget it." - Roy Shenkel

We had the awesome opportunity yesterday to hear from a Holocaust survivor. The message she gave us was beautiful! She told us to remove all hate from our hearts and to replace it with love.

Thank you so much to our parent speakers today! The kids learned so much from your stories. Thanks for making history come alive!  Mrs. Wentzel told about her family's experience in Belarus as Germany came through the Soviet Union.   Mrs. Farley shared her dad's experiences as a fighter pilot on his plane "Stardust."  Mrs. Farley's dad made a rosary for her mom from the Plexiglas of an airplane window.  Mrs. Hess read from her dad's letters while he was stationed overseas. Mrs. Janatello explained the experiences of her uncle during his time as a Prisoner of War.

7th graders, Here are the journal prompts from this week! Some of you requested that I post them for your project. 8:  After seeing pictures of concentration camps and learning a little about the Holocaust and Anne Frank, I feel…  9: Anne’s diary was published in more than 50 countries.  The play, based on her diary, won a Pulitzer Prize and was made into a movie.  Why do you think Anne’s diary and her story have attracted so much attention? 10:  The last quote that Mr. Frank reads from the diary is, “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”  What does this tell us about Anne’s character?  What do you think about this quote? How does it relate to you?  Happy typing! 

7th grade parents, We will be having an exciting day on 12/9 at 12:50 when family members with a WWII story will be coming in to share about that time with your child. I have five speakers but if you're free this day and have a connection that you could talk with the students about, we would love to have you. The students will be in groups and rotate through each station. I'm sure they'll remember the stories long after this unit is over. :) Hope you can join us! -- Miss R.

In 7th grade this week, we've been reading A Diary of Anne Frank.  Students voted to finish their maps of the attic by next Wednesday. We will be finishing Act 1 in class, and they will be reading Act 2, Scenes 1-2 for next Friday. We will be taking a Membean quiz next week too. For any students who want to take advantage of their project work day on 11/24 (the Monday before Thanksgiving), they should be caught up on Membean. I also challenged the students to participate in the parish reading book with 33 Days to Morning Glory. Any students who read the consecration portion can count that as double pages for a book talk (since it bears both academic and spiritul fruit!) when they come back from Christmas break. The parish is planning to finish it by Jan. 1. Seventh graders did a wonderful job with their Socratic seminar on Monday. They are deep thinkers! Upcoming due dates: Project 12/5 Test over Holocaust and Anne Frank on 12/11  In eighth grade this week,...

Students received their quarter two projects today. We will work with these as we work through our reading this quarter. I've posted them in case you need an extra copy! 8th graders, for your vocab words, some of you wanted to type them and asked me to post the template.  Please work ahead!  Due Dates: 8th -- Dec. 15th, Check-in days -- Nov. 21st, Dec. 5th 7th -- Dec. 5th 7th grade rubric 8th grade rubric 8th grade vocab box template  (Once you click on this, click the download button at the top, which looks like an arrow pointing down). 

The past two weeks have been full of days where students had the chance to learn something outside of school! The next upcoming field trip will be the 8th graders trip to see A Christmas Carol. The permission slips for this are due Monday. Let me know if you have any questions! Congrats to our Scholar's Bowl students who competed at either the tournament at St. Thomas Aquinas or Bishop Miege. They were fun to watch as they showed lots of knowledge! The last group (due to rainout) recently attended Timber Ridge. They had to work as a team to complete obstacles and keep each other safe on the tower. The group I was watching took great skills back, which they can use to work together as a house. Finally, the seventh graders visited the National Archives for an exhibit on the Holocaust. We didn't know this until we visited, but all students are welcome to contact the National Archives if they are working on a project and want first-hand documents for ...

http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/Holocaust/timeline/nazirise.htm http://www.ushmm.org/learn/introduction-to-the-holocaust http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005142 http://www.graceproducts.com/fmnc/main.htm http://annefrank.com/

Dear families, We wish you a wonderful and relaxing week! 7th graders, I saw this and thought of you. After spending time last semester learning about the Holocaust, this exhibit sounds very interesting. From now through Monday, March 31st at the Kansas City (MO) Public Library, there will be an exhibit looking at Holocaust related information through comic books. If you've got time over spring break or the week after, you should check it out! I'm planning to. Here's the description from the website : The role played by comic books in fighting fascism is explored in an exhibit spanning almost 70 years. During the war, superheroes such as Superman, Daredevil, and Captain America did battle with Adolph Hitler and his Nazis. Dr. Seuss, then an editorial cartoonist, depicted Hitler frolicking beneath the swaying bodies of executed Jews. The postwar years introduced the classic  X-Men  character Magneto, a Holocaust survivor who uses his superpowers to wreak veng...