• 7th Grade Argumentative Essay: 
    - The materials/sources that you will use to write this paper are on the HMH website/the online textbook. 
    -These are the guided steps to get you there: 
           1- husd.org
           2- ELA 6-12
           3- Student Resources 
           4- Performance Assessment 
           5- Unit 1
           6- Starting on page 32 are the sources. 
    - The final draft can either be hand written or typed. If you are typing it- please send to mrs.harshawclass@gmail.com 
    - Remember to highlight: 
          1- Reason or claim in YELLOW
          2- Evidence and supporting detail BLUE 
          3- Counterargument- RED
          4- Weakness- PURPLE 
    This is due Monday February 12th! 
    QUARTER 2:
    Week of 10-18-10-21
    We will begin writing our first informative essay on the story, "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant. Since this is the first essay of the year, we will walk through this step by step together. Going over thinking maps (circle, bubble, and flee). 
    Week of 9/26-9/30
    THIS Friday each student is responsible to turn in their Tissue Box Book report. Please email me at cassandra.harshaw@husd.org if you have any questions or concerns.  
    Week of 9/19-9/23
    *Just a reminder, the students have their Tissue Box Book Report due NEXT Friday. I understand that with Fall Break quickly approaching, many people have planned to leave early for a vacation. Please make sure that the book report is turned in BEFORE you leave for vacation.  
    Week of 9/12-9/16
    This week's vocab words are parts of speech. Students have these words in their notebooks. As the quarter is wrapping up, we are also starting to work heavily on grammar.
    *Note: now that school is in full swing, grading could start to look differently for the students. As students enter into middle school, it is important that teachers start to prepare kids for high school. With that being said; students need to remember to look over their work, take time to proofread, and really pay attention to their writing. Students will start getting marked off points if they do not write in complete sentences, do not have proper capitalization, or end their sentences with proper punctuation.  
    Week of 9/5 - 9/9
    Monday: No School
    Tuesday: Vocab words for this week-
     1. –ance- an act or state of

    2.  –able-  likely to be, capable of being

    3. In- not

    4.Co- with or together

    5. Dis- the absence of

    6.Un- not, opposite

    7. Em-/en-   to provide with, to cause to be

    8. Re-  again, back

    9.Ex-  opposite of, away from

    10.Trans- across, change

    Friday; There will be a matching quiz over this weeks vocabulary words.  
    Week of 8/29-9/2
    Thursday: Students will read a short story called: "The Peach" they will then take a common assessment over Point of View, Conflict, and Characterization using "The Peach" as reference.  
    Vocab for this week:
    2. Desperate
    3. Exceptionally
    6.Jasmine (flower)
    Week of 8/22-8/26
    *On Monday the students were given their first book report assignment. Each student is required to read a book that is of the middle school level and then use a tissue box to create a book report. If you have any questions about this please look at your students handout they received today in class or please e-mail me. They MUST bring their book in each day or they will receive a lunch detention. We went to the library to check out a book today so they should have one, if they are not going to bring one from home.  
    *If a student wishes to redo/retake the common assessment over "Thank You Ma'am" they have until September 2nd to do so. Please have your child fill out a redo form (in my class) and then I will sign off on it and schedule a day and time that works best for the both of us. Please note that the retake window is only open for 2 weeks and they must have at least one tutoring session before the retake.
    Vocab words for this week.
    1. beckon
    2. inscription
    3. scheme
    4. liberation
    5. segregation
    6. integration
    7. charismatic
    8. optimistic
    9. pessimistic
    10. drawl  
    Week of 8/15-8/19
    Vocab words for this week:
    1. connotation
    2. denotation
    3. indirect characterization
    4. direct characterization 
    5. inference
    6. exposition
    7. climax
    8. resolution
    9. context clues  
    *This Friday the students will have their first big assessment, which covers characterization. We will be practicing and reviewing these skills all week. If you need extra clarification or help before the test, please let me know and we can arrange a time for tutoring.  
    Reminder: students are always allowed to retake any assessment they would like in order to receive a higher score. The retake must be done within two weeks that the grade is posted. For the vocab quiz last week, the students will have until 8/26 for the retake.  
    Week of 8/8-8/12 
    7th grade students have a vocabulary quiz over these 10 words:
    1. setting
    2. characters
    7. point of view
    8. foreshadowing
    9. personification
    10. theme