Positive Thinking Thursday

Positive?  Yes, it's difficult to be positive when so much is happening around us that appears to be so negative, I know.  This is when we have to pull out all the stops and remain as positive as possible for those who need us and for our own well-being, as well.

What exactly would make you happy?  Summer weather?  Graduation?  Good grades?  Hanging out with friends?  Watching a good movie?  Singing and dancing with friends?  Harlem Shake?  (Is it really Harlem Shake or Slide? I truly can't remember. I told you I was getting old. Ha)    How about just laughing until your gut aches or your eyes tear?  That's what I love the most....a good hard laugh.  I do get to laugh a lot with my grandsons, but, of course, I sincerely miss the laughter of 8th graders.  Nothing compares.

Let's send our good thoughts and support to Boston, West,Texas.....Mississippi and Washington, DC too.
Here are some pictures to make us all feel better in the face of sadness.  Share your thoughts and what makes you smile.





Who can answer this question?



The one above is for me <3




I miss Vinnie's, Naples', Schiano's, and Marchione's pizza.  :-(



Friends and a good laugh too......






Tell me about what makes you happy.  Let's talk.

Deep in the Heart of Texas Tuesday

Hello from Texas.....

I don't want to lose touch with all y'all just yet so here is my first blog from my new home state of Texas.  I know you are all gearing up for the "ever-present-in-the-back-of -your-mind" NJASK8.  Don't worry.  Just do what you do best: read insightfully and write powerfully and creatively.  You guys will be just fine.

On my trip from Barnegat to Houston and later on to Dallas, I saw many remarkable cities.  I will post some pictures. Let's see if you can recognize my locations.  Maybe this could be inspiration for an original short story, as well.  Interesting settings often lend themselves to fabulous story lines.

What do you think?
Let's see if you can trace my road trip.....







Easy so far, right?



One of my favorite spots below.....












Cities are wonderful places to tell a story.  The people who live in big cities have such interesting lives often with many challenges.

Let's see if someone can start a story here.  I look forward to hearing from each of you on the blog.

Mrs. P

Time Travel Tuesday 2013

Welcome to the end of Marking Period 3.  I wanted to touch base with you now since I do not know how long it will take me to have Internet access in Texas.

 I know many eighth graders start to show signs of sadness during the final marking period since leaving Brackman is so bitter sweet. You want to move on to bigger and better things as a high school student, but you are leaving the comfort and security of your middle school years too. It's tough.

Well, I hope your last marking period will be the start of a new and exciting journey though language arts literacy. Even though you are reading a drama now in class, I decided to deviate from Theatrical Thursday and go back to one of my favorite topics, Time Travel. After all, you are reading about the past. I'd like to see how creative you can be by starting some ideas here for an historical fiction short story. After standardized testing is finished, you will be able to devote more time to writing original short stories. The blog is a perfect place to try out some ideas.

Time Travel Tuesday will allow you to use your imagination and jump back into a time in the past that interests you. Imagine yourself in the 1940's. Maybe you want to create a story of a German soldier or maybe a young Jewish boy caught in the termoil. Since you are reading Anne Frank's diary, I think WWII would be a perfect place to start your time travel.

Here are some pictures to get you started. Feel free to write the opening paragraph of an original short story based on one of the pictures or maybe describe a character complete with feelings and emotions. Description of setting will work here too. Just remember the time reference, somewhere in Europe or the Pacific ---circa 1940. You decide.

This is me with the Yellow Star. I had to carry this picture around with my identity card.

You have some things to think about. Which direction will you take your story? Will you write about an army man, a woman who supports the troups, or a Jewish child in a concentration camp? You can even take on the task of being a world leader making the decisions. You decide.

Theatrical Thursday 2013

This was a very popular blog post last year so I thought I would give y'all a try in the roll of director. I have some very definite ideas myself so read  below and let's see how you would do.

This may be our last opportunity to talk about The Giver on the blog. There are a few possible endings. I guess it depends if you are an optimist or a realist. We will definitely discuss the ending possibilities in class. I think some of you will be shocked at the ending as described by many of the realists in the group.

If you research Lois Lowry's website, you can read some of her answers to questions posed by students about the ending. She is very evasive, indeed. Feel free to check it out. Here's the link.

http://www.loislowry.com/ Retype if it does not post as a link. :(

Now it's time to get down to work for today. I have a very interesting reason why I decided to post this page on Theatrical Thursday. Imagine....you are the director of the new movie, The Giver. How would you cast the characters? Here are some possibilities as I see them:



Paul Newman as THE GIVER   Reese Witherspoon as Rosemary Chord Overstreet as Jonas Isla Fisher as Fiona Brian Jones as Asher
and introducing Jeremy James as baby Gabriel




So what do you think of my cast of characters so far? Now it's your turn. Explain who you would choose to play the most important cast of characters in the movie version of The Giver. If you would like to cast the entire movie with characters played by your peers or others from the Brackman School, go right ahead. I am curious to see how you do as a director.
For some extra credit print pictures of your cast of characters and create a movie poster to show the class. Have fun!

Wordy Wednesday

The last Wednesday in February.......

I hope you all have been checking the blog even if you have not been contributing.  Science Fiction Friday had to do with The Giver, as I am sure you have figured out by now. Please go back and look at the pictures again to see if you can make a connection to the text yet. Some will still be a mystery until we reach that section in the text. Now that you have more information, though, you can make educated guesses and/or predictions for the novel. Have fun trying to figure them out.

Now, let's get to the task at hand---Vocabulary. There are many interesting vocabulary words that you will encounter as we read The Giver. You have already worked with a few. I am going to post some pictures that may help you define some of the new words on our list. This will be a challenge to get just the right picture to show the meaning, since I don't have the capability of sketching exactly what I want. Let's give it a try.


What vocabulary word from The Giver is shown in the picture below? 




Exuberant or Excruciating














Anguish or Conspicuous

Meticulous or Transgression

Buoyancy or Crescendo

Interdependent or Independent

Easy, right? Let me know what you think of the exercise. Please create a post using some of the words in context too. I'd be interested in seeing how they fit together in a paragraph. Feel free to find some pictures on the Internet for the words that were not represented in illustration above. Print and bring in for extra points. Have fun with words.

Truth Be Told Tuesday

Thinking for persuasion....

Let's stick to the facts. We talked about changes that need to be made in school, in Barnegat, in New Jersey, and in our nation or the world. It's important to strengthen your writing style when dealing with persuasive essays. Be creative but be logical too. Let's get down to business and iron out some issues right here on the blog. I will post some of the most common complaints expressed about our school. Try to think logically and present your best reason to support or refute the given issue. If I remember correctly, some of the popular complaints involved gym class, cafeteria food and eating locations, a lack of electives, the dress code, gum chewing, a need for recess....the list goes on and on.

Let's start with cafeteria food.....

Here are some school lunches aroung the globe.

ITALY........

640 × 480 - izismile.com

FRANCE.....






Here's what the school lunch is like in Korea. Better?


Many of you expressed complaints about the food not being healthy or tasty. Will the European or Korean menus work to solve that problem?


The caption on this picture below mentioned mystery meat? Is that fair?

The caption on the picture above reads....

Kids who ate school lunches like this one regularly were 29 percent more likely to be obese than those who brought their lunch from home.

The caption for the picture above reads....

Health researchers typically focus on improving the quality of foods served in school cafeterias. But what about improving a child’s whole dining experience. Turning the school lunch into a real sit-down meal, rather than a minutes-long eating frenzy, is just one way to begin improving the health and eating habits of the nation’s children, says Dr. Arthur Agatston.

What do you think about time? Do you feel rushed at lunch? Does the time issue cause you to eat all the wrong foods? Let's just think a minute. Do we have a minute?

Let's talk about the improvements you would like to see on the menu or during lunch and why they are necessary. Be logical and prove your point. We will take on another issue next week so check back often.

Science Fictional Friday

Note:  I know it's only Thursday, but I may not be able to post tomorrow from Texas.  Enjoy this challenge, and, of course, be respectful of your substitute.  I will see you Tuesday. Reminder:  Parent letters are due back on Tuesday.

Fictional Friday is back. I hope you are all ready to once again be creative.    I realize that for your free reading you will be concentrating on nonfiction and planning your "talk show" interviews for the end of the marking period. That does not mean you should completely forget about fiction and creativity. We will be starting a very bizarre novel shortly and I want to ease you into it.

Our new novel will have a touch of science fiction so be ready for anything and everything, as they say. To get you started and thinking along the lines of the weird and the seemingly impossible, I am posting some pictures that may or may not have something to do with our new novel. I would like you to preview the pictures and see if you can develop your own story line fitting each picture somewhere into the plot. You have my permission to be as weird as you like. Remember, this book will be science fiction.

Spoiler alert>>> Anyone who has already read our new book or has been told anything about the plot from an older sister/brother make sure you do not ruin the surprise or shock value of the novel for the rest of the classes. Thanks

Okay, enjoy the pictures and let your imaginations fly.....