Wordy Wednesday ----- May 2013

I love poetry.  I am not sure what the plans are for May and June with Mrs. Rollis, but I hope you all will add some creative poetry reading and writing into your spare time.  When you read a poem it explodes with meaning inside you.  If you get it, the message will stay with you forever.  If not, it will just fizzle out and die.  No problem.....thanks for trying.
Poetry is a great way to express your emotions.  At times poetry can say the most in the least amount of words possible.  I am still unpacking but I did find some interesting journals given to me my students and my fellow teachers, as well.  As I look around at all the beauty of nature, I get inspired to write.  I may be filling those journals with poetry soon.  As I plant flowers all around my new home and get ready to put pen to paper myself, I hope you will share some of your favorite poetry here.  If you are so inclined, I would love to read some original poetry from all of you too. 

What Is A Best Friend?

© John Devaney age 16 

A Best Friend is a great thing to have.
They're someone you can always lean or depend on when you're sad.
They're always there when time in need.
They're always there pushing you to succeed.
They help you live a happier life.
They're there to help you find the right man or wife.
They push and push you with all their might.
They're there to tell you they love you every night.
They don't care what other people say.
They know their life is easier to see you each day.
They're there through thick and thin.
They're ones who have no concern about the color of your skin.
They're there to help you see.
They're there because they love you for who you are.
They're there to show you off to the world like a shinning star.
They're there to always give advice or listen.
They're there to make your smile wide and glisten.
They're there to let you know if there's anything you need they have it. No matter what the problem is open up don't hide it because in the long run, you'll not only be hurting yourself but others around you who are important and meaningful in your life. That is what I believe is a best friend.

Check www.bestteenpoems.com  for more teen poetry.


Here are some of my all time favorites.

Japanese Haiku by ISSA (Translated into English)

In this world A kitten
even among insects stamps on falling leaves,
some sing well, some don't. holds them to the ground.

Emily Dickinson

I ’M nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there ’s a pair of us—don’t tell!
They ’d banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!	5
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog! Whispers of Mortality by E. E. Cummings old age sticks up Keep Off signs)& youth yanks them down(old age cries No Tres)&(pas) youth laughs (sing old age scolds Forbid den Stop Must n't Don't &)youth goes right on gr owing old Robert Frost Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. Edgar Allan Poe Annabel Lee It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of ANNABEL LEE; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me. I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea; But we loved with a love that was more than love- I and my Annabel Lee; With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven Coveted her and me. And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsman came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea. The angels, not half so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me- Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we- Of many far wiser than we- And neither the angels in heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride, In the sepulchre there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea. How to Eat a Poem by Eve Merriam Don't be polite. Bite in. Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin. It is ready and ripe now, whenecver you are. You do not need a knife or fork or spoon or plate or napkin or tablecloth. For there is no core or stem or rind or pit or seed or skin to throw away. Enjoy!

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.