For October the stylistic device to use in vocab sentences is the participial phrase opening.

• Opening means it comes at the beginning of the sentence.
• Participial means it uses the participle of a verb. For these sentences, we will use -ing verbs. (Verbs that end in -ed can be used in participial phrases, too, but we will stick with one kind.)
  
• Phrase means it's more than one word.

Here are some examples:

• Walking through the Bloedel Reserve, the visitor stopped to watch the swans on the pond.
• Hitting a line drive, the batter made it to third base.
• Savoring the delicious enchilada, Matt decided he liked Mexican food the best.

It's not a participial phrase if there is just one word:

• Meandering, the visitor stopped to watch the swans on the pond.
• Sprinting, the batter made it to third base.
• Eating, Matt decided he liked Mexican food the best.

It's not a participial phrase opening if it's not at the beginning of the sentence:

• The visitor walking through the Bloedel Reserve stopped to watch the swans on the pond.
• The batter, hitting a line drive and running as fast as possible, made it to third base.
• Matt decided he liked Mexican food the best, savoring the delicious enchilada his friend's mother had served.

Most of all, make sure you don't turn your participial phrase opening into a dangling modifier! Remember, the subject of the sentence (right after the comma) must be the person or thing doing the action of the participle. Here are some bad examples:

• Walking through the Bloedel Reserve, the pond's swans entranced the visitor.
• Hitting a line drive, third base was a reasonable goal and the player ran as fast as he could.
• Savoring the delicious enchilada, the dinner was the best food Matt had ever eaten..

Every week students demonstrate their comprehension of vocabulary words by using five of them in original sentences. At the same time the students practice applying specific stylistic devices. This month I asked them to use strong verbs. Instead of said or asked or answered or replied, students are using verbs like shouted or whispered or screeched or bellowed. Instead of walked or ran or went, students are using verbs like slithered or leaped or ambled or sprang. It's fun seeing them be creative in  their writing!

Students are learning literary terms and using the terms to analyze multiple short stories that we are reading in class. Parents, you can see some of the terms we have discussed by going to Teacher Resources and opening the file called "elements of literature graphic displays."

Book project due dates and directions

Parents, I told your children that they should have the rough draft of their papers finished a week BEFORE the due date so they can get readers to help them revise and edit their work before they turn in their final draft to me. I told them to ask you to read their papers and to listen to your advice. Feel free to remind them of what I said!

Students can find a list of recommended books in Middle School Materials. They can also download the directions for each project as well as the information on how I will grade them. It is OK for a student to use a book they have read earlier, like something they read over the summer. They may need to reread a few sections to refresh their memory. It is not OK to write more than one book project on the same book.

7th graders--final draft plot and setting projects are due to me on Sept. 27.
6th graders--final draft plot and setting projects are due to me on Oct. 4.

7th graders--final draft character and theme projects are due to me on Nov. 1.
6th graders--final draft character and theme projects are due to me on Nov. 8.

7th graders--final draft images, sound, and figures of speech projects are due to me on Dec. 6.
6th graders--final draft images, sound, and figures of speech projects are due to me on Dec. 13.