» play Free Rice below! Mr. Maslanka

Dear Parents/Guardians,Hello. We just wanted to take a quick minute to let you know what will be going on in 8th grade ELA classes over the next few weeks. We are starting a new unit of study on the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. We are very excited to be reading a contemporary novel that deals with issues that teenagers are faced with today. This is a great opportunity for you to read along with your student(s) and to open doors to discussions about the issues presented in the book and in society today and how they resonate with them. If you would like to read the book, but don’t want to purchase it, the entire novel can be found online. There is a link to the book provided below.

Please feel free to email your child’s English teacher (emails provided below) if you have any questions or concerns. Stay tuned to the blog to follow along with class assignments and updates. Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely Yours,
Ms. Katie L. Ferreira (kate.ferreira@tyngsboroughps.org)
and
Mr. Justin Maslanka (justin.maslanka@tyngsboroughps.org)

Click here for the link to Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Some terms from Speak.…

overbearing Eurocentric patriarchs, 49: a patriarch is the male head of a family; Eurocentric is to believe that only ideas/values/people from Europe (even those who settled in America, basically white people) are important; overbearing means to be too pushy, too possessive, or always right
xenophobic, 56: to be afraid of strangers or anything foreign
Hanukkah, 69: an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem
Kwanza, 69: An African-American cultural festival, celebrated from December 26 to January 1.
wombat: burrowing Australian marsupial
Titans, 113: mythical monsters whom Greeks believed to inhabit the earth before human beings came to be
suffragettes, 154:women who fought for the right to vote
self incrimination, 157:giving evidence or testimony that shows one’s own guilt
bichon frise, 149: a breed of dog
indentured servitude, 177: servants would bind themselves to an “owner” to work for a period of time until they were freed, generally as a way to finance their voyage to America

NY times magazine article- can you make yourself smarter?

Want to make yourself smarter? Click here for N Back game!

Any parents interested in Common Core? Site with videos about the newly adopted Common Core!

MOTHER GAGA!!!! Great article about her leadership potential!

Entry Filed under: Quote of the Day. Posted in Quote of the Day .

2 Comments Add your own

Mr. Bowskavich | October 19th, 2009 at 5:11 pm

150 grains donated
Psycho Killer | November 2nd, 2009 at 12:29 pm

300

Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed

Mr. Maslanka

play Free Rice below!

FREE RICE!

Genocide question?

Speak – A New Unit of Study

2 Comments Add your own

Leave a comment

info

SOMEWHAT DAILY QUOTE

Links

Calendar

admin