How many gifts are there in total in the 12 Days of Christmas?

Day 1 - receive 1 gift
Day 2 - receives 3 additional gifts, making 4 total gifts
Day 3 - receives 6 additional gifts, making 10 total gifts
Day 4 - receives 10 additional gifts, making 20 total gifts
Day 5 - receives 15 additional gifts, making 35 total gifts
Day 6 - receives 21 additional gifts, making 56 total gifts
Day 7 - receives 28 additional gifts, making 84 total gifts
Day 8 - receives 36 additional gifts, making 120 total gifts
Day 9 - receives 45 additional gifts, making 165 total gifts
Day 10 - receives 55 additional gifts, making 220 total gifts
Day 11 - receives 66 additional gifts, making 286 total gifts
Day 12 - receives 78 additional gifts, making 364 total gifts received.

The 12 Days of Christmas

In England, between 1558 and 1829, it was not legal for Catholics to practice their kind of Christianity in public or private. Being a Catholic was treated as a bad crime. If you even owned a Catholic Bible, you could be put in prison! Catholics were stopped from worshipping because King Henry VIII fell out with the Catholic Church and started his own 'Protestant' Church (what is now the Church of England). There were many people who were still Catholics and they worshipped in secret.

'The Twelve Days of Christmas' was written in England at the beginning of this time. Some people think that it was written to help children learn about their Catholic religion. In the carol, the days are supposed to represent special symbols and have hidden meanings, because it was illegal to have anything in writing that would indicate that you were a Catholic.

But there's no evidence that this is true and it seems most likely just to be a folk song and that the meanings were added at a later date! Also, all the symbols can be used by Protestants and other Christians! There was another song called 'A New Dial', written in 1625, which gave religious meanings to the 12 Days of Christmas, but not so people could practice their faith is secret. If you'd like to know more about this, please go to the 12 Days of Christmas page on snopes.com

The 12 Days of Christmas refer to the twelve day period that starts with Christmas day and ends on Epiphany (6th January). The song begins, On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me... The 'true love' was meant to represent God, the true love of the world. The 'me' in the carol is the Christian man or woman who receives these presents. The meanings given to the 12 Days are:

	The 'partridge in a pear tree' is Jesus who died on the cross. In ancient times a partridge was often used as mythological symbol of a divine, sacred king.
	The 'two turtle doves' are the Old and New Testaments of the Bible - another gift from God. Doves also symbolise peace.
	The 'three French hens' are faith, hope and love - the three gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 13). The French hens can also represent God the Father, His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
	The 'four calling birds' are the four Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible.
	The 'five golden rings' are the first five books of the Bible also called the Pentateuch, the Books of Moses or the Torah.
	The 'six geese a-laying' are the six days of creation.
	The 'seven swans a swimming' are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4:10-11)
	The 'eight maids a milking' are the eight beatitudes, Jesus' teachings on happiness. (See Matthew 5:3-10)
	The 'nine ladies dancing' are nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. (See Galatians 5:22)
	The 'ten lords a-leaping' are the Ten Commandments in the Bible. (See Exodus 20)
	The 'eleven pipers piping' are the eleven faithful disciples of Jesus.
	The 'twelve drummers drumming' were the twelve points of the Apostles' Creed.

CLASS UPDATE

Merry Christmas! Here is an update for 8th Grade English Language Arts.

		Christmas Holidays

December 16, 2013-------------------------------2nd 9wks Test Review
December 17, 2013-------------------------------2nd 9wks Test Review
December 18, 2013-------------------------------9wks Exam
December 19, 2013-------------------------------9wks Exam
December 20, 2013-------------------------------9wks Exam / Early Release Day
December 23, 2013 - January 03, 2014--------Christmas Holidays

Books make great gifts!

Upcoming Dates

December 20, 2013               60% Student Day

December 23 – Jan. 3            Christmas Holidays 

Upcoming Events

November 7, 2013--------------Progress Reports
November 25-29, 2013---------Thanksgiving Holidays

Writing Prompt: Due by October 11, 2013

You must post your own reply and then respond to one other classmate. You must write your first name, last initial, and class period each time you post. Example: Jackie C, period 1. You must also use academic language. Absolutely NO texting abbreviations. 


Go here to find the full text of the play: http://www.shakespeare-literature.com/Romeo_and_Juliet/index.html_

Prompt: The "balcony scene" (Act II, scene 2) is the most famous love scene in the history of the theater. What lines spoken by Romeo or by Juliet do you think are the most important, the most interesting, or the most beautiful? Why?

Romeo & Juliet Official Trailer - Hailee Steinfeld, Douglas Booth

In Theaters October 11

Introduction to Shakespeare

We are starting are unit on Shakespeare. Have you read any of his works?

Follow the link below for a wonderful prezi created about his life and accomplishments.

http://prezi.com/srfpg0nywvcz/william-shakespeare/

Text Selection: This exemplar text, taken from Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It, addresses universal themes with regard to aging and the meaning of life. The organizational structure of the speech, as well as the illuminating imagery, offers vivid and concrete avenues for exploration and close reading.

The Text: Shakespeare, William. Jaques’ Soliloquy from As You Like It (Act II, Scene vii)

                                All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts,

5      His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel Andshining morning face, creeping like snailUnwillingly to school. And then the lover,

10   Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,

Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation

15   Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,

In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts

20   Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

25    And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Vocabulary:

 sad; song that tells a story

  a leopard

chicken-like fowl

                                proverbs

                                the latest news or thing

                                ¾ length pants

                                stockings worn by fashionable men 

                                with pantaloons; calf of leg

                                  total forgetfulness 

                                  without (French)

6 Free Online Resources for Primary Source Documents | Edutopia

6 Free Online Resources for Primary Source Documents | Edutopia

Labor Day Weekend

We have just wrapped up our fourth week of school, and we get to celebrate a long weekend.  Monday is Labor Day, and I hope everyone enjoys their extra time away from school.

Just a reminder, Jr. High Football will play Bassfield at home on Tuesday, September 3, 2013. Football players will be allowed to wear their jerseys, and Cheerleaders will be allowed to wear their cheer uniforms.

Thanks to everyone who has completed reading comprehension assignments via www.easycbm.com.

YOU ROCK!

Figurative Language

Figurative Language is the use of words that go beyond their ordinary meaning. It requires you to use your imagination to figure out the author's meaning.

“This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but with a whimper.”      

-T.S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men”

These poetic lines use onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia refers to words that come from sounds. What do you think of the image in the poem? What do you think Eliot means?


Definitions for this week:

 Figurative Language  

 comparing different objects in a way it might not make sense

 Simile

 a comparison using like or as

 Metaphor  

 comparison not using like or as

 Hyperbole

 an exaggeration

 Personification  

 giving human qualities to animals or objects

 Word Relationships  

 these express grammatical relationships between words

 Synonyms

 words with the same meaning

 Antonyms  

 words with opposite meanings

 Multiple Meaning Words  

 words that can have several meanings, depending upon how they are used in a sentence

 Homonyms  

 words that sound the same but have different meanings

 Compound Words  

 two words combined to create a new word.

 Nuances

 little or small differences

Open House/Meet the Teacher Night

I would like to invite everyone to meet the teacher night. It will be held on Monday, August 12th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. We look forward to meeting and talking with you! See you there!

First Week

We had a successful first week of school! The students were excited to see their friends and teachers. The teachers were excited to see their students and colleagues. We hope this excitement continues throughout the year.

REMINDER: INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOKS DUE MONDAY

Standard English

Be prepared to discuss the following questions.

Why is it important to use Standard English grammar to compose and edit?

What do you think Standard English grammar means? 

HINT:

"We need to know Standard English, but we need to know it critically, analytically, and in the context of language history. We also need to understand the regularity of nonstandard variants. If we approach good and bad grammar in this way, the study of language will be a liberating factor--not merely freeing learners from socially stigmatized usage by replacing that usage with new linguistic manners, but educating people in what language and linguistic manners are all about."

Edwin L. Battistella, Bad Language: Are Some Words Better Than Others? Oxford Univ. Press, 2005.

Definition of STANDARD ENGLISH

: the English that with respect to spelling, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary is substantially uniform though not devoid of regional differences, that is well established by usage in the formal and informal speech and writing of the educated, and that is widely recognized as acceptable wherever English is spoken and understood.

"Standard English." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 5 Aug. 2013.

The First Days of School

Welcome to the start of a wonderful and successful year. I am looking forward to meeting and working will all of you. This year in addition to teaching 8^th grade ELA, I will be coaching archery, so I am extremely excited! During the first couple of days of school, student will be receiving their textbooks and loads of information regarding classroom procedures and routines. We will discuss classroom expectations, school policy, and much more.

Divergent # 3 is coming out!

Allegiant