New Year's Resolutions- Choose one to write a paper about, or choose all (and write a few sentences for each)

1) Health/Wellness
-What has been a problem?
(fitness or food)

-What would you like to do about it?

2)Academics
- What has been a problem?
(schoolwork, homeworks, test prep)

What would you like to do about it?

3) Community/Family
(what has been a problem that you can alter?)

What would you like to do about it?

For the cyber bullying website....

https://classroom.google.com/c/ODMwMjIwNzk1OVpa

1 pg. of C notes due Friday regarding this article.

Don't forget- Google Classroom Code is: 9i9hej

For the one pager, follow this rubric:

                        One Pager:  Criminalization of Cyber-Bullying

Writing

Include 4 or more paraphrases or quotes which shows your view on the topic (10 pts)

Include 3 paraphrases or quotes which shows your view on the topic (6 pts)

Include 2 or less paraphrases or quotes which shows your view on the topic (3 pt)

*** Always include authors and titles of articles when citing evidence

Evidence

Include a 4-5 sentence paragraph where you show your own personal reflection. (10 pts)

Include a 2-3 sentence paragraph where you show your own personal reflection that summarizes the lesson and your own personal reflection. (6 pts)

Include a 1-2 sentences  where you share your own personal reflection. (3 pts)

Creativity

Student decorated and filled up the entire page.  Borders and pictures are artfully diagrammed. (10 pts)

Most of the page is artfully created with relevant and colorful images. (6 pts)

Little care is taken in the production and design of the ‘One Pager’ (3 pts)

Vocabulary

Student used at least five vocab words in the context of the one pager. (10 pts)

Student used 3-4 vocab words in the context of the one pager. (6 pts)

Student used less than 3 Vocabulary words in the one pager. (3 pts)

Class Resources

C notes template

Tutorial Forms

Gov't issues to discuss

Issues in Stamf. CT

7th grade Socratic Seminar and One Pager

Decide which of these 5 subjects you'd like to investigate further.  Open up Google Docs and share what you believe about that specific topic.  When you have a chance, take look at research out there for a closer look at the topics.


1) Should we ban 'Unhealthy Foods in School'?

2) Should cyber-bullying be treated as a criminal offense?


3)  Should cell phones be allowed in school?

4) What is better: Single Gender or Coed Schooling?

5) Should homework be banned in school?

Take the following quiz in order to see how well you know about Commas and Semicolons

Comma and Semi Colon pretest

After taking this quiz, check over your own Swing Vote paper.

Review how you did, and make a few necessary changes.


Choose a topic for our next Soc. Sem, and share your brief opinion about the topic on a Google Doc.**Also on this doc, please record how you did on the pretest, and what you think you need to work on in your writing.


1) Should we be able to eat 'Unhealthy' foods in school if we want to?

2) Should everyone (even criminals, children, illegal immigrants) be allowed to vote for President?

3) Should cyber-bullying be treated as a criminal offense?

4) What is better: Single Gender or Coed Schooling?

5) What is the most important issue facing our country: Immigration, Improving Education, or 
       Military?

Swing Vote Reflection- Due Tuesday- After Tues. is a 0

Would you be OK with someone like Bud having the deciding vote for president?  Support with three reasons of why or why not.

or

What do you believe are the biggest issues that our country? At least two of these issues should be referred to in the movie. The third can be one observed in our world.



** Use evidence, connections and reflection from your own life for this for both choices.

Study Skills Slide Show

For this project, you will be teaching others the usefulness of different Study Strategies...

For each slide, you must...

1) Share what the strategy is.

2) Include an image that relates to the strategy.

3) Give details of what the strategy means in your own words.

4) Give an example

This will be a 100 pt assignment.

Each Study Skill Slide is worth 20 pts.

You must include an introductory and a closing slide that relates to your presentation! (missing each of these is a loss of 10 pts.

Grammatical and Spelling errors are worth a deduction of 5 pts each, so be careful and proofread your work!!

On Monday, your presentation day, know your slides well- memorize and relate to them.  

Good luck, and have fun.

Click on the link below to make up your quiz.. this score will be averaged in with your original test.

AVID7- October Assessment Makeup

Let's practice some Cornell note writing!!

Use the following article to write  a set of well written Cornell Notes.

Halloween's history

Note the title, headings and important details.

Yale Reflection- Final draft due Tuesday

- Describe your overall impressions of Yale
- Judge what you enjoyed seeing and experiencing at the school.
- Explain a few things that you learned about the school.
- What are a few questions that you still would ask, if given the opportunity to.
- Judge whether you could see yourself applying to this college.

**Don't forget an opening and closing sentence, and to check your grammar.

College Reflection

-Written Research Reflection-(50 pts)

       Introduction

-      Why did you research this school

       Body paragraph

What are the most interesting things that you found out about this school- include surprising facts

and share your analysis of what you found.

                     Population

                     Campus Life and Cost

                     High School Requirements and Majors

       Person of interest paragraph- share analysis of this person.

       Closing Paragraph-

Would you still be interested in this school and why?

-Are you on the right path to getting accepted, why or why not?

-How do you feel that you did on this project? What kind of grade have you earned and why?

To Stand or Not to Stand- that is the question!

Today, we're going to be using the following articles (or one of your choosing) to discuss this important topic.

National Anthem and NFL players

97 year old war veteran kneels

'NFL kneeling shows disrespect'


In your journal, after reading the article, please write a 4-5 sentence summary and then
use Higher Level Questioning to ask 4-5 discussion questions.

We will have a discussion during the last 15 minutes in class, but also review what makes a good higher level question. 

**Any of these articles can be used for Social Studies

AVID 7- Agenda for Sept. 20

Hi Everyone, unfortunately I couldn't be with you today... Please be responsible, and help out the sub as much as possible today.


Your agenda today is as follows..
1)  Write down your word of the day on Cornell Notes-


                        Abyss- A hole or space so big and deep that it is bottomless
                                      noun
                                        syn- pit, void
                                  for your comp. sent, answer the q.- Would you like to go into an abyss?




2) Go onto Google Docs or Google Slides and type up 3 Haikus.
**For extra credit, add pictures or do an extra couple of Haikus




3) If time allows, please write one page of Cornell notes for any of your classes.  (this assignment is worth 2 tickets, if done well)




Good luck- can't wait to hear the great report from the sub.

AVID's College of the Week- AVID8 First quarter project

In order to further AVID-ize the school and further educate ourselves about Colleges and Universities throughout our country, AVID students will be researching a different college every weeks or so.  You will be working with one other AVID student in our class for this assignment.

In order to get started, please click on the Link below to find out which college is for you.

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges




For your 'in class presentations', you are expected to be well prepared.
1) Slides should be memorized.
2) You should be dressed in a professional manner. 
3) You should be able to read all words, terms and phrases on your slides.
4) You should expect certain questions and be  prepared to answer them.


Presentation Dates:
Roniya and Mikhaila- 9/25
Nate and Lania- 10/2
Anthony and Yesselin- 10/10
Amairany and Daisy- 10/16
Andres and Judy- 10/23
Lubia and Thompson- 10/30
Sofia and Jovanny- 11/6
Sabrina and Yessenia- 11/13
Daniela and Junior- 11/20
Santiago and Christian- 11/27
Johanna, Kendy, Max- 12/4

Final Draft- AVID end of the year speech

Today, Friday, you should be putting the finishing touches on your AVID speech..

By now...
The teacher or parent that you are honoring should be invited.
Your RSVP's should be in with $$ paid.
You should start picking out what you'll wear on Thursday evening.
Your speech should be polished.

During class today, edit your paper to meet 8th grade level expectations.
Begin practicing your paper with a partner or two (or in front of the class)

On Monday we will begin practicing these pieces, and sharing feedback with one another..

A reminder of guidelines...

Opening paragraph-
Discuss the journey that you've taken, from where you were to where you are.
Discuss AVID activities and lessons that have helped you succeed and prepare for high school.

2nd paragraph-

Introduce this person

Share a funny or emotional story that relates to why you're honoring them.

Why are you honoring them?

Thank you

On Monday, I'll be setting the lineup of how these speeches will be presented on Thursday night.  Good luck, and check in over the weekend to see if any additional changes should be made!!

AVID year in Review- 2017!!

Aaron Hernandez, a life unfulfilled

Recently, we read an article about a young man who had a tough upbringing, but apparently has now 'turned things around'

Read the following article about a man who 'had it all', but now has 'ended it all'.
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/aaron-hernandez-no-longer-had-175236378.html

Read the article independently, then answer the questions that are handed it out in class.

Review the attachment.. Which items should be paramount as Trump enters his 100th day in office?

https://www.presidentialelection.com/political-issues/


Your partners will be assigned one of the above topics.


-How has Trump dealt with this issue?


-Do you think that this should be and will be important going forward?

7th grade Career Research Project

  

One of my favorite AVID projects to do with you guys is our AVID Career Project.  Who knows, the career that you pick for this, might actually be the job that you have in 10 years!!

Find most of the info that you need from the following sites:



http://www.bls.gov/k12/content/students/careers/career-exploration.htm
https://www.careeronestop.org/Videos/career-and-cluster-videos.aspx
www.collegeboard.org
http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/the-100-best-jobs


Due by the end of class on Monday:

Write down three careers along with a few of the positives and negatives associated with this career.
 Narrow down your search to one career that you will conduct your research on.

 Due by the end of class on Wednesday:
 Cornell Notes about the career that you have chosen

 Due by class on Friday:

Your presentation choice (how will you be presenting this career to the class)

Read this inspiring essay...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/read-essay-got-high-school-180104978.html

Check these homework articles out in order to answer your questions...

http://oureverydaylife.com/homework-greater-negative-positive-effect-students-12303.html






http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/rethinking-homework/




http://classroom.synonym.com/positive-effects-homework-8583027.html




http://connectusfund.org/list-of-10-big-pros-and-cons-of-homework




http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/HISTORY-OF-HOMEWORK-3053660.php

AVID March Assessment on Monday

Vocab Words-

Conundrum

Peripheral

Appalling

Combustible

Flourish

Stout

Colleges-

Marist

Oregon State University

Don't Forget, I'll be checking out your Agenda Books and Binders during the test!

Why historically black colleges and universities matter in today's America

Read the following article about Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

https://www.higheredjobs.com/articles/articleDisplay.cfm?ID=715

After reading the article, summarize some of the new or most interesting things that you have learned in one paragraph.  For your second paragraph, write down a reaction to the articles and a few questions that you have. Additionally, would you attend an HBCU?  Why or why not?

If you complete this assignment you will take part in team building on Monday.

Use the following link in order to search one Historically Black College or University.

https://www.youniversitytv.com/tag/hbcu/

Finding Forrester 8th grade Movie Review

Read over the following quotes from the movie...

Quote 1:

Ignorance and avoidance of the unknown
leads to fear, isolation, and despair;
but Knowledge and embrace of the unknown
leads to faith, friendship, and hope.

Quote 2:

If you're going to play the game, then you need to know the rules.

Choose one of these quotes to focus on this short essay.

 Describe, analyze and relate these to the movie and your life. 

Paragraph 1- Rewrite the quote and analyze what it means.

Paragraph 2- Analyze how the quote relates to the movie with 2 or 3 pieces of evidence. 

Paragraph 3- Analyze how the quote relates to your own life.  Cite with evidence from your own life (family, friends, peers, and mentors)

Paragraph 4- Concluding paragraph- Write a concluding few sentences to summarize the points made in your paper and the connections made.

7th grade Socratic Seminar

Before our Socratic Seminar on Friday, you must read 3 of the following articles in order to be fully immersed in the topic at hand.  Enjoy!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/school-vending-machines/

2nd quarter reflection

Review your 2nd quarter...
Record your 2nd quarter GPA.
Review the most successful part of the quarter.  Explain why this went so well.
Review your 'weakest' part of the quarter.  Explain what happened here.
Compare and Contrast how you did this quarter compared to last.


What was one key lesson to learn from this quarter that you can take through the rest of middle school?
What will you have to do during your last semester to prepare for next year? Judge whether or not you are fully prepared.


Don't forget to include a closing sentence.

Caleb Swanigan- Purdue Boilermaker

Caleb Swanigan was Obese and Homeless back in Middle School..  Now he's a future NBA prospect playing on a great College Basketball team.  Read the story below...


http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/18523734/purdue-caleb-swanigan-overcoming-obesity-homelessness-become-big-nba-prospect