Before You Go...

 

Year end - such Fun!

Finishing all assignments!
AVID Field Trip
Band Field Trip
Honor Society Field Trip
Transition Ceremony Practice
Walk to the Park
Exit Surveys
Review of Themes in Movies
Field Day
Yearbook Signing
Block Party

AND

Thank you to my students! 

This year has been a really great learning experience for me and I thank you for bringing into my classroom all of your experience, dreams and hope. I hope that I have lived up to your expectations and that I have brought you some experiences that enabled you to see the world a little differently and to understand yourself better.  

You have such great potential! Now go out and make the world your own!

With Great Affection,

Ms. Albanese

Touched By an Angel by Maya Angelou

Touched by An Angel
Maya Angelou
 

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

Ted Kooser and Robert Frost Poems

Tattoo
Ted Kooser

What once was meant to be a statement—
a dripping dagger held in the fist
of a shuddering heart—is now just a bruise
on a bony old shoulder, the spot
where vanity once punched him hard
and the ache lingered on. He looks like
someone you had to reckon with,
strong as a stallion, fast and ornery,
but on this chilly morning, as he walks
between the tables at a yard sale
with the sleeves of his tight black T-shirt
rolled up to show us who he was,
he is only another old man, picking up
broken tools and putting them back,
his heart gone soft and blue with stories.


Nothing Gold Can Stay
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. 

Lesson Plans June 2-6, 2014

A Summer Love Poem

Nikki Giovanni

Clouds float by on a summer sky

I hop scotch over to you
Rainbows arch from ground to gold
I climb over to you
Thunder grumbles, lightning tumbles
And I bounce over to you
Sun beams back and catches me
Smiling over at you

      And I Have You

Rain has drops
Sun has shine
Moon has beams
That make you mine
Rivers have banks
Sands for shores
Hearts have heartbeats
That make me yours
Needles have eyes
Though pins may prick
Elmer has glue
To make things stick
Winter has Spring
Stockings feet
Pepper has mint
To make it sweet
Teachers have lessons
Soup du jour
Lawyers sue bad folks
Doctors cure
All and all
This much is true
You have me
And I have you

Nikki Giovanni

Writing

1. Write about your most memorable moment at MMS this year. Describe it in detail using sensory words. This can be a poem or prose. 
2. Make a list of all the assignments that you remember from LA this year.  Write this as a blog post.  Then go back and put a start next to the projects that were your favorites or that you had learned something new from. Remember: writing, reading, speaking, listening, field trips, blogging, testing, and thinking. 
3. Write a post on your blog. This is a letter to the upcoming 7th graders. Tell them what to do to be successful in the 8th grade at Mariner. Give specific advice.  Tell about specific classes. Give your sage wisdom to these newbies in a letter.
4. Post on your blog, all the written assignments that you have done this year.  Then go read other students' blogs and make comments on their assignments.  

 

Reading

Scope Magazine - May

1. Read "Throw Away your Earbuds NOW!" and "I Can't Hear YOU!" Discuss.
2. Complete the worksheet.
3. Take the Quiz. 

 Friday

Walk to the Park 

Picnic
 

Maya Angelou, Rest in Peace

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
(April 4, 1928-May 28, 2014)


The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom


The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Washington DC Reflection

Warm-Up 

Write a travel log from you Washington field trip.

What did you see: first, second, third, last?
What did you enjoy most, least?
What would you recommend to others?

Due Today!
Then work on your Poster Project - due tomorrow.

Assignments

 

 These projects are due soon. All must be turned in on time. Complete for homework. 
 

1. Capstone Project Poster: biography, letter of thanks, certificate, essay - (person you admire or proudest moment), timeline, symbols, cartoon, friendship map.  Due Friday.
2. 3 AR Tests - take these during RTI and on Friday. Due May 29th. 
3. Final Test - reading and writing test. Due Friday, May 30th
4. Summary of the Field Trip.Due Friday, May 30th