Personal Best

Finding and Achieving your Personal Best

Progress reports will be mailed out this week for all subject areas. If you like what you see, keep up the good work! If you are disappointed or upset with your grades, please complete the following:

• Use your class time WISELY. Work done in class = less homework.
• Check your grades on Parent Portal every day!
• Study for tests and quizzes. Be prepared!
• Ask for help when you need it.
• Check the blog for homework- check Edmodo for academic conversation and online assignments.
• Understand that school is supposed to be hard~ and what you put into school is what you get out of it.

On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Often referred to as 9/11, the attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defining the presidency of George W. Bush. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 400 police officers and firefighters.

Awesome Art

FYI: Here's a finished example of the art we will complete in class tomorrow!

Work in progress...

Week at a Glance...

Review PLOT Academic terms...

Structural Features of Media: Newspapers [Yeti?]

Rikki-tikki-tavi

Non-fiction article interaction: Tongue Piercing... Good? or Bad?

Vocabulary Lesson and test on 1 & 2 [Friday]

Research the Fall of Rome- complete HOT Sheet

Back to School Night: Thursday

Dance on Friday!

It's going to be a GREAT week!

First Week Photos

Funky Chicken Flash Drive...I LOVE it!

Check out the Fun Pics page for a glimpse of our first week of school! 

Talk PLOT to me!

For the next few weeks we will study the literary elements of plot. You will learn key academic vocabulary that pertains to plot, and analyze the short story "Duffy's Jacket" found in our Holt book. Learn it now, use it forever!! My goal is to teach you how to talk plot in a literate and articulate manner. It's going to be a GREAT week in F108!

Moving Towards Mastery

20 geographical features

For an extra credit point on the quiz this Friday, practice the 20 map locations with a parent and have them sign your map. When you come in to class tomorrow, set your map on your desk and SSR. I will check for signatures first thing! 

Goal= Mastery of all 20 features!

Do YOU want 5 EASY points? 

Do the following by tomorrow morning!

1. Bookmark [or add as a favorite] my blog

2. Send me an email to let me know you looked at the blog:

bethduncan@vusd.k12.ca.us

3. If you do not have Internet, have your parent sign the syllabus by my email address.

4. Complete this by 8:55 AM [Core 1] or by 1:07 PM [Core 2], Tuesday, August 21st

Back to School

Welcome to my classroom, and welcome to my web site! Bookmark/save this page as a favorite so you have a quick link ready to go! Also, make sure to check out all the pages, and watch for daily updates. I am looking forward to a fantastic year. GO BULLS!

Colfer Signing

 The Eoin Colfer signing at the Oceanside Barnes & Noble was a HUGE success! Thank you to everyone that came out to watch Eoin present his "8 in 8" Artemis Fowl skit, and to stay for the signing. A BIG thank you to Disney-Hyperion for asking me to host his launch party. 

Eoin Colfer

EOIN COLFER will sign for us SATURDAY, July 14th from 6-8PM. Tell EVERYONE you know, and I'll see you there!

ALA : Friday

I'm in ARC heaven! I can't wait to share them with you. If you see one you want... email me fast!

FTBT Review: Dreamless

Title: Dreamless
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pubdate: May 29, 2012
ISBN: 9780062012012
Author: Josephine Angelini

“But how do I get home” she asked before he could get too far.


“All you have to do is wake up. And Helen,” he called out ,almost like he was warning her, “In the coming days, try to remember that dreams do come true, but they don’t come easily.” pg 322

As the only scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.

Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out—a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies' cry for blood is growing louder.

In Dreamless, Helen and Lucas, both deceived and broken, are forced to repress the deep feelings they have for one another.  Helen is bound to fight the evil furies alone, and without Lucus by her side, she fights exhaustion and discouragement night after night.  In a twist of fate, Helen’s deceptive mother sends Orion to her aide, complete with the ability to protect Helen from harm AND soothe her broken heart.  Orion is irresistible, and his playful presence in Helen’s life definitely makes things interesting.  Never to be underestimated, Lucas keeps his presence invisible,  and does what he can to help Helen without her knowing.

Dreamless provides a strong female character that truly lives up to her legacy. Helen takes care of business- and even at her most vulnerable moment, is strong and true.  I thought my devotion to Lucas could not be swayed, but Orion placed his invisible grip on my heart, just as he did with Helen.  This frustrating love triangle provides just the right amount of literary tension, which demands the reader to turn pages and read furiously until the story closes. Once again, the book ends without resolution, and despite my frustration, I loved every single page.  Fans of Greek mythology and a complicated love story are going to devour this novel.

I give this book an A+ for leading me to the River of Literary Joy!

Net Galley Review: Tempest Unleashed

Title: Tempest Unleashed

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books

PubDate: June 05, 2012

ISBN: 9780802728302

Author: Tracy Deebs

         Though they were being total gentlemen, I still felt like a rope in a tug-of-war contest- caught between two opposing sides. Belonging equally to both of them. It made my head throb.  Pg. 200

Tempest Maguire is happy with her decision to embrace her mermaid nature and live among her mother's clan within the ocean's depths. Even though training to one day ascend the throne for the aging mermaid queen is rigorous, she finds refuge in the arms of Kona, the selkie who first opened her up to her mermaid side. But when word comes that one of her brothers has been gravely injured on land, Tempest immediately rushes to his side—which also brings her back to her old flame, Mark. And in her absence, a deadly battle begins raging at the hands of Tempest's old nemesis, the sea witch Tiamat. As the dangerous war erupts, Tempest's two loves—Kona and Mark, sea and land—will collide for the first time, both to protect her and to force her to choose.

After reading book one, I was eager for book two. Now that I have finished book two, I am desperate for book three! The clash between water and land, new love and true love, keeps you involved and interested from start to finish. The independent and fiery Tempest is overwhelmed with the choices she is forced to make- and her ties with her family on land, and her mermaid heritage within the sea- pull her two completely different directions. Deciding to fight an evil sea creature doesn’t hold a candle to the heartache Tempest experiences as she faces the fact that she loves two boys at once.

Teen readers will be crazy for mermaids after reading Tracy Deebs’s books. Tempest Unleashed is filled with pearls of wisdom that reveal crucial pieces of Tempest’s past so that she can face her uncertain future. Tracy- if you’re reading this… I wanted you to know that I’m “Team Kona” all the way!

 I give this book an A+ for it’s magical mermaid charm.

Net Galley Review: Grave Mercy

Title: Grave Mercy
Subtitle: His Fair Assassin, Book 1
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pubdate: April 03, 2012
ISBN: 9780547628349
Author: Robin LaFevers

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Nun by day… assassin by night? This book has it ALL going on! If you’ve searched for a strong female character that can take care of business, AND have the brains to understand it… than this is the book for you. Ismae takes the term heroine to a whole new level, and as she learns the deadly tricks to her lethal trade, she is confronted with something more terrifying than Death itself…forbidden love. Thank you Robin LaFevers for delivering a story that kept me on the edge of my seat AND reading past my bedtime. There’s only one problem… I need book 2!

I give this book an A+ for it’s original plotline and its “kick-butt” heroine!