Mr. Chappell's Most Excellent Blog: March 2020

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Google Classroom Invitations Sent

My Most Excellent Students,

You should have received an email in your bps email account inviting you to join the correct Google Classroom. Please respond and join as we switch to online learning.

This is an expectation and not an option.

If you didn't receive an email invitation, here are the following class codes you can use to join the class by each hour:

1st Hour Derby ELA 8 Chappell
code: ukc6vdw

3rd Hour Derby ELA 8 Chappell
code: u5cbsfj

4th Hour Derby ELA 8 Chappell
code: 7joeeqy

5th Hour Derby ELA 8 Chappell
code: 57wbsfh

6th Hour Derby ELA 8 Chappell
code: 4hnee32

If you have any questions or didn't get the email invitation, please email me.

Best,
Mr. Chappell
jchappell@birmingham.k12.mi.us

Monday, March 30, 2020

Spirit Week!

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Monday's Zoom Follow Up

My Most Excellent Students,

I'm really looking forward to Monday's Zoom!

Just a reminder: the object haiku is optional. You absolutely don't have to write a poem, and it certainly doesn't have to be an poetic masterpiece. It's just for fun!

The most important thing about tomorrow is that we have a chance to check in and stay connected. The haiku is a bonus but not required.

So if you didn't do the haiku, please don't let that be an excuse not to join our class.

Just seeing your face and having a chance to say "hi" is enough.

See you soon!
Mr. Chappell / JChapps

P.S. Here's another really, really bad Haiku I wrote in 2 minutes:

Ping Pong Purpose

small racket of red
scores big points with bored sons
gets handle on things

Friday, March 27, 2020

Beginner's Guides to Using Zoom (Tutorials)

My Most Excellent Students,

If you’re not familiar with Zoom, here are two short beginner videos that are helpful:

https://youtu.be/FnFSBjFvK2o

https://youtu.be/5iap0Ffl5Lg

See you Monday!

Mr. Chappell / JChapps

Monday is JChapps' ELA Zoom Day - Haiku Show and Tell

My Most Excellent Students,

Congratulation! You made it through another week. Do you feel good? I feel good. We can do this.

Okay, a couple of items:

KEEP COMMUNICATION LINES OPEN
I've been sending you emails through the email you chose on your Turnitin.com account. Have you been getting them? If

If any of you have any questions or just want to say "hi," please feel to email me at jchappell@birmingham.k12.mi.us

UPCOMING ZOOM CLASSROOM MEETING
There is going to be an optional chance for us all to connect on Monday, 3/30/20, one hour at a time.

Bear in mind that there's a lot of different tech questions and issues out there. For this first time, we'll do the best that we can and muddle through. I know that I'll probably make several mistakes myself, and that's okay.

I thought it might be fun to do a simple, "Show and Tell" activity with a twist.

OBJECT HAIKU POEM
When you log on, have an interesting object that you can hold in your hand (a book, a coffee cup, a baseball, a plastic flower bunny slippers... anything that we can all see on screen) and write a "no-fault, silly haiku poems" about the object.

Here are a few, short, easy video tutorials on how to write a Haiku poem:

https://youtu.be/ZQQmv38Xgt0

https://youtu.be/Lv6f5d8-vsc

Remember, it doesn't have to rhyme.

For example, here is my object:

Here's my silly, no-fault poem:

Dungeon Dice
by JChapps

red dice sit on table
evil dragon slain by rolls
pizza smells extra nice

Wasn't that terrible? :)

That's okay. It doesn't have to be any good. Mine wasn't.

So, to be prepared for Monday's Zoom,

1) have your object ready to show

2) and have a silly Haiku poem to read.

It doesn't matter if it's "bad" or "good" -- just have fun.

Here is the schedule:

First Hour
Time: Mar 30, 2020 10:00 AM Eastern Time
Link: https://zoom.us/j/592186459?pwd=Tjh4dnZXckhNeUpsSFY0RVM2REtGdz09
Meeting ID: 592 186 459
Password: excellent

Third Hour
Time: Mar 30, 2020 11:00 AM Eastern Time
Link: https://zoom.us/j/883755476?pwd=T0FueWYycHRrUXpVcjgyU095R21pdz09
Meeting ID: 883 755 476
Password: excellent

Fourth Hour
Time: Mar 30, 2020 12:00 PM Eastern Time
Link: https://zoom.us/j/255611059?pwd=cW1JcHlhbFNXZFZ1SiszdlRUeWNOUT09
Password: excellent
Meeting ID: 255 611 059
Password: excellent

Fifth Hour
Time: Mar 30, 2020 01:00 PM Eastern Time
Link: https://zoom.us/j/339447726?pwd=YkxMWDZTM2J1cWRtWnhEMDZsMUhwUT09
Meeting ID: 339 447 726
Password: excellent

Sixth Hour
Time: Mar 30, 2020 02:00 PM Eastern Time
Link: https://zoom.us/j/556773374?pwd=UEx0NWQ5SnJQMVQydUp4QTQ3VXgzUT09
Meeting ID: 556 773 374
Password: excellent

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Optional ELA Enrichment / Supplemental Activities for Week 2

My Most Excellent Students,

You know what I miss most? Our tangents. One of you will offer something to our shared conversation and classroom activities, and we just sort of run with it, exploring a new idea on the web, looking something obscure and interesting up, or when we get on a topic and people share their personal opinions or experiences. Our class rocks.

There's no substitute for being the real classroom, and I totally miss you guys. I have the best students.

So, to keep up our skills (reading, writing, thinking, speaking) here are three new optional activities to keep your mind focused over the next week.

Remember the quote on the wall in the back of our room?

And it's SO true!

Okay, so enough of my blabbing. Here are the three optional activities for this week:

Writing - You Are a Witness to History

https://classroom.google.com/u/3/c/NTM0NDY1MjA2MTla/m/NTY1ODk4NzE3MzFa/details

Concepts Review - Figurative Language and Your Music

https://classroom.google.com/u/3/c/NTM0NDY1MjA2MTla/m/NTY1ODk4NzE2ODJa/details

Reading - Remember Mindful Reading Wednesdays? Here you go:

https://classroom.google.com/u/3/c/NTM0NDY1MjA2MTla/m/NTU5NDMxNzg3NzZa/details

Have fun, keep busy, and be kind to the people around you. And be safe!

Yours Most Excellent Teacher,

Mr. Chappell / JChapps

P.S. Stay connected! If you have any questions or just want to say hi, shoot me an email at jchappell@birmingham.k12.mi.us .

Monday, March 23, 2020

Review of Grammar Concepts

My Most Excellent Students,

Happy Monday! I hope you guys are all doing well.

When we return, you're going to want to keep your grammar concepts fresh in your mind and not let them get too rusty.

So, as an optional refresher, you may choose to review our work from over this past year by using the following links.

This is not required, but it would definitely be helpful. :)

To make it simple, you could review one of these units each day. To go even more above and beyond, you might even want to look back into your own sentence composing journal to see what you wrote for that unit.

I'll be adding more video links and tweaking this blog entry during this week, so keep checking back. If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Be safe!

Best,
Mr. Chappell / JChapps

***********************************

Unit 1 - Prepositional Phrases

ONE PAGER
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WpVaoQ13oRV3OzGuXyJ3-YPDFxHB6f5pNYk0fikovKM/edit?usp=sharing

VIDEOS

https://youtu.be/avC53wsZiJA
https://youtu.be/D3wQ5dgFPms
https://youtu.be/7dOBMUESkqk
https://youtu.be/TzUO8du5Lrg
https://youtu.be/1OjRJX0PNJE

Friday, March 20, 2020

Happy High Five Friday!

This is so cool and demonstrates how much our Derby staff are thinking about you! If you blink, you'll miss my high five. Stay strong, Dragons. Derby strong. ROAR!

https://youtu.be/dHijd8wFgEQ

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Looking Good!

My Most Excellent Students,

I received a few emails of students requesting access to edit the Google Docs in the Google Classroom for two of the three enrichment activities posted: The Anne Frank Tour and the Free Writing activity.

Just to be 100% clear: unlike when we do live digital writing in the classroom for Sentence Composing, here you DO NOT need to edit the Google Docs that are being shared.

If you would like, you can copy the Google Doc into a new document of your own creation. Or you can just highlight the text that you need and Copy and Paste that text into a new document that you can then edit. But you do not need access to editing the original Google Doc that has the instructions. You should be able to view the Google Document just fine, and if you can't, please let me know.

I hope that helps.

I really hope you are enjoying the virtual tour of the Anne Frank Museum. I know many of you enjoyed the play and a few of you have even visited the actual museum itself. Wow.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I get to teach the very best and brightest students. Keep up the great work, stay safe, and I hope to see you in a few weeks!

Best,
Mr. Chappell / JChapps

My Most Excellent Students!

Good Morning!

I hope that you are all doing well and are making the best of this challenging situation. I totally miss you guys!

Be safe by practicing social distancing, wash your hands, and be kind to your family (and to everyone).

ONLINE SUPPLEMENTAL AND ENRICHMENT LEARNING
When we get back to a normal situation, we'll resume our Daily Sentence Composing practice, screen the film of The Outsiders, and get into the Diary of Anne Frank. I can't wait!

In the meantime, I encourage you to to keep your word brain and language arts skills engaged by doing three ELA activities per week online that I have posted and will post in the future on this blog. These were developed by volunteer teachers in Birmingham (including yours truly) working for the entire school district. These will not be graded or turned in. Each assignment should take you no more than 45 minutes.

Here are the links:

Anne Frank Virtual Tour

https://classroom.google.com/u/2/c/NTM0NDY1MjA2MTla/m/NTQyMjI0OTI0ODJa/details

Narrative Free Writing Activity

https://classroom.google.com/u/2/c/NTM0NDY1MjA2MTla/m/NTQyMjI0OTI2MTZa/details

National Parks Virtual Tour

https://classroom.google.com/u/2/c/NTM0NDY1MjA2MTla/m/NTQxNjI4NzEzNjBa/details

The instructions are located within the links. These are fun, engaging activities that are not meant to replace our direct instruction in the classroom, but rather to be meaningful activities related to our 8th grade curriculum as we go through this challenging time together.

I'll post another set of ELA supplemental and enrichment learning assignments every week as needed. Your responsibility, as you are able to do so, is to stay engaged by participating the best you can. It's like we say in class: the more you put into something, the more you will get out of it.

COMMUNICATION
As we continue our work together online, please don't hesitate to email me at jchappell@birmingham.k12.mi.us. I check my school email every day, and if you have any questions or concerns, or just even want to say "hi!," feel free to email me.

Just as I've said many times in the classroom, you are all important. The work we do together is important because it will open doors for your future. This is true now more than ever.

Best Always,
Mr. Chappell (a.k.a. JChapps)

Friday, March 6, 2020

Sentence Composing Adverbial Phrases and Clauses #101 - #105

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Parent Teacher Conferences

Dear Parents,

I'm so excited to be able to meet with you during the regularly scheduled Parent Teacher conferences here at Derby next week! I'll be available in the gym on Wednesday, 3/11/20 from 4 pm - 7 pm.

However, due to scheduling conflict, I will not be available the next afternoon on Thursday, 3/12/20.

To compensate for this missed opportunity, I'll be available to chat on Monday, 3/9/20 in my classroom (Room 205) from 6 pm to 9 pm.

If you would like to talk and can't make the regular Wednesday conference time, please come on by!

Best,
Jonathan Chappell

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Just for fun

Just for fun, try reading this out loud:

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Fe0ffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!

You’ve been reading “The Chaos” by Gerard Nolst Trenité, written nearly 100 years ago in 1922, designed to demonstrate the irregularity of English spelling and pronunciation.

Monday, March 2, 2020

This Week's Agenda

New Quizlet Vocabulary: The Diary of Anne Frank

Tentative Test Date: 3/16/20

We will be reading the play, The Diary of Anne Frank.

To front load the vocabulary for that piece of literature, we will be studying 50 vocabulary words.

https://quizlet.com/_5w4tpe?x=1jqt&i=1si0a

*Modified list for students with 504 and IEPS:

https://quizlet.com/_84q22d?x=1jqt&i=1si0a

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