Cunningham's Current Events

Enrichment Activities....

We completed our finals today, and collected overdue assignments;In addition, students were very excited because it was our last day of school! The excitement continued all the way to/from the bus port. Students and teachers waved their goodbyes, some blew kisses, while others gave warm hugs; it was so "touching.

My final thoughts are; enjoy your summer vacation, and "please" be safe! I enjoyed teaching each and everyone of you. Keep reaching for the stars, and remember that you are "our leaders of tomorrow".

Last Day...

As you know, today is the last day of school for students; We completed our finals, and gave appreciation certificates to all class managers. I really enjoyed teaching our debate classes; because students were so excited about learning! A big "thanks" to each and everyone of you for excellent class participation.Please keep up the good work when you are communicating your ideas to others, throughout your career.

Have a safe and fantastic summer!

Enrichment Today / 5 - 21 - 09...

Students continued to rev iew for their upcoming final exam scheduled for tomorrow; we also reminded students to get plenty of rest tonight - in order to be well prepared for "success" on the upcoming assessment ( Friday, May, 22, 2009 ). I am sure that everyone is going to put forth their "best" efforts tomorrow.

Homework: Review your notes tonight; and don't forget to leave your backpacks at home. You should only bring two #2 pencils to school. Remember, to eat a good breakfast; also, chicken biscuits will not be sold tomorrow.

Have a restful night.

Final Assessment...

Students in our debate classes continued to display awesome debate skills during our competitions today; We evaluated teams using our rubric, discussed / tallied  our scores to determine team winners, and analyzed positive techniques that were used to make the presentations so extraordinary! There was a unanimous agreement among the audience, that the debates presented today were "exceptionally enjoyable" because; the presenters not only used all the correct procedures for persuading the audience, they also had a lot of "fun" doing it! I am so proud of our participants. So far, all teams have performed "well". Tomorrow, our last team will present, and we will take a short written exam as well.

Homework: Review your notes as discussed in class, and don't forget to turn in your final copies after competition.Also, you cannot bring backpacks to school tomorrow. If you forgot to turn in your essay, remember, that you can only bring a few sheets of paper to school, and two # 2 pencils.

Have a fabulous evening.

Debate: Call to Action...

Most of our debate teams were simply " fantastic" during competition today! Speeches included powerful anecdotes that were designed to effectively "hook" the audience - barrier free transitions  - paragraph flow - sentence variety  - great word choice - appropriate facts to support opinions - logical/ethical / emotional appeal - powerful  clinchers. Again, our audience evaluated their peers ( debate team presenters ) through the use of a debate rubric; We also discussed the strengths/weaknesses of teams, and the majority of the class felt that they were motivated to "take some form of action", as a result of the presentations.

Homework: Please review your notes on debate procedures; don't forget that a typed or neatly written copy of your speech should be turned in immediately after competition. Remember, 4th period class will take the final exam tomorrow, and 5th period is scheduled for Friday, May, 22, 2009.

Have a wonderful evening.

Today's Agenda / 5 - 20 - 09...

Today, we worked on reviewing specific figurative language examples such as, metaphor, similes, personification, alliteration, and onomatopoeia; Students also discussed additional literary terms, roots, roots / prefixes; however, students in our 7th period class participated in our 6th grade team's yearbook signing - held  - in our outdoor classroom; we had a great time! All students were encouraged to continue reviewing their study guide answers in order to prep for success on the final exam, and to get plenty of rest the night before finals; 6th / 7th period Enrichment finals are scheduled for Friday, May, 22, 2009. 

Homework: If you have not turned in your makeup work/reading logs, please turn  these items in immediately - in order to receive credit for the assignments; Don't forget to review your notes for the final exam.

Have a marvelous evening! 

Enrichment Class Today...

Students demonstrated their skills through assessment today; everyone had an an opportunity to review their notes, and our Lightning Thief discussion questions before the assessment began, as well. Some students turned in missing reading logs, and worked on completing incomplete assignments; In addition, students were reminded to turn in our discussion questions assigned last week, and scheduled to be turned in today.

Homework: Please continue to work on your final exam study guide questions; in order to prepare for success on the assessment scheduled for May, 21st, and 22nd, 2009.

Have a wonderful evening.

Debate Competition ...

We began our debate competition today; Most team members did an excellent job of using all of the elements of persuasion to engage the audience; In addition, audience participants evaluated the affirmative/negative team presenters, through the use of our debate rubric. Students rated presenters for example, on debate elements such as, opening statements, organization, effective eye contact, equal participation, voice, volume, tone, cross examination techniques, rebuttals - specific to arguments made in the opposing team's opening statement, appearance of team, respect, and responses to questions from the audience. We will continue our debates through Friday; May, 22, 2009;Presentations, for the most part, were very effective.

** Students were reminded to review their debate notes to also prepare for our final exam written responses; scheduled for Thurs./Friday, May, 21& 22, 2009.

Have a great evening.

Mock Debates / Role Play...

Debate team members participated in " mock debates" today; designed to review debate procedures, effective communication skills, and other critical tools that are essential for a dynamic delivery during our  upcoming debate competition scheduled to begin on Monday. Teams, including those who were members of the audience, deserve a standing ovation for their "excellent" performance; although, you were outstanding during role play today, please continue to practice/time your speech over the weekend! I am looking forward to our competition next week; and I hope that you are too.

Homework: Don't forget to polish the final copy of your speech; and to bring extra index cards to class on Monday.

Have a marvelous weekend!

Today's Agenda / 5 - 15 - 2009...

We continued to reinforce our understanding of lierary elements ,and termsin our novel; The Lightning Thief today. Students demonstrated their knowledge through an open book/notebook quiz, and individual student/teacher conferences about details in the text; we also collected reading logs, and reviewed additional essential information pertaining to our upcoming final exam; scheduled for Thursday, May, 21; and Friday, May, 22. Students were reminded to use their study guide to prepare for our Lightning Thief test on Monday (closed book) and, our final exam scheduled for the dates documented in today's blog. Please do not forget to bring "two" # 2 pencils to class as well.

Homework: Please continue to read and log. If you did not turn in your overdue logs today; remember, that Monday, May, 18, 2009; is the "final" deadline for submitting them. 

Have a great evening.