HNOM's Class of 2023 signed back-to-school cards for their middle school teachers - Mrs. Powell, Mrs. Carberry, and Ms. Pagliaro - and their new principal, Miss Ciminelli. While they welcomed Ms. Pagliaro and Mrs. Carberry to HNOM's middle school, they congratulated Miss Ciminelli on her new leadership position and thanked Mrs. Powell for being their science and homeroom teacher for the last two years! 8th graders placed the cards in colorful smiley face folders - deemed "Smile Files" - which will hopefully store all of the positive notes and artwork their teachers and administrators receive from students throughout the year!
The Class of 2023 was welcomed back to their final school year at HNOM by Ms. Brown, their 8th grade homeroom teacher, with the traditional school supplies - a planner and a navy blue communication folder - but also punny owl desk tags, octopus pen toppers, and a locker magnet with a group photo from their 7th grade ELA field trip to see the movie adaptation of Aaron Blabey's bestselling book series, "The Bad Guys."
As a small goodbye gift for her 8th grade homeroom class, Ms. Brown filled bags with inside jokes, ELA class memories, and punny keepsakes! Students' "Dear Basketball" mimic poems that they wrote in English class were also framed!
With bologna sandwiches and candy bars from Windrixville, chocolate cake from the Curtis brothers' household, and popcorn and Pepsi from the Nightly Double drive-in theater, 8th graders enjoyed book-based snacks as they watched the movie adaptation of THE OUTSIDERS. The snacks were grounded in three different story settings and the gold color scheme of the tablescape was inspired the famous words of Johnny: "Stay gold, Ponyboy." 8th graders compared and contrasted the movie to the book throughout the movie!
To reinforce characterization in their E.L.A. class novel, THE OUTSIDERS, 8th graders dressed up as either a Greaser or Soc. As East-side Greasers, students wore basic attire, like jeans, white or black t-shirts, and leather jackets. And as the West-side, affluent Socs, 8th graders chose preppy clothes that were crisp and put-together.
For a nostalgic return to Aaron Blabey's children's book series and grade-level literary discussion on dramatic irony, onomatopoeia, and genre-specific text features - like emanata - 7th and 8th graders attended a private screening of the new 2022 animated movie, THE BAD GUYS, at Merrick Cinemas 5.
To bring to life the characterization of Mr. Shark and his role as the "master of disguise" in THE BAD GUYS book series and the new 2022 animated movie, 8th graders received a paper doll version of Mr. Shark and created their own disguised character in a photo challenge! The activity prepared students for their E.L.A. class field trip to see the movie adaptation of THE BAD GUYS. 8th graders also analyzed dramatic irony, reviewed comic text features (emanata, onomatopoeia, etc.), and read the first four books in the ongoing 14-book series to prepare! As a nod to Mr. Piranha's comfort food in the book series, the winner of the "Disguise Mr. Shark!" challenge received a gift card to Taco Bell and an award certificate!
After reading a short biography on Kobe Bryant - whose middle name, "Bean," was inspired by his father's "Jellybean" nickname - 8th graders read and watched the animated video of Kobe Bryant's retirement letter, "Dear Basketball." Through a mimic poem writing assignment in which students wrote to their own beloved hobbies or favorite things, students reviewed friendly letter format and were introduced to the literary device of apostrophe (when a narrator/speaker addresses an abstract idea or inanimate object as if were capable of hearing, understanding, and responding). As an tactile and sensory component to Writers' Workshop, students enjoyed some jellybeans - due to the inspiration behind Kobe's middle name! - as they filled out a brainstorming graphic organizer and a fill-in-the-blank draft template.
With blue baby bottle-shaped Kool-Aid, cheesecake, cheese and crackers, and green pea snack crisps, 8th graders delighted in a baby shower-themed party based on Roald Dahl's short story, "Lamb to the Slaughter," while comparing and contrasting the original 1954 story to a film adaptation. Students dressed down in either pink or blue to represent their guess about the gender of Mary Maloney's baby - a detail about the protagonist's six-month pregnancy only mentioned in the film adaptation!
8th graders donated canned food items specifically linked to an essential setting - Sam's Grocery Shop - from Roald Dahl's short story, "Lamb to the Slaughter," to not only bring the setting to life in the classroom, but to extend the story into the parish community. To create her alibi in the story, protagonist Mary Maloney visits a local grocery shop and inquires about "a can of peas" and some Idaho potatoes to help her cook an impromptu Thursday night dinner for her husband, Patrick. Students recreated this scene by donating 7 cans of peas, 8 cans of split pea soup, and 15 potato soup varieties to HNOM's parish pantry.
As a small, E.L.A.-aligned treat after HNOM's 2nd Annual 8th Grade vs. Faculty Free-Throw Basketball Competition, 8th graders received bags of Cheez-It crackers and Oreo cookies with labels that featured punny Basketball jokes. In addition, for winning the game against their teachers in a 19 to 15 victory, the Class of 2022 also received a new Spalding basketball for outdoor recess and a new book for their classroom library: DIARY OF A WIMPY KID #16: BIG SHOT. Congratulations on the win, 8th grade!
In Ms. Brown's English class, 8th graders researched the New Year's traditions of countries and religions around the world because the New Year - as it is their graduation year - is particularly significant in 8th grade. On their Chromebooks, students conducted online research to write an informative paragraph that focused on and described three main traditions from their randomly assigned country/religion. 8th graders compiled source information on graphic organizers to be able to generate a Works Cited page and include M.L.A. format parenthetical citations in their writing as they synthesized the information from at least two websites. Students also created a Google Slide that brought their country's/religion's traditions to life, since they were challenged to locate photographs of the New Year's festivals, "lucky foods," and rituals. Since pomegranates are considered a lucky New Year's food in Turkey and other Mediterranean countries, students enjoyed a fruit strip treat as they listened to each other's research presentations! 8th grade learned a lot about why many different foods and activities mark the New Year!
Inspired by O. Henry's classic holiday story, "The Gift of the Magi," the Class of 2022 participated in the 8th grade's 2nd annual "Mystery Magi" gift exchange in which they had to purchase a $2.00 surprise gift for a classmate! In the short story, Della - the protagonist - believes that her savings of $1.87 were not adequate to buy her husband, Jim, a worthy Christmas present. Through this misconception, the story emphasizes thoughtfulness - not expense - as the key to gift-giving, so students set out to prove Della incorrect by purchasing $2 gifts. Their favorite snacks and candy came spilling out of most "Mystery Magi" presents - from Swedish Fish, caramels, hot cocoa, and chocolate bars to Sour Cream & Onion chips and spicy Doritos! However, the funniest gift was a pack of crayons - because one "Mystery Magi" was tired of his classmate being unprepared for coloring assignments!
To write for an authentic audience and to analyze theme development in O. Henry's short story, 'The Gift of the Magi," 8th graders wrote Christmas cards to HNOM faculty and staff! In addition to introducing their teachers to the story's themes about gift-giving, sacrifice, wealth, or love, students' Christmas cards also offered holiday well-wishes to integrate their text-based writing into a genuine holiday card. As a small gift to give with their Christmas cards when they hand-delivered them to their teachers, the 8th graders colored in and signed punny bookmarks with wintry designs! Four students also opted to purchase a "Mystery Magi" for their teacher and wrapped the gifts themselves in gold gift wrap!
For an 8th grade curriculum-based spin-off of the popular "Elf on the Shelf" holiday phenomenon, Mooseltoe arrived to the Class of 2022's English classroom today to spread some holiday cheer and refresh 8th grade's pun interpretation skills! This holiday season, Mooseltoe was assigned to the 8th grade's E.L.A. classroom to report back to Ms. Brown about the class's pun interpretation skills! This week, the 8th graders will find Mooseltoe in a new hiding place. Look up high! Whoever is the first to point him out will receive a holiday pun to interpret (but students must be respectful and avoid touching Mooseltoe or he’ll forget his magical pun!) Since Mooseltoe’s love of word play extends beyond his antlers, he may just give you a multiple-meaning treat if you can explain his figure of speech! According to the tradition of the holiday plant, find Mooseltoe and he’ll give you a kiss – a Hershey’s chocolate kiss, of course!
Inspired by the resounding words of Dickens' Ghost of Christmas Present, 8th grade's submission into HNOM's 2nd Annual Door Decorating Contest included shimmery holly wreaths and garland, as well as a heap of food with a silhouette Spirit welcoming in visitors with the caption, "Come in! And know us better!" Be sure to look closely at that heap of food! In addition to coloring in the food items - which only included food specifically mentioned in Stave II of "A Christmas Carol" - 8th graders wrote a fun fact about themselves on the larger templates in the spirit of welcoming others to know them better!
Afteranalyzing the characterization, theme, and irony in O. Henry's classic short story, "Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen," 8th graders sorted physical traits and determined common character traits for its main characters: the Old Gentleman and Stuffy Pete. As a culminating activity in English class, students watched a film adaptation and compared/contrasted it to the original on a Venn Diagram. Then they enjoyed modern and old-fashioned fall snacks - from butternut squash applesauce and sweet potato chips to Oatmeal Creme Pies, cranberry juice, and corn muffins - for a small treat good enough for Stuffy Pete's third Thanksgiving meal! "Gobble until you Wobble" - a contemporary Thanksgiving tagline posted on the chalkboard - modernized and reinforced Stuffy Pete's central conflict in the story to bring the table display together!
For English class, 8th graders dressed up in a pun costume to represent word play on either similar-sounding words or multiple-meaning words. After presenting their costume and explaining its word play to the class, students voted on the "most creative" and "most humorous" pun costume. Congratulations to Arley for "Smart Cookie" - which won "Most Creative" - and to Bradley for "A Wrinkle in Time" - which won "Most Humorous." Other fantastic costume designs included Tea/T, Boo-rista, Tearable Pun, Bee/B, Breadwinner, Iron Chef, and Copy Cat! 8th graders also enjoyed a table of sweets with punny names: "Twix or Treat," "Cookies and Scream," and "Bugs & Kisses."
As their homeroom teacher for two years - 6th and 8th grade - Ms. Brown assembled a small graduation gift for each 8th grader to commemorate all that their inside jokes and her classroom decor and English class rules had to offer the graduates in terms of life lessons and advice. Each item in the gift bags not only related to Ms. Brown's classroom setup or the 8th grade homeroom family they became, but to advice that Ms. Brown wished to share with the 8th grade as they move on to high school. A list of the items was included in the bag, along with a description of each's symbolic meaning.
Adapted from Frank Chimero's BEING THERE DIARY, 8th graders spent their final year at HNOM by reflecting on the "very best moment of [their] week" every Friday in English class. The day before their graduation, 8th graders had one final entry to write for a reflective exit ticket that would complete the journal that they began in September! Hopefully the weekly journal - which accumulated a total of 40 entries over the year - will be a keepsake for the Class of 2021!