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"It was Monday again. It was Monday and the day was damp and cold. Rain splattered the cover of Algebra I as Laura heaved her books higher on her arm and sighed. School was such a bore. School. It loomed before her now, massive and dark against the sky. In a few minutes, she would have to face them again---Diane Goddard with her sleek blond hair and Terri Pierce in her candy-pink sweater. And Carol and Steve and Bill and Nancy... There were so many of them, so exclusive as they stood in their tight little groups laughing and joking. Why were they so cold and unkind? Was it because her long stringy hair hung in her eyes instead of dipping in graceful curls? Was it because she wrote poetry in algebra class and got A's in Latin without really trying? Shivering, Laura remembered how they would sit at the back of English class, passing notes and whispering. She thought of their identical brown loafers, their plastic purses, their hostile stares as they passed her in the corridors. She didn't care. They were clods, the whole lot of them. She shoved her way through the door and there they were. They thronged the hall,streamed in and out of doors, clustered under red and yellow posters advertising the latest dance. Mohair sweaters, madras shirts, pea-green raincoats. They were all alike, all the same. And in the center of the group, as usual, Diane Goddard was saying, "It'll be a riot! I just can't wait to see her face when she finds out." Laura flushed painfully. Were they talking about her? "What a scream! Can't wait to hear what she says!" Silently she hurried past and submerged herself in the stream of students heading for the lockers. It was then that she saw Rachel Horton---alone as always, her too-long skirt billowing over the white, heavy columns of her legs, her freckled face ringed withover the white, heavy columns of her legs, her freckled face ringed with shapeless black curls. She called herself Horton, but everyone knew her father was Jacob Hortensky, the

"Performance Enhancing Drugs in Schools: How Big is the Threat to Kids? By Jeff Roberts on August 9, 2013 2 Comments Lance Armstrong. Ryan Braun. A-Rod. Marion Jones. Tim Montgomery. Tyson Gay. Bill Romanowski. Rafael Palmeiro. And so on … and so on. We've all heard the names. We're all familiar with the historic heights each of them achieved in their respective sports. And we have all witnessed their tragic, self-induced falls from grace.  Their respective careers are ruined. Their legacies disgraced. And, perhaps most tragically, all of the youngsters they once inspired are left confused and heartbroken. The worst part? The high-profile names mentioned here are a tiny fraction of the incredibly long list of professional and amateur athletes who have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Over the past decade, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has sanctioned cyclists and soccer players, water poloists and weightlifters, rowers, wrestlers, boxers and archers. And that's just a small sample of the offenders.   But when officials in Texas revealed last July that nine high school athletes tested positive for steroid use - and that just recently, scandal-ridden Biogenesis of America provided PEDs to high school athletes in Miami - the conversation became slightly more sickening. We were immediately filled with questions: What is the prevalence of PEDs in high schools? What types of PEDs are being used among high school athletes? What can be done to combat this trend? Let's answer these questions one by one. The prevalence of PEDs in high schools Roughly 3.2 percent of American high school kids - boys and girls - took steroid pills or shots without a doctor's permission at least once in their lives, according to the U.S. Department of Health's Youth Risk Behavior Survey published in June 2012. Bear in mind that the data collected reflects the 2011 school year and four U.S. states did not share data. Still, powerful co

"In this strategy guide, you'll learn how to model how students can make three different kinds of connections (text-to-text, text-to-self, text-to-world). Students then use this knowledge to find their own personal connections to a text."

Expository Writing

What is Expository Writing? Exposition is a type of oral or written discourse that is used to explain, describe, give information or inform. The creator of an expository text can not assume that the reader or listener has prior knowledge or prior understanding of the topic that is being discussed. One important point to keep in mind for the author is to try to use words that clearly show what they are talking about rather then blatantly telling the reader what is being discussed. Since clarity requires strong organization, one of the most important mechanisms that can be used to improve our skills in exposition is to provide directions to improve the organization of the text.

Interactive Writer's Models Analyze the elements of good writing with these interactive writer's models. Each model includes annotations and tips to help you be a good writer yourself. Middle School Grade 6 Grade 8 * Comparison-Contrast Essay * Descriptive Essay * How-to Explanation * Informative Report * Literary Comparison-Contrast Essay * Personal Narrative * Problem-Solution Essay * Short Story * Supporting a Position Grade 7 * Business Letter * Comparison-Contrast Essay * Complex Process Essay with Word Processing Features * Descriptive Essay * Informative Report * Literary Comparison-Contrast Essay * Personal Narrative * Persuasive Essay * Problem-Solution Essay * Short Story * Supporting an Interpretation * Business Letter * Character Analysis * Comparison-Contrast Essay * Informative Report * Instructions for Operating a Tool * Literary Comparison-Contrast Essay * Personal Narrative * Problem-Solution Essay * Review of a Novel * Short Story * Supporting a Position High School Grade 9 Grade 11 * Analysis of a Poem * Analysis of a Short Story * Autobiographical Narrative * Comparison of a Play and a Film * Comparison of Media Coverage * Description of a Place * Nonfiction Analysis * Persuasive Cause-and-Effect Essay * Persuasive Essay * Research Paper * Short Story Grade 10 * Analysis of a Short Story * Autobiographical Narrative * Biographical Narrative * Comparison of a Play and a Film * Comparison of Media Genres * Description of a Person * Persuasive Essay * Problem-Solution Analysis * Research Paper * Short Story * Analysis of a Novel * Editorial * Historical Research Report * Reflective Essay * Short Story Grade 12 * Analysis of Literature * Comparison-Contrast of Literature * Descriptive Essay

How can you help students find meaning in informational texts and become independent strategic readers and thinkers? Nonfiction Reading Power gives teachers a wealth of effective strategies for helping students think while they read material in all subject areas. Using the best children's books to motivate students, Adrienne Gear shows teachers how help students zoom-in, question and infer; find the main idea, make connections, and transform what's on the printed page. Key introductory concept lessons for each of the five reading powers provide valuable insight into the purpose of each strategy. The book also explores the particular features of nonfiction and offers lists of key books organized around strategies and subject areas.

One of the main goals of reading is to possess the ability to understand, or comprehend, what you have just read. A great strategy to help children comprehend text is to teach them how to summarize.

"These strategies are designed to help students and teachers engage in dialogue concerning pieces of literature. They are not designed as assessment devices, nor as products to turn in for a grade. They are designed to be done by students and then used to reflect on the reading experience and share ideas within a community of readers. It's not necessarily the activity itself, it's how it is carried out and used to promote invested discussions."

How to have an accident in one easy lesson By LEONARD PITTS The amazing thing about the debate over the need for laws to ban texting while driving is that there is a debate over the need for laws to ban texting while driving.

Notwithstanding several variations in writing a lab report, there is a general format that all reports should follow: provide a documentation of the...

Here's how to start using SpellingCity: the online spelling program that makes practicing for spelling tests fun: If you are a student, start by entering some words into the "Start Here" box and test your spelling skills. If you are a teacher (or parent), start by using the site like a student to get familiar with the site. Then, teachers (and parents) should create an account so you can save word lists. The reason to register for SpellingCity is to save spelling lists.

How To Read a Poem Out Loud Listen to former Poet Laureate Billy Collins talk about reading a poem.

Great for How-to pieces of writing

"How do you work with a teacher who refuses to be a collaborative part of a team? She does her own thing without regard for other team members. Her students are not exposed to the same curriculum as the other students but she feels they are learning at their own pace. She has a literacy coach working with her but doesn't follow through on any suggestions to improve her teaching. She believes kids will learn when they are ready. Any suggestions?"

"Explicit Comprehension Strategy Instruction By: National Institute for Literacy (2008) Use explicit strategy instruction to make visible the invisible comprehension strategies that good readers use to understand text. Support students until they can use the strategies independently. Recycle and re-teach strategies throughout the year. "

As we know from watching movies, the angle at which a character is shot in a lm can dramatically affect how we perceive that character. Film directors often choose to shoot characters using different angles in order to make an authorial comment on the role and importance of that person in the lm. There are ve basic camera angles used to shoot scenes in a lm. The angles are determined by where the camera is placed

Film Studies Unit

Experiencing the language of great poets provides a rich learning context for students, giving them access to the best examples of how words can be arranged in unique ways. By studying the works of renowned poets across cultures and histories, students extract knowledge about figurative language and poetic devices from masters of the craft. In this lesson, students learn about personification by reading and discussing poems by Emily Dickinson, William Blake, and Langston Hughes. Then they use the poems as a guide to brainstorm lists of nouns and verbs that they randomly arrange to create personification in their own poems.

Knowing how you can compose a persuasive essay is crucial to your progress in school in view of the fact that you'll be expected to write argumentative papers more frequently as opposed to any one of the the rest of the categories of paper.

A unique aspect of children's memoir writing is that their collection of memories, wisdom and value is limited. That is not to say these memories do not exist. Children should be given the opportunity to develop an understanding of who they are and where they come from, and how this is connected to the past & future, the near & far away. A memoir study focusing on location as a theme can provide this opportunity.