Attention All Classes. Essays Due Soon. Here are the Guidelines.

This is a friendly reminder that you have essays due on Friday, December 10. Since Science Fair is next week, you should be working on these essays now instead of later. Believe me, you'll be sorry if you wait. Essays must include all of the following requirements:

• Typed
• All fonts should be 12pt and look professional (no Comic Sans or Script fonts)
• Heading
• Single Spaced
• Right Aligned
• Must be typed. Do not pencil it in at the last minute.
• Title
• Centered
• Bold
• 12 pt professional font
• Essay Text
• All paragraphs should have a first line indent of .5"
• 12 pt professional font
• Double Spaced
• Highlight text
• Right click
• Choose Paragraph
• Set line spacing to Double (Before and After should be set at 0)
• Other things to remember

- No color. Black print on white paper only.

- Do not pencil in corrections at the last minute. Correct and reprint.

- Staple or paper clip pages together. Do not tape them.

- No cover pages.

Also, don't forget:

• Spell checks
• Automatic
• Self check
• Read your essay out loud to check for incomplete sentences and other grammar errors.
• Numbers less than one hundred should be spelled out. Don't use digits.
• Round numbers should be spelled, too. (two thousand, fifty-five thousand, etc.)
• Titles should be italicized (should only apply to 6th and 8th grades this time. Twelfth Night, The Wandering of Odysseus, or Black Ships Before Troy)
• Use specific and varied language. Limit pronouns. Don't be repeptitive.
• Eliminate contractions. Do not use them in your writing. (example: don't, can't, won't, he's, etc.)
• Pictures are not allowed.

Problems with technology will not be excused for being turned in late, even if you have a note from a parent. If your printer breaks, you can email your essay to me or to your school email address to print at school. Please use email only in an emergency situation. Don't forget to save your work often and in multiple places (like a flash drive and the hard drive) so you don't lose it.

Rough Drafts Due Friday, December 3

Sixth grade students must submit a rough draft of the essay on December 3. A bibliography does not have to be included with this draft. Focus on writing the rough draft of your essay. Be as informative as possible. Final drafts are due next week. We will have some class time next week to go over the formatting of the final draft and a review on how to create the bibliography page.

Seventh and Eighth grade students should be working on their essays, too, though a rough draft is not required this week. Both classes will have final drafts due next week. Seventh graders should be writing about French Culture. Eighth graders are writing about a chosen theme we have discussed from Twelfth Night (love, wisdom, foolishness, identity, etc.)

NaNoWriMo

My novel is super sloppy. How about yours? I have lots of misspelled words and under developed paragraphs, but who cares. The point of November is word count. Quantity, not quality. Get the story out first and you can fix it later. I love it. This is what a rough draft is truly about. Hang in there, kiddos. 15 more days and we're done. Keep up the good word counts!

NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, Update

During the month of November, people all over the world participate in a wildly fun writing challenge. The competition is known as NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month. The big challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in just the thirty days of November. Mr. Taylor participates in this challenge and is encouraging his students to join in the fun as well. NaNoWriMo has a Young Writer’s Program that Legacy Academy is participating in this year. Twenty three brave middle school students have accepted Mr. Taylor’s challenge to write a 5,000 words short story during November.

As of November 11, our students’ collective word count is 11,376. Mr. Taylor’s word count is a measly 6,905 (he's very busy). As this challenge can be both loads of fun and incredibly difficult at times, please keep encouraging your student writers daily. If they are very behind, like Mr. Taylor is, remind them that there is plenty of time to catch up. Let’s not give up! We can do this!

6th Grade - Research Paper

6th Grade Students and Parents,

New materials have been added to the 6th Grade Links section of this page. Materials include helpful information on how to write a research paper, not to mention some helpful guides for using Chicago style citations. There are also several webpages to research Greek Mythology. Best of luck on this big assignment. Let's all give this one our very best!

7th Grade Students - Cyrano De Bergerac

7th Grade Students and Parents,

Materials for Cyrano De Bergerac have been added to the 7th Grade Links section of this page. Please use these materials to guide your understanding of the play. A complete text is included, in case you've left your book at school. There are two study guides you may use as well.

8th Grade - Twelfth Night

Eighth Grade Students and Parents,

Twelfth Night materials have been added to the 8th Grade Links section on the right side of our class page. Please use these materials to help guide your understanding of the play. Included is a Scene Log, so if you forget to bring one home, you can print it out easily. Also included are two versions of the complete script, in case you've left your book at school. There is also a complete audio version if you would like to listen to the play as you read along.

Cultural Activities

On Friday, October 22, we will be celebrating cultural activities at Legacy.

6th Grade will be celebrating Greek Day.
7th Grade will be participating in Victorian Day.
8th Graders will be having a Chinese Feast.

We hope all middle school families can contribute to this day of fun and learning by providing food for our meals. Parents should have received a letter with more information via email. A hard copy was also sent home with students.

NaNoWriMo

The big event is coming soon...

Sixth Grade Reading Challenge

A special reading challenge for the sixth grade class. Help us reach our goal of 1000 books!

Use your outdoor education getaway as an opportunity to read an extra book. Reading a great book in the great outdoors is such a relaxing and enjoyable experience. Plus, you can earn extra credit for Mr. Taylor's class if you complete the book before October 15.

Read, read, read!