Began World War II (so to speak) + Pre-Reading Writing for "The Gift of the Magi" + Calligraphy, cont'd

Today the 8ths:

• Began our study of World War II
• Collaborated on a Google Doc comparing World War I with World War II

• Did a writing activity prior to reading the O. Henry short story, "The Gift of the Magi."
• Continued practicing calligraphy with the 6th/7th Graders

Assignment for Thursday: Read and come prepared to discuss the O. Henry short story, "The Gift of the Magi." (Clicky clicky.)

• I copied and pasted the story from Project Gutenberg to a Microsoft Word document and added definitions of "difficult words" to assist you in your reading.
• You Kindlekinder can find a Project Gutenberg Kindle version here.
• A classmate found a free Amazon Kindle version here.
• Click here for audio versions.

"O. Henry" is the pseudonym of William Sidney Porter. The writer's life story is pretty interesting. For awhile he lived in Austin, TX and has a middle school there named for him (despite--or because of???--his being a convicted embezzler who served time in prison) On a side note, my beloved Lamar Scotties played the O. Henry Mustangs when I was in Eighth Grade. I'm pretty sure we beat 'em. Click for the Wikipedia article on O. Henry.

                      

You tellin' me this is the face of a crook???