Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Projects:
Students are learning about Hitler's life and his book, Mein Kampf as we continue our study of World War 2. Students should be prepared to write about the causes of World War 2 this week.

8th Grade Reading:
We are continuing with our WW2 book clubs.  Students are reading their books, holding discussions, and evaluating each other on leadership capabilities. I am enjoying listening to their talks and amd pleased with the connections they are making. Students are graded DAILY on how prepared they are for book club.

7th Grade Reading:
Students are in book clubs reading books related to WW2. They are working on analyzing their books and taking turns being the discussion leader in their groups. Everyone seems to be enjoying what they are reading, and I'm hearing some excelling talking points. Students are graded DAILY on how prepared they come to book club and how much they have to offer to the discussion.

Writing:
Continuing with WW2 narrative journals. Additionally, we are reviewing sentence diagramming skills and working a lot with free write (storybird, poetry, tweets, etc.).

Our field trip to the museum is on Monday. I only have one chaperone at the moment, so I need one more. Please let me know if you will be able to make it.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

I hope everyone had a restful, wonderful spring break.  Now  we are in the home stretch!!

SBAC Assessments will be April 21, 23, 28, and 30 for all 7th grade students.  Please make sure your student gets a good night's sleep, is on time to school, has had a nice healthy breakfast and is ready to do their best.  Please consider signing up to send in a snack on the signupgenius email you should have received. 

We have a lot going on from now until the end of the year:

Projects: We launched the World War 2 unit. Students got into groups and chose topics for final produects. They will creating museum exhibits around World War 2 concepts (people, events, places, etc.). We are all enjoying learning during this unit.

8th Grade Reading: Please ask your 8th grader what World War 2 related book they are reading. Students were put into book clubs and are participating in discussions every day. They will finish the book by completing a final task.

7th Grade Reading: 7th graders are also in World War 2 book clubs. Each student chose a book and is reading it with several others. Students are responsible for taking notes and coming prepared to discussions every day. They will complete a final task when they finish the books.

Writing: Students are keeping a journal and writing daily. They are writing from the perspective of someone who may have lived during World War 2. They make daily entries and include real facts and details from that time period. We are also doing a lot of free writing with Storybird and poetry. Sentence Diagramming sees its way into writing several times a week as well.  :)