Monday, November 30, 2015

Monday, November 30, 2015

Projects: We started our study of American government today. We will move from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, along with government structure. This will be covered over the next 3 weeks.

7th and 8th Grade Reading: Our Week in Rap covered ISIS and the attacks that have occurred over the last several weeks. We had strong, serious discussions.

Writing: Students started brainstorming and creating quick sketches for a "day in the life of..." narratives. They will choose any object or person and write a one page narrative detailing a day in the life of it. I read them a mentor text called "A Day in the Life of a Cell" so they could visualize structure and start generating ideas. I am seeing some FABULOUS ideas and can't wait to see what they come up with. Narrative writing is typically harder than informative (even though it's more fun), so we will take all of this slowly. During writing we also worked on sentence diagramming and had free writing time.

Homework: 7th and 8th both have Flocabulary due Thursday

Don't forget the pajama drive that student council is doing this month! We are collecting brand new pajamas for the Scholastic Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive. Pajamas are being stored in my room and student council members will see that they get sent off to the appropriate spot on December 18. Thank you so much for your support!

Monday, November 23, 2015

Monday, November 23, 2015

Projects: Students practiced their presentations for tomorrow. Each group will present 5-6 slides from their ABC American Revolution project. Students will also be responsible for completing peer evalutations for all group members.  The projects look great and I'm excited to see what they do tomorrow!

7th and 8th Grade Reading: Students put final touches on their American Revolution Book Club Final Projects. They will grade each other's projects tomorrow. They look AMAZING!

Writing: IXL practice and free write using narrative techniques. We will get into a larger narrative writing assignment after the holiday.

Class auction tomorrow (Tuesday)!

Students will not have homework from me over the Thanksgiving holiday. Please enjoy this time with family and friends. I am so very grateful for the opportunity to teach at this wonderful school. Every day is such a positive experience for me. Thank you for being the wonderful, supportive parents that you are!

Please don't forget to send in new pajamas for children in need if you are able. We will collect donations until December 17. Thank you!


Monday, November 16, 2015

Monday, November 16, 2015

Projects:
Students continued working on American Revolution ABC books. They are due at the end of the projects block on Thursday, Nov. 19.

8th Grade Reading:
Instead of Flocabulary, we talked about the events of last Friday in Paris. We had wonderful discussions and students stated their thoughts and opinions. We finished the class by working on class novel projects. Flocabulary needs to be read and listened to independently this week. There will be a quiz on Thursday.

7th Grade Reading:
Instead of Flocabulary, we talked about the events of last Friday in Paris. We had wonderful discussions and students stated their thoughts and opinions. We finished the class by working on class novel projects. Flocabulary needs to be read and listened to independently this week. There will be a quiz on Thursday.

Writing:
We talked about narrative writing components and students wrote from the perspective of pizza dough to get those juices flowing! Students also worked on our Root of the Week, which is "don."
We will continue with narrative writing until Christmas break.

Homework:
7th and 8th final Book Club Thoughts are due tomorrow, along with front page of the packet. A couple of groups have already finished their books. so they will not have thoughts due tomorrow.....but still the cover page.
7th and 8th watch Flocabulary and prepare for a quiz on Thursday

Class auction next Tuesday, November 24!!! Please send auction items in if you are able. 

**We are really bonding as a class. This groups is so special and I am truly enjoying every day with them. Thank you so, so much for the opportunity to be a part of their lives.

Monday, November 9, 2015

Monday, November 9, 2015

Projects: Students were given the final project for our American Revolution unit and put into groups to complete it. They will be creating an ABC digital book covering all aspects of the Revolution.

7th and 8th Grade Reading: Flocabulary--we watched this week's "Week in Rap" and held discussions. Students are working on going back into the text to check accuracy and make sure they are responding correctly to main ideas. Homework for both blocks is to complete all book club reading and do their "book club thoughts." Last week some responses did not meet expectations and students were asked to redo them in study hall. Students should be taking care to write thorough responses in all areas of the "book club thoughts" worksheet. Book Club thoughts are due both Tuesday and Thursday this week, and books need to be finished by next Tuesday.

Writing: We did a great TRIBES activity today called Tower Building. It was an activity based around nonverbal communication. Even the reflections were fantastic!
We will start narrative writing based in the American Revolution this week. Students need to put their creative thinking caps on and get to it! Our root of the week is "dict" and we will continue with IXL grammar/punctuation skills.

Monday, November 2, 2015

Monday, November 2, 2015

Projects: Students performed their songs about the Boston Tea Party today. Tomorrow they will create a newscast about the first shots of the American Revolution.

8th Grade Reading: Flocabulary's "Week in Rap!" There were a lot of stories in the news today, so we will have to finish up tomorrow and take a short quiz. Students need to come to class prepared to discuss their book club books, along with their "Book Club Thoughts" filled out.

7th Grade Reading: "Week in Rap!" We read and discussed all of the news events, and students took a short quiz over what we talked about. Tomorrow Book Clubs meet, so it's important that students have done their reading and have their "Book Club Thoughts" papers filled out before they start discussions. 

Writing: We reviewed homophones and learned a new Root of the Week (cardi/o). Students spent a good amount of time writing their Loyalist vs. Patriot papers.

Students who didn't score well on their Articles of Confederation quiz last week will have an opportunity to take another one on Thursday. It will be a short answer version of the multiple choice one they took last week.

No poetry this week for 7th or 8th graders. We will focus on book clubs instead. :)