Monday, February 27, 2017

Monday, February 27, 2017

Projects: This week we will learn about FDR and the New Deal, and work on those websites. They are coming along!

7th Grade Reading: Students are preparing for our Paideia Seminar on The Outsiders. They will collect evidence during class to respond to 4 questions that I will pose to them next week. I love this assignment. The students always do well, and their academic discussions are so impressive!

8th Grade Reading: Students will continue to read and discuss To Kill a Mockingbird. They are doing a great job thinking critically about race relations, literacy, and justice with this novel. Today we discussed current events with "Week in Rap." As usual, we had some very interesting conversations. I always love conversations with this bunch.

Writing: This week we are taking a break from our state writing prompts and focusing on stamina through journal writing, IXL skills, and sentence diagramming to learn sentence parts. We will do our last unassisted prompt in 2 weeks, beginning with a collaborative prompt next week. It will be argumentative! Students, please check IXL grades on Infinite Campus. You can improve scores and fix zeroes!

Homework:
7th--Read and watch "Week in Rap" on Flocabulary and be ready for a quiz on Wednesday.
8th--20 minutes of reading. Flocabulary quiz Wednesday

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Tomorrow we will watch the movie The Outsiders in order to compare it to the novel. The movie is rated PG. Please let me know if you do NOT want your child to watch it. I will find an alternate activity for him/her. 

Projects: Students will work on Great Depression websites and continue learning about through class discussion, reading passages, videos and webquests. This Thursday we will watch a video on the Dust Bowl (thank you, Mrs. Mori, for loaning it). Make sure you ask your student about daily life, government, and causes of the Great Depression!

7th Grade Reading: Students will begin preparing for their reading final after watching the movie. Our final will be in the form of a Paideia Seminar. Students will be required to research several
open-ended questions, find evidence to support answers, and articulate their opinions through discussion. Students will use formal discussion methods, including techniques we've used in class like Format Matters and Habits of Discussion. They will be graded only on what they say (quality of verbal responses). I love this assignment because it give the students a lot of control over their grade and how they want to respond to literature.

8th Grade Reading: We will continue To Kill a Mockingbird. We are starting to read the trial scene, and students seem so engaged. Students will continue to take quizzes, write responses that require text evidence, and practice reading out loud fluently and with expression. I am LOVING our discussions on this novel.

Writing: This week we will finish our collaborative informative newspaper article, and students will write an unassisted writing sample in the form of an informative essay.

Homework this week:
7th: Read and watch "Week in Rap" for this week and be prepared for a quiz on Thursday. Fill out logs.
8th: Watch/read "Week in Rap" for this week and be prepared for a quiz on Thursday. Fill out logs.

Monday, February 13, 2017

Monday, February 13, 2017

Tomorrow students may bring Valentines to pass out to the class. We will do this around 2:30-2:45 as the kids have art at 3:15. 

Projects: Students are working on their Great Depression websites. Also, we are learning about causes, daily life, government role, Dust Bowl, and economics during the Great Depression.

7th Grade Reading: We are having great discussions during our Monday Flocabulary lessons! Students are really making intelligent connections to current events and have strong opinions on topics! We will continue reading The Outsiders week and will likely finish it. When we do finish, students will begin preparing for our Paideia Seminar on the novel, which will be our final exam.

8th Grade Reading: We will continue to read To Kill a Mockingbird and use Close Reading strategies to look deeply at certain parts. We are enjoying learning more about the characters and making predictions about Boo Radley and Tom Robinson.

Writing: This week we will work together on an informative/explanatory writing piece. We did this a couple of weeks ago with narratives, and we will work on an unassisted piece after we write one together. These prompts are coming off of the state website and are good examples of what the students may be facing during testing this spring.

Homework:

7th Grade--IXL AA.1, read for 20 minutes
8th Grade--Finish Flocabulary "Week in Rap" links from today; read for 20 minutes and be on chapter 12 of To Kill a Mockingbird on Tuesday. 

Monday, February 6, 2017

Monday, February 6, 2017

Projects: Students will learn about the Great Depression and build a website that demonstrates what they know.

7th Grade Reading: This week students will continue reading The Outsiders, taking short quizzes on it, and building their reading stamina.

Writing: Students will complete an unassisted writing assignment Tuesday and Thursday of this week. We have worked long and hard together on narrative techniques, and now they are ready to show what they can do on their own!

8th Grade Reading: We will continue reding To Kill a Mockingbird and having discussions around it. Students should always come to class prepared for a short quiz that covers their most recent reading. We will also continue poetry and Flocabulary as usual.

Homework:
7th grade--read for 20 minutes and do any IXL assigned
8th grade--read for 20 minutes (reading logs checked every Monday)

Candy Grams are on sale all week for .75 each. Proceeds benefit the k-8 student council. We are raising money to try to purchase something for the school (item TBD).

Auction this Thursday at 3:00