Parents, please remember that we have student led conferences this Friday from 9:00-3:30. Come at any time during that block. Looking forward to seeing you!
Next Wednesday, April 1, is our reading stamina day. We will practice taking the smarter balanced test. The intent is to make sure we have the right amount of stamina to sit and take the real thing in just a few weeks!
Projects:
We are now studying the Great Depression. This is such an important part of your country's history. The kids are enjoying learning the causes and effects of this time period.
8th Grade Reading:
Students will finish their To Kill a Mockingbird final tomorrow. They have had it for 5 weeks and have been collecting evidence to write about theme. If they've been working all along, they should do just fine. All students seemed to really enjoy the novel. It's one of my favorites. What wonderful discussions we would have every day while reading it together!
7th Grade Reading:
The kids are thrilled because they get a little more independent reading time than they've gotten lately. We are balancing that with Smarter Balanced practice, poetry, and Flocabulary. Our days are busy in reading, that's for sure!
Writing:
This week, students have a Common Core writing prompt. They have to examine 3 sources surrounding The Great Depression then write an evidence-based essay about the effects of The Great Depression on the people during that time. We have been writing so many informative pieces, and I know they will do well on this one. By now, students are probably using evidence-based terms and quotes in their sleep!
Our student council continues to raise money for the Fallon Youth Club. Please send in any spare change or dollars for this cause. We will keep the fundraiser going until the end of the year.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
March 17, 2015
8th grade reading students will watch To Kill a Mockingbird Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Please email me if you do NOT want your student to watch this movie.
Please continue to send in money for our Fallon Youth Club Student Council fundraiser. This will continue until the end of the school year.
Next Friday we will have student led conferences in my classroom from 9:00-3:00. You can come in anytime with your child and they will take you through what they have been doing in the class. I will be available to answer any questions, and if you desire a meeting after you've met with your child I am happy to schedule that.
Projects:
Students will perform their water cycle/rock cycle raps tomorrow morning (Wednesday). They are doing a great job with this. We will move into the Great Depression on Thursday and will work on building background so we can complete activities and projects. Our study of World War 2 will come after that.
8th Grade Reading:
We finished To Kill a Mockingbird as a class today. The students seemed to love the novel. It is so full of information and lessons from that time period (Great Depression/Alabama). Our discussions have been valuable. Now the students will work on completing their final essay. They have had this assignment since the day we started the novel, so they should be well prepared to write a full analysis of their take on the book's theme as it related to the setting, characters and plot. I look forward to reading them.
7th Grade Reading:
Students are back in the throws of their own silent reading and loving it. We are also practicing some Smarter Balanced test questions and working on poetry. It's important that students continue to read for at least 20 minutes every night. The biggest key to success in reading is to just do more and more of it.
Writing:
We are taking a break from formal writing assignments and studying how to evaluate and judge certain pieces of writing. We are taking a look at advertisements and examining the different propaganda techniques that are used in these ads. The students are engaged and having fun with it. They are also spending some time just free writing. We haven't done that in a few weeks and the kids always love a chance to express themselves on paper. They are encouraged to write about whatever they want.
Please continue to send in money for our Fallon Youth Club Student Council fundraiser. This will continue until the end of the school year.
Next Friday we will have student led conferences in my classroom from 9:00-3:00. You can come in anytime with your child and they will take you through what they have been doing in the class. I will be available to answer any questions, and if you desire a meeting after you've met with your child I am happy to schedule that.
Projects:
Students will perform their water cycle/rock cycle raps tomorrow morning (Wednesday). They are doing a great job with this. We will move into the Great Depression on Thursday and will work on building background so we can complete activities and projects. Our study of World War 2 will come after that.
8th Grade Reading:
We finished To Kill a Mockingbird as a class today. The students seemed to love the novel. It is so full of information and lessons from that time period (Great Depression/Alabama). Our discussions have been valuable. Now the students will work on completing their final essay. They have had this assignment since the day we started the novel, so they should be well prepared to write a full analysis of their take on the book's theme as it related to the setting, characters and plot. I look forward to reading them.
7th Grade Reading:
Students are back in the throws of their own silent reading and loving it. We are also practicing some Smarter Balanced test questions and working on poetry. It's important that students continue to read for at least 20 minutes every night. The biggest key to success in reading is to just do more and more of it.
Writing:
We are taking a break from formal writing assignments and studying how to evaluate and judge certain pieces of writing. We are taking a look at advertisements and examining the different propaganda techniques that are used in these ads. The students are engaged and having fun with it. They are also spending some time just free writing. We haven't done that in a few weeks and the kids always love a chance to express themselves on paper. They are encouraged to write about whatever they want.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
**Please refer to the email from Oasis regarding upcoming Smarter Balanced test dates. We need every student to be present on these days, as making up the tests is very difficult.
Projects:
This week we will learn about the water cycle and the rock cycle. Students will perform rap songs around these concepts early next week. There will also be a vocabulary quiz over water cycle words on Thursday morning. Students have the terms and can study from home as well as at school. After that, we will move into studying the Great Depression in social studies.
8th Grade Reading:
Students continue to read and collect evidence for their final on To Kill a Mockingbird. We will finish the novel next week and take the final and watch movie immediately after. The kids are loving this book and there are some very powerful messages we are all taking from it.
7th Grade Reading:
We finished The Maze Runner and will take the final tomorrow (Wednesday). Students have been working on collecting evidence for this and will probably take 2 days to complete the exam. After that, we will move into doing more independent reading of Good Fit Books and work on some test taking strategies.
Writing:
We have been practicing the performance tasks for Smarter Balanced. These are not easy tests and we have been muddling through them. However, the students are getting the hang of it and are improving their abilities to pull evidence from several sources to support their arguments. We will now move into doing some independent writing (the kids are begging for some time for that), as well as some mini lessons on propaganda and how it's used in things like advertising.
Homework this week is to read for 20 minutes every night and to continue to collect evidence for novel finals.
Projects:
This week we will learn about the water cycle and the rock cycle. Students will perform rap songs around these concepts early next week. There will also be a vocabulary quiz over water cycle words on Thursday morning. Students have the terms and can study from home as well as at school. After that, we will move into studying the Great Depression in social studies.
8th Grade Reading:
Students continue to read and collect evidence for their final on To Kill a Mockingbird. We will finish the novel next week and take the final and watch movie immediately after. The kids are loving this book and there are some very powerful messages we are all taking from it.
7th Grade Reading:
We finished The Maze Runner and will take the final tomorrow (Wednesday). Students have been working on collecting evidence for this and will probably take 2 days to complete the exam. After that, we will move into doing more independent reading of Good Fit Books and work on some test taking strategies.
Writing:
We have been practicing the performance tasks for Smarter Balanced. These are not easy tests and we have been muddling through them. However, the students are getting the hang of it and are improving their abilities to pull evidence from several sources to support their arguments. We will now move into doing some independent writing (the kids are begging for some time for that), as well as some mini lessons on propaganda and how it's used in things like advertising.
Homework this week is to read for 20 minutes every night and to continue to collect evidence for novel finals.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Happy March to all of you! The year is flying by, and I can't believe we only have 2 1/2 months of school left.
Projects: Students are finishing up their journals and next week we will review the water cycle and rock cyle. Students will memorize and perform rap songs as a culmination to this science unit. They seem to be very excited about that!
8th Grade Reading: We will continue to read To Kill a Mockingbird for the next few weeks. Students are working on collecting evidence for their chosen theme to this book, and will complete the final exam upon finishing the book.
7th Grade Reading: Students are enjoying The Maze Runner. It's very action packed and filled with suspense. As we read, students are collecting evidence for their final exam. We are also making novel charts that display figurative language, important quotes, bad decisions, adjectives, etc. throughout the novel.
Writing: This week, we are working on one of the SBAC (Smarter Balanced) performance tasks for writing. Students must complete 3 questions, then write an essay using sources that are provided to them. We have worked very hard on writing evidence-based essays this year. The students have written several and they all seem to have a good grasp of how to do this. I'm very confident that they will do very well come test time in April. :)
Please, please send in any spare change for our ongoing money drive for the Fallon Youth Club. This fundraiser is sponsored by Student Council, and we would love for our class to win the next class trip to Maverik!
Projects: Students are finishing up their journals and next week we will review the water cycle and rock cyle. Students will memorize and perform rap songs as a culmination to this science unit. They seem to be very excited about that!
8th Grade Reading: We will continue to read To Kill a Mockingbird for the next few weeks. Students are working on collecting evidence for their chosen theme to this book, and will complete the final exam upon finishing the book.
7th Grade Reading: Students are enjoying The Maze Runner. It's very action packed and filled with suspense. As we read, students are collecting evidence for their final exam. We are also making novel charts that display figurative language, important quotes, bad decisions, adjectives, etc. throughout the novel.
Writing: This week, we are working on one of the SBAC (Smarter Balanced) performance tasks for writing. Students must complete 3 questions, then write an essay using sources that are provided to them. We have worked very hard on writing evidence-based essays this year. The students have written several and they all seem to have a good grasp of how to do this. I'm very confident that they will do very well come test time in April. :)
Please, please send in any spare change for our ongoing money drive for the Fallon Youth Club. This fundraiser is sponsored by Student Council, and we would love for our class to win the next class trip to Maverik!
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