Sunday, May 17, 2015

I can't believe the last week of school is upon us. Here are a few reminders for the week:

Monday:  1:30-3:30 WWII Museum Exhibit--Please come and visit our exhibits. They are phenomenal!  All projects are set up in the middle school classrooms, with the exception of Mr. Lewis's room.

Tuesday: Regular Day, but the kids and I will brainstorm and come up with something fun. We will definitely have an auction and we need last minute items!

Wednesday:  8th grade promotion 10:00--All students attend

Thursday: Field Day 8:00-2:00; last day of school

I am going to miss this bunch of 7th and 8th graders so much. We have had an extraordinary year together....lots of laughter and great moments. This is such a wonderful group of kids and I have enjoyed every day with them. I hope you all have a relaxing, terrific summer!

Monday, May 11

Our students will be displaying their WW2 museum exhibit to parents next Monday, May 18, from 1-3.  Please stop by and admire their work. They are working so hard on these!

Projects:
Students are busily completing their museum exhibits. A gentle reminder to them to make sure everything is finished up by this Thursday, including bringing any artifacts or supplies from home. Students are working on these at school, but many have said they have things at home to bring in.

8th Grade Reading:
I only have 2 more days with my 8th graders for reading. I am so sad and will miss them dearly next year. We are going to wrap up the year with a little bit of poetry.:)

7th Grade Reading:
Second Wordl War 2 tasks are due this Thursday. This is all students need to focus on as far as homework.

Writing:
We will alternate between working on writing (sentence diagramming, free write, WW2 journaling) and projects during our writing time this week.

Please don't forget that we need volunteers for field day on Thursday, May 21. We need as much help as possible to make this awesome for the kids. 

Monday, May 4, 2015

The year is slipping away quickly!  I have SO ENJOYED this class of 7th graders. I will miss them, but know we will have a great year in 8th grade too!

In projects, students are working diligently on their WW2 museum exhibit projects. The content for these is due NEXT THURSDAY, May 14.  We will grade the oral presentation and interactive piece on Monday, May 18.

7th and 8th grade reading:  both classes are busy reading WW2 texts and responding to them. 8th grade will the the reading EOC with me on Wednesday, May 6th.

Writing:  We are still working on parts of speech and sentence diagramming. Also, students will complete a few more writing prompts and finish WW2 journaling.

Thank you for sharing these wonderful kids with me this year!

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

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.  :)

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

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. 

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.