Monday, January 30, 2017

Projects test is moved from tomorrow to Wednesday.

Projects: Students finished their magazines on the Roaring '20's and will review for their vocabulary and essay test now scheduled for Wednesday.

7th Grade Reading: We will continue to read The Outsiders. The students are LOVING this book and we are having wonderful discussions. I am always impressed with these kids and the depth of their comments and questions. We will read annotate poetry on Wednesday, and today we watched and discussed the "Week in Rap" and took a quiz.

8th Grade Reading: We will read annotate poetry on Wednesday, and today we watched and discussed the "Week in Rap" and took a quiz. Tuesday and Thursday we will read and discuss To Kill a Mockingbird. The students are doing a great job with this book. They are asking questions and making intelligent comments about the events of the novel.

Writing: This week students will, with guidance, complete a narrative writing task put out by the state. After walking them through one, I will have kids do an unassisted task next week. We will focus on using a few different resources to write narratives, and focus on narrative writing techniques.

Homework:
7th--IXL XX.3, read for 20
8th--Read for 20, poetry annotations on "Hoods"

Please send auction items in if you are able. Thank you so much to those of you who have done so this year. 

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Projects: Students are researching and writing magazine articles that explain what made the 1920s "roaring". We will finish these up next week, then move into the Great Depression.

7th Grade Reading: This week we will read several chapters of The Outsiders, stopping to discuss narrative elements and take quick comprehension quizzes. We will also annotate the poem "Hoods," which connects to our novel.

8th Grade Reading: Students will continue to read To Kill a Mockingbird. We will have whole class discussions, take quizzes, and respons in our reading journals about the book. For homework, students need to read chapter 5 at home and be ready for a quiz on Thursday.

Writing: We are finishing up our "Favorite Mistake" papers and will move into writing a fully unassisted narrative. I know these are always harder for the kids (no conferencing, no peer review, etc.), but the unassisted writing samples give me a GREAT idea of where each student is overall in writing.

Homework:
7th--IXL U.2; read for 20 if finished
8th--Read chapter 5 of TKAMB by Thursday

Tuesday, January 17, 2016

Projects: Students will use the next couple of weeks to research and complete their article for their group's magazine on the "Roaring 20's."

7th Grade Reading: We are on chapter 2 of The Outsiders and students are working hard on their character posters. Posters will be visual representations and have quotes/evidence from the book around their drawing to give the viewer an accurate picture of the full character.

8th Grade Reading: We are in the middle of chapter 2 in To Kill a Mockingbird. Students will have quizzes frequently on this novel. I am enjoying the discussions and reactions to the narrator's comments thus far.

Writing: We will contnue writing our "Favorite Mistake" stories this week and into next week. Also, students are enjoying their new Twitter page and 6 word memoirs.

Homework:

7th--Tuesday: Read Week in Rap links (quiz Thursday)
        Wednesday--Continue studying links and complete IXL U.2

8th--Tuesday: Poetry annotations on "Friends in the Klan" due Wednesday
        Wednesday: Study Week in Rap links (read passages) and be ready for quiz Thursday

Monday, January 9, 2017

Happy New Year to my awesome students and families!!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful 2 weeks off. Now that it's time to get back to work, here's a look at this week:

Projects: We are starting our unit on the 1920's (The Roaring Twenties); we will begin by reading, completing webquests and watching videos related to this time period before starting our final project.

7th Grade Reading: This week we will start reading one of my VERY FAVORITES:  The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. This book consistently captures and engages my 7th graders and I can't wait to share it with them. We will begin with a small author study and some prereading exercises before moving into chapter 1 and some character analyses this week!

Writing: Students will write another narrative. This one will be called "My Favorite Mistake" and it follows a template laid out by Kelly Gallagher, the author of a great writing resource book called Write Like This. The students will focus on expression and reflection skills in this paper. I was so impressed with their "Day in the Life" narratives. I'm hanging them up outside the classroom, so be sure to come by and read them. They are great!

8th Grade Reading: This week my 8th graders and I will start reading To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. This book is a powerful, wonderful story about race relations (among other things) in the deep south during the Great Depression and is, perhaps, my all time favorite book. We will read about Harper Lee and learn some facts about the Great Depression, Jim Crow, and segregation before starting the novel on Thursday.

Homework:

7th--Read for 20 minutes and record on reading log; IXL U.1 Vague Pronoun References

8th--Finish reading stories from "Week in Rap" on Monday; read for 20 and fill out reading logs.

Monday, December 19, 2016

Please, please don't forget to send students with cheap stocking stuffers for Thursday if you choose to do so.

We will be watching "Elf" this Thursday in the classroom. If you don't want your student to participate please let me know and I will have another activity for him or her.

Class auction to be held this Thursday, provided we have items to auction off. Please send things in if possible.

Projects: Students are finishing up their Survival of the Fittest comics. They are turning out great!

7th Grade Reading: Students are working to finish their 3-D pyramids depicting 4 aspects of World War 1. We will finish by Wednesday at the latest.

Writing: Most are finished with narratives and are moving into free writing for the week. I have a fun holiday writing activity planned for Wednesday.

8th Grade Reading: Students are working on finishing their King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table reading projects. These need to be done by Wednesday so we are hustling!!!

This Thursday we will do some holiday related reading and writing, then watch the movie and go to the high school  lip sync assembly. For reading that day, kids are invited to bring a pillow or something to lay on while they read. I am giving them an entire block of "read to self" as per their request. :)

Happy Holidays!

Monday, December 12, 2016

This is the last week to send new pajamas for our Scholastic Pajama Drive sponsored by K-8 and high school student council. We are also still collecting canned food and toys for tots. Everything helps!

Projects: We will finish instruction on Natural Selection and Survival of the Fittest tomorrow. Students will create comic strips that depict an animal that has adapted to its environment as their final product. We will work on these Wednesday, Thursday, Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday will be a gallery walk so we can see everybody's creations. Next semester we will start social studies and do The 1920's, Great Depression, and World War 2. It's going to be awesome!

7th Grade Reading: As we finish frontloading information on World War 1, students will begin a project that demonstrates what they've learned. They will create a 3-D pyramid that explains several different aspects of WWI. Students will continue building stamina by reading the books that they love and writing responses to their reading.

Writing: Students are working hard to finish "Day in the Life" narratives. They are doing such a FABULOUS job on these. I am so impressed with how each student's writing has improved over the course of the semester.

8th Grade Reading: We will finish reading King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and complete a 3-D project that depicts one of the stories in the book. Students will be expected to focus on theme, characters (protagonists and antagonists), setting, and plot. Should be a fun way to end the semester!

Next Thursday we will have a class auction and do various holiday related activities. Don't forget students can bring in items to put in each other's stockings on this day. Also, we will be watching the movie Elf.

Homework:
7th: IXL P.1, Flocabulary main idea sheet (due Thursday)

8th: Poetry Annotations due Wednesday; read "Sir Percivale" in King Arthur for Tuesday's discussion

Monday, December 5, 2016

Please don't forget about our 7th grade stocking stuffing activity on Thursday, December 22nd. Each student, if they'd like, should bring a small treat to put in each stocking. This is meant to be fun and not expensive at all. The Dollar Tree is a great idea for this!

Also, we will be watching "Elf" on Thursday, December 22nd. If you don't want your student to watch this please let me know and I will find an alternate activity for him or her. 

This week:

Projects: We began our unit on Natural Selection today. We will be looking at Charles Darwin and his theories, and study how organisms change and adapt over time. This is our last science unit of the year. Beginning in January we will do social studies for projects. Our units there will cover the 1920's, The Great Depression, and World War 2. 

7th Grade Reading: This week we are going to delve into World War 1. We will read passages, do webquests and have discussions surrounding the Great War and its effects on the world. Students will continue to build reading stamina by reading books of their choice for pleasure.

Writing: Students continue working on narratives. They are writing "A Day in the Life" stories about an object or concept they are familiar with. 

8th Grade Reading: Students will study the Black Plague of the Middle Ages, famous people of the Middle Ages, and continue to read King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. 

Homework:
7th--Read for 20 minutes nightly; Flocabulary quiz Tuesday

8th--Read for 20 minutes nightly (finish "Kitchen Knight" chapter in King Arthur for Tuesday); Flocabulary quiz Tuesday; Wednesday night's reading will be a chapter in King Arthur.