In Language Arts today the students took their vocabulary test.  I will have grades updated by the end of the day today.  The students also worked on their reading log and article of the week responses.  The reading log was due today and the article of the week response is due Monday at the end of class.

Monday and Wednesday evening of next week are conferences.  The students will be participating in student-led conferences.  The Language Arts and Math conferences for this team will be taking place in Ms. Taha’s room.  Children need to be present for this conference as it is a time for them to reflect on their middle school experience thus far. Report cards can be picked up at this time.

Have a great weekend!

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes
2. Article of the Week Response Due Monday

In Language Arts today the students continued to practice identifying facts and opinions.  They also reviewed for their vocabulary test tomorrow.

Lastly, the students spent time working on their student-led conferences forms.  Most teachers at Bryant do student-led conferences in the Fall.  The allows for the student to be reflective on the year this far and determine what they can do in the future to be more successful. At conferences, students will present their work from first marking.  At the end of the conference, if you still have remaining questions, you may ask the teachers. Students will finish these forms tomorrow and practice presenting to their parents on Monday. Conferences are taking place on Monday and Wednesday evening of next week.  Parents may just show up. A scheduled time is not required.

Have a great evening!

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes
2. Vocabulary Check Tomorrow
3. “Eleven” Vocabulary Test Tomorrow

In Language Arts today the students learned about the difference between a fact and an opinion.  We also spent time reading and annotating our article of the week.  Lastly, we played a vocabulary review game. The test and vocab. check will be on Friday. Students can study the words using my blog post or their reading interactive notebooks.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes
2. Vocabulary Test-Friday
3. Vocabulary Interactive Notebook Check-Friday

In Language Arts today the students continued to learn about claim, evidence, and reasoning by  creating a foldable in their writing interactive notebooks.

They also hovered for words they do not know in their article of the week.

Lastly, we played a vocabulary review game to help them prepare for their test on Friday.

Have a great evening!

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes
2. “Eleven” Vocabulary Test Friday
3. Vocabulary Interactive Notebook Check Friday

The students used what they have learned about text features and applied this knowledge to their article of the week.  They used the text features to predict what the article is going to be about.  They wrote their predictions at the bottom of the article to save them for when we read.

The students also learned about claim, evidence, and reasoning today in class. We practiced making a claim in a funny picture and used evidence to support our thinking.

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes
2. Vocabulary Test Friday
3. Vocabulary Interactive Notebook Check Friday

In Language Arts today the students were given time to complete their constructed response on the back of their reading logs.  They were also given their unit tests back and we reviewed them in class.  I reviewed my test retake policy and students who were interested in a retake were signed up to participate.

Here is what the syllabus says about retakes:

To be eligible for a retake, all work from the unit must be turned in. If you have no missing assignments, you may select one of the two scheduled times to take a retake with me. You must then take your original test home and get it signed. You must also write a two paragraph response focusing on the following:

• Why do you feel you did poorly on the test?-you didn’t study the way you should have, you did not advocate for yourself during the review, you did not understand the questions or follow the directions on the test, etc.
• Why should you be given a retake?-You were feeling sick the day of the test, you have worked hard during the unit by turning in all assignments, etc.

Retakes for this unit test are Monday, October 17th and Tuesday, October 18th both at 7 am.  I typically try to schedule one retake option in the morning and one in the afternoon but I, unfortunately, cannot do that during swim season since I go directly to practice after school. Students must be scheduled for a retake prior to the retake dates.  Any student who is not scheduled, will not be given a test.  The test reflection and signed, original test serve as the admission ticket to the test.  Without both of these pieces, no retake will be given and a new retake date will not be scheduled.

Have a great weekend!

The students took their unit test in Language Arts today. I also collected their interactive notebooks for grading. I will do my best to have grades updated as soon as possible.

Have a great evening!

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes

In Language Arts today the students reviewed for their test tomorrow.  They will be tested on author’s purpose, point of view, text features, and there will be comprehension questions from “Eleven”.

The students were also given time to organize their interactive notebooks if they needed some time to catch up.

Lastly, we spent time in class reading our article of the week.  The response for this week is still going to focus on author’s purpose.  Since last week, we have spent a lot of time in class reviewing how to cite textual evidence and formulating a constructed response-specifically for author’s purpose.  Therefore, we will be focusing on the same topic two weeks in a row.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes
2. Interactive Notebook Check Tomorrow
3. Test Tomorrow

Today was library day in Language Arts.  The students were given the opportunity to go to the library and select two new good fit books.  At this point, all of the students have their reading NWEA scores and lexile ranges in their reading interactive notebook.  We discussed using these lexile ranges to find good fit books and used them today in the library.

The students also spent time organizing their reading and writing interactive notebooks.  I will be checking these on Thursday.

Lastly, the students played a matching game to further their knowledge of point of view.

Have a fantastic evening!

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes
2. Interactive Notebook Check Thursday
3. Author’s Purpose, Point of View, Text Features, and “Eleven” Test Thursday

In Language Arts today the students continued to practice with point of view.  We did so by rereading “Eleven” but focusing solely on the point of view.

The students were also given their article for this week. We reviewed text features and made predictions about what the article could be about.

Lastly, the students spent time preparing their reading and writing interactive notebooks for checking.  At the end of each unit, I check students’ notebooks and grade them.  I give students several days to get organized during Daily 5 time in case they were absent or missed directions.  I will be grading notebooks on Thursday during class.

The end of the first marking is this Friday.  Per the team syllabus, late work will not be accepted by Ms. Jones, Mr. Peterson, Ms. Taha, or myself this week. I know that many families become concerned about grades during the last week of the marking.  I encourage everyone to check student connect as I will be keeping it updated on a daily basis.  If you have any questions, please email me at the email address I gave on the syllabus.  Remember, I am not responding to comments on the blog because there is not a way to make the conversation private and I like to keep things about children confidential. If your child lost their syllabus, I have extra copies in the classroom they are welcome to take home. If you need one, please remind them to grab one from the While You Were Out folder in class.  They should know which folder I am referring to.

Have a great evening!

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes
2. Article Response Due at the end of class today
3. Library Day tomorrow
4. Interactive Notebooks check Thursday
5. Author’s Purpose, Point of View, Text Features, and “Eleven” test Thursday- Use your reading notebook to study