The students were able to take time to go to the library and the book fair during class today.  This will be the only opportunity students will have to go to the book fair during class time.  It will be available during the school day for the remainder of the week as well as during conferences on Wednesday.

While in class, the students learned about the various types of textual evidence they can find within a text.  This is something we will continue to learn about and practice with throughout the next two weeks.

The students also spent time learning about the parts of speech.

Have a great evening!

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes

In Language Arts today the students made predictions about what their article of the week is going to be about.  Tomorrow we will be reading the article.

The students also worked on their one-pager project in class. They are designing a poster focusing on various story elements of a book they have read over the summer or in class this year. This will be a summative grade since it is a project and it will be due tomorrow.  If students didn’t finish in class, they were sent home with a rubric to finish for homework.

Lastly, the students spent time learning about the parts of speech and practicing for their student-led conference tonight. Conferences will be taking place tonight from 4 to 7 and Wednesday from 3:30 to 6:30.  Families will need to arrive by 6:45 and 6:15 in order to finish on time.  Conferences for Ms. Taha and Mrs. Bailey’s classes will be taking place in Ms. Taha’s room (room 41). Conferences for Ms. Jones and Mr. Peterson will be taking place in Mr. Peterson’s room (room 11).

I hope to see you tonight or Wednesday!

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes
2. One-Pager Due Tomorrow
3. Attend Conferences

***Library Day and Book Fair Tomorrow-If you would like for your child to purchase a book from the fair, please send them to class with money.  They can buy during our scheduled time tomorrow or during conferences.  No additional class time will be provided for students to purchase books from the fair.

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!

Dear Parents,

If you are an AOL email user, please be aware that you may not receive email notifications due to AOL policies. We are working to resolve this issue with AOL.

Thank you for your patience while we work with AOL to make sure you get classroom notifications from your teacher.

Sincerely,

Technology Department

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