Week 34 Update and Schedule

Last week was a lot of fun as we learned about suffix/prefix by practicing the "Blow the Roof Off" game and created a foldable to help students become familiar with and memorize these prefixes & suffixes.  This game calls for the class to rehearse a list of prefixes & suffixes where they pair a prefix or suffix with an action and they are timed as they run through the list.  This helps students to memorize the list.  We had a competition between classes for the fastest time and a huge congrats goes to 6th period with the best time of 2:03!!  WOW!!  They will receive a doughnut party on Monday.  2nd period was a very close second place with 2:08. They will receive a treat as well on Monday for working so hard.  I've asked students to read through their foldable once a day to help them prepare for testing.

We also practiced Reading Comprehension from Scope Magazine in preparation for the upcoming CRT tests.  The article was about 3 courageous boys who fought against Hitler in WW II.  Ask your student to share their amazing story. To top it all off, book reports were also due and I have been very pleased with the high quality of work that students are creating.  It's really cool to see how students have improved throughout the year.  Check out my YouTube channel (click a specific video on the left side of the blog or go to MrsRobinsLavaRidge YouTube Channel ) to see the projects of students who have created book or movie trailers as novel projects or book reports.  They are a lot of fun to watch!

CRT Testing will be on April 23, 24 and 25.  Please make sure your student is at school and has had breakfast & slept well.  I really want students to own the test, to set a goal and work hard to achieve it.  On Monday this week, students will look at their CRT Language Arts score (available on PowerSchool) and set a goal for what they want to achieve.  If they meet that goal, they will receive a prize from me.  I know that some of my students struggle, so their goals might just be a few points higher and that is ok.  My overarching intent is to help the students try to improve themselves and take more of an interest/ownership in their academic success.  Along with practicing content for the test, I'm also focusing on test-taking skills.  Testing is part of academic life and I want to give students all the tools they need to do well and be successful.  I want them to go into testing full of confidence and positive energy.  At home, please be positive and encouraging to your student.  If you feel your student would test better at a different time of day or in a small group, please let me know as soon as you can.  I'm putting together a list of students who I may want to test at different times to help them do better.

Please keep an eye on PowerSchool and encourage your student to have 100% of all their work handed in.  As you know, Lava Ridge holds a huge 7th party at the end of the school year and only students without an "I" or "U" are allowed to attend.  Trust me, it's going to be awesome and I want to see all of my 140 students there!  Remember that Planner/Reading Checks make up a huge part of your student's effort grade.  Make sure they do their at-home reading and fill-out and bring their planner to school on Monday.  I'll have bonus effort assignments available on Monday as well. Please email or call me if you have questions or concerns about your student's grade.  Progress Reports are coming home tomorrow as well.  Please review them with your student, sign and return.


Monday, April 8th: Planner/Reading Wk. 33 check, Test Prediction, Commonly Confused Words Powerpoint w/ note-taking, Progress Reports Home Today

Tuesday, April 9th: Poetry Analysis Bellwork, Prefix/Suffix Game Day ("Post-it-on-the-Back", Matching Game & Crossword Puzzles)

Wednesday, April 10th: Scope Reading Comprehension, Library Day  AM/PM Reading Club (anyone can attend this week who wants extra practice with reading comprehension/fluency). **Progress Reports due back with a parent/guardian signature

Thursday, April 11th: CRT Grammar Bellwork, Blow-the-Roof-Off Commonly Confused Words Game/Review, CCW Test-Creation Activity

Friday, April 12th: Random Student, Utah-in-the-News, Gecko Day!
*Just a note, Gecko Day allows students who are caught-up on their work to do an enrichment activity, students who are behind go to Homework Hall & students who struggle with concepts attending Re-Teaching.  This is such an important program that Lava Ridge does.

Utah-in-the-News, to present Friday, April 12th
*Students must use the Utah-in-the-News form (I give it to them in class), attach the article they read and fill out the form completely. . .including summarizing the article in their own words.

1st period: Arik Madrigal, Chance Lopez, Brevin Knude
2nd period: Jenny Ladd, Sophia Jergensmeier, Riley Hughes
3rd period: Tyler Olmstead, Matt Kitchen, Kaylin Kahus
5th period:  Braden Baker, Andy Day, Olivia Olvera
6th period: Mercedes Aguilar, Meadow Alldredge, Emily Bonzo