Week 4 Update and Schedule

I hope everyone enjoys a long weekend and is ready to roll on Tuesday.  It's going to be a great week as we'll be starting our first unit: "It's a Job".  Students will learn all about grammar (parts of speech, sentences, paragraphs) in the context of researching careers.  This is such a fun unit and will lay the foundation for the rest of the year.

Keep in mind that our first book report is due Wednesday, September 18th.  Students should select a book (any genre, at least 150 pages) and choose a book report type.  I have many different selections to choose from in class.

I am offering book reports through Scholastic.  The first order will be September 13th--you can click on the Scholastic link on the left side of the blog or students can bring home a book order home and send a check to Scholastic.  Scholastic (love them!) will donate a book to our classroom for every online order placed--which is awesome.  They have a fantastic and affordable selection of great books, so check it out!

I had a great suggestion from a parent at Back-to-School night to post a reading list for 7th graders.  I'm excited about compiling this list--please check the left side of the blog.  I will post it soon.

Please remind your student to record their reading minutes each week (150 minutes, 30 minutes a day--5 days a week), have you sign their planner and bring it Monday.  This will have a direct effect on their effort grade.  I'm not requiring reading on Labor Day (Monday, September 2nd) so there will be 120 minutes due next week.  However, if students exceed the 120 minutes, I will give them Robins Reward tickets.

Students did a great job on our Benchmark tests.  Please check-out Powerschool to see their scores: STAR Reading, Gates Reading Comprehension and Gates Reading Vocabulary.  Note that Benchmarks will not count on grades but will be displayed for students and parents to see.  The scores are displayed as grade levels.  To be on grade level, students should have a 7 or 7.1 (7th grade, 1st month).  Please know that I expect your student to improve their reading throughout the year and they will have plenty of chances to practice in class.  Reading at home is essential to improvement.

As always, I am always happy to hear from you.  I can be reached by email at rachel.robins@washk12.org, drop in before or after school or call at (435) 652-4742.  Have a fantastic week!

Text Blasts: for updates and class reminders, please text the code:

"@mrsrobinsl" to 435-275-4719.

Utah-in-the-News Presentations

*These students will present on Friday, September 6th

1st period:  Hailey Vargas, Diego Sanchez, Marci Salazar

2nd Period:  Isabelle Wood, Taylor Truman, Makayla Tinker

4th Period: Aleya Jensen (absent), Isaiah Umana Denzine, Jacob Thalmann, Brynklie Shotwell

5th Period: Bryson Kelsch (absent), Karissa Wardle, Derek Wallace, Jeffrey Svedin

6th Period: Jake Jackson (absent), Luis Zaldivar, Faith Weaver, Nate Tamplin

Sept. 2nd  No School: Labor Day

Sept. 3rd  Week 3: Reading/Calendar Check Schedule Week 4 DOL #1 Genre-of-the-Week Pre-Test: Parts of Speech It's a Job Unit Introduction/Board

Sept. 4th DOL #2 Parts of Speech Foldable:  Nouns, Adjectives

Sept. 5th Scope Magazine Activity Library Day

Sept. 6th Utah-in-the-News Random-Student-of-the-Week GECKO TIME! Enriched Learning Activity or Homework Hall

Week 3 Update and Schedule

Whew!  It's been a busy, but fantastic, first week of school.  I'm so impressed with this group of students as a whole.  They are smart and hard-working with great attitudes.  I've also noticed acts of kindness towards each other. It's going to be a wonderful year!  My favorite day this week was Wednesday when students assessed their intelligence.  The theory of Multiple Intelligence states that people are smart in more than one way: logical/mathematical, nature, music, intrapersonal, interpersonal, verbal/linguistic, self and visual/spacial. It was so fun to see students understand that they are all highly intelligent, in a variety of ways--I firmly believe there is more than one way to be "smart". Surveying the intelligence leanings of classes as a whole will also help me plan for instruction.  The students took home their results to share with their families.

Thank you to those who were able to attend Back-to-School night--I really enjoyed meeting you and your support, suggestions and enthusiasm meant a lot!

This upcoming week will help me meet your student's needs as they take benchmarks tests that I can check their future progress against.  We'll also learn note-taking skills and students will determine if they are visual, kinesthetic or audio learners.  

As far as upcoming items, the first Book Report is due September 15th.  I am encouraging students to select a book report type and choose a novel now.  I have a wide-variety of book reports to appeal to all levels of learners and the students may choose any book to read as long as they haven't read it before and it is 150 pages or more.  Remember students need to enter one Writing Contest per trimester. I will announce and have these writing contest forms available in class.  Additionally, Utah-in-the-News begins this Friday.  I'll post who is up for this assignment on the blog and announce it in class Monday.  Students will need to fill out the form and present their news story the following Friday.  Students will be complete this assignment once a trimester.

Please note that Monday is our first official planner check.  Student should read 150 minutes (30 mins a day, 5 days a week) and record their reading in their planner.  They will then bring it to parents/guardians to sign. This is essential to their effort grade and helps form life-long habits of organization.

Here is our schedule this week.  As always, I am happy to discuss any concerns you may have for your student.  Please email me at rachel.robins@washk12.org or call the school at (435) 652-4742.  Enjoy your weekend!

Text Blasts: for updates and class reminders, please text the code:

"@mrsrobinsl" to 435-275-4719.

Utah-in-the-News Presentations

*These students will present on Friday, September 30th

1st period: Trinity Francisco, Taylan Carroll, Sarah Cox

2nd Period:  Braden Nelson, Jon Rider, Ashley Boston

4th Period: Tosh Wright, Aleya Jensen, Wyatt Phelps

5th Period: Chloe Derrick, Bryson Kelsch, Chelsi Slack

6th Period: Jake Jackson, Addy Melendez, Carson Holyoak

26. Week 2 Planner & Reading Check Schedule Week 3 Monday-Write: Writing Assessment

27.  Learning Quiz: Visual, Kinesthetic or Audio Note-Taking Lesson & Practice Class-Building Game

28.  Benchmark Reading Test: STAR and Gates

29.  Benchmark Reading Test: STAR and Gates

30. Monthly Drawing! Utah-in-the-News Random-Student-of-the-Week GECKO TIME! Enriched Learning Activity or Homework Hall

Week 2 Schedule and Update

   Wow!  It's been a great 3 days with some amazing students.  I'm working on getting names and faces put together and I've been very impressed by the great attitudues and fun personalities I have seen so far.

    As the school year begins, I'll be hitting procedures, class-building activities and pre-assessments to understand students better and create the best learning climate I can.  We'll be launching into our first unit on September 3rd.

    I'd like to invite everyone to Back-to-School night on Tuesday, August 20th at 6:30pm.  It's a fun night where we can meet each other and get a better idea of what will happen in Language Arts this year. 

   On Monday, the students will participate in a writing exercise called: "25 Reasons to Live".  Each student needs to bring a 4 x 6 horizontal picture of themselves on Monday or Tuesday. These will be on display for Back to School night.  

    If you would like to subscribe to a safe & secure texting service, where I can send reminders, please text "@mrsrobinsl " to (435) 275-4719.  You can also email me at rachel.robins@wash.k12.org or call the school at (435) 652-4742.  I'm so looking forward to getting to know the students better; it's going to be a fantastic year!

19. *Assign Class Numbers *Study Buds Sheets *Planner Procedures  Monday Write: 25 Reasons to Live  *Bring a 4 x 6 horizontal pictures of yourself Safety Week

20. *Class Procedures *Introduction to DOL & DOL Pre-Test *Demonstrate Utah-in-the-News *Penny Game Back-to-School Night @6pm

21. *Multiple Intelligence Quiz and Activity *Learning Style Quiz Procedures:   Book Orders, Book Reports, Writing Contests, Pencil Sharpening

22. *Introduction to Scope Magazine *Library Procedure *Library Day

23. *Learning Style Quiz *Literary Genre Activity *Class Building Game *Random-Student-of-the-Week