Week 4 Update

Another great week in Language Arts! I've got to say, these kids are fantastic. I so appreciate how hard they work, their great attitudes and how much fun they are to teach.

We've started our first unit on Plot Elements. This is important that students can navigate the flow of a story and determine the parts. This will lead to increased comprehension and writing ability. We've started with Pixar shorts and will move to stories as they continue to practice.

Thank you for the book orders. I'm thrilled to see so many students gaining books for their home libraries. There has been some weirdness with the Scholastic site. They should be back online this evening and I won't send off the book order until I see that the online orders placed have gone through. If you have tried to place an online order, please give it another go this evening.

I'm excited to see so many students jazzed about reading. The iRead program is in full swing and I'm looking forward to a year of great growth from students. Remember I need to see a filled-out book tracker and bingo sheet to give them credit for their reading.

As always, please email me with any questions and keep an eye on PowerSchool to check grades. I've had several students with absences. Remember to check with me the morning you are back so I can catch you up. Enjoy your weekend and thanks again for a fantastic week!

Week 4 Schedule

August 31-September 4

Monday, August 31st

Genre-of-the-Week: Poetry

Model Quizlet (Plot Elements)

Plot Chart: Partly Cloudy

New Seating
End-of-the-Month Drawing

Tuesday, September 1st

Plot Chart: La Luna

Plot Chart: Stories as a table group
Honors: Newspaper Day

Wednesday, September 2nd

Meet in Library

Team Seating Points/Team Flag

Thursday, September 3rd

CFA #1 (Plot Elements)

Free Reading

Friday, September 4th

Free Reading
Random Student-of-the-Week
Introduce "Wednesday Wars"
(Web Quest)

Way to go Jonah! He's our first published writer in the Spectrum. Jonah wrote the update on our school in Friday's Community section. Woot!

Here are a couple shots of my 6th period perusing newspapers looking for fresh ideas to create The Gecko Gazette! Look for our first edition on October 1st.

Another infographic with compelling information about reading!

Week 3 Update

Wow! What a week! Unfortunately, I ended up injuring my back and missed the first part of the week. Massive bummer as I am really enjoying getting to know these students.

The good news is that I returned in time to meet many of you at Back-to-School night. Thank you so much for your kind words and great attitudes. It is a privilege to teach your children and I appreciate your investment in their education. A ginormous thanks to all parents who have so generously donated from the business or personal pocketbooks to support our iRead program! Promoting reading and creating life-long readers is so important, thank you for making it possible! I'm so excited for this year, marvelous things will happen.

Remember your child's only "homework" from me is to read 30 mins. a day, 5 days a week so they can reach their goal of 10 books per trimester. Home reading can be squeezed in any time: before bed, between errands, waiting anywhere, etc.

Next week we will be wrapping-up some procedures and fundamental skills to move to plot charts. Benchmark reading scores are in and students will receive their scores to track on the progress form. I'm looking forward to some amazing growth. I also will hand out book orders. Book Orders are a great way to build your home library for minimal cost. Plus, all online orders provide FREE books for our class library, which just benefits students even more. Click here for the link to order from Scholastic. As always, I'm here if you have any questions or concerns. Please know how much I am enjoying these students, what a fantastic bunch of kids this year!

Weekly Schedule

Monday, August 24

• 10 mins. free reading/book business
• Reading Benchmarks recorded in tracking forms
• Procedures & Book Orders out
• Multiple Intelligence Activity: Everyone is smart in different ways!

Tuesday, August 25

• 10 mins. free reading/book business
• Intro. to Leader in Me program
• Genre Explorations
• Honors: Newspaper Gallery/Planning Day
• Personality Game

Wednesday, August 26

• 10 mins. free reading/book business
•  Procedure Quiz
• Text Structure Notes and Charades

Thursday, August 27

• 10 mins. free reading/book business
•  Plot Chart/Story Elements Modeling and exploration

Friday, August 28th

• 10 mins. free reading/book business
•  Plot Chart/Story Elements continue: Pixar short & cooperative group work

Calendar Items

Monday, August 31st: Book Orders Due, Honors Writing Blog Posts and Comments are due
Wednesday, September 2nd: CFA (Common Formative Assessment) on Plot Chart/Story Elements

Speaking of reading, check out this info-graphic on why it matters. This always amazes me and reinforces my passion to create lifelong readers!

Week 2: August 17-August 21

First Week Fun!

*I asked students to write ONE word to describe themselves ("I am..."). I was thrilled to see so many positive words. These kids are remarkable, full of hope and potential. It's my job to reinforce their positive self-image and give them the tools to succeed.

What a wonderful first week! Seriously, I am thrilled with these students who are so positive, hard-working and fun. I can tell it's going to be a fantastic year:)

I wanted to extend a gigantic thanks to those who have donated to our iRead program. The funds that are coming in will make a tremendous difference as our department works hard to promote reading and create lifelong readers. Plus, the students are going to have a blast earning the incentives for reading. We are accepting donations until the end of the month, so a thank you in advance if you can help us out!

Students are gaining a good understanding of the way the class runs and we'll continue this a little more next week. We do have reading benchmarks approaching as well as some foundational language arts and fun team-building activities. It is going to be a busy and fun week:)

Our Back-to-School night is Wednesday, August 19th at 6:30pm. This night is pretty cool-you rotate through your child's classes, meeting all their teachers and finding out exactly what is happening in class and at our school. As a parent of a Lava Ridge student myself, it's very helpful. I'll look forward to seeing you there!

Please email me, rachel.robins@washk12.org, with any questions or concerns. I am so very excited to work with you student this year!

Schedule for Week #2

Monday, August 17th

Random Student Forms

Class Procedures

Finish Readers/Writers Notebook

Personality Activity

Honors: iRead program introduction

Tuesday, August 18th

Benchmark Testing in B Lab

Wednesday, August 19th

Benchmark Testing in B Lab
6:30pm Back-to-School Night!

Thursday, August 20th

10 mins. Free Reading

Class Procedures

Multiple Intelligence Activity

Friday, August 21st 

10 mins. Free Reading 

Class Procedures

Book Genre Day

Honors: Newspaper Day

See you at...

Welcome Back!!!!

Welcome to 7th grade!

Now, don't get me wrong, I love summer as much as the next teacher; but I'm so excited for this school year! Between some swimming and traveling, I've spent the summer planning and learning, so I am jazzed to help you learn to become better readers and writers! 

My philosophy about education is that everyone is SMART (in a variety of ways) and learning should be FUN. My job is to figure out how you learn best and then make it worth your while. You can expect rigorous work that is meaningful, interactive and fun. I try very hard to be a great teacher and I truly care about each individual student.

Here are a few things to be looking forward to:

• The amazing iRead program (lots of incentives and rewards here)
• Robins Rewards Monthly Drawings
• Music to learn literary elements
• Whole Brain Learning 
• Writing narratives, argumentation and explanatory
• Writing contest options (trust me, there is nothing better than being paid for your writing)
• Possible Field Trips (I'm working on this now)
• Reading strategies with some fantastic novels
• Interactive Reading/Writing Journals
• Skype visits with authors 
• Solid test prep (the SAGE is not scary)
• All sorts of coolness I'll surprise you with!

I'd like to invite both students and parents to browse the blog and see what there is. Communication is important for me so I do update the blog weekly and would like everyone to use it as a resource. Students will be bringing home the Course Disclosure on the first day of school, but here it is if you'd like a preview. 

Enjoy what's left of summer: I'm looking forward to meeting you all on Thursday!

Course Disclosures

Text Blast Signup Information: Honors

Text Blast Signup Information: 1-5 Periods