Week 17: November 30-December 4

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all enjoyed a long weekend and enjoyed time with family and friends. I'm sure thankful for what I do as a teacher and for the amazing students I teach!

  

I'm happy to be back from a fantastic conference and I've got all sort of great knowledge to better teach students. I also shipped home around 100 books from publishing houses to share too--students are pretty excited about that! I'm looking forward to getting back into "A Long Walk to Water" and give students meaningful writing practice. I'm trying to be more deliberate in grading as far as that which demonstrates skill will be academic and anything that is practice of a skill will be effort. Bear in mind that midterm is December 10, so please keep an eye on grades and let me know if there are questions. I appreciate the continued support and truly enjoy each day that I teach your child!!

Week 17 Schedule

November 30-December 4

Monday, November 30th

Genre of the Week: Beehive Nominees

Free Reading

Free Write: "I Want My Teacher to Know..."

ACES/OREOS Identification & Analysis

December Newspaper Launch: Honors

Thanksgiving Reading Challenge DUE
Book #2 Due/#3 for Honors

Tuesday, December 1st

Chapters 7-8 Long Walk to Water

Free Write: Problems

Free Reading

Wednesday, December 2nd

Free Reading

Chapter 9: Long Walk to Water

Close Reading

Thursday, December 3rd

Chapters 10-11 Long Walk to Water

Notice and Note: Tough Questions

Free Reading

Friday, December 4th

Chapters 12-13 Long Walk to Water
Paired Text: First Person Narrative Lost Boy Story
Free Write
Free Reading
Honors: Newspaper Day (Long Walk to Water home assignment)

Week 15: November 16-20

We have started reading "A Long Walk to Water" (click here for a summary/review). This is a fantastic true story of Salva from Sudan and his journey as a Lost Boy when he was a child and his work as an adult to bring water to Southern Sudan. The book also features the story of Nya whose whole life revolves around getting water and the freedom she has when water is accessible. Throughout this unit, we will be working with paired text to practice OREO and ACES paragraphs as well as analyze literature. This will be a fun and meaningful unit!

Looking ahead: here are the dates for when iRead books are due. I made adjustments so that a book is due about every 10 days, this should make it easier for students.Remember that our frequent reading goes a long way to help students become better readers. Students should be reading at home at least 30 minutes a day, 5 nights a week.

2nd Trimester Reading Due Dates

Language Arts iRead Books	Due Dates	HONORS LA iRead Books	Due Dates
Book #1	11/19	Book #1	11/13
Book #2	11/30	Book #2	11/20
Book #3	12/9	Book #3	11/30
Book #4	12/18	Book #4	12/9
Book #5	12/29	Book #5	12/18
Book #6	1/8	Book #6	12/29
Book #7	1/18	Book #7	1/8
Book #8	1/28	Book #8	1/12
Book #9	2/8	Book #9	1/18
Book #10	2/15	Book #10	1/28
		Book #11	2/8
		Book #12	2/15

Also note: I'll be out the classroom attending the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Conference from November 19-22. I'm very excited to bring home innovative ideas to help me improve my teaching and rub shoulders & learn from the most talented English teachers in the country. I'll also be getting all the free English teacher "swag" to share with students! The subs will be well-equipped to help students learn and they will have work to do while I am gone. Please email me with any questions. Thanks!

Week 15 Schedule

November 16-20

Monday, November 16th

Reading Benchmark Testing:  B LAB 

Tuesday, November 17th

Reading Benchmark Testing:  C LAB

Scores will be on PowerSchool (they do not count on final grade) and I'll be sending home certificates as well.

Wednesday, November 18th

Classes will enjoy our school's production of "The Lion King, Jr" 

Thursday, November 19th

 Book #1 DUE I'll check books off next week
Honors: Newspaper Day 

"A Long Walk to Water" Chapters 4-6 

Writing Activities (ACES and OREO paragraphs)

Friday, November 20th

"A Long Walk to Water" Chapters 4-6 

Writing Activities (ACES and OREO paragraphs)

Book Order will be due on Monday, November 23rd. You can order online on my blog or bring in a check or cash. Thanks!

We enjoyed a very moving Veteran's Day Flag Ceremony on November 11th. Thanks Mr. Yates for putting it all together:)

Congrats to Cambria C. on being published in the Spectrum!

Our Spirit Assembly was AMAZING! Click here to view the pictures:)

I had to include these videos too! Check out the "Gecko Gents": Mr. Bozarth, Mr. Manning and Mr. Wilding. Then the next video features Mr. Manning, Mr. Wilding, Mrs. Rowley and Mrs. Morse doing double-dutch! You won't want to miss this:)

Week 14: 2nd Trimester Begins! November 9th-13th

Congrats to all 7th graders for successfully completing their very first trimester of 7th grade! Overall, I am pleased with the grades and the amount of effort that students put into it. I'm excited for the new trimester, for a fresh start! I really want students to reflect on last trimester and set goals on how they can improve for the new one. Students taking ownership of their grades is a powerful thing and will continue to help them throughout their lives.

Our next unit will use ACES (Explanatory) and OREO (Argumentative) paragraphs in the context of the amazing novel, "A Long Walk to Water". I'm excited to explore this topic with students. Please look at the schedule for additional information.

As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns. I am your partner in helping your student succeed! My email is rachel.robins@washk12.org or call the school after-hours at 652-4742. Thanks so much, enjoy your week!

Week 14 Schedule

November 9th-13th

Monday, November 9th

Welcome to Trimester #2!!

Fill out Progress Tracker Forms

New Book Tracking Forms Handed

Trimester Reflection and Goals

New Seats and Teams (declare class team winners for 1st trimester)

Mrs. Robins's Narrative (the one I keep promising to read)
Monthly Giveaway/Random Student 

Tuesday, November 10th

Introduction to "A Long Walk to Water"
Video/All about Sudan
QR Code Discovery Activity: Bring your device with a QR Reader App

Wednesday, November 11th

Meet in the Library upstairs
Team Flags--New Score Sheets
Honors: Newspaper Day (after library)

Thursday, November 12th

Free Reading
A Long Walk to Water: Chapter 1

Friday, November 13th
 Book #1 DUE
2nd Trimester Spirit Assembly (short classes)
A Long Walk to Water: Chapter 1 Assignment
Begin A Long Walk to Water: Chapter 2


Spectrum Writers over the last two weeks: Congrats to Merick and Gavin!