Week 12: Last Week of Trimester 1!

Wow! Can you believe the 1st trimester is almost over? It's been a great start to the school year and I'm so proud of all the kids have learned and how hard they have tried. It is truly a delight to be their teacher and I enjoy every day.

Pay careful attention to deadlines. Really, at this point, if any student wants to work hard and turn in missing work, I am totally fine with it--just let me know. Thanks again and have a wonderful week!

It's Red Ribbon Week! Please participate. It's my goal, in teaching non-fiction notice and note, to help students understand how very dangerous drugs and alcohol are. Please ask them what they're learning in class--it's a great platform for discussion. 

Week 12 Schedule

October 29th-November 2nd

Monday, October 29th
Drugs + Your Body Presentations!
PLC Short Day, school out at 11:45am

Tuesday, October 30th
Prep for Engineering Day: Oil Spills Text
Oil Spills Video
KWLQ Chart
N & N Search in Context of Oil Spill Article
Free Reading

Wednesday, October 31st
*Any late work DUE TODAY
Engineering Day with Math & Science
Meet in B Hall Science Lab for math, science and LA classes
Happy Halloween!! Follow school guidelines for costumes

Thursday, November 1st
Oil Spill Recap Quick Write
Notice & Note: Quoted Words/Contrast & Contradiction
Anti-Drug Articles
Public Service Announcements

Friday, November 2nd
Special Guest Presenter: Sage Anderson, DHS Senior
The Real Truth Behind Vaping
*iRead Book #6 DUE

Code Phrase for Robins Reward: Drug Free Is the Way to be!

Week 11: October 22-October 26

This week I introduced students to one of my favorite things to do in Language Arts: Socratic Seminars! They are discussion circles where deep questions are generated and discussed. The purpose is to broaden understanding. I was SO impressed at how well the students did with this high level activity and I look forward to doing more throughout the school year. We had education students from DSC observe that day and one of them commented the first time she did a Socratic was as a senior in high school! Well done students.

Novels are finished and we are moving on to Non-Fiction Notice and Note, a way to close read non-fiction texts. Since Red Ribbon Week is coming up the last week in October. I wanted to introduce these skills within the context of articles and text on how drugs affect our bodies. Giving students real information will hopefully deter future drug use. I've designed a fun unit incorporating reading skills, writing, cooperative learning, research and technology-based presentation. It will extend to next week as well. I'm kind of ridiculously excited about this as I think students will not only learn a ton, but have a great time doing it. Monday is kind of a catch-up day so I can get all my classes aligned, then off we go!

End of the trimester is approaching, please get all your work in.

November 2nd is our next Gecko Day. Students need to have read the equivalent of 6 book since our last Gecko Day, September 21st, to qualify. All books are to be recorded on their bingo cards.
Remember to keep filling out your Book Accountability Sheet as you go along.

Week 11 Schedule

October 22nd-October 26th 

Monday, October 22nd
Honors: Listening Comprehension CFA
Newspaper Day!
Reader's Theater: Sherlock Holmes and the Midnight Killer

Tuesday, October 23rd
Free Reading
Introduce Non-Fiction Notice and Note
Word Gaps
Marijuana Article

Wednesday, October 24th
Library Day
No Red Ink: Set Up Account
CFA Reteach During Advisory

Thursday, October 25th
Numbers & Stats
Extreme & Absolute Language
Drugs + Your Body
Group Research Day

Friday, October 26th
Drugs + Your Body
Group Presentations
Free Reading

Ah, the magic of deep thinking! Code Phrase: Socratic Seminars are FUN!

This is just fun--so Jessica, Taylor and I are related...their grandpa is my mother-in-law's brother. We were surprised to find that our DSU observation student, Tylie, has a grandma who is another sibling--so we just had to get a cousin picture. It's a small Utah world folks!

Week 10: October 15-October 19

In my regular classes we finished A Long Walk to Water and enjoy hearing the book's unexpected ending. I love teaching this book and doing all the fun stuff in context of the novel. I love discussing the book with students too and hearing their thoughts and ideas. This is such a bright group of students and a total delight!
Honors is going well too as we are continuing Wednesday Wars this week. We also completed our first newspaper that you can access here: CLICK HERE FOR OCTOBER 2018 NEWSPAPER. I'm so proud of them! Coming together and creating a newspaper isn't easy, and we hit a few speed bumps, but they did it and it turned out great.
We are transitioning into the next unit and have a full week planned. I'm happy with how writing workshops are coming together, and we'll finish our essay this week. Just great work everyone and keep it up!
As always, please email or call with any concerns and let me know how I can help you and/or your student. Thanks so much for the ongoing support. A very special, heartfelt thanks to the kindness of my 3rd period Honors who came together to surprise me this week. It was a rough week on many levels and I was touched by their thoughtfulness and kindness. It is a gift to teach these amazing children and I truly enjoy every minute!

Week 10

October 15th-October 19th

Monday, October 15th

Honors: Newspaper Day
Frankenstein Reader's Theater

Tuesday, October 16th

Writer's Workshops
Transitions/Word Choice
Final Draft of Novel Essay Due

Wednesday, October 17th

Honors-March chapter/Shakespeare Insults
*finish March chapter at home & read the April chapter at home*
Short Story/N&N signposts/analysis
Free Reading

Thursday, October 18th

Honors-April Quiz, read May chapter
Short Story Socratic Seminar

Friday, October 19th
**NO Flipgird or Reading Response due, instead, please update your iRead Accountability Form (in Google Classroom) for at least HALF the books you've read this year.
Honors: Finish Wednesday Wars 
Zombie Smart Phone Text/Plan Essay
Book #5 DUE

Week 9: Novel Wrap-Up & Fall Break

Is it really almost Fall Break? This year is going by quickly. Thank you to those of you that were able to come to SEP's and meet with me. It was a pleasure. I love teaching your children and it's always great to meet with parents & guardians. I'll be sending home progress reports and a tip sheet on reading/writing ideas to improve your skills at home. I'm always available via email or can meet with you before or after school. Thanks for the ongoing support!

Last week I attended a workshop about teaching writing and I'm ridiculously excited! In case you hadn't heard the news, the SAGE test is no more and will be replaced by a reading-only test called RISE. However, this doesn't mean for a second that I won't be teaching writing!! However, it means that I do get to change how I teach writing, in a far more authentic and meaningful way. We'll be writing a piece every 3 weeks. Then, students will learn specific skills as they revise for 2 weeks, working on that same piece, refining it, doing real world writing practice. This will build skills, confidence and I'll even make it fun:) Grading will be based on effort with the final submission of the essay receiving a final grade. Attendance is critical, so please be at school...unless you are sick and then I'll work with you.

In our Honors class, we were able to speak with new author, Geoffrey Simpson. I was so proud of the great questions the Honors kids asked and how respectful they were during our Skype visit. Mr. Simpson was quite impressed at the quality of questions and great behavior of the class. His novel, The Three Hares: Bloodline, is the first in a series and is a fantastic novel. It was so fun to hear how much planning and thought he puts into his writing. I have a couple copies of the book and encourage students to check them out! This was the first time I've had an author visit our classroom and it was a blast! Expect more in the future!

Week 9

October 11th-October 15th

Monday, October 11th

Writer's Workshop for Novel Essays

No Library Visit because of the short week, 

you'll have an opportunity today to do library business.

Tuesday, October 12th

Free Reading

Novel Study

Wednesday, October 13th

Free Reading 

Novel Study

Honors: Newspaper Day

There will be a Fall Break OPTIONAL Reading Challenge. Click here to preview. I'll have copies available on Monday. Directions MUST be followed exactly to qualify for the party. Happy Reading and ENJOY some time off:)

Code Phrase: I FALL for reading!