Week #4: Notice & Note

Another great week in 7th grade Language Arts! We've done quite a bit of foundational work that we'll continue to refer to throughout the year. We also learned about Multiple Intelligence and HOW students are smart--ask them about it!

Just to clear up some details about the iRead Reading Program:

• Please make sure students are reading at home 30 mins a day at least 5 days a week. If they struggle with reading, please let me give them interesting, shorter books so they don't get discouraged. Special accommodations can be made for students on an IEP, just talk to me:)
• There is a book due every other week and a reading response due every week. This helps me monitor what they are reading. 
• The weekly Reading Responses will be posted on Google Classroom every Monday and are due each Friday. They can do them anytime during the week. We will have 10 mins. of reading most days in class where they can work on them, or work on them during our 1/2 hr. advisory OR work on them at home.
• To qualify for the iRead Midterm Party, students need to have read the equivalency of 6 books.
• To qualify for the iRead Club with a full bingo card students need to read an average of a book a week.
• Regardless of how quickly a student reaches reading requirements, 6 books are due every trimester.
• I'm worried about students whizzing through the program. I know we have some advanced readers, but I need to make sure they are comprehending. I might give the occasional comprehension test or conference. If they can't show understanding, I will ask them to re-read. 
• Exciting upcoming dates: 
• September 18th: Chili's Give Back Event to benefit our iRead program. If you mention our iRead program and eat at Chili's anytime during the day, they'll donate a portion to our program. I'll be sending home a flyer with details.
• September 21st: iRead Midterm Party Gecko Day-students who have read the equivalent of 6 books will leave class and join us for a fun celebration.  

You'll see we are learning Notice and Note. This a researched based approach to close reading. It teaches students to critically think about what they read. They learn to look for certain markers and analyze what they mean, which increases their comprehension. It's super helpful and fun to teach. We'll do it in the context of short stories then launch into our first novel!

This group of students continues to delight! Thanks for having (and being, if you're a student) such amazing kids:) As always, I'm your partner in your child's education, so please email or call if you need to visit with me. Have a terrific week!

Week #4 Schedule 

September 3rd-September 7th

Monday, September 3rd
Labor Day: No School

Tuesday, September 4th
Free Reading
Quick Write
Genre-of-the-Week: Realistic Fiction
Introduce Notice and Note
Tough Questions/Words of the Wiser
Excerpts from A Long Walk to Water & Riding Freedom

Wednesday, September 5th
Free Reading
Quick Write
Contrast & Contradictions I
Thank You Ma'am

Thursday, September 6th
Free Reading
Quick Write: Student Spotlight
Contrast & Contradictions II
Honors: Newspaper Day!

Friday, September 7th
Free Reading
Reading Response #3 DUE: Flipgrid
Book Check #2 DUE
Notice & Note: Again and Again
Excerpt from Hatchet
Students: Code Phrase is Robins Rewards.

Fun times on our QR Code Scavenger Hunt as we identified text structures!

Week #3: Laying the Foundation

So nice to see many of you, and hear from some as well, for our school's Back-to-School Night. If you couldn't attend, please check out the email I sent you. Know that I love teaching this group of students and I appreciate the ongoing support.

Many, many thanks for the donations that have came in for our iRead program. This reading system has proven to be very successful and I'm excited to kick off another year of celebrating the joy of literacy! If you are interested in donating to our program, or know of a business who would be willing to partner with us as a sponsor, the information is found here: Sponsorship Letter ...share with a friend, family member, anyone!

Another thank you to those who ordered books from Scholastic. Because of the large amount of books ordered, Scholastic has given our class a LOAD of free books for our class library and monthly drawings. I'm super excited to share some new titles with the class and am appreciative of the support.

Slight schedule change from last week. Because Flipgrid is so new and our benchmarks took more time that I anticipated, I moved the Multiple Intelligence activity to this week to give students a work day. Multiple Intelligence is a theory developed by Howard Gardner that there are 8 types of intelligence and we are all smart in different ways. I firmly believe this and am excited to see what your child discovers about themselves this week! We are doing foundation work for what we will do (and reference) for the entire year. It should be a very fun and engaging week.

Benchmark scores are posted--at least the reading ones. The writing will take a little longer as I do read 150 essays (pray for me) and score them to see where students are starting out. These are included in their grade (so you can see) but will not penalize their grades. We did a reading literature test and a reading informational test. Ideally, a 7th grader would score 100% at the end of the year, so don't be alarmed if you're student scored low. Around 30% was the average, which is totally ok. These tests, along with the writing benchmark (an explanatory essay), helps shape my instruction and shows me what students are coming in with so I can meet them and take them to the next level.

I'm trying to put all big assignments (like the Weekly Responses) on Google Classroom. I'll post those Weekly Reading Responses on Monday and students will have all week to work on it. They will be due on the following Friday. During our reading time in class, they can read or work on these responses. Thanks!

We are kicking off a great year and I am enjoying every day with these students! They are awesome! Please email me (or call after school hours) with any questions; I'm your partner in your child's education and I'm happy to help. Have a wonderful week.

Students...keep reading to get that code word!

Week 3

August 27th-August 31st 

Monday, August 27
Short PLC Day
Genre-of-the-Week
New Seating
Make Team Flags

Tuesday, August 28
Free Reading/Quick Write
Multiple Intelligence
HOW are you smart?

Wednesday, August 29
Library Day!!
Meet Upstairs

Thursday, August 30
Free Reading/Quick Write
Text Structure Day

Friday, August 31
Reading Response #2 DUE
Honors: August Blog Post & Comments Due
Author's Purpose
Purposeful Practice with Scope
Honors: Newspaper Day!!!
Epic End-of-the-Month Drawing

Students: The Code Phrase is READING ROCKS! Tell me this code when you come to class and you'll be rewarded. Thanks for reading...now go read a book! Maybe even do some chores around the house too. You should be smiling now, or rolling your eyes:)

Goodbye Ms. Lee

Our school was fortunate to have Korean Interns visiting us from their university to see how schools work in America. Ms. Lee was our intern and did a marvelous job. In two short weeks, she grew to really love the kids and she learned a lot. We thank her for all her help and wish her the best as she continues her education. We surprised her with a thank you card students signed and a gift to represent Utah, and yes, it included fry sauce.

Week #2- Benchmarks, Notebooks and Intelligence: Oh My!

Hello! It has been a fantastic first week of school. This new group of students is delightful and I am so happy to be their teacher and get to know them throughout the year. I'm including some photos of some fun things we've done to kick off the school year. Honestly, these students are wonderful!

Next week will be more set-up for our class throughout the year. This will include benchmark testing in reading and writing (so I know where students are starting from), setting up our Google Classroom, Reader/Writer's Notebook and learning about Multiple Intelligences (meaning everyone is smart, just in different ways).

Thank you for the letters from parents introducing me to your child. If you haven't sent one yet, please do. I really appreciate getting to know more about individual students. It helps me get to know them faster and to be aware of their specific needs to help me be the best teacher possible for them. I love what I do and I really appreciate your support!

I sent an email about Scholastic Book Orders. You can order online or send in cash or a check. Details here: http://theb7robinsnest.blogspot.com/p/scholastic-book-orders.html I'll place the order at the end of August and it should arrive within a week. This is a great way to build a home library and your order gives me points to get books for our classroom library and books to give away during monthly drawings.

Reading: I'll be introducing our reading program on Monday. Students will come home with details, I'll publish it all on the blog and send an email...and you can learn more at Back-to-School Night! Just know that students should be reading at home at least 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week. I'm working on steamlining our program, so watch for the email.

Have a wonderful weekend (students--get some sleep!) and I'll look forward to seeing everyone Monday! Remember Back-to-School Night is Tuesday from 6-8pm. You can come and meet me and learn about the specifics of the class. Hope you see you then!

Code Phrase: I LOVE Language Arts! Tell me this code on Monday (which shows me you read the blog) and you will receive a Robins Reward ticket for our monthly drawing.

Week #2

Monday, August 20th-Friday, August 24th

Monday, August 20th

iRead Program Introduction

Set up Flipgrid

Set up Reader/Writer Notebooks

Join my Google Classroom 

Tuesday, August 21st

Reading Literature Benchmark

Reading Information Benchmark

Wednesday, August 22nd

Writing Benchmark

Thursday, August 23rd

Finish Benchmarks as needed
Free Reading/Pass off books
Book Accountability Assignment

Friday, August 24th

*Spirit Assembly Schedule (end-of-day)

Multiple Intelligence Activity: How Are You Smart??

Book Tasting! Students worked with a partner and figured out which genre the books were. This foundational skill will help them all year in our iRead program where they will read a wide variety of book genres. 

Today we did an Escape Room activity! Now, obviously I can't lock them out of the classroom...but I can lock them out of an electronic classroom where they must use their teamwork skills and sheer wits (and reading ability) to work their way out. This was a blast! Congrats to the teams who successfully broke the code and escaped! 

Welcome New 7th graders!!

Hello! I am Mrs. Robins and I am thrilled to be your Language Arts teacher for the 2018/2019 school year. I am ridiculously exited to meet you and kick off an awesome year! 

Just a couple of items to give you a head start on the school year if you are able to read the blog before Monday.

• I use this blog to post assignments and communicate with you. Please check it often--especially if you are a student! I'll post our schedule and a message for you each week.
• I can also be reached (all this is coming home on a paper copy too) at:
• rachel.robins@washk12.org
• @therealmrsrobins (Instagram)
• 435-652-4742 (before or after school)
• You can click here: 2018/2019 Disclosures to read disclosure (in color!) ahead of time. If you print out the permission slip and bring the first day of school, you'll receive candy and a Robins Reward (in-class incentive for monthly drawings).
• Keep an eye on the calendar, I'll try to the link the majority of assignments to it in case you miss a day.

Watch for the following to come home this week:

• The Disclosure/Permission Slip due on Thursday
• A Parent Letter introducing me to your child
• How to sign up for text blasts from me (with Remind app)

Week 1

August 13-August 17

Monday, August 13th

Seating/Roll (Students will choose seat out of a sorting hat)

Work on Name Tent

Disclosures/Text Blasts/Parent Letter: all will go home

Class Procedures

Meet Mrs. Robins

Exit Ticket: I'd Like A Teacher Who...

Tuesday, August 14th

Letter from Last Year's 7th Grader

Procedure Centers

Student Survey/3 Things My Teacher Should Know About Me

Exit Ticket: I Learn Best By...

Wednesday, August 15th

Roll-the-Dice Game

Class Jobs/Class Library (check out a book)/Google Classroom

Personality Corners Game

Thursday, August 16th

Disclosures Due

Procedures

Genre Day (Book "Tasting")

Friday, August 17th

In-Class Free Reading

Honors: Set up blog/writing contests

Procedures

Escape Room Game!

Students: If you read this blog post, come up to me in class and say: 

"It's Going to be the BEST Year Ever!" for a candy and Robins Reward:)