Week #6: Schedule, Videos & Winner of the Michael Vey#7 Contest!!

So...Michael Vey #7 The Final Spark is THE hot book right now. I purchased it this week will read it and bring it to school on Monday. Students who wanted to win wrote their names on the board in hopes of being the 1st student read the book! I put their names in a Random Selector and am happy to announce that...

Court D. is the WINNER!! 

Happy reading Court! All other students can get on the waiting list for the fantastic read.

It's been another fun week in Language Arts! We did our first CFA (common formative assessment) on Notice and Note and I'm so pleased at the hard work students demonstrated. The vast majority passed, including those who attended reteaching, and it was just a great week all around!

Here is our schedule for next week. I'm excited to dive into Scope magazine & NoRedInk which are 2 awesome tools that will do wonders in building reading and writing stamina, mastery of grammar and just having a good time with language.

Some students are falling behind. It's critical they read at home at lest 20 minutes a day. I'll be talking to students who are not caught-up on reading and see what I can do to help them. We might be calling home as well. I appreciate the ongoing support and encourage you to email me at rachel.robins@washk12.org or call after school hours at 625-4742.

Have a wonderful weekend! Looking forward to the Human Plot Elements presentations on Monday (I'll post pictures next week.). Thank you!

Week #6

September 18-September 22

Monday, September 18th

Genre-of-the-Week: Mystery

New Class Jobs

Prefix-of-the-Week: Com/Con

Present Plot Chart projects

Tuesday, September 19th 

NoRedInk assessment 

Pass-off books

Wednesday, September 20th

Library

Thursday, September 21st

Reading
Quick Write
Scope Magazine: notes on paragraph writing
Honors: Newspaper Day

Friday, September 22nd
Plot Quiz
Desert Tortoise Writing
Reading
Honors: Writer's Workshop w/guest writers!

Did you see our school and conesite made State News? Big shout-out to Mr. Bozarth and the World Wide Warrior crew for doing some amazing service learning:) Proud of you guys! 

...and an awesome message from Foreign Figures & Jacob Lee who did our anti-bullying assembly/concert!

Reading Matters!

The great news is that it's never too late to improve your ability to reading. The required mins. make all the difference because the #1 way to improve reading is...(wait for it)...reading!!

Week #5: Notice & Note and Plot Charts!

I really enjoyed this week. We wrapped up Notice and Note, which is an effective way to close-read. We also made team flags (see picture below) and just had an enjoyable week! I've noticed how kind students are to each other. They are eager to learn, help and participate. It's been such an enjoyable week! Thanks for the continued support.

Book Orders are here! Scholastic is a cheap way to build your home library. You can order online here: Scholastic Book Orders which allows you access to all their books. Additionally, you can send in a check to Scholastic or cash and I'll order for you.

This upcoming week will be fun. We'll review and assess understanding of Notice and Note with enrichment/reteach on Wednesday. Next will be moving in to plot chart to review and demonstrate understanding. Looking forward to seeing students continuing to grow! Please let me know if you have questions and have a great week!

Week 5

September 11th-September 15th

Monday, September 11th
Genre-of-the-Week: Science Fiction

Prefix-of-the-Week: Circum

New Class Jobs

Review for Notice and Note CFA Test

Tuesday, September 12th
Notice and Note CFA Test

Reading (after testing)

Wednesday, September 13th
Gecko Day!

Enrichment

Homework Hall

Reteach

Thursday, September 14th
Free Reading

Quick Write

Plot Chart Review
Honors: Newspaper Day

Friday, September 15th 
Free Reading

Plot Chart Activity

Build-Your-Own Based on a Children's Book

Team Flags!

Students are in teams and are working together throughout the trimester to earn points. Teams with highest points per class get a celebration of their choice. They made flags to represent themselves. It's had me smiling all week!

Week #4: September 4th-September 8th

First off, thank you for the overwhelming support for our iRead program Chili's fundraiser and the personal and business donations that have been coming in. We absolutely could not do this without your support and we are grateful. Motivating students to read is effective and so important. Our entire goal is to create lifelong readers, and with your help, it is happening!

It's been another great week here at Lava Ridge. These students are so much fun and I've enjoyed seeing them learn about how to deliberately close read through the Notice and Note method. I'm teaching them to look for specific "signposts" in literature that lead to deep discussion and comprehension...and it's fun! Check out this YouTube overview of what we've been doing: Notice and Note Overview

Thanks again for your support as the school year begins and I get to know your child and find what is best for them. Please contact me with any questions or concerns; I'm your partner in your child's education!

Week 4

September 4th-September 8th

Monday, September 4th
No School: Labor Day!

Tuesday, September 5th
Genre-of-the-Week
New Class Jobs
Prefix-of-the-Week
Books Orders Home & Team Scorecards Out
Free Reading
Quick Write
Notice & Note: Again and Again

Wednesday, September 6th
Library Day
Meet in the Library

Thursday, September 7th
Free Reading
Quick Write
Notice & Note: Words of the Wiser
Honors: Newspaper Day (organizing departments)

Friday, September 8th 
Free Reading
Quick Write
Notice & Note: A Ha Moment

We are preparing to create the newest edition of school news! Honors students spent today brainstorming about which newspaper departments they wanted by viewing newspapers around the country and bouncing ideas off of each other. It was a blast!

Week #3: August 28th-September 1st

It's been a busy week with Back-to-School Night, reading & writing benchmarks, library day, etc. Whew! I am totally enjoying this group of kids. They are so hardworking and just nice! We have some fun stuff coming up as we dive into curriculum, stay tuned. I'll be placing benchmark scores in PowerSchool and emailing the specifics. Please keep an eye out for those and let me know if you have questions.

We are in the thick of collecting donations for our iRead program. The program has been highly successful in motivating students and we really need community support for funding. Please let me know if you are interested. We also invite you to visit Chili's on Wednesday, August 30th for their Give Back Event to benefit our Reading Program. Just mention you are supporting Lava Ridge's iRead program and they will donate part of the proceeds to our program: and you don't have to cook dinner--it's a win! We are so grateful that Chili's agrees that creating lifelong readers matter! Feel free to pass along the flyer below.

Week 3

August 28th-September 1st

Monday, August 28th
Short PLC Day
New Seating!
Free Reading
Quick Write: Student Spotlight Form
Genre-of-the-Week: Fantasy
Introduce Word of the Day (a-ab-abs)
Robins Rewards for Weekend Reading will be handed out

Tuesday, August 29th
Free Reading
Quick Write: Student Spotlight Form
Notice & Note:
Tough Questions/Words of the Wiser

Wednesday, August 30th
Free Reading
Quick Write
Notice & Note:
Contrast & Contradictions I
Chili's Give Back Event, mention our iRead
program so part of their proceeds will be
donated to us.

Thursday, August 31st
Free Reading
Quick Write
Notice & Note:
Contrast & Contradictions II
Honors: Newspaper Day
End-of-the-Month Drawing!

Friday, September 1st 
Spirit Assembly Schedule
Free Reading
Quick Write
Team Flags

No School September 4th
Happy Labor Day

Back-to-School Night!

Missed Back-to-School night? No worries! Here is what we did...

Mrs. Robins's Prezi: Back-to-School Night

iRead Program Explanation Handout

Back-to-School Handout

iRead Sponsorship Letter

Thank you so much! I am so enjoying these students and know it will be a fantastic year!

Week #2: August 21-August 25

WOW!! What a fantastic week. I am already totally impressed and absolutely enjoying these students. They have been wonderful! It is going to be such a great year in Language Arts and I am very excited for it. We had such a fun day today doing a cyber Escape Room activity. I have taken some pictures & will post them under "photos" this weekend. Check them out!

*Students who missed school on FRIDAY, AUGUST 18th need to go to Google Classroom and join using the following code before Monday if possible.

1st period: fvn4ddp
2nd period: se53emx
3rd period: 98cteb
4th period: 3e6t8
5th period: jsdtlol

We will be launching our iRead program on Tuesday. Reading is so important and we've created a reading program that is fun and full of incentives & is doable for ALL students at ALL levels. If you would like to support our program, particularity if you can be a corporate sponsor, please read our sponsor letter here.

Parents, thank you so much to many of you who have sent me an email introducing me to your child. I sent home a letter this week (blue) inviting parents to let me know about their son or daughter to help me get to know them individually. It's not too late: I'd love to learn more about all my students to help them! I'm just struck by the fact that these students really are remarkable and it's such a privilege to be their teacher. Hope you meet you all in person at Tuesday's Back-to-School night!

Week #2

August 21-August 25

Monday, August 21st

Reading Benchmark

Summer Survey (if time)

Tuesday, August 22nd

iRead Program Launch

Go to class for roll, then to Little Theater

Set-up Reader/Writer Notebooks

Back-to-School Night 6-8pm

Wednesday, August 23rd

Library Day

Random Student Spotlight Form

Thursday, August 24th

Writing Benchmark
School Picture Day

Friday, August 25th

Free Reading/Book Tracking

Word-of-the-Day

Kahoot Procedures Quiz 

Personality Game

Big Welcome 2017-2018 & Week 1 Schedule

I am just getting ridiculously excited for the school year to begin. My focus this year is on helping each student reach their full potential and succeed--whether they are coming to me with learning disabilities or need advanced instruction. I've had the opportunity to learn a lot this summer and I'm so excited to share it with my students and put what I know into practice! This will be the first blog post this year, so I wanted to include some basic information from the first week of school.

Sign up for Remind 101! An easy way for me to text out important reminders to you! I encourage all parents and students to sign-up, these will be occasional reminders:)

Click here if you are in 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 5th periods

Click here if you are in 2nd period Honors

The following is a letter to be sent to parents. You may view here or watch for a nicer copy to come home. Letter to Parents

Student Disclosures  

I'll see you on Monday, August 14th! It will be a great first week. Back-to-School night, when we can formally meet, will be Tuesday, August 22nd.

Week 1 Schedule
August 14-August 18

Monday, August 14th

Welcome! 

"I AM" cards

Procedures

Disclosures/Remind 101

Tuesday, August 15th

Letter from last year's 7th graders

Procedure Centers

Students Information Sheet/3 Things I Wish My Teacher Knew

Wednesday, August 16th

Roll-the-Dice Game

Class Jobs/Effort Grade

Multiple Intelligence Activity: What Kind of Smart Are You?

Thursday, August 17th

Disclosures Due: Winning class earns donuts 

Procedures

Class Library

Genre Centers

Friday, August 18th

Procedures

Escape Room Team Building Activity

Honors: Writing Blog/Writing Contests/Spectrum