Week 23: A Grammar Goodbye

Well, it's not like we'll never speak of grammar again--just the unit will wrap for now as we continue to revisit these key parts of writing. I departed from my original plan and decided instead of worksheets, we'd do A LOT of tactile, hands-on activities. It was fun and I could see students learn and start to put together the pieces! I love what I do and the opportunity I have to work with such great kids.

I am offering a few extra credit opportunities. I've told them all to students and everything is in my room.

Please let me know if you have questions on grading...and, above all, KEEP READING!!!

Week 23

January 21-January 25

Monday, January 21st

No School

Martin Luther King/Human Rights Day

Tuesday, January 22nd

Comma Escape Room
Build-A-Sentence Strips

Free Reading

Wednesday, January 23rd

Free Reading
Kahoot Review

Thursday, January 24th

Grammar Test: Sentences and Commas

Free Reading

Friday, January 25th

Grammar Fun Activity

Missing Work or Free Reading
Honors: Newspaper Day

Book #4 (for 2nd trimester) DUE

Flipgrid Reading Response #2 DUE 

BIG congrats to Colton S. on his award winning story in Scholastic's and Rick Riodrian's contest inviting students to write a fictional story imagining that one of their parents were a god. Colton was one of 13 finalists out of 5,000 entries!!! He's won a Rick Riodrian book set. Way to go Colton!! So dang proud of my writers when they are recognized on a national level: WOW!!!!!!!!

Week 22: Grammar Fun Continued!

This was such a fun week. I tried to make instruction on parts of speech more meaningful by writing on the desks (I took the best pictures and somehow they erased...grrr) and finding nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions in context of an interesting article on volcanoes. This next week will be highly interactive. If students feel they need more practice, simply googling what we do in class will lead to lots of good resources and practice worksheets. I do have a worksheet packet I can send with them for additional practice as well.

Keep on reading! We are having the iRead shirts printed right now and are excited to welcome in students who achieved so much:)

Many thanks for the ongoing support. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Week 22: January 14-18

Monday, January 14th

Quiz-Quiz Trade

Simple Sentences

Comma Review

*Honors: Newspaper Day

Tuesday, January 15th

Grammar Bellwork #3

Coordinating Conjunctions

Compound Sentences 

Wednesday, January 16th

Library

Free Reading!

Thursday, January 17th

Grammar Bellwork #4

Subordinating Conjunctions

Complex Sentences

Friday, January 18th

Sentence/Comma ID Game

(around the school) 

Fun preview for next week...hopefully this will refresh your memory! If not, I got you! There are some simple tricks to learn sentences! Why do we learn? It makes your writing SO much better and leads to increased reading comprehension! 

Code Phrase: There are 3 types of sentences:)

Congratulations to Corielle M. and Joseph T.!!!. Corielle was an essay winner, hand-selected by the Scholastic Scope Magazine Editor for her outstanding writing! She received a new book and letter praising her writing. Joseph was one of the few students nationwide to make it past the first level of a Scholastic Math Story Problem Solving contest! He will now advance to Round 2 for a chance to win a $5,000 scholarship. Way to go guys!!

Mrs. Robins is excited to welcome Kurt, Braxton and Jonathan into the iRead Club! These awesome readers completed an entire bingo sheet and will receive a cool t-shirt, candy bar and a ticket into the fun party in May. Keep on reading 7th graders!

Week 21: Stop-It's Grammar Time!

STOP: it's grammar time (yes, parents will appreciate the humor here...just ask them.) Before we move on to more involved writing, we need to review some grammar and I promise to do it in a more fun, engaging way.

Keep up the good reading! I hope you're remembering to read at home. When you record books on your bingo card, they will now be labeled as 2.5. Labeling them correctly is the ticket to getting into the next reading celebration day.

Thanks for being such awesome kids with supportive parents--we're all in this education thing together and I appreciate your support! Have a wonderful week and please email me with any questions on assignments.

Week 21

January 7th-January 11th

Monday, January 7th
Free Reading
Nouns, Pronouns and Capitalization
Notes & Practice

Tuesday, January 8th 
Free Reading
Verbs, Adverbs, Adjectives
Notes & Practice

Wednesday, January 9th 
Free Reading
Conjunctions
Notes & Practice

Thursday, January 10th
Counseling Day
Go to class first and I'll walk you down

Friday, January 11th
Free Reading
Simple and Compound Sentences
Notes & Practice
Book #3 for 2nd Trimester is DUE
Reading Response #2 is DUE

CODE PHRASE: It's Grammar Time!

Week 20: Welcome 2019

Welcome back everyone!! I hope you had a fun, relaxing break and feel like you are ready to begin a new year with fresh eyes and enthusiasm:)

Thank you so much for the many Christmas gifts and cards. I was very touched by the thoughtfulness from so many of you. I am indeed very lucky to be a teacher at Lava Ridge with the best students and parents around. Thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement, it really means a lot!

Please check grades. If you have turned in late work (reading responses, flipgrids, etc.) you must email me to tell me you handed it in. I don't get updates when work is submitted on these platforms, so if you don't say anything, I have no idea you've handed it in. The amount of late work is getting really frustrating and overwhelming for me, so it's on you to let me know to check and grade your work.

Please keep reading!! Students are required to finish at least 6 books a trimester and around 12 a trimester to make it into the iRead Club. I want as many students as possible to push themselves and earn that t-shirt, candy bar and ticket into our big party. Reading is fun! Students should be reading 20-30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Let me know if you need help finding a good book to read.

As this new year begins, my hopes are to increase writing and reading ability as well as instill in students good work ethics, such as: turning work in on time, being honest on the computer (no sneaking into games), be kind to classmates and always do their best. We're on the downward slope from 7th grade and will be getting reading for 8th grade: get ready for fun, engaging learning activities!

Week 20

January 3th & January 4th

Thursday, January 3rd

"Have it All" Poetry Analysis

Free Reading (pass off books)

Friday, January 4th

New Years Write 

Free Reading (pass off books)

Missing Work Reports

Code Phrase for a Robins Reward: This will be the best year ever!

The Rest of December! Weeks 17 and 18...

It's been a wonderful experience reading A Christmas Carol with my students. I'm impressed on how they picked up the language, pieced the story together and have demonstrated deep understanding. I'm really excited for how we will finish out the year with some higher level, analytical learning activities. Please don't think watching the movie adaptation is just a waste of time:) We will be diving into interpretation, understanding this medium and analyzing why the novel was adapted the way it was. This is a fun thing to do in Language Arts, meets our state standards and gets those minds thinking!

Please keep your eyes on your grades and let me know if there are any questions. It's really important you turn in missing work, so get on that one!

Yes, A Christmas Carol counts as an iRead book...ONLY IF YOU WERE THERE EVERY DAY OR DID THE MAKE-UP WORK FOR BEING ABSENT. I have given points for each of the 6 days of reading. Check Powerschool and see what you've missed. About 2 weeks ago, I emailed students and parents the online copy of the novel and the audio (available links on the last two blog posts as well). It is your responsibility to read the missing section, report to me so I can ask you a couple of questions, then do the additional assignment if there was one. If you choose to not do that, you may not count this as a book read.

My best wishes to each of you this Christmas season. How I love each student and value them in my classroom and my life. Have a wonderful long break and I'll look forward to seeing everyone in 2019!! Thank you for your hard work, great attitudes and my deepest thanks to all the wonderfully supportive parents and guardian! To quote Tiny Tim: "Merry Christmas and God bless us, every one!"

Schedule for the rest of 2018!!

December 10-December 19

Monday, December 10
A Christmas Carol Learning Centers
(this will be the "test" on the novel)

Tuesday, December 11
A Christmas Carol Socratic Seminar!
Topic: Scrooge's Transformation

Wednesday, December 12
A Christmas Carol  Book to Movie I

Thursday, December 13
A Christmas Carol Book to Movie II

Friday, December 14
A Christmas Carol Book to Movie: Finish
Finish Analysis sheet
Honors: Newspaper Time
Free Reading
Reading Accountability DUE 
(available on Google Classroom, it's a Google Form this week)

Monday, December 17th 
15 minute library visit
Honors: Newspaper Day
The Man Who Invented Christmas Film

Tuesday, December 18th
iRead Celebration (Gecko Day)
*Must have 2 books for 2nd Trimester signed off by me

Wednesday, December 19th
The Annual Robins Christmas Coco Party (details coming)
End-of-the-Year Robins Rewards Drawing
The Man Who Invented Christmas Film
Christmas Reading Challenge (I'll email the document, hand one out in class and link here later)

Week 16: A Christmas Carol Continues

It has been such a fun week diving into "A Christmas Carol". We are reading by "candlelight", have explored the time period and are tackling unknown words. Hopefully some students are trying out some new vocabulary on you! It's just been a great experience and I appreciate the great attitudes the students have.

The Pajama Drive!  We are supporting Scholastic's Drive for new pajamas for America's kids in need. I am so grateful to those who have donated so far. Please send any new pajamas by Friday, December 7th. I'm extending it a week and am excited to participate in this great movement. Click here for details: http://www.scholastic.com/pajamadrive/

If your child has to miss a class period, it is there responsibility to make-up missed assignments. This will include vocabulary, an analysis assignment (depending on the day) and then to read/listen to the part of the book they missed.

Audio Link: https://librivox.org/a-christmas-carol-dramatic-reading-by-charles-dickens/
Online Novel: http://www.read.gov/books/christmas-carol.html

They will need to tell me they caught-up on the reading and answer a couple questions as well as show me the missing vocab/assignment. If they do not, they will not receive daily points and will not be able to count the novel as an iRead book. Please email with any questions. Thanks!

Week #16

December 3rd-December 7th

Monday, December 3rd
Ghost of Christmas Past Analysis
Stave #3 Vocab
Begin Stave #3

Tuesday, December 4th
Finish Stave #3
Ghost of Christmas Present Analysis
Stave #4 Vocab

Wednesday, December 5th 
Library Day
Work on Flipgrid
You may pass off books early

Thursday, December 6th
Read Stave #4
Stave #5 Vocabulary

Friday, December 7th
Finish "A Christmas Carol"
"Christmas Carol" Analysis
Flipgrid #2-1 DUE
Book #8 DUE (2nd book for 2nd trimester)

There are SO many film/stage interpretations of this book--which ones have you seen? This would be a fun discussion at the dinner table. If you haven't seen one of them--great family activity!

Extension Ideas: I noticed our local Brigham's Playhouse is producing the play: http://brighamsplayhouse.com/a-christmas-carol.html 

Also, the traditional Dickens Festival (performers and vendors) is this weekend. Cool opportunity to see Dickens London be translated into modern day. https://dickenschristmasfestival.com/

Extra Credit Opportunity: I know many of you attend the Dickens Festival (https://dickenschristmasfestival.com/ for times, prices, location, etc.) for the performances/food/vendors. So...I'm offering an extra credit opportunity for students. This is NOT a requirement, simply an opportunity if you are planning on going there anyway. If you attend, write me a paragraph describing what you saw at the Festival that reminded you of what you've read in the book.

Week 15: Starting "A Christmas Carol" & other fun things!

Welcome back! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. I'm so excited for the next unit: A Christmas Carol! I love this novel so much and I've found a way to teach it so 7th graders can understand it, as the language is Victorian 18th Century British and uses a lot of unknown words. Here are the advantages of tackling this holiday text:

• Learning how to determine unfamiliar vocabulary words
• Practice finding and identifying figurative language
• Improve listening and reading comprehension
• Explore informational texts in context of the novel
• Conduct a book-to-movie comparison
• We'll watch Disney's "Christmas Carol" and...if the Christmas ghosts smile upon us... "The Man Who Invented Christmas" (about the actual writing of the novel).
• Explore a classic Dickens piece in context of the time period
• Draw parallels from Dickens Christmas to modern day holiday celebrations and allusions in pop culture (there are many!)
• Explore bigger themes such as kindness to others, helping the poor, how the individual makes a difference, the ability we have as humans to drastically change

Plus, we'll be reading by "candlelight" (a.k.a. battery candles) to replicate the time period and doing some other fun activities in context of the novel. Can you tell I'm pumped? Only an English teacher would get this excited about a novel!

If you miss a day, don't get behind on the reading!!!
Audio Link: https://librivox.org/a-christmas-carol-dramatic-reading-by-charles-dickens/
Online Novel: http://www.read.gov/books/christmas-carol.html

Remember, our class is participating in Scholastic's Pajama Drive. You can send new pajamas to class by the end of the month and then Scholastic will arrange a place for me to drop them off. This is a great way to give back and make a difference. Information is here: http://www.scholastic.com/pajamadrive/

Week 15

November 26-November 30th

Monday, November 26
Monroe Grade Level Benchmark
Introduction to "A Christmas Carol"
K-W-L-Q chart/Dickens Intro.
Article: The Real Reason...
(Non Fiction N & N Practice)
*Honors: Modified Intro and Newspaper Day

Tuesday, November 27
"A Christmas Carol" Webquest
Jigsaw Style

Wednesday, November 28
CC Vocabulary (pair-share)
CC: Chapter 1

Thursday, November 29
CC: Chapter 1 Bellringer
CC: Finish Chapter 1

Friday, November 30
CC Chapter 2 Vocabulary
CC: Chapter 2


CODE PHRASE FOR A ROBINS REWARD: I'm excited to read "A Christmas Carol!"