If I could choose one word to describe today it would be WOW! You all seemed stressed and, to be honest, a little confused about how Literature Circles were going to run. Both classes had a wonderful discussion about the first section of The Red Pencil. The ideas were thoughtful and meaningful. Mr. M (7A) and Ms. MC (7B) said that their groups did a nice job, too. I was equally impressed by how almost all of you focused your attention on the work for Meeting 2. We will do this on Monday. Have a nice weekend and GO BILLS!
#RESILIENCY #TheRedPencil #talkitout #Superstar7thGraders Today was an important day in ELA. You learned about Literature Circles! You added to your KWL chart as a Do Now. I spent more time than I like talking at you about your unit and your roles. The presentation I used is below so that you can review it. I gave you all of your materials and then you got started! Both classes did a really nice job working independently. I don't think many of you will have extra homework. We will meet in Literature Circles for the first time during the beginning part of ELA tomorrow. Make sure that you are prepared. I have created a new page to this website that has all the LC materials!
Today you started with whole class library. Afterwards you looked at a close up of The Red Pencil's cover. We talked about details and predictions. You watched a video explaining the conflict in Darfur and read the Author's Note from the book. This will provide you with some background information about Amira's life in The Red Pencil. You will get your literature circle materials tomorrow! #resiliency #peace
Today we finished watching Remember the Titans. It is such a great movie. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do AND were able to make strong connections between the story and resiliency. There are many examples we will pull from this movie, including the perseverance of the team as a whole and the individual coaches/players who make it up.
The sorting ceremony was today! I really enjoyed being Professor Burke and sorting you all into houses. In the coming weeks you will get your "GOALS" sheet to start earning BINGOs. It will also be a way to break easily up into groups within your class. #resiliency #RemembertheTitans #nevergiveup #sortingceremony! Due to the half day, you took your math quiz during ELA on Friday. On Monday, we began our second unit about resilience. You started today's class by answer a journal question about resiliency and never giving up. After we reviewed movie expectations, we jumped right into Remember the Titans. This is an excellent movie that shows the power of resiliency. The Titans, coaches and players alike, all had to overcome challenges in order to be successful. We will use this shared experience throughout the unit (and the rest of the year). #resiliency #RemembertheTitans #nevergiveup!
These are both project days! You will have almost the entire class on both Wednesday and Thursday to work on your projects. Students who finish early have the opportunity to do a second project, expand on their projects, or to do the extension activity, which is the Revolutionary War webquest. You had a shortened class on Wednesday because of library. I am not going to be here on Thursday, but it is still a working period. Remember, whatever you don't finish in class on Thursday becomes homework. Your project is due on Friday.
#Chains #TheFightingGround #projects Today we started class by taking your Harry Potter Sorting Quiz. Our Sorting Ceremony will take place on Friday. It will be fun! Afterwards, I went through directions for summer work final projects. You had the remaining class time to work on these. Any projects not done by the end of Thursday's ELA class will become homework. These are due on Friday, September 21st. (Note: The project sheet says Friday, June 21st. This is a typo!) I do want to address some behaviors today. Neither class was able to finish the news and both groups needed lots of reminders. Let's work to fix this for tomorrow. I know you can do better.
Today you completed your Beginning of the Year assessment. It was the focus of the class. Many of you showed off your best close reading skills and, because of your hard work, didn't have the chance to finish. You will get that opportunity tomorrow. I hope to also introduce your final projects focused on Chains or The Fighting Ground.
Happy Friday 7th Graders! We started class with a little free reading. I explained our "new and improved" discussion roles. As a whole, these seemed to be much clearer for you. You discussed both Chains and The Fighting Ground in small groups. After the news, you did a written response about your summer reading book. You will begin working on final projects next week. Enjoy your weekend! #discussion #Chains #TheFightingGround #FRIDAY!
Today we discussed the books you read over the summer. We started class by talking about discussion guidelines. I am going to make sure we are all aware of these before we begin literature circles at the end of the month. Then, each person was given a role and a set of questions. For today's discussion, the available roles were facilitator, recorder, reporter, and prioritizer. After explaining these roles to you, we shifted into groups to discuss. I know there was some confusion about what you needed to do, but the discussions seems productive. We will continue to work on these speaking and listening skills. Remember, poetry books are due tomorrow.
#discussion #Chains #TheFightingGround #revolution |