Monday 12/13

This week we will be starting our 5 paragraph essay process. We will be taking this step by step to ensure that everyone follows along.

In the mean time... vocab 7 is due for HL only on Tuesday, 12/14.

And...please take a look at your score on the Grammar Exam. Anyone who got a D+ or lower is required to stay after Thursday for a review and retake session. People who missed the test should also plan to be there Thursday. You will take the 4:30 bus home. If you cannot be there at that time, you need to make other arrangements with me.

Thanks!

Grammar

This week we finished our grammar unit. To review for the test kids had to complete a "study guide" poster.
Here is what needed to be on the poster:
* Noun
* Pronoun
* Adjective
* Verb
* Adverb
* Preposition
* Conjunction
* Interjection
* Sentence Types: Exclamatory, Interrogative, Imperative, Declarative
* Subject
* Predicate

These words need to be defined and examples need to be given.

We took the final exam today. Kids who did not pass will need to stay after with me on Thursday for a review session and to retake the test. I will have grades in by Monday.

In other news, the JH play is this weekend and I hope you get a chance to see the show! Friday and Saturday at 7:30 and Sunday at 2:30 at the SH auditorium. Tickets available at the door :)

Week of 12/6

This week we are going to be practicing our grammar and ultimately taking the test. I want to be sure that kids are ready first, so today and tomorrow are devoted to doing practice. Wednesday we will check in again to see where we are and then we will determine if we are ready to test either the second half of class on Wednesday or on Thursday.

Vocab 7 is not due until 12/ 14

Anniversary of Rosa Parks Bus Protest

Today we are spending time in class discussing this important historical event and using it to practice writing a different sentence types: declarative, exclamatory, interrogative, imperative. These will all be on the upcoming grammar test. The grammar test will also look at the kids understanding of:
Subject/ Predicate
Nouns
Verbs
Adjective
Adverbs
Pronouns
Prepositions

I plan to give this test next Wednesday, but that will change if I feel the kids are not ready. I will be looking to some pre-tests to check in on their readiness.

Vocab Lesson 6 was due yesterday, but I am accepting for full credit until tomorrow. The SL lesson is now on the right. Lesson 6 quiz will be given on Friday for both HL and SL.

Vocab Clarifications

Vocab Lesson 6 was due today, however with my absence and lack of a blog post about it, I will accept it for full credit until Thursday. SL kids just got their packet today and had class time today to work on it. They may hand it in for full credit until Thursday as well.

Thanks!

Wednesday

A few notes on the week:

* We are working on grammar this week. There are several assignments that go along with this, but unfortunately I cannot post the worksheets themselves here at this point because I don't have them electronically. Time permitting, I will get them scanned in next week.

** I will be gone Thursday and Friday at a conference on grading. The kids will continue to work on grammar during this time, with their sub.

*** There will be a vocab quiz on lesson 5 on Friday.

SL Assignments for the week:
1. Practice sheet showing sentences with subject and predicate indicated. Done in class Tuesday using photo power point.
2. Rewrite "Almost Evenly Divided" by Emma Suarez-Baez using complete sentences. Underline the complete subject once, the complete predicate twice and put a slash between them. (Due Thursday, with time to work in class on both Wednesday and Thursday)
3. Blue grammar packet that says "Lesson 55 Grammar: Verbs" on the top. (Due Friday, with time to work in class on Thursday and Friday)

HL Assignments for the week:
1. Practice sheet showing sentences with subject and predicate indicated. Done in class Tuesday using photo power point.
2. Rewrite "Almost Evenly Divided" by Emma Suarez-Baez using complete sentences. Underline the complete subject once, the complete predicate twice and put a slash between them. (Due Wednesday with time to work on it on Tuesday in class)
3. Noun-O-Rama worksheet (Due Wednesday with time to work on it in class on Monday)
4. Blue grammar packet that says "Lesson 55 Grammar: Verbs" on the top. (Due Thursday with time to work in class on Wednesday)
5. Blue grammar packet that says "Adverbs" on the top. (Started in class on Thursday, due Friday)

Hopefully this is all clear! Let me know if you have any questions :)

Happy Monday

On Friday kids handed in select questions from last week's "Idea Week #1". These questions were completed throughout the week and then I told them at the last minute which ones they needed to hand in. This allows me to see if they did their work without reading every single response. Here are the questions that were due:

The Blue Light: #4, Extra Credit for #6
A Career Change: #2
Aengus: # 2, 11
The White Circle: #1, 5

Vocab Lesson 5 is due tomorrow!!! SL kids had all hour to work on this today and many people handed them in today. Vocab quiz 5 will be Friday.

This week we started grammar. We will be working on complete sentences, subjects, predicates, nouns and verbs to start. That will make up most of this week.

Kids to do:
* Be sure you have handed in the questions above from last week
* Hand in vocab 5 on Tuesday 11/16

Welcome to 2nd Quarter!

This week we will be doing our first "Idea Week". This is a new thing in the department that we are trying in an effort to have a few weeks out of the year that we just do rapid fire reading and writing around a singular idea. This week should have been done during 1st quarter because it is related to the theme from 1st quarter: characters. But, we ran out of time, so we are doing it now. Each day we are reading something from the packet and then working on the questions that go with it.

Monday: "The Blue Light"
Tuesday: "A Career Change with More Park Time"
Wednesday: "The Wandering Aengus"
Thursday: "The White Circle"
Friday: "The Brown Penny"

The questions for each story are due the following day, so "Blue Light" questions were due on Tuesday. HOWEVER, I will not be collecting all the questions. Kids should be answering them in their notebooks and on Friday I will give them a few that I want them to copy onto a new sheet to hand in.

Idea Week is attached here, along with the questions.

LAST DAY OF Q1

For tomorrow:
*** Pink reading log is due!!!
*** Shelfari reading report/ MHL report is due!!!
*** STUDY for your vocab test!!!

That is all.
Go do it :)

End of the Quarter, Grade Issues, Reading Logs!!

Hello-

Quite a few things going on here. Will update you as clearly as possible. Please let me know if you have questions.

First, this week is the end of the quarter. Please note the following:
1. All late/ missing work needs to be handed in by Thursday 11/4
2. Vocab Exam on lessons 1-4 is on Thursday 11/4 (NOTE DATE CHANGE)
3. Pink Reading Log sheet is due Thursday 11/4
4. Shelfari Book Report is due Thursday 11/4 **** If kids are finishing up a book, and they give me their pink sheet on time, showing that they reached their goal, they may have until 11/12/10 to finish the Shelfari report. I will give them full credit on it until that point. If I don't get it by that date, I will change their grade, which may impact their Quarter 1 grade retro-actively.


Next up is an issue relating to grades. My grade book had to be revamped. I have explained this to your kids and hopefully they can convey it to you. Essentially, my weighting system was not being applied to quarter 1. Grades are weighed the same across the department. Here is how it breaks down:
Formative Assessment (homework, in class writing, worksheets) = 40%
Formative Vocab Assessment (vocab quiz, vocab lessons) = 10%
Summative Assessment (end of unit exams, large essays, certain writing assessments) = 40%
Summative Vocab Exam= 10%

However, it was only today that I discovered that although I had set this up for Semester 1, it was not being applied to Quarter 1. I have changed the scale and thus grades have changed as well. The bad news is that they went both up and down depending on the student. The good news is that a) there are more assignments yet to be entered and that will help most grades go up and b) some assignments, like the reading contract, are carrying a lot of weight right now and will make a big difference when handed in. I am sorry for the oversight, but moving forward I am confident it will be helpful to kids grades.



Please let me know if you have questions!

Reading Contract Questions

This is a cut and paste from an email correspondence I had with a parent this week. I have had similar questions from several people re: the reading goal/ reports that we just started. I am posting them here as a FAQ list, hopefully everyone will benefit :)

1. My student has read 3 Maude Heart Lovelace books. Does she write a report on each one? or pick one book and write one report?
Yes, she should write a report on each one. The system is not perfect, but for now, I am going to keep track of the MHL on that discussion board and they will be given a grade for that in 3rd quarter. She can also use those as reports toward the reading goal for this quarter. Once I see the reading log (pink sheet) I will know what she was reading and will look at that report for Q1.

2. My student is finishing a non Maude Heart Lovelace book. Does she write a report on each "general selection" book? or pick one book and write a report?
It is great if she writes a report on all the books she reads, but she at least needs to do enough to reach the page number goal. These go under the "reading report" discussion.

3. Can you email us an example of a well written book report?
This is the first time I have used this format for the reports, so I don't have a great example yet. She is welcome to read the comments I post under other students reports as they come in on Shelfari. After this quarter I will have an example to post on the blog.

4. If she submits one report first, do you have time to respond? so that the next reports are better?
I try to respond within a few days, so yes, I should have time to get get back to her this week. Remember, I don't have internet at home though, so I won't respond over a weekend.

5. Do you mind if students adds books in other languages to their shelves as well?
I welcome the kids to do books in any language, even toward their reading goal. I would like to see at least one English book per quarter though.

Gusty End of the Quarter!

Hello Families, on this blustery Tuesday!

As I look over my grades I see several missing assignments, which are hurting the kids grades for the quarter. I will be handing out grade slips tomorrow, but would love some support on your end. Please take a moment to check PowerSchool to see how your student is doing and if there is anything they still need to hand in. I also want to remind everyone that the kids have a reading contract and log that will be due at the end of the quarter. As they finish books they should be writing a report on Shelfari. I will give them some time to finish the report this quarter because it's the first time, but they need to complete one report by the first week of 2nd quarter or it will have an impact on their first quarter grade.

I will accept late work until Wednesday, November 3rd.

November 3rd will also be the day of the quarter 1 comprehensive vocab exam. They will need to prepare by reviewing all the words they have learned this quarter. The test is in a multiple choice format.

Please let me know if you have questions or concerns,

Thanks!

Out Of Class Reading!

Hello-

I have finally put together the expectations for out of class reading. Participation in the reading program, as it is set up, will be dependent on having a Shelfari account. Students will need an email address to set this up. They do not need to have their own, simply one that they can use to register; they may use yours if you are o.k. with that. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about how that works. For first quarter, since we only have 3 weeks left, I am giving very low reading minimums, HL = 150 and SL = 100. Kids are encouraged to set reading goals that are appropriate for themselves. I am including the links for all reading log material at the right side bar. Please be sure to look at the following:
1. The Reading Contract
2. The Shelfari Information
3. Reading Log

Reading contracts with a parent signature were due today. Very few kids handed them in, so please ask them about it.

Reading Logs will be due on Wednesday, 11/ 3/10.

ALSO!! Today in class we began writing a formal paragraph on the end of TSB. The directions are here: Cole's Transformation Paragraph

I have handed out Vocab 4 and it is due next Tuesday. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get it loaded here. Perhaps later today or over break I will get that done. There is currently a formatting issue that needs to be overcome.

Kids To Do:
Vocab Lesson 4
Reading Contract
Get reading!!!
Fill out your Shelfari Reports!

Adults To Do:
Discuss the Reading Contract with your student
Find out more from your student about Shelfari and let Ms. Z know if you have questions/ concerns

Have a great break!!

Week So Far...

Not much to post on this week as we are basically just trying to finish up the reading of TSB and get ready to write our first practice essay. I will be rolling out the out of class reading expectations, hopefully by Monday. Look for that info to com :)

FACIAL TISSUE and Class

Cold season has hit and while I provide hand sanitizer and lotion, I can't keep up with the Kleenex demands. Please send a box or two with your student so we can all keep the colds from spreading even more!

Today we continued to work on TSB.

SL classes began work on gathering evidence for their Total Person comparison paragraph. They filled out the top space in each category with evidence of how Cole was in that area prior to the bear attack. As they continue to read they will fill in the second space with how Cole is different in each area following his return to the island. Ultimately we will use this to write a paragraph.

HL classes have finished the first part of the Total Person worksheet, and most are nearly done with the evidence on Cole post-attack. Today HL classes worked on comparing the poem "Chippewa Creation" by Michaeljohn Reszler with TSB. We are looking for similar themes between the two. They did a short piece of writing on this topic in their notebook and we will return to this conversation when the book is finished.

Kids To Do: All classes have Vocab Lesson 3 due tomorrow, Tuesday.

Adults To Do: If possible for your budget, please send a box or 2 of Kleenex.

Thanks!

NEW VOCAB PACKET

Here is the correct vocab packet for SL Lesson 3. My 2nd hour still does not have this correct packet, so if you know someone in that hour, please give them the correct info.

** VOCAB LESSON 3


Have a great weekend every one!!

Vocab Snaffu

Some SL classes were given a vocab packet today that has an error. Kids should not begin working on that packet until they see me on Thursday. All classes have vocab due on 10/12, and a quiz on 10/15.

Also, HL classes are flying ahead with TSB and they will be starting a focus paragraph next week. SL classes will be following up soon, they are just handing in the sparrow worksheet today.

A New Week

Hello,

Here we are, back at it again :) Monday there was not much to report; we corrected vocab and figured out our average class scores for the first two assignments and quizzes.

SL kids are finishing their reading of Part I of "Touching Spirit Bear". As they finish they will begin to work on the blue "Sparrow" worksheet. I don't have a version of that on here yet as it is something I drew by hand and I need to scan it in. I will try to have that available later today. In the meantime, hopefully those students who are here can hang on to the copy they get. No one in hour 2 picked up this sheet yet and only about half of the kids in 6th and 8th hour have gotten it.

HL kids have finished Part I and their "Sparrow" worksheet was due in class today. In the second half of class they completed their first "Critical Response". Click on the the title for a link to the assignment. This was due in class today.

Last Post this Week

Hello,

Want to get you caught up on some information before I am out for two days.

1. This is the first year I am without internet at home and it is keeping me just a touch behind on entering grades-- we have a web based program. I asked about how to do them off line but have not had time to follow up that info. I will continue to work on it, but please be patient if I take a bit to get the grades up.

2. I will be gone the rest of the week. The kids will have Pam Albinson as a substitute, which I am really excited about. She retired from teaching here just 2 years ago and is looking forward to discussing "TSB" with the kids, it's one of her favorite books!

3. The vocab quiz will be on Friday!! Study, study, study!!

4. Kids may finish part 1 of "TSB" but should stop there until I get back. I am so bummed to be missing such an exciting part!!

Wellness Assessment

Classes will be applying their new knowledge of the Total Person Concept to further deepen our understanding of the book. Today some classes will take a brief clicker quiz to see where they are in terms of understanding this concept. Classes will take this after reading chapter 5, so not all will be ready for that today and some will take it tomorrow. Remember, studying the vocab words will improve vocab scores on FRIDAY'S QUIZ!!

TSB Quoted Text

Today we worked on identifying a quote of interest from the book and explaining its meaning. The kids will be keeping a chart with these in their notebook. Using textual evidence to support their own ideas is a key concept in this class; this activity is one way to work on that skill.

Kids To Do: Vocab Lesson 2 due tomorrow

Adults To Do: Help kids study for their vocab quiz on Friday!

Friday

Today we began a deeper analysis of the main character of TSB, Cole Mathews. Kids used the "Total Person Concept" from health to take a wellness assessment on behalf of Cole. It helped us learn a great deal about Cole as a person as well as about how to support our ideas with information from the text.

There is no homework over the weekend, except for to be sure that we are all done with our vocab and ready to hand it in on Tuesday.

Enjoy the days of freedom!!!

Total Person Concept

In 7th grade Health class students study the Total Person Concept. This looks at 5 areas that make up a person. We are going to apply that same concept to our study of Cole Mathews in "Touching Spirit Bear".

SL- Kids began by identifying some of the character traits of Cole. They began writing these traits on a venn diagram.

HL- Filled out the first assessment of Cole. To do this they used the Wellness Assessment from Health class and applied it to Cole. We will be looking to see how Cole changes as a person throughout the story.

The Joy and Pain of Technology

Today we attempted to complete our reading assessments. Classes had various degrees of success, depending on how the technology was cooperating. We did make some headway with "Touching Spirit Bear" however, completing at least the first chapter in each class and with a few classes moving on to chapter 2. Tomorrow we should be moving on in this direction, beginning our analysis of the book in earnest. Yay!!

Today kids wrote a brief response to the first chapter. These should have been handed in today. If they did not hand them in today, they can get the question again here: "TSB Reflective Question, Chapter 1"

Monday, a day late

The week started out with a whimper when my technology hit a blip and plans were re-written. Such is life! But, it also ate up some of my blog time, so I am sorry for the day-skip.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week will be spent on two tasks:

1. Taking two reading assessments. These will be used to find any struggling readers and to determine the nature of their needs. For my accelerated kids it will be used as baseline data or a different nature than the NWEA scores.

2. Reading and reflecting on the first chapter of "Touching Spirit Bear". Students will read and then complete a short written response.

Students have been given their next vocab assignment, Lesson 2, which is due 9/28. The quiz will be on 10/1. SL students can access their assignment by clicking on this word. HL students can find their work sheet by clicking here.

Kids To Do: Vocab Lesson 2, due Tuesday 9/28

Adults To Do: Come to Open House tonight!!! Hope to see you all there :)

End of the week!!

We have made it through our first full week of the year!! Whoo hoo!!!

Kids took their vocab quiz for lesson 1 today. We will grade these next week to see how we all did. In order to encourage getting their lessons done and to build some class community, I have the kids compete with the other classes on their vocab assignments and quizzes. For the 1st vocab assignment, most hours only had 1 or 2 missing assignments and 4th hour had the best overall average. Congratulations 4th hour students!! I know that we can continue to improve our averages in all the classes!!! The best key to a great class average is to be sure that EVERYONE hands in their work!! We will do the same thing with the quizzes once we have graded them.

We will get a new vocab assignment next week, and begin to read "Touching Spirit Bear" in earnest.

I hope everyone has a great weekend :)

VOCAB QUIZ FRIDAY

Please remind your student to study for their vocab quiz tomorrow!!! It is important that they have success on this first quiz in order to get themselves off to an excellent start in 7th grade language arts! Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.

Today we finished our word splashes from Tuesday.

Kids To Do: Study, study, study!!!

Vocab Correction

Vocab correction took place today. This is a bit of a process as I have the kids figure out the class average and keep it in their notebooks as a means of working in some math. We will get faster as time goes on, but for today it took most of class. Please remember to study with your student for Friday's quiz!!

Kids To Do: Quiz Friday!!!

TSB Word Splash

Word Splash is a pre-reading activity that activates prior knowledge, helps students make predictions and allows them to make inferences and connections within the book before even reading it. We worked on one today for TSB. Kids are working with an assigned partner and putting the words into their own groups. Once they have identified the groups they will create a mobile to display their groupings to others. Below you will find some of the words on the list. I encourage you to choose a few to discuss with your student at home.

Word Splash for TSB: Circle of Justice, Tlingit, skiff, banishment, punish, patience, probation, detention center, depositions, survival, anger, soul, convicted, innocent, healing contract, Spirit Bear, sincere.

Kids to do: Remember, vocab quiz Friday!!!

Touching Spirit Bear Pre-Reading

Hello!

I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather we had this weekend!

Today all classes did a pre-reading activity for the novel we are going to begin this week, "Touching Spirit Bear" (TSB). This is one of my favorite units to teach and it is a great way to start the year. In tandem with reading the novel we will also be looking at ourselves as individuals. We will work with some of the same curriculum used in health class this year to complete this unit.

Kids to do: VOCAB 1 IS DUE TOMORROW, TUESDAY 9/14!!!

Poem

Students typed up their "I Am" poems today. Some students were unable to finish in class. This was a fresh reminder of the convenience of having a flash drive that allows them to bring the work home if they need to complete it. Some kids know their email and were able to send it home. The assignment was due at the end of class today, but I will accept it by email over the weekend. They can send it to either zumberge.lillian@slpschools.org or ms.zumberge@gmail.com. If they do not have the poem form at home they can find it by clicking here: "I Am" Poem.

Hopefully everyone has an excellent weekend!!

Vocabulary and Poem

Whew! Yesterday was such a whirlwind I didn't sit down to write about the day. My apologies! Yesterday the kids were introduced to their vocab activities for the year.

SL: Received vocab packet 1, called "Lesson 1". Students complete the homework in the packet and then tear off the first page, to study with, and hand in the rest.
HL: Received their vocab book for the year, "1000 Words You Need to Know". Students complete this assignment on a separate sheet. These are provided in my room, but should they need to print one at home they can find it in the "Classroom Resources" button of my school web site, or by clicking here.

Each class had the lesson explained to them and the process for doing homework. The cycle for doing vocab will typically be that it is due every other Tuesday and the quizzes are on Friday of that same week. In this case, the assignment is due Tuesday 9/14 and the quiz will be Friday 9/17.

Today we are beginning to work on our theme for 1st quarter: Character/ Self. Throughout the year we will be focusing on one theme per quarter: Character, Setting, Conflict, Theme. As you can see, these themes are very general and are the major elements of all types of writing. We are creating a poem about ourselves as a first step in the exploration of characters, the "I Am" poem. This is an in class assignment, but if you want to see the format you can click here. They will be writing the drafts today and given a chance to make a more formal presentation of the poem later in the week.

Kids to do: Vocab is due 9/14. Try to start it tonight so that you have a few days to check with me if you have questions.

Adults to do: If you have not filled out the short question sheet that was sent home with your child, please ask them for it.

LMC

All classes got the orientation for the Library Media Center with Mr. Holmbeck. I didn't collect the sheet they brought home for you to fill out, so they have another night to complete that assignment. 7th and 8th hour will get the sheet today.

Day 3

We finally got to experience a more normal schedule this morning. The afternoon is another matter. We have some fabulous activities planned to strengthen our school community, but I won't see my 7th and 8th hour classes. I have seen them for longer time over the last couple days, so we are pretty close together. Tuesday will be our first really normal day! The morning classes (1-6) got a sheet to fill out about themselves and the back side is for you to fill out. These are due Tuesday. 7th and 8th hour will get them on Tuesday and have them due Wednesday.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Kids To Do:
Finish filling out question sheet and give to your adult to do their side, due Tuesday.

Getting to Know You

Today has been much of a continuation of yesterday's activities. We still had short classes in the morning, which meant we were barely able to finish up with what we started yesterday. The afternoon classes will have a chance to move on to our next activity which will help us to learn more about ourselves and our personalities. Either today or tomorrow you can expect to get a sheet home from my class with some general questions for you to fill out regarding your student. We are all looking forward to the Day 3 event taking place tomorrow, which will be a building wide community event! It is sure to be a great day!!

First Day of School!!

Wow! This day is here already! Fortunately, it went smoothly for all, as far as I could tell. OT was extended, so we had time to talk to each other and get to know something new about our classmates. Tomorrow I would like OT kids to bring magazines and/or pictures to share with the class as we decorate our Hopes and Dreams. These magazines will be cut up and not returned. Thank you!!

Other classes all played games to get to know each other as well. The shortened schedule to make room for the extended OT means that we can't dive too deep into the classroom procedures. We will work on this more in the upcoming days. I did let kids know that they are expected to have a notebook exclusively for Language Arts and that this can be either a composition or spiral notebook, but that they are NEVER to tear paper out of it.

In general, this blog will comment on the SL and HL classes that happen before 5th hour. It is during 5th hour that I will be writing here, so if your child is in the afternoon class, they may have a slightly different experience, but not by much.

I look forward to working with you this year. Please contact me if you have any questions. You may use either the school email or my work gmail account: ms.zumberge@gmail.com

Thank you!!

Kids to do:

OT- bring magazines to share/ cut up for decorating our Hopes and Dreams.

Orientation!

It was so exciting today to see all the new faces of my students for the next 2 years!! We only had 10 minutes together, so we focused that time on getting to know a new friend and then making words with the letters of our names. Some very clever kids!! I look forward to seeing you all again on Wednesday!