Before Break

Hello,

SL kids completed and handed in vocab on Tuesday in class.
HL kids need to hand in their vocab on Friday.

All kids should have the words and definitions in their notebooks to study with. They will take the quiz on Tuesday 11/22.

Hunger Games books are due now!! I will be sending home bills for $15 for any student who does not return their book. Please ask your student if they have handed theirs in.

We are working on short stories and the elements of fiction in class; ask your student to tell you about "The Gift of the Magi" or "Tell Tale Heart", the stories we have read so far!


Thanks!!

Out of Class Reading, Shelfari Information!!

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.

The Shelfari Information




Kids To Do:
Reading Contract
Get reading!!!
Fill out your Shelfari Reports!
Tell me what's new about the look of the blog by Friday 11/11 and I'll give you a treat :)

Adults To Do:
Find out more from your student about Shelfari and let Ms. Z know if you have questions/ concerns
We are starting the Elements of Fiction unit. Ask your student about the RAP we learned in class :)

End of the Quarter

Wow! It really has been a while since I updated here, I'm sorry for that. This month has been nuts. As you most likely heard, I was on call for jury duty and that caused me to have a great deal of trepidation in my planning as I never knew when I was going to have to be gone. Fortunately, that is over now. However, I have been asked, very last minute, to attend an invaluable conference next week, causing me to be out for three days. I am confident that it will be a worthwhile conference and will aid in both my classroom instruction as well as building wide programming, but it is not the best time to be out of my room. I have been very clear that the students need to take responsibility for their actions in these last days of the quarter to ensure that the grade they earn is an accurate reflection of their skills, i.e. the substitute and the students are responsible for ensuring that the lesson plans are completed. I will be in school on Monday and gone the rest of the week.

10/31
Students will type up the first body paragraph of their Hunger Games Essay. This will be graded and included on their 1st quarter grades.

11/1
Vocab Lesson 4 due (there will be no quiz for this lesson, students should focus on studying for their final exam on Thursday)

11/1-11/2
Students will by finishing their Hunger Games essay in the computer lab

11/3
* FINAL VOCAB EXAM on lessons 1-4 (students should have all the words in their notebooks to use for studying, this is included on 1st quarter grades)
* FINAL DRAFT OF ESSAY is due either by paper or emailed electronically to ms.zumberge@gmail.com (the full essay will go on 2nd quarter grades)

*** NEVER USE MY HOMEWORK DROP BOX THROUGH THE SCHOOL WEBSITE

Please contact me with any questions. I will be available over email when I am out of town.

Thanks!

Notebook Update

We are working on having SUPER DUPER organized notebooks this year.

Please double check that this is what you have so far:


* The Table of Contents looks like this at this point: Table of Contents


* On page 50 you should have written down these notes: "The Writing Process"


* Page 51 should have these notes copied: Critical Response Sample

Thanks!

Vocabulary Lesson 2

Kids will be receiving their second vocab lesson today. This will be due Tuesday, 10/4. The quiz will be Friday, 10/7. Please spend some time studying the words with your student as they prepare.

SL students, you will find a copy of your assignment under "Helpful Links".

Thanks!

Vocab and New Reading Calendar

This week I will hand out vocab lesson 2 on Wednesday. I warned the kids that I would give them less and less time to complete the assignments if there were a large number of kids who didn't hand it in on time. Unfortunately, there was almost 30% of students who did not hand in their vocab 1 assignment last week. Though this may sound mean, it is actually my experience that the less time students have to work on something the more of them who actually complete it.

I have a new reading calendar for "Hunger Games". I am hoping this link will work, but if not I will also be handing out a paper copy on Wednesday. In the mean time, kids need to read Chapters 10 and 11 for Wednesdays' class.

Homecoming Weekend!

Happy Homecoming Everyone!

It's fun to see all the Park Pride at school today.

This weekend we will be giving everyone a chance to catch up on their "Hunger Games" reading. BE SURE YOU ARE DONE WITH CHAPTER 9 FOR MONDAY!! Also, you will need to finish the Reading Check on the back of your green calendar. If you lost your green sheet, you can get another copy of the Reading Check here.

Next week you will get a new reading calendar and another vocab assignment.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!