Notice to Parents: Your children are being sent home with a printout of their
present LA grades. Empty spaces designate work that has not been handed in
on time. Any of this work that IS NOT HANDED IN BY DEC. 23,2009 WILL BECOME
ZEROES AND SHOW UP AS SUCH ON THE FINAL REPORT CARD FOR THE SECOND MARKING
PERIOD.(February 5, 2010) PLEASE ASK YOUR CHILD TO SHOW YOU HIS/HER PRINTOUT.
Newest Item: A change has been made to my grading system. All grades, from
now on, will be done in percentages, NOT POINTS, and weighted as follows:
Tests will be worth 30% of the student's grade; Classwork, Presentations and
Quizzes will all be weighted at 20% of the grade, and homework will be
weighted at 10%.
I will be reading the beautiful classic and tale of true love, called "The
Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry to the students on Friday 12/18.
When the students return from our holiday break, they will all need 4" x 6"
white, lined index cards on which to write notes as well as different colored
highlighters. We will begin the process of researching and writing a research
paper. I am sure you will get more information from Mr. Huntington.
PLEASE continue to encourage your child to STUDY his/her LA notes for five
minutes EVERY NIGHT. There are notes on Story Elements and Persuasive
Writing. These notes are kept in the LA notebook in the reading
section and writing section respectively. They should be studied EVERY NIGHT
for ONLY 5 minutes. They are to read their notes, then cover up the written
information and use only their illustrations to draw back the meaning of the
notes. This will move the information into their long term memory, thus
securing that they will retain this information indefinitely. THEREFORE IT IS
MOST IMPORTANT THAT THEY STUDY THESE NOTES FOR 5 MINUTES EVERY NIGHT !!!!
NOTICE: Parents, all the work the students do for language arts should be
KEPT in the appropriate section of their LANGUAGE ARTS notebook: reading,
writing, vocab/spelling. NO WORK should EVER be thrown out!!! I will be doing
notebook checks intermittently with the students. They were given this
information at the very beginning of the year. I will EVALUATE their
understanding of the material in these notes through quizzes and tests; some
which will be announced in advance, some will be given as a POP QUIZ. Daily
studying is IMPERAIVE to success.
GOALS: The students and I have been setting short and long term writing
goals. Individuals have determined what they needed most to begin working on.
These goals will change as the students' writing improves. All of the
students' writing is done, and stored, in my classroom. However, if ever you
should wish to see/read your child's work, just schedule a time to meet me
after school, and you will be able to sit down and go through their work.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: During the month of December, Students worked on
improving their persuasive writing skills. They wrote their second piece of
persuasive writing on Thursday 12/17.
In January, our goals and objectives will revolve
around improving reading skills. To this effort, children will work with me
in small groups, which will continue to change throughout the month. This
is also when we begin working on their first thesis paper. Check
Mr.Huntington's website, as he will be leading this lesson. To the families
of the 7th grade students, my sincere best wishes for a happy and healthy
holiday season!!
Sincerely and respectfully, Sharon Leahy
Updated 12/18/09