Mrs. Geiger Enrichment Reading TeacherWeb Update NewsFlash

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11/19/08 It looks likely that THE SECRET GARDEN quiz scheduled for Monday will be pushed back to 
Tuesday. I will be out for the next two days, and I want to make sure we have had sufficient 
review time before the quiz. I am still encouraging students to take the book home to review 
chapters 1-8 over the weekend. The cumulative vocabulary quiz is scheduled for Tuesday as well, 
and it would be better to spread out their studying rather than trying to cram for both of these 
on Monday night. :)

11/17/08 We began reading THE SECRET GARDEN today! This is the novel on which our Change Unit 
revolves. The Change Unit is a Gifted Curriculum Unit produced by the Colleges of William and 
Mary and is specifically designed for gifted learners. With that being said, it is a very 
difficult book. I will be working hard to scaffold the students' learning. It is IMPERATIVE that 
students keep up with the reading. Most of the reading will take place in class. I will read 
aloud parts, and they will read other parts independently. The sermon of the day was, "PLEASE 
ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU ARE CONFUSED!!!" Often, they are reluctant to ask questions and therefore 
lose big chunks of the meaning. Because this book was written in 1911, there is archaic 
language, a Yorkshire dialect, unfamiliar British terms, etc. In addition, this is an advanced 
book. I EXPECT them NOT to understand everything. Please join me in encouraging them to monitor 
their comprehension and STOP TO GET HELP if they aren't getting it. They can re-read, talk it 
over, ask for help, etc. to get clarification. I would suggest NOT watching the movie (in any of 
its versions) because the movie is quite different from the book, and the tests match the book.

Each student was assigned a numbered book today. This book needs to be in class each day, as 
much of our reading will take place during class time. Students are allowed to take the book 
home, however, if they need to review a chapter or catch up on reading that was not finished 
during class. They just must remember to bring the book to class on the following day. In the 
case of absences, there is a link on this webpage for the on-line version of the book (see 
LINKS). I will post which chapters we have read each day on the HOMEWORK page of the website so 
that students are making sure to keep up. Our first quiz is tentatively scheduled for next 
Monday, 11/24, and this will be over chapters 1-8. It is tentative in that sometimes we don't 
progress as quickly as I plan. Therefore the test would be later (not earlier). Please check the 
website for updates. To prepare for this quiz, I will be encouraging students to take the book 
home over the weekend to review chapters 1-8. Please help them to remember to return it on 
Monday.

Finally, any SECRET GARDEN reading that is done at home can certainly be used for the 30 minutes 
of nightly reading, AND parent read-aloud of this book is welcomed (and can still count for the 
30 minutes of reading). The book is rich fodder for discussion, so I encourage you to talk about 
it with your child. If you have any questions, please let me know.

11/13/08 Graded President Reports/Essays will be sent home tomorrow. The "nebulous" rubric is 
still baffling some. Some ideas to go "Above & Beyond" on this one: include pictures, include 
excerpts from a speech or a direct quote, create a timeline of important events from the 
person's life, include an editorial cartoon or newspaper article about the person, draw a 
picture or caricature of the person, include a photocopy of the front cover of a book written by 
this person, find campaign slogans, posters, etc. from this person's campaign and submit a copy, 
create campaign signs/posters/buttons endorsing the person, do an "addendum" report about an 
important policy/event that this person impacted. ETC... There are TONS of ideas. The point is 
to exercise a little creativity and think BEYOND the basics of the project. Hope this helps 
clarify....

11/5/08 HATCHET projects are ready to go home... I will send cookbooks, etc. in folders on 
Friday. Please arrange a time to pick up the large models, etc. from the school media center. 
Everyone has enjoyed the students' hard work and creativity. Their projects have gotten rave 
reviews.

10/21/08 SUPER JOB on presentations yesterday! Way to go!
The Perkins family found a great site for practicing vocabulary. See the LINKS icon. 
You can put in your vocabulary words and play all kinds of games with them. Check it out!

10/8/08 WordMasters information and the first lists of words will be sent home on Friday. 
Students need to decide if they want to compete in the Blue division, Gold division, or both. 
Decision slips are due back on Monday. The first meet is scheduled for December 5th. See the 
WORDMASTERS icon for a copy of the letter going home and the two word lists.

10/7/08 The Presentation Schedule for HATCHET presentations is available under the PROJECTS icon.

9/26/08 Just a reminder that students need to make a decision about which HATCHET project they 
plan to do. Slips are due next Friday 10/3. Thanks!

9/22/08 Special Homework Tonight for some students who didn't finish in class. See HOMEWORK icon.

9/18/08 Anyone looking for an opportunity to volunteer? I have three jobs for eager beavers:
1) Laminate and hang class collage projects -- these will be graded and ready to go up by 
Wednesday afternoon. 2) I need someone to make 48 flip books by Monday 9/22. EEEK! This involves 
cutting construction paper and stapling it -- probably about a 60-90 minute job. 3) I need 
someone to drive to LRC and cut out 48 character dolls by Thursday 9/25 -- I will provide the 
materials. Once you get there, it should take about 20-30 minutes. If anyone is interested in 
any of these jobs, please e-mail me to volunteer. Thanks!

9/16/08 Students were working in teams to research some catastrophic events today in class. I 
have given them permission to continue their on-line learning tonight if they choose, and this 
can be counted for their 30 minutes of nightly reading. They simply need to list one website 
that they visited and summarize what they learned on the reading log.

9/12/08 The vocabulary quizzed looked DRASTICALLY different today! I can tell that the students 
studied and were well-prepared. Whatever they did, encourage them to keep it up!!! 
Projects are due in one week... --Mrs. Geiger

9/8/09 Information about the first class project went home today. There is a slip for parents to 
sign acknowledging receipt of the information. This project will be due on 9/19/08. Please see 
the new PROJECT icon on the website for a copy of the information sent home.

9/5/08 NO PANIC REQUIRED!!!  Many students did not do very well on the first vocabulary quiz. 
They are a little stunned and disappointed, of course. I have told them to let this be a 
learning experience. For instance, all SIX students who scored 100% said that they studied the 
words for a little while each night. Several of them made flash cards or another type of study 
aid. One student keeps the list in her backpack and studies it on the way to and from school 
each day. What does NOT work is waiting until the night before the test and cramming. This is a 
life lesson that will help them all the way through college!

The other thing we discussed after the test is using the clues in the test and using good test 
taking strategies. While several of the words seemed to fit in more than one place, there was 
ONE BEST PLACE for each word. For instance, when a project stands out above all the rest, we 
wouldn't call the project "precocious," but it would be "outstanding." While "daunting" 
and "arduous" are SIMILAR in meaning, they are not exactly the same. The clue was that the 
sentence containing "arduous" had "an" right before it, meaning that the next word had to start 
with a vowel. The only choices were "angst," "effort," and "arduous". "Arduous" was the only one 
that made sense in context.  Reading over the entire test and filling in the ones that are 
obvious first is a great strategy. Then, there are fewer choices for the difficult ones.

The good news is that I always drop the lowest grade in the VOCABULARY/CLASSWORK category. If a 
student did poorly today, it is not the end of the world. Hopefully it will be a learning 
experience, and they can do better on the test next Friday. Please let me know if you have 
questions.

9/4/08
Tomorrow we will take our first vocabulary test. Students will be given a word bank of the 
words. They will use the words to fill in blanks in sentences, using the sentence context to 
figure out which word goes in each blank. See the VOCABULARY icon for a list of words. Students 
will receive a new list of words tomorrow. These will be tested on 9/12. Remember to continue to 
practice ALL lists as any of the words may appear on the cumulative vocabulary exams.

9/2/08 
This week we will be doing several pre-assessments. Two of these are of my choosing and two are 
required by the District. None of these count toward report card grades, etc. but rather are 
baseline data to see where we need to work in preparation for the FCAT in the Spring. While it 
may seem like the kids are being tested to death this week, no worries! These are painless 
exercises and provide excellent information to guide instruction. Please encourage them to do 
their best and not worry. Thanks!

8/29/08
The first list of vocabulary words went home today in a special vocabulary folder that the 
students should continue to add to throughout the year. This folder (either red or blue paper 
folder) can remain at home. I have added a VOCABULARY icon to the webpage. I will list each 
week's words there so that, in the rare event that a list is lost, students can have access to 
all the words. Remember, for the cumulative exams, I will be pulling from any/all of the 
previous lists. Therefore, students need to practice the current week's words as well as 
continue to re-visit old lists. The first cumulative exam will be on 9/23.

Student DO need to record reading on Labor Day.

8/28/08
Special homework assignment due tomorrow. See HOMEWORK icon.

8/26/08
Students have a quiz tomorrow. They need to study their listening guide from the "Are You 
Literate?" presentation and return the sheet to class tomorrow.

Some students will be bringing the Parent Information Sheets back home for you to complete the 
back side. :) Thanks!

8/23/08
Due to the storm days, we are making some adjustments. Folders will be sent home on Monday, 8/25 
so that parents can complete an important information sheet. Folders should be returned the next 
day and will be sent home again at the NORMAL time, on Friday. We will hold off on the first 
list of vocabulary words until Friday, 8/29. The first vocabulary test will take place on 9/5. 
Thanks for your flexibility.

8/19/08
Thanks to everyone for working to get supplies brought in! Tomorrow we will use our composition 
books for the first time.

8/18/08
We had a great first day! Ask your child about 212-Degree Effort. We will be organizing binders 
in class tomorrow, so students need to make sure they have brought one in by then. Nightly 
reading begins TONIGHT!

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Mrs. Geiger Enrichment Reading

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